Star Wars – The High Republic #1: New Dangers Rising

The first phase of “The High Republic” was a huge success. It blended comics from two publishers as well as manga, children’s books, youth readers, YA novels, and adult novels. Together they told the largest interwoven story “Star Wars” has ever seen. Going well outside of the timelines for the movies, the series sought to explore an untouched era where the Jedi were at the height of their power. Throughout the saga, they met with extreme challenges and had many victories. Sadly, not every Jedi survived. What it resulted in was an almost “Game of Thrones” saga where no favorite character is safe and the drama is intense. It introduced scores of characters good, bad, and in-between. Because the content that came out was spread out a little over a year, those who followed it could feel like they were experiencing battles with different groups of characters in different locations as they happened. It would feel like they were getting a galactic view of an epic conflict in real time. The stories from all media cross-referenced each other, and as the saga went on the separate character groups would eventually mix and inter mingle. This new phase  will attempt to recreate that with the very difficult challenge of having to mostly ignore all the events of that entire saga because it will take place way beforehand.

This time shift to tell a second phase is in no way new to “Star Wars.” The flow of those films were to tell the middle tale with the original trilogy, then to move back in time to tell the prequel, and then shoot forward in time to tell the sequel trilogy. “The High Republic” seems to be following the same pattern, with a third phase to take place after the first one announced to follow up phase II. This phase gets the opportunity to do what the prequel trilogy did and aims to show the events that lead to the original story, while maintaining its own individual flavor. The first phase dealt with the plant zombie-like Drengir and the Nihil Pirates. This series tells of the various Force religions and cultures in general and how they conflict with one another. The plot of this issue takes a big backseat to establishing the zeitgeist of this time. That is not to say the new characters aren’t introduce well, but the setting and social climate seem like the overall important thing to focus on. This larger than normal issue contains two separate stories of Jedi both set on Jedah. That planet will eventually be a larger deal in four hundred years during the film “Rouge One.” In fact in one of the stories the fully whole stature of a Jedi that is seen long since toppled in “Rogue One” is shown. This issue shows that other Force religions besides Jedi exist, but it also shows that the average being does not respect the Jedi at all. They are the servants of the Republic which makes the public question why, out of many Force religions, are they the only ones who can hold that position and impose justice. Unlike in Phase I, they aren’t as respected. This phase will endeavor to be the series to show how they eventually did command the respect of the galaxy.

The art in this issue is worthy of a first issue. It is detailed and emotive. The coloring enriches that which is already rich. It does favor sand yellows throughout both stories. That makes since Jedah is a sandy planet. This also mirrors the gold color that is often associated with “The High Republic.” Obviously the impact on the overall saga is important and this issue hits the ground running. As far as characters goes, it introduces too many to really get a feel for them. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t give readers enough to get a cursory idea of what each one is like on the surface. The issue even throws a delightful curveball at the main character, and is sure to leave readers curious to see what happens next. It is also important to note that this is now the earliest point in “Star Wars” canon currently.