Yoda #7: A New Weapon, There Is

The issue opens up with Yoda in the present-day (for Star Wars) in Dagobah, speaking to a mysterious Force voice to convince him to do more to confront the Empire. On the next page, we’re taken back to the period around the Clone Wars, where we see Yoda speaking to an informant about the information he has regarding the latest military development with the Separatists. Given only the name “Operation: Titan,” Yoda and Anakin Skywalker prepare to learn more about this new possible threat.

Although this is issue #7, one can start with this issue and feel like they’re starting at the beginning of the story without the feeling that they’ve missed something in previous issues. Opening up with a framing story helps set up the scene by giving us a glimpse of the direction the story may be heading before getting into the main story arc. Writer Marc Guggenheim does a great job of writing Yoda as an active Jedi, doing reconnaissance missions and taking the lead on this mission. The story packs in a lot of progress, giving the reader a lot of breadths while also allowing a few great action sequences. Although it may be hard to see Yoda saying phrases like “By the stars,” the story plays out like a scene you would expect to see from a Star Wars prequel film.

The art by Miracolo and Leoni is phenomenal here. The highlight of their work is definitely in the action sequences between Yoda and General Grievous. The compositions of the panels were drawn so beautifully to give you that feeling of watching the intensity of two rivals squaring off with each other with dialogue while at the same time giving us amazing visuals of their lightsaber duel. The colors accentuated the vibe of these scenes. The way they can make Yoda move through the comic is reminiscent of the fantastic fight scene between Count Dooku and Yoda in Star Wars II: Attack Of The Clones. One missed opportunity was the lettering for the Force’s voice at the beginning. The Force Ghost Blue was sufficient for the letters and the stroke of the dialogue bubble, but there was a lot of opportunity to make the bubble emulate more like the Force ghost with some glow. That said, the lettering for the sound effects was immaculate and highlighted the experience for the reader.