Today saw the release of the third (and penultimate) issue of Marvel Comics’ Star Wars: The High Republic – Shadows of Starlight spinoff miniseries, and below are my brief recap and thoughts on this installment.
As writer Charles Soule has established in previous issues of Shadows of Starlight, each chapter of this miniseries is intended to follow a character or two during the year that separates Phases I and III of The High Republic. And while this title has already given us captivating stories about Master Yoda and the pair of star-crossed Jedi Elzar Mann and Avar Kriss, issue #3 zooms in on Jedi Padawan Bell Zettifar and his best Wookiee buddy Burryaga. It begins, as these tales tend to, in the aftermath of the destruction of Starlight Beacon, and Bell’s refusal to give up hope that Burry might still be alive, though Elzar is fairly sure he witnessed the Wookiee’s final moments aboard the space station before it crashed. So Zettifar refuses the call of the Jedi Order to return to their temple on Coruscant and heads out into the ocean of Eiram in search of his loyal friend.
Here’s where we get our first time jump, and a reminder to check out the short-story collection Star Wars: The High Republic – Tales of Light and Life for further details on how Bell actually rescued Burryaga (I thought it was interesting that a Marvel comic book would send readers off to discover non-Marvel material, but I suppose that’s one of the great things about this interconnected storytelling universe). So the two reunited pals do finally head back to Coruscant, where they meet up with Bell’s devoted charhound Ember and are pretty much immediate knighted in the wake of the Jedi Order instituting the Guardian Protocols (see Shadows of Starlight #1). But Zettifar quickly becomes frustrated with the idea of remaining at the temple instead of heading out into the galaxy to seek revenge against the Nihil, who were responsible for the devastating attack– an semi-obsessive vendetta that deeply concerns Burryaga as the two settle back into their post-Starlight Beacon lives. And soon Bell is offered a position on Master Pra-Tre Veter’s to protect planets in the Outer Rim from Nihil raids.
Knowing what happens to Master Veter via other recent Star Wars: The High Republic books and comics, it was difficult to watch him head out toward his fate, but I was also quite interested to see how Bell and Burry wound up where we found them at the outset of author George Mann’s novel The Eye of Darkness. The climactic moments here are nail-biting despite already being aware of the eventual outcome, and Burryaga’s heartwarming concern for his friend manages to balance out the suspense of the situation. One detail I really enjoyed is that the Nihil use Sabacc cards to track their most valued targets in the Jedi Order and the Republic– something that real-life soldiers have also been known to do. But wonderful little details like that are just the icing on the delectable cake that Soule (who has yet to disappoint me in his Star Wars writing) and artist Jethro Morales (along with talented colorist Chris Sotomayor) have cooked up. With one issue left to go– which, based on the tantalizing cover, appears to focus on Nihil leader Marchion Ro– Shadows of Starlight already ranks up there among my favorite recent Star Wars comic releases.
Star Wars: The High Republic – Shadows of Starlight #3 is available now wherever comic books are sold.