Yesterday saw the release of the tenth issue in Phase III of Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures from Dark Horse Comics, and below are my brief recap and thoughts on this installment.
The High Republic Adventures (2023) #9 begins with the aristocrat Sevran Tarkin (an ancestor of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin from the original Star Wars film) hunting space-gorillas called veermoks– borrowed for the current canon from the Legends timeline– in the wilds of her home planet of Eriadu, though at first we’re not sure exactly why. Then writer Daniel José Older and artist Toni Bruno cut to Bri-Phrang City, where our Jedi protagonists and their allies are trying to come up with a plan to counter the Nihil’s potential takeover of the planet. Unfortunately for them, the decision currently rests solely with the Tarkin family, whose leader Tragkul Tarkin (Sevran’s uncle) is considering giving in to the Nihil’s demands in order to preserve peace and safety for those on Eriadu.
But there are other members of the Tarkin clan who, like Sevran, oppose the Nihil– namely the elderly Lady Krevlin Tarkin and Sevran’s twin brother Navaj Tarkin. Together with ex-Jedi Lula Talisola and her Force-sensitive fiancee Zeen Mrala, these renegade Tarkins meet up with Sevran, who has discovered a truth about the veermoks that has been overlooked for generations. It turns out that these creatures can be rather peaceful and docile if treated correctly, which goes against Tragkul’s major claim to power. So Sevran rides a friendly veermok into the city and confronts Tragkul, who confesses that he never actually killed one of the beasts single-handedly, and then makes the cowardly move of giving up his leadership position in exchange for his life.
This act leaves Sevran reinstated to the Tarkin clan (after having been erroneously declared dead in the wake of the Starlight Beacon disaster) and in charge of the family’s course of action, with Navaj and Lady Krevlin serving by her side. All that’s left to do in the next issue is for them to figure out how to rid Eriadu from the Nihil menace once and for all. Of course that may be easier said than done, but I’ve come to trust Older to concoct an at-the-very-least entertaining way for our heroes to get out of these messes. This time around, I really enjoyed seeing the inner workings of the Tarkins unravel, and I liked Bruno’s take on the deceptively threatening look– and ultimately gentle nature– of these creatures that have been part of Star Wars lore for decades now. With just three issues left to go in this title, I’m very curious to see how this creative team will wrap up Lula and Zeen’s adventures in A Galaxy Far, Far Away.
Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #10 is available now wherever comic books are sold.