“Trial by Ordeal”
Creative Staff:
Story: Cavan Scott
Art: Ario Anindito, Mark Morales
Colors: Annalisa Leoni
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher
What They Say:
It is centuries before the SKYWALKER SAGA. The JEDI are at their height, protecting the galaxy as REPUBLIC pioneers push out into new territories. As the Frontier prepares for the dedication of majestic STARLIGHT BEACON, PADAWAN KEEVE TRENNIS faces the ultimate choice — will she complete her Jedi Trials or rescue the innocent from disaster? New Jedi! New ships! New evils to fight!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The launch of the High Republic has been something I’ve been eager for since it was first announced. With the pandemic pushing it all back by about six months, we’re now able to dig into it and while I’m a while away from reading the first novel, Cavan Scott’s comic gets to be my entry into this time period. Scott, going by the postscript in this issue, is just like me in that they grew up reading the 70s Marvel Star Wars series which adapted the first movie and then went on to some wildly creative material to extend the story, a bit of a rarity at the time. With this series, they’re joined by Ario Anindito and Mark Morales on the art duties with Annalisa Leoni handling the color design. All of it comes together well here as we get the familiar pieces to be sure that have lasted for generations but we also get new aliens, new worlds, and new ships. And it all has me excited.
Referencing the recent Great Disaster, one of the plans to help settle the outer rim is being put into play with the Starlight Beacon, a massive satellite that will provide information and connection for those going to these various worlds that are unknown or have been dark for a long time. We see the subplot going on within the station as one of the masters there is working through some of the final setup while another of the Jedi, Avar, is mulling recent problems elsewhere. What this sequence does overall is to allow some visiting masters to come and bestow the position of Marshal of the station on Avar and we get to see Yoda briefly as he talks about his returning to the Jedi Council as not being in the cards right now. While I’m not surprised by the use of Yoda, I do hope the character is kept to a minimum overall because while the connection makes a realistic sense considering his age, I want to explore so many new things and not have more that can be nudged into the later continuity through the character.
The main story that’s told in this issue is through the eyes of Keeve Trennis, a padawan that’s training on a world with her master, Sskeer. We see her initially dealing with one of the locals, a small flying creature called Kanrii, but Sskeer has brought her here to deal with her final test as a padawn before becoming a Jedi Knight. It’s a decent little thing that takes an odd turn when we see a connection to this planet with the satellite and some quick thinking saves the day. It’s interesting if only because of how fast the communications go between the two and the distance between them, but also the realization of just what kind of impact this station can have in helping worlds stay connected. Keeve comes across well here and I can see some initial comparison to Ahsoka, but this is a very different character at a different place in her training – as we see by the end of this issue – and will be the ideal person within which to see more of the High Republic era through their eyes.
In Summary:
It’s always good to keep expectations in check and rightly so when launching a new era in a long-running and already sprawling property. Cavan Scott provides for a strong start to the story here with several hooks to work from with stories to tell and characters to explore. Set against the backdrop of settling more of the outer rim, hundreds of years before the end of the Republic as we know from the prequel trilogy, there’s a lot to dig into and expand from there, especially if we get worlds that we know in the “present” that underwent radical transformation at some point because of colonization. There are some themes that I hope the writers are looking to explore in this area, but for now, we’re getting a good introductory story to help expand and explore the setting. I like these characters already and am looking forward to more.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 6th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
