“The Coming of the Jedi”
Creative Staff:
Story: Cavan Scott
Art: Nico Leon
Colors: Dono Sanchez-Almara
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
To some, he was a legend. To others, he was a teacher. Now Yoda is all but forgotten, living in exile and haunted by the past. As a strangely familiar voice echoes through the swamps of Dagobah, Yoda must revisit the many lessons he has given over the years, from the days of the High Republic to the chaos of the Clone Wars. In the first of three story arcs, a desperate cry for help reaches the Jedi Council on Coruscant and only Yoda can respond. But how far will he go to protect a community from attack?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With some Yoda-focused storytelling in the past from Marvel that was interesting, I’ll admit some wariness over a Yoda series at this point in time. The thing that helped ease that concern a bit was having Cavan Scott on board to write it. I’ve enjoyed a lot of their comics work over the years but they’ve been a key player in the High Republic novel side as well and that provides a different approach to writing in this universe than just strictly comics. Joining him on this project is artist Nico Leon working with colorist Dono Sanchez-Almara and they’ve got a good look here for it. It still feels very much Star Wars overall for the Marvel brand of it but there are some neat moments and layouts for how events unfold and the color design breathes some really good life into it as a whole.
The premise for this, framing with Yoda on Dagobah during his post-Clone Wars period, has him being spoken to presumably by a Force Ghost from the distant past that wants to talk to him. It draws him to remembering lessons from what looks to be a High Republic era period where Yoda was drawn to the world of Turrak in the outer rim. When an emergency message comes in from there for help, others in the council are content to let others handle it but Yoda realizes that this is something he fells called to, especially when one of his fellow masters says that his place is here on Coruscant. It’s one of those moments that reminds of how the High Council and others were losing their way and their mission and Yoda is intent on staying on Turrak as long as he needs to, though he keeps that from the others until after he gets there and sees the situation.
And the situation is pretty basic. There are a couple of species that exist here that are aware of the galaxy at large and we see how one of them is attacking the other to kill and steal supplies while leaving enough alive to keep the cycle going. The focus is primarily on a younger member of those being attacked, a boy named Bree, who has a talent for thinking big and is trying to get an old crashed “cursed” ship to work. It’s what lets him get a message out that draws Yoda in, who goes blade to gun against the oppressors until they flee for the moment, but Bree is also someone that you get the sense is probably a latent Force user. He’s thinking right in trying to find ways to use the tech to help his people but the constant threat of the invaders keeps them from actually doing much. We do see them arming up more than in the past here, but Yoda’s arrival has changed the dynamic and he’s intent on staying until he thinks he’s no longer needed.
In Summary:
The opening story here is one that’s certainly familiar but it’s executed quite well through both Scott’s script that’s tight without being overdone with too much dialogue and Leon’s artwork that provides for good action and interesting designs for the local species. The color design really is fantastic throughout as Dagobah feels authentic in this early pages but we get a great mix of brightly lit outdoor material as well as grim in the heat of battle stuff that feels truly threatening. I’m curious to see where Scott will go with this as it’s planned for several arcs and the tie-ins to the High Republic aspect are interesting to me as I’ve had such limited exposure to it. There may be a familiar and straightforward approach here but the mystery person is intriguing as it expands our narrative about what went on at Dagobah over the years while getting to see more of Yoda at very different points in his life has a lot of positives to it.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: November 23rd, 2022
MSRP: $3.99
