“Students of the Force: Growing Shadows”
Creative Staff:
Story: Jody Houser
Art: Luke Ross
Colors: Nolan Woodward
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
RISE OF THE DARK SIDE! There is a darkness rising among the latest Jedi initiates. Will Master Yoda and Master Dooku be able to recognize and stop the threat? Or will their young students be led astray by the dark side of the Force?
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, the first storyline worked well. With the second storyline, we shift the creative team which is something that has me more excited about the book so that we get more variety to it. Here, Jody Houser steps in and they’ve done some really good work with Star Wars before so I’m glad to see them back on it again. Similarly, Luke Ross comes on for the artwork for it with Nolan Woodward on the color design. Ross has done a lot of Star Wars work over the years 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.
With the second installment of this storyline, the visions aspect that Krrsish has been dealing with are only growing. He’s still not talking to Yoda about it but has continued to converse with Dooku about it since he’s open to actual discussion about visions. The visions continue to showcase his fellow Padawan Gheyr as being a threat and you know that it’s going to be an issue in how visions present themselves than an actual threat. But for Krrsish, there’s the knowledge of the tension that exists between the Wookies and the Trandoshans and these visions are just making it all the more real for him. Not that he experienced it, I believe, while with his people, but the knowledge is making him angry about seeing Gheyr as a threat. For Gheyr’s part, we see how the Wookies brought them to Yoda as a child even amid the acts of violence both species were dealing with.
It’s a familiar setup and watching Krrsish fall down this well of darkness and fear is part of what a Padawan is supposed to grapple with as they learn about what abilities they have. The problem is that Krrsish isn’t seeking help from Yoda because of what Dooku said about how Yoda views visions and that just lets him stew even more in his visions. Krrsish does try to remain friends with Gheyr as they go through things but it’s more to keep an eye on them rather than truly being a friend. It’s all coming to a head soon though as Yoda has brought several of the Padwan with him to a mission on another world in order for them to work as a group and away from the familiarity of the Temple. It’s a decent idea and one that can teach a lot while Yoda is also able to use it to reconnect with nature away from the sprawling nature of Coruscant. Giving the Padawan time on their own is amusing with the brief blush of personalities we see, but it’s just making Krrsish seeing this as his chance to save others from the threat that his visions keep presenting, which sets us up for a bad ending the next time around.
In Summary:
Yoda’s not a big player in this storyline, allowing Krrsish to stand at the forefront, so it’s similar to the first arc in this series in that way. Which is a mixed bag because I wanty more Yoda but I know we’ll never really get much about him per se. His interactions with the students is decent but we’re in a situation where Krrsish is hiding so much of what’s going on and even though it’s causing problems it’s not getting the attention it should. I’m curious to see how it’ll unfold as part of me doesn’t want to have all the stories end on a positive but you also want to see what the Jedi espouse as beliefs show some resilience and being worth doing.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: March 15th, 2023
MSRP: $3.99
