REVIEW: High Republic Into The Dark & High Republic Adventures 1

Posted by James on 03/05/21 at 07:05 AM Category: Books, Comic Books

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Into the Dark, a Disney-Lucasfilm Press young adult novel by Claudia Gray, 2/2/21. If there is any Star Wars writer that I have as much confidence in as Charles Soule, it is Claudia Gray. She has written some real stand-out stuff both in the YA and regular novel categories. Fortunately, when it comes to her High Republic contribution that confidence remains well placed. Into the Dark is about a group of Jedi and others who must take refuge on a mysterious space station when their trip to Starlight Beacon is interrupted by the great hyperspace disaster. I think Gray has a knack for introducing interesting supporting characters and she doesn't fall short here; of course, all the characters here are new, but the non-Jedi ones are really well developed and I think you will get invested in them. Mark my words, Geode will become your new favorite SW character. While the Nihil are also present, we are introduced to another threat that the Galaxy will face in the High Republic era. I don't want to go into a lot of detail, but suffice it to say this isn't just another bunch of space pirates. As a YA novel, this doesn't have quite as complex a plot as Light of the Jedi, but I think it actually surpasses it in its characterization, especially of the Jedi. These are not perfect Jedi; that's not to say they're grimdark or anything, just flawed enough to be interesting and pretty relatable. This one is a definite "buy it" from me.

The High Republic Adventures 1, the first issue in an IDW comic series by Daniel Jose Older and Harvey Tolibao, released 2/3/21. The last time I read something written by Daniel Jose Older I...wasn't impressed. I was frankly quite relieved when I learned that his contribution to the kick-off of the High Republic would be limited to writing the younger readers comic series. Having no intention of reading the whole thing until the trade paperback collection is release months from now, I did get a digital copy of the first issue so I could get a sense of things and report back to you, the people. How is it? Well, first off, Yoda is in it, more so than he has been in any other HR stuff at this point; but he's really just a supporting character. The main characters are a young padawan and another young girl from a planet where Force sensitivity is taboo. It's an interesting premise, and the first issue isn't terrible. The art is good as well. So, for now, I'll say borrow it. Things may change upon my reading of the TPB.

Well, that's it for the first wave of High Republic stuff, nothing else that I know of until Summer (except the continuation of the two comic series). I have to say I have been pretty happy with it thus far. What comes next remains to be seen. My concern is that with heavy hitters Soule and Gray not having anything in the pipeline, we may see a drop; but I am keeping an open mind.