To those curious about the recent absence of the Round-Up, after some unfortunate distribution errors, Marvel Comics had to shift around many of its releases which resulted in 3 weeks straight of just one major Star Wars issue (excluding Vader’s Castle). So unfortunately no, to all of Holonet’s loyal haters, we didn’t get cancelled. I just decided to wait a couple weeks and make one normal length article instead of two weeks of mini articles. Despite being few, the issues we do have to cover were quite good, and I even got Charles Soule himself to weigh in on a question! The High Republic Adventures came roaring back with Back Together and Away Again II and that wacky and wonderful War of the Bounty Hunters continued in The Chase. Let’s jump in!
Adventures #8
Our crew of heroes have finally converged on Takodana, bringing us the long awaited appearance of Maz Kanata, the pirate queen herself, in this new era of the High Republic. Daniel Jose Older continues to make the usually kid focused “Adventures” line a great Star Wars read for all ages, delivering fun dialogue, story, and action that keeps each issue fresh. As it turns out, Maz actually has a standing relationship with Qort, everyone’s favorite helmet wearing padawan, and we’re able to finally get some backstory. The issue confirms what’s on Qort’s head by recanonizing the Vonduun crab. In legends, it was a key extension of the Yuuzhan Vong and their armor, first appearing in the late 90s. However, it’s likely most recognizable from Jon Ostrander’s Legacy series of comics, as it adorned the head of Darth Krayt, the main villain.
Besides the cool canon stuff, the issue ends on a great cliffhanger as the Jedi outpost is bombed in a bit of sabotage! Two Nihil who crash landed claimed to defect but in reality just wanted to get close for the kill! A shame, but it did give us a cool Kyuzo hat moment with Master Sav and that’s almost worth a whole Jedi outpost. Adventures always seems to impress so I remain excited for the future and cannot wait to see where it goes.
Star Wars #17
This issue is yet another rip roaring-dogfighting-force-filled extravaganza of Star Wars action spliced in with some serious Solo feels. Darth Vader busting out from the icy waters of Jekara is absolutely killer. Then, if you were somehow bored, Luke proceeds to Tokyo Drift an X-wing like Poe and it does not disappoint. The emotional core of the issue resides within the core of the Falcon itself along with L3-37. Lando has to talk one on one with his old ship and we start to see hints of the Rebellion General we know and love from Return of the Jedi. Now admittedly, I did have some trouble with this one, but it seems to be just a regular case of the comics, meaning that as a reader I don’t have all the info yet and I should shut up and enjoy the ride. My trouble came in the way of the chronology of the crossover, with what I found to be some confusing inconsistencies between Darth Vader #16 and this. I’ll let the following tweets do the talking:
My best guess is that there’s some action taking place between certain panels, and that the shuttle explosion at the end of Darth Vader is some kind of vision or just way farther down the line.
And that’s this week’s comics.
After a brief hiatus, the coming weeks will have no shortage of Star Wars goodness. This coming Wednesday alone sees the release of the new High Republic mystery thriller Trail of Shadows and the finale of The War of the Bounty Hunters! Oh, and also some sweet sweet Chelli Lona Aphra content. Thanks for reading and seeya next time!
