Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - Dark Temple #1 Review
Writer: Matthew Rosenberg
Artist: Paolo Villanelli
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The first issue in a new miniseries meant to tie into the upcoming Jedi: Fallen Order game, Dark Temple #1 introduces us to a few characters that we're going to be getting to know quite a bit over the next few months. Cere Junda, the protagonist here, will be the mentor character to the protagonist of the game. The framing story also introduces Second Sister, the antagonist of the game, and quite possibly gives us our first look at a moment from the game itself.
It's a promising start to a miniseries. Despite being set in a classic era with familiar characters making appearances (Yoda and Mace Windu especially) it still feels fresh with a couple of new main characters and a setting before most of the stories we're familiar with from this era. This story is some of the furthest back we've gone on the timeline in canon, as eagle-eyed fans will be able to tell by the appearance of Jocasta Nu on the Jedi Council. By the time of the prequel films, she's long retired and spends her time in the library. Another fun easter egg anchors this story to others for fans who keep up with everything: one of the background characters on the Council is Poli Dapatian, who was introduced earlier this year in the Master and Apprentice novel.
The new main characters are interesting enough to make me want to read more about them. Cere seems like a well developed character and it will be cool to see her grow during this miniseries and how that carries into her characterization in the game. Based on the framing story, I suspect we might get to visit Ontotho and maybe then we'll get some callbacks from cere to the events of this comic. Cordova serves his purpose as the wise master just fine, even if he isn't the most original character. The Ontotho plot isn't too fleshed out yet but seems a bit predictable as of right now. I doubt we'll get any more of the framing story if it is indeed from the game but I definitel wouldn't protest more Second Sister content.
The art was really great, there were a couple of distracting background faces but overall I was pleasantly surprised by how sharp and well drawn everything looked. Some of the miniseries in the past have not had the best art but it feels like we've had some improvement across the board lately with this series, Target Vader, Galaxy's Edge, TIE Fighter, and Age of Resistance. Everything has been looking good.
This was the first canon Star Wars work for both Rosenberg and it's not a bad beginning. I enjoyed his Legends comic a little while back and if the rest of this series stays consistent, I'd love to see him get more. Villanelli has now been developing a backlog of good Star Wars comic art and I'm glad to see him get more work. I'm excited to see more of what they come up with for this series!
Artist: Paolo Villanelli
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The first issue in a new miniseries meant to tie into the upcoming Jedi: Fallen Order game, Dark Temple #1 introduces us to a few characters that we're going to be getting to know quite a bit over the next few months. Cere Junda, the protagonist here, will be the mentor character to the protagonist of the game. The framing story also introduces Second Sister, the antagonist of the game, and quite possibly gives us our first look at a moment from the game itself.
It's a promising start to a miniseries. Despite being set in a classic era with familiar characters making appearances (Yoda and Mace Windu especially) it still feels fresh with a couple of new main characters and a setting before most of the stories we're familiar with from this era. This story is some of the furthest back we've gone on the timeline in canon, as eagle-eyed fans will be able to tell by the appearance of Jocasta Nu on the Jedi Council. By the time of the prequel films, she's long retired and spends her time in the library. Another fun easter egg anchors this story to others for fans who keep up with everything: one of the background characters on the Council is Poli Dapatian, who was introduced earlier this year in the Master and Apprentice novel.
The new main characters are interesting enough to make me want to read more about them. Cere seems like a well developed character and it will be cool to see her grow during this miniseries and how that carries into her characterization in the game. Based on the framing story, I suspect we might get to visit Ontotho and maybe then we'll get some callbacks from cere to the events of this comic. Cordova serves his purpose as the wise master just fine, even if he isn't the most original character. The Ontotho plot isn't too fleshed out yet but seems a bit predictable as of right now. I doubt we'll get any more of the framing story if it is indeed from the game but I definitel wouldn't protest more Second Sister content.
The art was really great, there were a couple of distracting background faces but overall I was pleasantly surprised by how sharp and well drawn everything looked. Some of the miniseries in the past have not had the best art but it feels like we've had some improvement across the board lately with this series, Target Vader, Galaxy's Edge, TIE Fighter, and Age of Resistance. Everything has been looking good.
This was the first canon Star Wars work for both Rosenberg and it's not a bad beginning. I enjoyed his Legends comic a little while back and if the rest of this series stays consistent, I'd love to see him get more. Villanelli has now been developing a backlog of good Star Wars comic art and I'm glad to see him get more work. I'm excited to see more of what they come up with for this series!
A Look Inside
