Star Wars: The High Republic #2 Review

by NumidianPrime on February 04, 2021

Writer: Cavan Scott
Artist: Ario Anindito
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Publisher: Marvel

The second issue of the brand new The High Republic series continues the journey of our newly-knighted hero Keeve and her former master Sskeer. While investigating a distress signal, the Jedi stumble on to a new mystery with potentially far-reaching consequences. Keeve grows worried by Sskeer's changed behavior and things continue to get worse when the team splits up. 

This series has become an instant favorite of mine. I don't think I realized until I started reading this that I had started to get tired of Star Wars comics, in a way. I'm still really enjoying several of the series going on now but they've continued to feel less and less fresh to me. Reading this story gives me the same sense of excitement and exploration that I had back in the early days of Marvel's Star Wars comics, when there was still so much unexplored territory. 

Almost everything about this series is completely new in terms of plot and characters. We've only just met all of the characters in this issue but I've still grown to care about a number of them, far more than I care about some other Star Wars comics characters that we've known for longer. Keeve is a great protagonist whose eagerness matches the reader's and Sskeer is already establishing himself as more than just the standard mentor trope. The twins make for charming side characters, and the inclusion of Avar Kriss and Vernestra Rwoh is very rewarding for readers that have become attached to them through the other books in the initiative already. 

The story of the issue is nicely self-contained while serving as a chapter in the overall arc, just like the previous one. I'm very interested to find out more about the myteries behind Sskeer's behavior and the Hutt's death, and I'm excited to see how these events impact the overall story of the High Republic. One of the best things about it is we truly don't know what's going to happen next to any of these factions or characters. I'm very happy they've allowed the authors to tell a story unbound by anything film or television is doing. The story also has a lot of fun connections to previous Star Wars tales, both recent and Legends, as I've come to expect from Cavan Scott. 

The art team continues to do a phenomenal job. The at style is a great fit for this era and there was never a weird face or bad design that took me out of the story. Sskeer especially shines in this issue, managing to be charming or intimidating depending on the scene. I hope this team sticks around for at least a couple arcs and the series manages to keep a consistent feel, because wild variations in art have hurt some previous Star Wars runs for me. 

I honestly don't think I can sing this series's praises enough. I think it's exactly what Star Wars needs right now. I hope that it continues for a good long time and doesn't stop impressing me. I can't wait to see where it goes next!

Our Score:

10/10

A Look Inside