Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures Phase III Volume 1

Star Wars: The High Republic

by Daniel José Older, Harvey Tolibao (illustrator), Nick Brokenshire (illustrator)

Hundreds of years before the Skywalker Saga, there was The High Republic! The final phase of this groundbreaking story starts here, as the forces of light and life battle against the villainous Nihil!It's been one year since the fall of Starlight Beacon. Since then, Zeen Mrala, Jedi Knight Qort, and their allies have been picking up the pieces, searching for their friends amidst the wreckage. All the while, the marauders known as the Nihil have advanced further into Republic space, leaving destruction in their wake. But hope is rekindled when Zeen finds new evidence of survivors scattered throughout the galaxy. Who else escaped the fall of Starlight Beacon alive, and where have they been during these past months? Follow Zeen and her friends as they uncover the answers to these questions, rebuild their team, and head into battle for light and life! Join New York Times bestselling author Daniel José Older and renowned artists Harvey Tolibao, Elisa Romboli, and Nick Brokenshire as they kick off Phase III of the High Republic saga!Collects issues 1–5 of Star High Republic Adventures Phase III.

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, Young Adult

120 pages, Paperback

First published August 27, 2024

About the author

Daniel José Older is the New York Times bestselling author of the Young Adult series the Shadowshaper Cypher (Scholastic), the Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series (Penguin), and the upcoming Middle Grade sci-fi adventure Flood City (Scholastic). He won the International Latino Book Award and has been nominated for the Kirkus Prize, the Mythopoeic Award, the Locus Award, the Andre Norton Award, and yes, the World Fantasy Award. Shadowshaper was named one of Esquire’s 80 Books Every Person Should Read. You can find his thoughts on writing, read dispatches from his decade-long career as an NYC paramedic and hear his music at http://danieljoseolder.net/, on youtube and @djolder on twitter.

Reviews

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to continue the phase III High Republic era. Okay artwork, a good amount of action but a little bit rushed. There is a lot going on.

It has now been a full year since the evil Nihil caused the fall of Starlight Beacon and erected the Stormwall effectively cutting off the Republic from their new territory. However, Republuc and a few Jedi forces still maintain a presence at the edge of the Stormwall. Unfortunately, their hopes of rescuing their missing friends, missing in action, are dashed with time they are now presumed dead, but can the return of one spark hope of rescuing others?

An excellent continuation of the High Republic adventures. I sn enjoying the fight back on all fronts. There are no big secrets here, but some returned as well as plenty of chaotic action. The book finishes with a varient covers gallery.

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este volumen también coincide con los eventos de "El ojo de la oscuridad". Empieza con Zeen en Eriadu, donde ella y la gente trata de divertirse luego del desastre. Lula ha sido dada por muerta pues ya pasó un año. Qort se entera del ajusticiamiento de un maestro Jedi. Zeen es contactada sabiendo que en la luna de Bracront hay un comandante malvado que está haciendo estragos: Tartak Vil y se dirigen hacia allá. Como siempre los cómics de Adventures incluyen gráficos especiales para comprender mejor la situación, por ejemplo un mapa con los sistemas bajo la Zona de Oclusión
En Eriadu también está Syan, el piloto Argomon, el maestro Kantam Sy y luego viene el almirante Kronara. La misión final será destruir la nave prisión nihil "Korvix Vorn". Muchos jedi que se creían perdidos están allí, pasando desapercibidos como simples capturados . El capitán es Warden, quien cuenta con Driggit Parse, quien forma ahora parte de los Nihil, y el irascible Niv Drendow, discípulo de Boolan. La pelea final es buena. Al final hay un reencuentro muy esperado.
Me gustó el número porque aclara muchas dudas y hay buenos reencuentros. Lo que sigo considerando algo malo es que tanto en este cómic como en el regular, las cosas son mucho "más fáciles" de resolver y hay bastante esperanza. Muy diferente al libro "El ojo de la oscuridad", donde a pesar de tener Jedis que se suponen son los mejores los resultados son terribles. Me resulta incoherente, aunque se supone que estos cómics son más juveniles y por tanto optimistas.

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't care less about Zeen and Lula, and I think the High Republic would have benefited from far less involvement by Daniel José Older. His storytelling tends to reduce the scope of Star Wars to a set of highly individualized choices, unconnected to a sense of history and context. Characters are often very, very "modern American" in a way that makes me miss the deeper, and sometimes alien, tone of what might happen in a story.

Also, having a character show up after going missing for over a year, and the explanation is that she had amnesia and became a Nihil overlord? No. And then a bunch of other missing characters are found on the same prison ship, just waiting for an easy rescue? Also no. I will say, however, that the moment when Lula, still with amnesia, says to Zeen, "What's a Qort?" accurately summed up my reactions to a lot of names mentioned throughout the High Republic. Lula needs Wookieepedia as much as I do, though I can't blame amnesia.

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 lets go lesbians

[Candice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m so glad to finally find out what happened to all my little Padawan babies. Eternally grateful to DJO for a happy story!

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay I actually quite enjoyed this one, wondering where it might lead

[Alli Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

LULA!!! I screamed at Zeen and Lula’s reunion (and during the rest of their cute moments together). I love them so much! 🥺

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an intriguing follow up to the fall of Starlight Beacon, and I really like the different relationships we get to see develop between characters. Unfortunately I feel as though the story feels... shallow and contrived regarding some of our beloved characters' whereabouts following the fall. Adventures seems to me to be the place to catch High Republic fans up on storylines that the main books or comic run can't get to at this point due to the overwhelming amount of characters, and I don't think it did itself any favors by trying to introduce anything new right at the start of a new phase. Ultimately, I am interested to see how much I end up enjoying Phase III's Adventures run.

[Jazmin Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lula and Zeen my beloveds😭

[Nata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Auf einmal ist Quort mein Lieblingscharakter. Keine Ahnung wie das passiert ist plötzlich. Der Typ hatte übel glow up

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of my least favorite High Republic comics I’ve read. The story confused the heck out of me, especially with Jedi characters not acting like Jedi and with lots of chaotic fight panels without enough explanation to follow clearly what’s going on. This one makes me feel like far more of a book person than graphic novel/comic person. I kinda hated it and couldn’t wait to be done. I think overall this just isn’t my favorite writer, because I’ve had an iffy time with his HR novels too.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m really enjoying this side of the High Republic. I like this group a lot and care for them more than most of High Republic characters so far. Their friendship and relationships are so fun to explore and keep track of. Excited to see what comes next, and now that we know Vernestra will be in The Acolyte I’m hoping we see more characters from the comics and books in the show.

[Cody Missbach · Rating 1 out of 5]

Underwhelming

Characters not very developed or having any interesting arcs.. The villains are also dull which !made the only conflict a relationship one that was never much in doubt

[Brett Walker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unless you really love this cast of characters already or want to read everything in the high republic series like I am, this is 100% skippable and a waste of time.

Normally I don’t really let myself be bothered by the Star Wars stuff that’s very much for children, since it’s just not for my age group and that’s fine, but this collection very much tested my patience.

Spoilers below this point if you care.








This collection actively undermines the threats from Eye of Darkness. They spend that whole novel figuring out ways to potentially cross the stormwall, and make a big deal about how little information they have about what goes on in the other side. According to this comic, it just turns out they have a smuggler friend who can go across the wall and gather information whenever they please. Since these comics are meant to be canon and part of the larger High Republic story, having a random, undeveloped solution for a major conflict destroys any tension.

The “character with amnesia” is so lame in basically all stories it’s ever been and apparently doesn’t even mean anything here because Lula still remembers Zeen and all her relationships with their other friends. I don’t know why this cliche was included if it was going to cause zero personal conflicts or contribute to anything in the story.

Any of the stuff I did like from the phase 1 comics is pretty much gone. Lula and Zeen ironically have way less chemistry now that they’re actually together. Qort used to be a cute, quirky fun side character and now he’s just boring generic Jedi Padawan.

DJO writes a ridiculous amount of media for the High Republic, and other than Trail of Shadows, Edge of Balance, and bits of the phase 1 adventures comics basically all of it is bad. Why he got so much control for the initiative is beyond me, and Phase 3 seems to have actually doubled down on the Adventures comics, there are so so many of them. A good portion of the first wave is HR Adventures, and almost half of the wave is stuff written by DJO. He has shown he is capable of making a really compelling narrative with Trail of Shadows but that series was more of an exception to his writing instead of his usual style. Instead, he succumbs to his worst instincts of unfunny juvenile humor.

As I said, normally I don’t get worked up so much if I dislike children’s media like this but the total over-saturation of this kind of writing in the initiative is ridiculous.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

228 BBY

This graphic novel collects the first five issues of The High Republic Adventures: Phase III. The events in this graphic novel take place after the fall of Starlight Beacon in The Fallen Star. If you have not yet made it to Phase III, this may be a bit spoilery, but let me tell you something: this Volume is an excellent story following some leading characters from The High Republic and what happened to them after the fall.

The story mostly follows Zeen and Quort as they search the galaxy for their lost comrades. It has been one year and two weeks since Starlight Beacon fell, and because of the time frame, some who are missing are assumed dead, though not confirmed. The story shows what happens to many of the missing Jedi and padawans, and also introduces a new aspect of the conflict: the Occlusion Zone. The Occusion Zone is a section of planets blockaded by the Nihil and no one goes in or out through the blockade. This also revisits Niv Drendow, who apprenticed with Baron Boolan, continuing the madman's experiments, and the experiment he has to determine who is a Jedi or not is quite horrifying. I am itching to know and see more.

I love the artwork and I really enjoyed the setup to this phase of the graphic novels, following these already established and beloved characters and exploring their next adventures in the High Republic. I enjoy seeing how they tie in to the key events of the novels and how the story continues to have a sort of darkness to it, but looks like there will be light in the end. "For Light and Life!" 

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A year after the fall of Starlight Beacon, Zeen Mrala and Jedi Knight Qort continue to search for their missing friends, not least Zeen's beloved; Padawan Lula Talisola. As their search begins to yield results, Zeen fears that a second separation with Lula could happen if she chooses the life of the Jedi over their nascent love.

I really like the relationship between Zeen and Lula (homophobes can piss off), so it was nice to see it developed further here, with both girls having to balance their feelings for each other against who they are and who they want to become.
There was also a nice amount of pathos is following Zeen and Qort as they desperately try to find those lost in the fall of Starlight, despite the very real possibility that the likes of Lula, 'Buckets of Blood' and Farzala are, in fact, dead like so many other Jedi.

Unfortunately, how the actual plot of this book unfolds is a bit contrived (I saw a particularly insightful reviewer refer to Lula's story as 'Star Wars: The Winter Soldier') and how things play out seems a bit... unlikely. It makes the book as a whole feel shallower than perhaps it otherwise would.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Ahdom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starlight Beacon fell a year ago, leaving chaos in its wake. But amidst the wreckage, hope flickers anew as Jedi Knight Qort and his crew, alongside the intrepid Zeen Mrala, search for survivors. Meanwhile, the nefarious Nihil continue their rampage through Republic space. But hold onto your lightsabers, folks, because Zeen and her crew aren't giving up without a fight. With new evidence of survivors emerging, they're on a mission to reunite, rebuild, and take the battle to the heart of darkness. Strap in as New York Times bestselling author Daniel José Older and a team of stellar artists kick off Phase III of the High Republic saga. Trust me, this is one ride you don't want to miss.

[Zettifar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lula & Zeen :)

So great to pick up with all the kids from the Adventures series of phase 1 and honestly didnt expect Lula to be on her own for so long after the fall of starlight beacon.

Again High republic dealing with so many different characters dealing with such variety in trauma, Always makes me a little sad knowing characters so young are dealing with such strong emotions of serious galaxy wide problems.

By the end of this volume it was great to see Lula & Zeen reconnect and begin the process of finding out who they are as a couple, It will also never not be terrifying to see the Shrii Ka Rai Ka Rai
so hungry and desperate.

[Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The issues in this felt incredibly short, but overall it was a fine set of stories. The artwork and the lettering was the real standout in this. The coloring was great too. High Republic Adventures continues to be the strongest all-ages comic run for Star Wars, so if you liked the phase 1 comics, you will like this as well.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phase III of the High Republic begins. It's a year after Starlight Beacon has fallen. Most of the Jedi are scattered or dead. The Nihil have taken over a large portion of this part of the galaxy and they are the only one who can move through it. These five issues are mainly about getting some of the Jedi back into play and finding out what happened to them over the last year. It's all fine.

[Emilee Atkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Zeen and Lula’s romance/force dyad thing they have going, and I was genuinely interested to see how they would deal with that and what it means to Lula in regards to leaving the Order, but why did it have to be amnesia??! Amnesia is never the way to go! I feel like this plot took the easy way out and didn’t do either of these characters justice. Massive bummer.

[Billy Jepma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute, as always, with some splashier art than usual, to boot. There’s even some nice introspection here, which I always appreciate—Older is quite good at making that stuff feel authentic, even if his plotting doesn’t always quite measure up. I did roll my eyes so hard at the amnesia plot point, though, but hey, whatever it takes to get the cute space lesbians together, I guess.

[Books_gang_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Série pro děcka, ale líbí se mi co Daniel José Older s těmi postavami provádí... Kresba od Tolibaa, některý panely bych si opět vystavila... Co si přát

[Nunya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lula - "..."
Zeen - "Lula?"

Lula - "Who the hell is Lula?"

STAR WARS THE HIGH REPUBLIC - WINTER SOLDIER

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ehh. I am just not a fan of the artwork, and I don't care that much about the storyline.

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This read like a YA novel. I was sadly disappointed. I’m not even going to read the other volumes.

[Stronglysalty · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Gabriele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice. A little less plot and ideas than in the previous volumes. Zeen got closer to me here than before. It was worth it.

[em sky-walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let’s go lesbians let’s go!

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really slow-moving prison break storyline. The art was fine.