Star Wars: Jedi Knights, Vol. 1: Guardians of the Republic

Star Wars: Jedi Knights (2025)

by Marc Guggenheim, Madibek Musabekov (Illustrator), Luis Guerrero (Colorist)

The guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, the Jedi Knights, star in these new stories featuring characters both familiar and new!

New adventures of the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy: the Jedi Knights! Featuring iconic Jedi like Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Mace Windu alongside never-before-seen Jedi sure to become fan favorites! But who is the mysterious new villain targeting Qui-Gon Jinn?

COLLECTING: Star Wars: Jedi Knights (2025) #1-5 and material from Free Comic Book Day 2025: Star Wars #1.

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Marvel, Comic Book, Fantasy

136 pages, Paperback

Published November 4, 2025

About the author

Marc Guggenheim grew up on Long Island, New York, and earned his law degree from Boston University. After over four years in practice, he left law to pursue a career in television.

Today, Guggenheim is an Emmy Award–winning writer who writes for multiple mediums including television, film, video games, comic books, and new media. His work includes projects for such popular franchises as Percy Jackson, Star Wars, Call of Duty, Star Trek, and Planet of the Apes.

His next book, In Any Lifetime, coming from Lake Union Publishing on August 1st.

Guggenheim currently lives in Encino, California, with his wife, two daughters, and a handful of pets.

Keep up to date on his latest projects with LegalDispatch, a weekly newsletter where he shares news and notes about writing, comics, and the entertainment industry.

Reviews

[Jim C · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a comic collection that is set before The Phantom Menace. This collection is an anthology so there are different stories following the heroics of the Jedi. There is also an underlying plot that ties all these stories together.

I had no idea going into this that this was an anthology comic collection. Personally I believe that comics are not the best avenue to have an anthology. One issue is short as it is and this one issue is suppose to convey a whole story. It hardly works in my eyes. Add in a sub plot that tying in the whole series which we touched upon but never really explored. This collection just felt stream lined. I especially felt this way for the third issue of this collection. It was all action sequences. I believe it had only ten words of dialogue in the issue which resulted me reading it in a couple of seconds. I would have felt ripped off if I was buying these as singles. I do think there is some interesting concepts here and I did like seeing lesser known Jedi in action. I just wish the stories were longer than one issue.

Like I mentioned I am not a fan of an anthology in comics. If I knew that going into it I might have avoided it. Basically this never really had a chance with me. I can see why others enjoy it though. I just need more meat to each story.

[Colton · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.5/10 “Preserving life is never regretful. Whatever the cost may prove to be”.

[Martijn Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn this is nice, favourite new Star Wars series!

[Luke Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant framework for an ongoing series with fantastic art to boot. Guggenheim does well enough playing with action figures here but there’s nothing revolutionary. I’m happy enough that these characters are utilized well in clever one-shots.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4
A really solid book. Good stories. Interesting. Fun.

But they also feel...pointless. Not super important. We maybe learn more details about the lead up to the clone war era. Because we don't have enough of those stories.

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Star Wars has fallen from grace as of late. The sequel trilogy was a let down and many of the Star Wars streaming shows with the exception of Andor & The Mandalorian were terrible. As a longtime fan it is so hard to see the state of things. When the Force Awakens was announced every fan was truly excitied to see what Disney was cooking. Marvel comics had rolled out some of the best Star Wars comics in years. I really loved the return of Luke, Han, & Leia in the comics. We got to see all the stuff I dreamed about leading up to the Empire Strikes Back. Hand down Star Wars: Vader Down was the best Star Wars comic I had read in years. Full disclosure I was not the biggest prequel fan, eventhough I really love Revenge of the Sith & Clone Wars. What that era really brought to Star Wars was lore. Precisely, the jedi lore is what George & Lucasfilm expanded on. Say what you will but to me the Force is the heart of this franchise. The philosophy, the lightsabers & the Force have always captivated me. Their are so many Jedi in this era that could be spun off into there own movies. From Obi-Wan to Qui Gon to Mace Windu, these characters are so interesting. That leads us to this collection of prequel tales about the Jedi Knights. Marc Guggenheim is on writing duty in this book and does an okay job with the Jedi we love & know. Ultimately this book comes down to if this feels like the prequel universe we have come to know. Guggeheim handles the several throw awy plots pretty good, however I felt at times that he was not treading any new ground. I mean the inclusion of trade route disputes is practically ripped out of the first 15minutes of the Phantom Menace. The Jedi are called to mediate a conflict between two governments, one is an antagonist, and in short the Jedi have to force negotiation. I was just looking for something a bit different. I admit the story about Dooku towards the end of the book was worth the read. Guggeheim did a great job getting us into the inner conflict of the former Jedi. I am not familiar with the artist but I feel they did a stellar job. The book looks great. If you are a looking for a fun quick Star Wars comic in the prequel era this is not bad. Here are few Marvel Star Wars books I did enjoy as well: Star Wars, Vol. 1: Skywalker Strikes, Star Wars: Kanan, Vol. 1: The Last Padawan, Star Wars: Vader Down, &Star Wars: Age of Rebellion.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 1, set several years before The Phantom Menace.
A series of adventures sees Jedi such as Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu and Yoda helping to mediate a conflict between two worlds, investigate a mysterious assassin, rescue Senator Bail Organa and track down the master thief Phaedra.

Until this book, it hadn't occurred to me how weird it is that Marvel have barely touched the Prequel Era since getting the Star Wars licence back. But it also occurred to me that one good thing about them not doing so means that it doesn't have to face comparison with Dark Horse's iconic run of comics from the early 2000s.
Where Dark Horse tried to explore new areas of the Star Wars galaxy and tell in-depth stories about lesser-known Jedi (the now-famous likes of Ki-Adi-Mundi and Quinlan Vos), Marvel have opted for a far less nuanced approach.

The collection of stories here are all perfectly fine but are also pretty unremarkable and unoriginal, attempting to skate by on the fact that they have famous faces from the movies in them. It's an ongoing problem with many of Marvel's Star Wars stories that they seem terrified of telling any tales that are actually significant to the Star Wars galaxy, always opting for take-it-or-leave-it tales that, whilst enjoyable enough, are totally skippable.

There were three stand-out elements to this book, however; two good and one bad.
The first good element was the inclusion of Atha Prime, a deepcut lore reference, that I hope to see developed in later books.
The second was an appearance by Padawan Tensu Run, who, as a Jedi Knight, proves a foil for the Inquisitorius in Rodney Barnes' 'Inquisitors', and whose inclusion here helps to add a cohesiveness to the larger Disney canon which is often lacking.

The stand-out bad element here is the inclusion of Count Dooku. It's not so much that I object to his being in the book, as it is that he's a) still using his lightsaber with the tacit approval of the Jedi and b) very clearly already villainous. The fact that he turns out to be a Sith Lord is supposed to be a total shock to the Jedi, who don't believe murder is part of his character, but here they see him firmly on that path already. It's a lazy cameo that's more focused on featuring Dooku on a comic book cover than in justifying his role in the story.

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

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

40-34 BBY

This graphic novel collects the first five issues of a new series set during the Republic era, before the fall of the Jedi. The various issues seemingly follow their own individual story line with various Jedi sent on certain peace or rescue missions. While each issue has its own sort of mission, there is an overarching story going on with Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, his training, and the potential visions he has that may alter the choices he makes. Some missions include stopping two groups from warring, saving a senator, and brokering peace between trade companies ending up in a battle against a crime syndicate (to name a few).

I thoroughly enjoy the artwork in this one, and there are some nice battle sequences that just flow very well on the page. It is fun to see Jedi like Qui-gon, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Yaddle before the events of The Phantom Menace. It is also nice to see some of Qui-gon’s (and Yoda’s) training of Obi-wan. There are also some new Jedi added into the mix that are fun to get to know, but not offered enough page time to truly admire them just yet. I also enjoy seeing Dooku after he leaves the order, with hints to the dark side that others do not yet know of. A fun collection to read!

[Zuze29 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can easily admit 'Star Wars: Jedi Knights Vol. 1' dosen't add anything significant to the canon, but for this era I do not believe it has to. Disney has a several decade gap vacant prior to 'The Phantom Menace', now only occupied by a few lone comics and three novels, yet nothing significant in terms of actual events.

Since we know no Sith or major wars dominated this era, authors are free to chuck in as many quick and fun adventures as they want. Even after 'The Living Force', the members of the Jedi High Council are in dire need of media. Marc Guggenheim rewards us with just that. A collection of action-packed Jedi adventures, with a few neat references and connections sprinkled throughout. Thanks to characterisation being on-point and the plots engaging, I thoroughly enjoyed this read, and I suspect the same of volume two.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine. Some of the arcs are currently unfinished. It reads like a bunch of short stories with a few occassionally connecting threads. There were some fun moments. The art is solid. The action sequences are clear and easy to follow. The script is inconsistent for Yoda's speech pattern, and Dooku appears to be working for the Sith some time before either Legends or previously established Disney era Canon have him working for the Sith. I thought the point of discontinuing the old EU was to have a consistent story and timeline across all artistic mediums, and yet the Disney era is starting to have as many differing elements as Legends. At least this was fun if not entirely original. Not enough Obi-wan Kenobi though, and why is he now into Visions and not Qui-gonn? I might read the next volume to learn why an assassin is after Qui-gonn, and what the deal with those rent-a-Xenomorphs are.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, this reminded me of how much I miss the Tales comic series. These all mostly exist as a series of one-offs tied partly together by a first-issue force vision from Obi-Wan. A surprising number of characters from the last few years of Marvel Star Wars make appearances here and some old canon content is brought into the new canon for the first time. Unfortunately, the result is that little here feels of consequence and everything feels fairly hurried. If they ran 3-4 more collections like this that circled back around to all the core characters, that could be compelling. But right now, it just sort of feels like a bunch of disparate short story ideas with some fairly neat visuals and inconsistent writing for Yoda’s voice (several really long sentences with no inversions, what are we doing?!).

[Shaun Stanley]

3.5 rounded down to 3⭐️

Star Wars: Jedi Knights Vol. 1 Guardians of the Republic collects issues 1-5 of the Marvel Comics series written by Mark Guggenheim, illustrated by Madibek Musabekov, and colors by Luis Guerrero.

Set before the events of the Phantom Menace, Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi is learning the abilities to see the future from Jedi Master Yoda when he experiences multiple dark vision including the death of his master by an unknown foe.

This series is structured where each issue tackles one of the visions that Obi-Wan sees. It’s an interesting mechanic that allows many self-contained issues featuring a large cast of characters that connect to a larger story. I thought these were all mostly goo stories but nothing earth shattering here. But I will read anything that features my girl Yaddle.

[Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really strong start to this series. The first issue was phenomenal, and the second issue was great. Really those first two issues made me wish the series was serialized instead of an anthology. I could always use more Qui-Gon, young Obi-Wan, Mace Windu, etc. The plot where someone is hunting Qui-Gon is interesting and I want to know more about it.

Unfortunately, the latter 3 issues don't reach the heights of the first two, but they are still solid. I think issue #3 is the weak link. It felt like they just needed a quick filler story and threw together a random mission where Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan fight a Kaiju. That being said, the artwork throughout the book was great.

I definitely would recommend this to fans of the prequels. Excited to read more of the series.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

A flawed but sort of entertaining collection. No single issue is exceptional. In the first, the artist has apparently never seen a picture of Liam Neeson. In the second ripping off Aliens is confused with a plot. The third is more the outline of a plot than a real comic. The fourth tries to get clever but never establishes the antagonist enough to do so believably. The fifth is the best of the bunch, and therefore out of place with the rest. At least non of them is overtly offensive, which must be considered a win nowadays.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each issue focuses on a different story, with a different team of Jedi (though Qu-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi show up fairly frequently). Interesting idea, but some of these stories are kind of blah (the Kaiju) and others clearly need more than one issue. There's a mysterious assassin working in the background and after Jinn, but that's really the only connective tissue here so far. The art is decent throughout.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set a few years before Phantom Menace. This is functionally an anthology. There's something of a throughline, with Qui-Gon getting stalked by an antagonist he doesn't seem to know, but each issue is a standalone. And they're solid stories. I like that the book doesn't solely focus on Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Yoda, though of course they're the stars.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories are okay, but they feel both flat and frenetic at the same time. The Jedi also don't seem to be very... Jedi-like, which can be excused when it's someone like Qui-Gon - but not every single one of them. Also I still really dislike Tensu Run and would rather he be forgotten.

[Joseph Andress · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting a bit of a more focused story, but I nevertheless appreciated getting to spend some time with so many familiar and not so familiar Jedi. I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for the second volume.

[Steve Howells · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read about some Jedi's we know and others we have not met before.

There even was a secondary Yoda type Jedi. There are also some old familiar faces and some wookies.

A cool read if your a Star Wars fan.

[Nate Tranell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing crazy when it comes to the story, but the art is spectacular, and it’s so much fun to spend a little more time with these iconic Jedi.

In this volume in particular, there’s a spotlight on Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Shaak Ti, and Yaddle — and some cool new villains like Atha Prime!

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Id give this 3 and a half stars because it was really fun to read and the new characters were awesome but I feel like the story wasn’t that strong, nevertheless it was action packed and the art style was great. Id recommend to star wars fans and people into comics full of action and fighting.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable anthology tales with an overarching thread.

[Chris Lienard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great backstory...setting up what we all know is coming♡

[Jerome Livsey-Herd · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars, basically a bunch of one off stories, but with somewhat of an overarching story. Nice to see something from Star Wars that's not directly connected to the Skywalkers.

[Roelofsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five short stories about the jedi before the Phantom Menace. The stories are nice and look amazing but they could have been longer. 3.5/5

[Charlocked (Bookish-Charlie) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order era !
Food for our thoughts about what's going on...