Star Wars: Out Of The Darkness

by Alex Segura, Phil Noto (Illustrator)

A new era of STAR WARS storytelling at Marvel Comics begins, now delving into the post-RETURN OF THE JEDI ERA and the birth of the New Republic!

While the New Republic begins to build alliances, pirates have been hitting supply routes, creating fresh turmoil in the galaxy. Now Luke Skywalker must go to the depths of the underworld to find out who is behind the deadly raids! Debuting the Nagai pirates plus a whole host of villains that threaten Luke, Leia, Han Solo and the rest of the greatest heroes of STAR WARS!

COLLECTING: Star Wars (2025) 1-6

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Fiction, Science Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 2026

About the author

Alex Segura is the bestselling and award-winning author of Secret Identity, which The New York Times called “wittily original” and named an Editor’s Choice. NPR described the novel as “masterful” and The L.A. Times called it “a magnetic read.”

Secret Identity received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist, was listed as one of the Best Mysteries of the Year by NPR, Kirkus, Booklist, LitReactor, Gizmodo, BOLO Books, and the South Florida Sun Sentinel, was nominated for the Anthony Award for Best Hardcover, the Lefty and Barry Awards for Best Novel, the Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel, and won the LA Times Book Prize in the Mystery/Thriller category.

His upcoming work includes the YA superhero adventure Araña/Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow, the follow-up to Secret Identity, Alter Ego, and the sci-fi/espionage thriller, Dark Space (with Rob Hart). Alex is also the author of Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall, the Anthony Award-nominated Pete Fernandez Miami Mystery series, and a number of comic books – including The Mysterious Micro-Face (in partnership with NPR), The Black Ghost, The Archies, The Dusk, The Awakened, Mara Llave – Keeper of Time, Blood Oath, stories featuring Marvel heroes the Avengers, Sunspot, White Tiger, Spider-Man and DC’s Superman, Sinestro, and The Question, to name a few.

His short story, “90 Miles” was included in The Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories for 2021 and won the Anthony Award for Best Short Story. Another short story,“Red Zone,” won the 2020 Anthony Award for Best Short Story.

Alex is also the co-creator of the Lethal Lit podcast, named one of the best fiction podcasts of 2018 by The New York Times.

A Miami native, he lives in New York with his wife and children.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spent half this volume asking myself, "Am I supposed to know who these people are?" but I suppose I should have read Star Wars: Battle of Jakku first.


The art is mostly good. Mostly.

Still, not the greatest of stories, though "Reyna Oskure" certainly takes the cake for an all-timer goofy Star Wars name.


It's OK, Ree Yees, you're still the champ in my books...

[Connor Stompanato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nov 4th 2025: Issues 1-6 - These issues have a lot going on in for every character, but each problem that the characters are facing come back to the same source which is nice. I've enjoyed meeting the Nagai people including their leader Garlev, that has been really interesting. Leia having her own political battles that then turned into another adventure for her was exciting, especially as I just read 'Bloodline' - it is what her character seems to do best. Having some surprises like old Battle Droids from the Clone Wars popping up was also fun. Also, the art is pretty consistently great throughout each issue which makes for pleasant reading. Overall, great start to the series.

Feb 19th 2026: Issues 7-10 - I decided I wanted to wait for the series to be complete before I read any further. I skimmed issues 1-5 and then reread issue 6 before diving into the final four, which I'm glad I did because I had forgot a lot. I probably should have reread them all but that requires time. The problems of monthly comic releases!

Anyway, I enjoyed this conclusion to the story and I liked how they wrapped in objects and characters who had appeared in the first few issues, it made everything feel cohesive. Rynn Zenat and Beilert Valance were great characters and I'm feeling tempted to go back and reread the 'Battle of Jakku' comics now to refresh my memory on the role that Rynn and Reyna Oskure play in that storyline. Having them continue here does bring more connectivity to the entire New Republic era, which is always a good thing. I will admit I never really felt the stakes of a potential war with the Fenrils (another issue with midquels) and I wish we got to know them better. Arguing that the New Republic are just another Empire is interesting, and I can definitely see their at time semi-forceful persuasions for planets to join them as a bad thing. More could have been explored in this area.

It's also fantastic to see more of Luke at the height of his powers, still young and fresh to the Jedi lifestyle but at a point where he is confident and knows what he is doing. Leia and Mon have some strong political discussions within the story which highlights their skills best. Han is very much an action hero and I like his relationship with Valance, their banter throughout the series was another highlight for me. Overall I found this to be a very enjoyable series to read with some beautiful art, I just wish some story elements had been streamlined a little better because it occasionally toed the line of being convoluted. Also, it has the typical comic book problem of everything getting wrapped up a little too quickly at the end.

You can find all of my 'Star Wars' book and comic reviews here.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4
It's good to see new Big 3 post-ROTJ stories. And the art is excellent. The writing and story itself is decent. They feel a bit provincial. I'm not feeling the weight of it, and I'm not seeing much in terms of character arcs. This is an ongoing Star Wars problem with these characters in particular. But I think it is possible to do. But I am not seeing or feeling that. But I want to be proved wrong. I'm not optimistic. But I'll take decent Star Wars stories.

I'll also add, reading about these characters that I love in younger days... it's all a bit of a bummer for how things turn out. For all of them. None of this feels like it matters. Hard to put that aside.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yawn.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another Alex Segura Star Wars comic and another massive waste of time…which, honestly, should surprise not a single person who had the misfortune to read his previous work in the IP with the God awful Battle of Jakku comic.

Out of the Darkness is marginally (and I mean marginally by the very narrowest definition) better than that one but even then, this is terrible.

The story is disjointed (something about a Jedi crown and the Nagai, and the New Republic on the verge of war…again)The characters are boring. The Nagai are back in canon but do absolutely nothing in terms of originality and honestly could have been replaced with basically any alien species from the vast Star Wars universe. Valence, who’s been back in canon since the equally miserable Bounty Hunters line, is here as well but he just takes up space, doing nothing memorable or exciting. The fifth issue in this collection was ok in that it had a remnant of the separatist droid army taking on Luke, Han, and Valence, but even that seemed to retcon previous established canon when the protagonists find some clone war armor and Han acts like he’s never imagined wearing armor (I guess the whole Death Star rescue from A New Hope never happened?). Of course it all wraps up nicely when that stupid Jedi crown macguffin gets used to save the day and this pointless story is over.

I used to think Jodi Hauser was the worse Star Wars comic author but he’s basically Shakespeare compared to the hack that Alex Segura has turned out to be. Typical Disney drivel here and meanwhile Star Wars comics continue to circle down the toilet.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

6 ABY

This graphic novel is its own collected adventure containing Issues 1-10 of Star Wars (2025): Out of the Darkness, as well as the Free Comic Book Day 2025 short. The story takes place after the fall of the Empire and after a few events with some Empire resistance. Some worlds are reluctant to join the New Republic. They want their independence, but this may instigate a war. Luke aims to stop some pirate raids, learning of an old Jedi relic in the process. Han and Valance hear from an old buddy, leading to an assassination and a whole slew of new issues for the bounty hunters. Behind the scenes, Leia and Mon do what they can to maintain peace and order to the New Republic.

This graphic novel is a fun ride. Great art and the battle sequences and devious scenes are eloquently presented in this artistic medium. The story was okay. I enjoyed the Adelhard arc more, but it is still fun to see what the gang is up to post-Empire. We also have the return of Rynn Zenat, a pilot who works closely with Luke. She is becoming an interesting supporting, or even potentially leading character from the Adelhard arc as the reader gets to see more adventures with her by Luke's side. An overall enjoyable read with some fun Easter eggs for fans across the Star Wars spectrum. Not super impactful, but still fun. While encompassing its own story arc, the troubles the New Republic faces may just be starting..

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was... incredibly messy. It was, at least, less of a mess than Segura's previous New Republic story (Battle of Jakku), but I really wish someone else had been at the helm. Additionally, the art was subpar at times and quite distracting, particularly when it came to main characters. And I've no idea why Valance got dragged into things. He's one of my favourite Legends holdovers, but he just took up space here. The Nagai, unfortunately, are also back (I've never liked them or their storylines, possibly because they were badly written back in the 1980s - still badly written, I guess!). Legends is frequently plundered for the Disney timeline and honestly I'm over it. I want something new.

[morgan ☽ · Rating 2 out of 5]

kind of a mess, and pretty confusing - the artwork was nice though

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

This only gets a second star because of Phil Noto's always excellent artwork. The story is a mess of new characters with little personality and little introduction and same generic sounding names, unclear motives, and over baked politics. It feels like the original trilogy cast in a prequel trilogy movie.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the Battle of Jakku in the rearview mirror, the New Republic tries to move forward, only to find itself drawn into another conflict that stretches far across the galaxy.

I was really excited about finally getting to see the stories that took place between Return of the Jedi and the Force Awakens, but this was just kinda okay. The infant New Republic is dragged in all sorts of directions, and while Alex Segura ties them together decently, it all kind of descends into a series of firefights and people yelling about politics for planets you've never heard of, which makes it difficult to get invested.

All your favourites are here, which is nice - Luke, Leia, and Han are front and centre, as are some hold-overs from the Battle of Jakku like Rynn, and Reyna Oskure. I did enjoy seeing Valance again, thinking he'd fade away again now that Bounty Hunters is over, but he mostly just grunts and lasers people, so he could have been swapped out for literally anyone else.

The artwork's pretty stellar throughout at least. Phil Noto handles the first six issues for a return to the Star Wars world, then Pete Woods, Luke Ross, and Ramon Rosanas (also a Star Wars staple) grab an issue or two each for the back half of the book.

Not bad, but nowhere near the level of what I'd hoped to read.

[Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this one. The plot and the characters never drew me in. Something about it felt so disjointed. The panels never felt fluid nor did the story feel smooth. Also, so much of the dialogue was characters moralizing inorganically that it became tedious.

As someone who read the old Marvel runs, I was intrigued about the inclusion of the Nagai. Sadly, they were basically interchangeable with any other alien species as far as the plot was concerned. Oskure had/has some potential as a villain, but I never felt that potential was achieved. I don't really feel one way or another about Rynn. I was surprised that Bastion was killed so quickly.

The art did have some solid panels that impressed me, but nothing that was absolutely stand-out.

[Christopher Lutz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Throughout the course of this comic, no one’s expression ever changed. Probably because the original heroes of Star Wars were bored out of their minds. This comic was not nearly up to the caliber of storytelling I would expect for an adventure featuring Han, Luke, Leia, and Lando together. The books and comics continue to get second rate treatment and are creatively shackled, unable to tackle any truly significant storylines in the modern Star Wars canon. This might be one of the worst offenders I’ve personally read as it’s a totally no stakes story with forgettable side characters and zero repercussions.

[Travis Whaley · Rating 1 out of 5]

(Read in single issues)

This is truly one of the worst comics I’ve ever read - not just Star Wars, but all comics. They have a wide open space to play in between RotJ and tFA but this is the best we can do?

[Martijn Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the scenes with Leia & Mon and the ones with Han & Balance. The rest is okay, better then The battle of Jakku comic at least.

The character of Rynn Zenat is nowhere near other comic created characters like Aphra or Valance.

[Caleb Bollenbacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought the writing was pretty messy on this (the dialogue especially but also some of the general comic structuring) but overall liked the story; felt very cinematic and Star Wars-y. I’d love to see more stories in this timeline!

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have no feelings.
I am empty.
Two hours of reading and not a single emotion, positive or negative to remember them by.

Indifference is the death of a property.

[Sam Nicholson · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10

[Colin Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly pretty boring, way too low of stakes for it to be this long.