WITH BEN SOLO’S FALL… COMES KYLO REN’S RISE! Young Ben Solo is legendary Jedi Luke Skywalker’s most promising pupil. As the son of Rebel Alliance heroes Leia Organa and Han Solo, as well as Luke’s own nephew, Ben has the potential to be a great force for light in the galaxy. But the Skywalker legacy casts a long shadow, the currents of the dark side run deep, and Darth Vader’s blood runs in Ben’s veins. Voices call from both his past and his future, telling him who he must be. He will shatter, he will be reforged, his destiny will be revealed. Snoke awaits. The Knights of Ren await. Ben Solo’s path to his true self begins here.
Charles Soule is a #1 New York Times-bestselling novelist, comics author, screenwriter, musician, and lapsed attorney. He has written some of the most prominent stories of the last decade for Marvel, DC and Lucasfilm in addition to his own work, such as his comics Curse Words, Letter 44 and Undiscovered Country, and his original novels Light of the Jedi, The Endless Vessel, The Oracle Year and Anyone. He lives in New York.
I had written a lengthy review of this comic the day it came out, but I guess it didn’t post for some reason.
Anyway, I don’t have the energy to type all of my thoughts again because the past 19 days since The Rise of Skywalker have felt like 19 horribly long years. There’s been plenty of discourse and character analysis regarding Ben Solo on Twitter and Tumblr for years (and tons more post-TROS), if you’re interested in that sort of thing.
Given the ultimate fate of Ben Solo, this comic feels moot. Not only that, it feels cruel. It’s rubbing salt in a very raw wound. I have believed in Bendemption since the first film in 2015, and I always saw the incredibly sad, lonely man beneath the Kylo Ren persona (as did most women). To now witness the source of this character’s sadness and have it confirmed in the comics and EU that Palpatine had been manipulating Ben since he was in the womb is absolutely heartbreaking. I’ll never understand Disney’s decision to do him so dirty. The story group would never.
This is the first of a long awaited story of how Ben Solo fell to the Dark Side and became Kylo Ren. This kind of story should have been an adult novel similar to Darth Plagueis or Path of Destruction (the rise of Darth Bane) and written by James Luceno, Paul S Kemp or Drew Karpyshyn. The comic should've come after the book, not before. That being said, this first edition doesn't say much, beginning at the burning of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Training Temple. The cover and artwork are beautiful, too Mitch and look just like the actors, which I always love. It will be interesting to see what occurs. For me personally, the first Darth Vader comics were superb and hard to beat.
Well, I was not emotionally prepared for how much that would hurt me. That really broke my heart into a million tiny pieces. Besides the fact I’m crying right now, this really explained a lot of gaps between the Jedi temple and Ben becoming Kylo Ren and I’m really intrigued to continue on with this because it was really good. The art was also incredible, and I’m really excited to read more about Kylo Ren/Ben Solo because he was the only character in the new sequels that I can confidently say I love with my whole heart
Good start to the series. We do know this part, but we are also seeing the fall, the struggle. The need to not kill all those around him. If only his mother was around more-- I believe with her Jedi strength she could've stopped this chain of events.
I'm reading this series to fill-in some of the narrative gaps about Ben Solo / Kylo Ren from the movies. This one begins with Ben using the Force to destroy the residence huts outside his uncle Luke's Jedi Temple. (A different conclusion is reached about the destruction of the Temple itself, which I found surprising, but I won't spoil anything here.)
The narrative arcs of Ben, Luke, and Snoke are all very compelling, which is why I picked-up this comic to begin with. However, this issue focuses inordinately on three other Jedi student characters that Soule, the writer, added specifically for the series. While I'm not opposed to new characters, I bought this book to read about Ben and Luke, NOT some trio of padawans I don't care to remember. I would be less opposed if their story took up a page or two; instead, their story takes up at least half of the book.
The OTHER half of the material is great and gives the series a splendid kickoff, so it's a worthwhile read despite its flaws.
As I sit and type this, at work, I am wearing my work badge...that is dangling from a Kylo Ren lanyard...so yea...Ben Solo is obvs one of my top intergalactic guys 😍 Plus The Knights Of Ren are just super cool and we absolutely did not get enough of them! Needless to say, I am thrilled with this story. I am always ready for anything in the way of Kylo's backstory that they wanna throw my way. Give it all to me. I need it. I want more! I'm very intrigued by what we got, so far, with this story. My vote is, all the thumbs up! Go grab up a copy!
This issue was a great beginning, but didn't reveal anything beyond what we already knew. I'm looking forward to learning more about this beloved character
Este fue otro meh, no fue lo mejor del mundo pero deja muchas dudas interesantes sobre entonces que paso realmente en el templo de Luke, que pasará en la tercera temporada de El Mandalorian y otras cosas que simplemente llaman la atención.
Pero recuerdas las últimas dos películas y siento que este cómic no aporta mucho.
A solid start for a Kylo Ren prequel that introduces the Knights of Ren and reveals that, yes, young Ben Solo did have friends. If there's one thing that still feels super weird to me, both in the movies and the comics, it's the way that Ben is consistently written as if he were a child. He's a grown man in his mid-twenties. I can't help but feel that they writers do this in order to try to justify Kylo's actions.
3.5/5 Stars: Ben Solo was always the most interesting character of the new trilogy for me, and I've always wanted more of his backstory. It would have been great to include this in the movies, but I guess I can settle for comic form 😊 This was a pretty cool look into what happened with Ben that night at the Jedi Temple. I'm definitely looking forward for the next issues!
since the tragic end of Ben solo in TROS and I want more of him. I'm afraid this series will make me angrier about what happened to him, whatever he had been through it will not justify the ending. I think this series will make us look at him as he is, a boy.
Oh man, if this first issue selling out and now into its fourth printing doesn't spell the bad that keeps knocking Disney into the grave they dug for themselves, I don't know what is. I mean this in the best way possible- for this comic that is. I do have to say screw Disney. And yes, they did publish this since they own Marvel in a way now. With how they handled The Rise of Skywalker, everything after it with fans, and now giving us this amazing comic about Ben Solo. Well, lets just say that fans were done dirty. The worst actually.
But, lets talk about this first issue of The Rise of Kylo Ren. ugh, my baby boy Ben. As we know from the Star Wars movies, Ben Solo did not kill Luke that night the Jedi temple fell. He also didn't kill any of the students that night either, that was all Snoke. Snoke by the way, mentally abused and manipulated Ben from such a young vulnerable age. Because even when the temple fell that night and Ben was faced with other students who were off world at the time of the downfall of the temple, he hesitated. He did not attack to kill, only to stop them from following him.
Snoke on the other hand, he has Ben come to him and then hugs him. That is the creepiest thing I have ever seen in all my reading. Which I have to say, is saying something big. But, Snoke acts like a friend to Ben and seeming human in a way we have never seen him in the movie series. He's living on a very green filled planet and is not all doom and gloom yet. I going to say this is all an act, just to get Ben and turn him fully to the dark side. Making him not think of it as the evil side, just a different one. This is where we see what should have been. Ben Solo and Rey should have been force users of the grey. Instead of either light or dark-no absolutes.
There is still good in him, there always will be. As we can see from just this first issue, Ben Solo was never fully turned to the dark side. He was always pulled toward both, never fitting in. Never not having the Snoke (and later as we find out-Palp, in his head pretending to be others who want to guide him to his path and love him). I just want more young Ben Solo, this great art that captures him and his shadow journey so well.
Favorite quote(s):
The Ren doesn't stop to worry about what it's burning or the right or wrong of it, or the goals it might achieve. The Ren just is. it lives, and it consumes, and it doesn't apologize. it it it's nature and nothing else.
I told you Ben wouldn't hurt us. He's not a murderer.
Let's be honest here, Kylo Ren aka the real Ben Solo has always been the dumpster fire trash child who never got a real shot and who very rarely gets a real look from me. I didn't read any of his comics/books/anything beyond the movies and basic book adaptations of said movies. In fact, I'm more of a Rey fan so anything I come up with expect the bias of someone who is vastly disappointed in the full character arc of one Ben Solo.
This 1st comic starts off with right after the Jedi Temple is burned down by Ben Solo who has just "killed" Luke Skywalker (Bitch you are soo lucky that wasn't the case cause otherwise those movies would've sucked) but did kill most of the Jedi that Luke had been teaching. These 3 random Jedi return from a mission and attempt to capture Ben who escapes and goes to Snoke (I forgot he existed and then sighed when they said his name in the comic).
I got small snippets of it but Ben was the "prize student" an actual Force legend who has all the power of a Skywalker, the calm of an Organa, and the flying skill of a Solo and Skywalker. Basically he was the next big thing who went dark, just like someone else we know *cough* Anakin *cough*
Am I happy with his character arc? No. I don't get how he wasn't protected more by his parents and his uncle, he was literally the ONLY CHILD of that legendary group and you guys had one fucking job. And you failed. So I'm reading this comic and getting annoyed with the originals all over again. So far the artwork is great, the author wants readers to feel sorry for Ben I imagine but all I feel is exhausted from the Skywalkers being the biggest Drama Queens in the Galaxy Part II.
One fucking job Luke.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Farò la recensione pure della raccolta in generale, ma anche dei quattro numeri singolarmente, quindi eccoci qui con la recensione del primo. 5 stelline anche se è solo l'inizio ? SI . iniziamo subito con un flashback dei Knights of Ren, che spero vengano spiegati e approfonditi in questa miniserie ( perché in Episodio IX sono stati sprecati ), per poi andare dal nostro caro protagonista dopo l'esplosione del tempio ( di cui già si sapeva, lui non era l'artefice ), questo è un momento molto importante nella vita di Ben, il tradimento dello zio e il pensiero che anche sua madre pensi lo stesso di lui ( anche se non è così ). Questa scena viene arricchita da tre compagni Padawan tra cui Tai, che conosciamo come il migliore amico, quasi fratello di Ben, che ho apprezzato subito perchè crede in Ben e lo supporta pensando che stia succedendo qualcosa di orribile, e qui ci colleghiamo alla fine del primo volume, quando Ben arriva da Snoke , che già da piccolo lo tormentava e influenzava, adesso portandolo da lui per iniziare il percorso come suo allievo. PS= tutto molto bello ma io odio Snoke con tutto il cuore per ciò che ha fatto passare a Ben, il mio unico sollievo è sapere cosa succede in "The Last Jedi"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
In the wake of the last issue of this series coming out today, I'm finally taking my time to review each issue properly here.
Anyone who knows me just knows how much Ben Solo means to me. Ever since 2015, when The Force Awakens came out, this particular character became my favorite fictional character ever. I guess I don't have to write down how shattered and furious I still am with the way they treated him in the last film in the trilogy.
Enter this comic book series beautifully written by Charles Soule, where they give us the full picture of what went down in the Jedi Temple long before the events in the sequel trilogy. Soule's understanding of this character is heart-warming and every decision he made felt like the right one to make. As a fan of Ben Solo, as someone who had wanted this story to be published in one way or another, The Rise of Kylo Ren #1 feels like a dream come true.
Am I missing something? Because I wasn't super impressed with this first issue. It drops you right in the middle of things without much context. I really think that this story should have been a novel, because I don't know these new padawans that well and have no idea how Snoke and Kylo got in contact before this. We see a bit more of Snoke with long brown hair and some sort of garden, but I still don't know what the heck is going on with him. The destruction of the temple seems to suggest a different cause from what we may have assumed, but again, since this isn't in prose form, I am not quite sure. I'm also not really impressed with what "Ren" seems to mean, though I suppose it's better than assuming Ben simply changed the first letter of his name. Maybe the rest of this miniseries will improve stuff, but I really wish we could've gotten this whole story before The Rise of Skywalker.
I'm not particulary fond of comics, but I really love Star Wars and the character of Ben Solo/Kylo Ren, so I was really curious to know what happened to him in order to Kylo Ren to appear. Since the movies failed to explain this to us (thanks, guys), I decided to read the comic.
Best decision ever.
I really liked it and made me feel the thrill I experience whenever I watch a Star Wars movie. Still I wish Abrams and Johnson would have showed this to us in film format, but I'm happy these comics exists. Who knows? Maybe I discovered a new format that I like.
I loved the characters of the three classmates of Ben, how they feel about him and his story, and I cannot wait to see what the story has in store for them.
Really excited to dig into this story - however, the art really took me out of it. I had a whole thing typed out, but it was rant-y and, perhaps, overkill. I'll just say it's unfortunate that so much of Marvel's "Star Wars" output looks, visually, nothing like "Star Wars" - especially since the aesthetic is so much a part of the magic.
All of the "Art of Star Wars..." books explore the painstaking but wholehearted work that goes into making sure that anything and everything that ends up in the films looks like it belongs in the films. I wish similar care was given to the graphic novels as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Books, or comics, that give backstory on characters are some of my favorites. This first installment in the series about Kylo Ten was fantastic.
The book begins with Ren, the Knights Master, recruiting two young men. Then we cut to Ben and the destruction of Luke's Temple. Three Jedi were off planet, and returned as the Temple was burning. They confronted Ben as he escaped. We then bounce back and forth from Ben's training as a Jedi, to him meeting Snoke and the Knights of Ren.
It's interesting to see Ben's change from a Jedi student to a Sith acolyte. One thing I really found interesting was, in every scene where Ben was talking to the voice (that we now know is Palpatine), Luke never sensed it. Luke being as powerful as he was, I honestly find it hard to believe that he never would have sensed anything. Especially since, based on the illustrations, Ben heard the voice from a time when he was rather young.
The illustrations were spectacular, vivid and wonderful in terms of bringing the story to life.
The dark deep dive behind Kylo Ren I've always wanted. - 5 out of 5 stars.
And, it's just getting started.
This whole band of misfits known as the Knights of Ren, with (go figure) Ren as their leader really is giving me a Dark Side Band of the Hawk (Berserk) vibes. Love it.
It's great to see more Snoke as well, even if it was short and sweet. This character (Snoke) is really missing a lot of backstory and is quite a mystery overall (which in recent news (Q4 - 2022) there was some more details on him released ()... but yeah, this a great start.
Review is of the paper edition. For some reason, Goodreads doesn't seem to think that paper editions exist.
It's an interesting start to the series, starting with a brief look at the Knights of Ren, then we cut to the aftermath of the scene, glimpsed in The Last Jedi, where Ben destroyed Luke's training temple. I thought we'd get a bit more background to that, but it looks like that will happen in the next issue. But it's a solid start. On to issue 2...
After all this time, we finally get to see the origin story of Kylo Ren. In addition, we get to see more of Supreme Leader Snoke's background and his relationship with Ben Solo. Also, we get to have a deeper understanding of the Knights of Ren such as who they are and what their dark side ideology is. I am already eager for the next chapter.