Star Wars: Emissaries to Malastare

Star Wars: Republic #3

by Timothy Truman, Tom Lyle, Robert Jones

In a time after the events of Episode I -- The Phantom Menace, half of the Jedi High Council travel to the exotic world of Malastare to negotiate a peace treaty between two of that planets warring factions. But the whole affair is being manipulated by a secret, third party out to assassinate the Jedi! Add in the fact that Malastare is one of the few planets to allow the dangerous sport of Pod-Racing and you can be sure that the Jedi are in for some extreme action! This story features many familiar characters from The Phantom Menace and continues the ongoing adventures that bridge the gap between Episodes I & II!

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

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 3, 2001

About the author

Timothy Truman is an American writer, artist and musician. He is best known for his stories and Wild West-style comic book art, and in particular, for his work on Grimjack (with John Ostrander), Scout, and the reinvention of Jonah Hex, with Joe R. Lansdale. Truman is currently writing Conan and is an instructor at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
Truman's first professional comics work was Grimjack with writer John Ostrander, for the independent comics company First Comics. Grimjack first appeared in Starslayer #10 in November 1983, before moving to his own series after issue #18 in 1984, and continued for 81 issues. Along with being a fan favorite and often imitated character, Grimjack almost single-handedly defined the "grim and gritty" action comic character archetype.
Truman has been continuously creative for more than 20 years, displaying his pulp sensitivities in his writing. In 1985, he created Scout, which was followed by Scout: War Shaman, a futuristic western. A year later, he relaunched the Hillman characters Airboy and The Heap for Eclipse Comics. He also developed The Prowler, a Shadow type character, and adapted The Spider for Eclipse. In 1991, at DC Comics he created Hawkworld, a reinvention of Hawkman. With author Joe R. Lansdale, he reinterpreted Jonah Hex as a horror western. In it, their creation of villain Edgar Autumn elicited a complaint from musician Edgar Winter. With his son, Benjamin Truman, he created A Man Named Hawken.
Truman was chosen by Dark Horse Comics to illustrate a newly completed Tarzan novel and wrote a story arc for the comic book. He also wrote virtually the entire run of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter for Valiant Comics, after David Michelinie launched the book with its first three-issue story arc and subsequently departed the series. For the defunct SF imprint of DC, Helix, he created The Black Lamb. He also worked on a typical pulp adventure Guns of the Dragon, featuring Enemy Ace and Bat Lash; and wrote Star Wars at Dark Horse Comics. While at Dark Horse Comics, he took over the writing of Conan from Kurt Busiek in 2006, and after that series ended he started Conan The Cimmerian.
Truman's startling work, Simon Girty, Renegade was a two-volume black and white graphic novel that translated the horrors and triumphs of the American settler's western frontier in a fresh, interesting light. In bold, black and white use of positive and negative space, Truman appealed to both young and old audiences in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. It was especially important for West Virginians that had been struggling against novelist Zane Grey's portrayal of Lewis Wetzel in an overly romanticized, florid light. Truman himself is an avid historian who dislikes nothing more than to see a drawing of a war using the wrong weaponry, and the second volume of his two-volume series on Simon Girty was devoted to the errors caught in his first volume.
Tecumseh! a graphic novel based on the West Virginia Outdoor Theater, is a colored graphic novel that shows the play from beginning to end. It renewed interest in the warrior in Appalachia. When asked why he used "Tecumseh" instead of "Tecumtheh" he explained he didn't want to explain to the mainstream audience the variance in spelling — the movement on pronunciation began with General William Tecumseh Sherman who came from a family that wanted to commemorate the warrior, but felt the lisping "Tecumtheh" would be unmanly.

Reviews

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in 31BBY

Depa Billaba and Mace Windu going on a mission!

“Worlds are vast, yet they fit easily into one’s heart.” - Ki Adi Mundi

I liked the adventure, fun story, great artwork and interesting seeing Kanan's master's earlier adventures. It's a Star Wars story alright, but nothing to get too excited about and nothing that's a must read. Just a Mace Windu adventure.

“All walls hold dangers.” - Plo Koon

What was nice besides seeing Billaba and getting to know her a bit better (even though there's not really time for any character development) was the fact that we have another nice appearance from Quinlan Vox which for me, reading now chronologically everything was a nice surprise and it's pretty much his first appearance (second if you count his one scene glimpse in the film).

“I kept these scars to remind me of the eight that fought in the throne room that day. Six died. Only one being walked out. The other ran.” - Even Piell

[Jared · Rating 2 out of 5]

Star Wars Legends Project #73

Background: Republic: Emissaries to Malastare was released in 6 issues from December 1999 to May 2000. The trade paperback came out in September of 2001. It was written by Timothy Truman and drawn by Tom Lyle, Jan Duursema, and John Nadeau. Truman wrote a number of issues in the Republic series, as well as a ton of Conan comics (among a variety of other work). Lyle did the first four issues of this storyline, his only Star Wars work. He is best known for his work with DC on Starman and Robin, and for his work with Marvel on Spider-Man. Duursema, in addition to working on most of the issues of Republic (including part of 4 in this run), also drew almost the entirety of the Legacy series, and all of the Dawn of the Jedi series (and various other things). She has also drawn for a number of different DC and Marvel series, particularly X-Men. Nadeau did the 5th and 6th issues of this series. He also drew for 4 of the Rogue Squadron storylines, and various other things. Almost all of his comic work has been Star Wars.

Emissaries to Malastare is set not long after Star Wars: Outlander (Star Wars (my review, 32 years before the Battle of Yavin. Ki-Adi-Mundi still features heavily, along with his new padawan, the Tusken A'Sharad Hett. However, partway through, Jedi Master Mace Windu takes center-stage. Along for the ride are Adi Gallia, Even Piell, Plo Koon, Yaddle, and Depa Billaba. The story also features several of the podracers from the Boonta Eve Classic in The Phantom Menace, most notably Sebulba, introduces Quinlan Vos, and reintroduces the Devaronian scoundrel Vilmarh Grahrk. Most of the story takes place on Malastare and Nar Shaddaa.

Summary: After a long and bitter struggle, the terrorists of the Red Iaro have suggested an interest in making peace with the rulers of Lannik, home planet of Jedi Master Even Piell. The Gran Protectorate has offered Malastare as a neutral ground for the peace talks, and newly-elected Chancellor Palpatine has asked that the Jedi Council preside over the sensitive proceedings. The Jedi arrive to find the planet crowded with fans anxious to attend a major podrace, and soon suspect that the Gran, as usual, have ulterior motives that could threaten the offer of peace, and maybe the Jedi themselves.

Review: Well, this story started off promisingly enough, with some great interaction between Ki and A'Sharad as they continue his training at the Jedi Temple, and even a pretty fun cameo from new padawan Anakin Skywalker when the topic of podracing first comes up. It takes awhile to really get going, and there's some general weirdness, but I did not expect the slow, painful slide into absurdity that happened in the final half.

That wouldn't really matter if I liked the characters more. There are a lot (a lot) of characters in this story that I really want to like, but I feel like I'm doing all of the work. Maybe it's because there are just too many of them, but again the Jedi end up feeling bland and flat and kind of annoying with their dime-store philosophizing. Tossing in some out-of-character quips every few pages just isn't enough to dilute that or make them "fun." I still really like A'Sharad as a character, and he's probably the best character here, but he's not very important to the main goings-on of this particular story, and so he's only really developed so far. I hope to see more of him soon.

Unfortunately, since the really lousy stuff happens close to the end, I don't want to go into a huge amount of detail about it. There's a lot of nonsensical stuff happening, some of which is outright self-contradictory within the story itself. A few of these things are entertaining enough that it's not a big deal . . . Like when the Jedi fly through the middle of the ongoing podrace and end up tangling with Sebulba. But there are some real head-scratchers here, too, like why the Jedi diplomats are so incredibly bad at diplomacy. And why did the Jedi send one lone Knight to stop an army of Tusken Raiders in the last story, but they send half of the council to handle peace negotiations in neutral territory here? I do make some effort not to think too hard about these things (although I resent it), but it's just impossible not to notice some things.

Where the whole thing really slides into incoherence, though, is when it pivots in probably the clumsiest transition I've ever seen into a totally different story for the last 2 issues, while trying to pretend like it's really a continuation of the previous story . . . even though it leaves that whole business completely dangling to follow up on an obvious red herring. And then the same thing happens at the conclusion of that arc, too! The Jedi seem to think they've resolved something or figured things out, when it's totally obvious they haven't done anything of the kind, they still have no idea what's going on, and the real bad guys that they were after are still very much around. Even the bad guys they catch the apparently don't bother to deal with. It's baffling and really annoying.

D+

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty dull stuff. Incoherent wishy-wash mess with no sense of focus or dialogue. Some nice art in the pod race sequences but never really got my pulse racing. The only part I liked was the foreshadowing of Quinlan Vos in future storylines and that was about one page. Extra star because the art is of a decent quality. Timothy Truman just doesn't have the heart for Star Wars it seems.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once again they are playing musical artists, and some are better than others. The faces in particular can be inconsistent and inaccurate. It was nice spreading the action to more of the Jedi Council, but overall the story was just okay. I'm still amazed at how hard they are pushing the Jedi's ties to their homeworlds. Also - occasionally they will go for a joke I just can't believe they made. First it was Ki-Adi-Mundi being worried about people making fun of his head, and now it's Depa Billaba making a bald joke about Mace Windu. (Side note: I love Depa Billaba.) Also, why can't Mace Windu say the name of his home planet??

It was odd that the main storyline wrapped up in 4 issues and then the last 2 were z completely different story. I'm looking forward to the next story, which focuses on Quinlan Vos.

[Roz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm confused as to why half of the Jedi Council was needed to help with these negotiations. And the last two installments didn't even feel properly connected to the rest of the story line. Plus, like we even needed more proof that the Jedi Order did absolutely fuck all to address slavery in the galaxy. They came across at least two different sets of slaves in this arc alone that were just ignored/accepted as business as usual rather than freed and helped to reintegrate. All-in-all, not a particularly impressive story arc.

[Cloudy · Rating 3 out of 5]

EU Comics #3

In this arc of Dark Horse's Star Wars, the Jedi are off to Malastare. The plot isn't the best but the art is great and it includes the very thing that introduced me to Star Wars in the first place - podracing!
It's fun to see Sebulba, Aldar Beedo, Teemto and all those characters I grew up with playing the video game. In fact, for me, the Jedi story is probably the weakest part of this arc.

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a mess. Full of empty Jedi mantras, and some pseudo-religious thing that felt like walking into the middle of someone's prayer group, there was a tale here somewhere, but there was little effort made in telling it. Nothing is achieved, nothing happens and the secondary mission also does nothing of note, though there is a cool thing learned about Hutt physiology. The artwork was good, though.

[Timo · Rating 1 out of 5]

This picks up things right after the previous Star Wars thing I read and liked. This one also proves how uneven Star Wars comics are. Previous one, gold, this one, poop.
I could not find anything good from this one. Boring story that did not make any sense and crappy art.

[Dimitra · Rating 2 out of 5]

"All who live possess the keys to darkness! Anyone can follow the path of fear to the gate of anger, and find it an easy march to the house called hatred!"

[angelofmine1974 · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/VpQZBpinKrg

Enjoy!

[Zachary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good story, but I felt it got less interesting after the second half.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even Piell and several other Jedi head to Malastare to broker a treaty between two factions of Even Piell's species.

[☆ ana ☆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐

não muda muito em relação ao último volume em questão de qualidade, só achei a trama meio jogada e aleatória, o ponto forte foi as interações entre os outros jedi.

(muito fofinho o anakin e o a'sharad no início, também fiquei chocada com a aparição de alguns personagens que eu pensei que fossem originais de TCW. adorei a parte final com o mace e a depa, muito bom ver eles naturalmente dps de ler shatterpoint, e finalmente o quinlan apareceu!!!)

[Bane Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0/5

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

December 13 2019: When I set out to reread this series, hoping to find a solid portrayal of what the Jedi actually did before the Clone Wars, this was the main storyline I had in mind. And it basically answered my question: the Jedi go to Malastare to arbite a peace deal between a planetary monarchy and a rebel faction. That's the sort of thing they normally do. Except, of course, that's a pretty misleading depiction of what actually happens in this series. Negotiation is here, as it is in The Phantom Menace, a mere fig-leaf for going to a place and waiting for the bad guys to try to kill you, thus revealing their criminal conspiracy, doing some crazy acrobatics, then arresting the leaders and likely murdering the henchmen. This volume is no different than the previous two, where every question of ethical or political complexity is preempted by the reveal that all of the questionable forces in the story are in malicious cahoots. No questions are needed, only quick enough reflexes to survive the dastardly plot and catch the bad guys. It's such a shame. Why throw away a perfectly good political storyline, one that could challenge the Jedi in various ways? Even Piell's history with the Red Iaro and his opinions on the prince, A'Sharad's blunt Tusken approach and the recent destruction of his community by a similar conspiracy, Ki's experience protecting his homeworld from a similar conspiracy and what he learned from it--it's all here! Why aren't we using any of it?? (Also there's the fairly off-putting fact that the Jedi, as outside arbiters, simply accept the epithet "terrorists" for the Red Iaro before doing any of their own investigation into the situation. In Star Wars, you're really gonna act like you can take that for granted?)

Then there's the weird issue I noted before, where the last two issues (of 6) feel like a completely different arc. I mean, Republic is already on a sort of rolling POV shifting deal, picking up characters and plot elements from one series and showing them from new angles in the next. Why is this part of the same arc? Not that it makes a huge difference either way, just strange. That second arc also explicitly tells us that Jedi are basically undercover investigators, empowered to enforce Republic law even outside Republic borders, so that's interesting (and again, somewhat dubious).

I still have a soft spot for this, and for Republic in general, just because I love seeing the Jedi council hanging out, as monks and friends. They have a lovely vibe. There are moments of downtime here, before the action kicks in, that are good and nice. The problem is that they feel so disconnected from the story, and thus become superficial in their own right, while the story feels trite and tedious without their contribution.




August 21 2017 - 2 stars: More bland schemes revealed too soon for the sake of an action scene. Also oddly paced, with only a four issue arc and then a two issue bit tacked on for Mace and Depa to track down some animal smugglers on Nar Shaddaa, which in practice accomplishes nothing but creating a loose narrative torch-passing to the next arc.

[Shawn Fairweather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This TPB takes over where Outlander leaves off. Once again for fans of the Tusken Raiders will enjoy this. Also this gives a bit more depth to the period between Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Artwork is definitely an added bonus.

[Yves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Des émissaires Jedi doivent être envoyés sur Malastare pour rétablir la paix entre différentes factions et pour mettre fin aux actes terroristes. Cependant, le règlement du conflit ne fait pas l'affaire de tous. En seconde partie, Mace Windu et Deepa Bilaba vont enquêter sur Nar Shaada pour trouver les gens qui font le trafique d'animaux pour en faire des bêtes d'attaque.

La première partie était vraiment ennuyante. Les missions de négociation en BD, c'est rarement gagnant. Cette partie en est vraiment la preuve. Pour la seconde partie, c'est bien plus intéressant car il y a beaucoup plus d'action. C'est aussi là que l'on fait la connaissance de Quinlan Vos, un Jedi qui sera très important dans les prochains tome de la série.

C'est donc un BD plutôt ordinaire avec des beaux dessins qui ne m'a pas du tout satisfait.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written with great illustrations. It was nice to see some of the lesser known Jedi in action. I didn't realize some Jedi carried red sabers, so that was some cool new information for me.
The action and intrigue in this graphic novel were so good I was disappointed when it ended :) I'm looking forward to reading more about several of the characters. Depa Billaba and Quinlan Vos are two I really enjoyed seeing, although Quinlan's appearance was very brief. I'm also hoping to learn who the daughter of Aunuanna the Alewoman is.
Over all this is a fun, action packed story and a must read for any true Star Wars fan!

[Brad McKenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story featuring some newer Jedi: Mace Windu and a little bit of Yaddle, the Jedi whom shares a species with Yoda. These Jedi were brought in to broker peace between warring faction only to discover there was more than meets the eye.

After that was settled, the scene shifts to Nal Hutta, the moon of home planet of the Hutts. That was fun. It was an ok read. Nothing special but I always find it fun to read about the Star Wars Universe.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent story, marred by not-great art and flawed storytelling.

This is Book 3 of the Star Wars: Republic books; the first two books ("Prelude To Rebellion" and "Outlander") were significantly better and more solid in both art and storytelling.

[Chad Hansen-Saunders · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit boring and then nothing is really wrapped up. The Jedi Council is helping to negotiate a peace conference and the suddenly Mace Windu decides to leave for Nar Shadda. The only good thing about the comic is that it first introduced Quinlan Vos.

[Mike Jozic · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had higher hopes for this than what it ultimately ended up being.

[Zuzana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring!