Star Wars, Volume 1: The Freedon Nadd Uprising

Tales of the Jedi

by Tom Veitch

Ulic Qel-Droma and Nomi Sunrider face a dark Jedi spirit from the past in this story which fills in the gaps between Knights of the Old Republic and Dark Lords of the Sith. Bringing together all the characters from the smash-hit Tales of the Jedi series, this collection of the two-issue miniseries is a must-have item for all Star Wars fans

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

56 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1997

About the author

Tom Veitch was an American writer, known for his work in the comic book industry. He was also a novelist and a poet. He was the brother of comics writer and artist Rick Veitch.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I wasn't sure. Some of these early Jedi vs Sith graphic novels are okay, but end up not living up to my full expectations. This one was pretty good!



Compiling only two normal length coming books, this is the smallest Star Wars collection I have encountered so far. If you have about 30 minutes, you can make it through this. Since it is in the middle of the larger Tales of the Jedi series, I do not recommend just randomly reading this one without reading the others first - it just won't be the same.



The artwork in this collection is fairly old fashioned. It took some time to get used to it since I have been reading more modern graphic novels. But in the end, I kinda loved it!



For Star Wars completists - check it out! For casual Star Wars fans, probably not worth hunting down.

[Ill D · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been said that the second act in a three act performance is (supposed to be) the most tragic of the three stages of the story. However, when a fantasy tale, while happily riffing on such tried and true story-telling, seeks a far more grandiose structure, things tend to get a jumbled up a bit. And this dark tale perfectly describes the 3rd story (4th overall) in the Knights of the Old Republic ERA.

Seemingly grasping for everything starting with straws and ending with a kitchen sink, a whole lot of references from within and without of the SW canon are effectively smooshed up into this offering. Responding to it’s own internal gravity – even the cover itself is depicted with forms that are visibly distorted, clunky, and ultimately smooshed into a frame that is just too small for it’s own excesses. Combining the threads of Ulic and Co. w/Nomi’s and a whole panoply of others, a thoroughly woven tale is born in sheets.

Chugging at the heels at the ends of both offerings, is an urban, reactionary cult that, seeking to mirror the aims of the late 19th century Chinese Boxers, revolts to take back power from the recently deposed Onderonian aristocracy. Aided and abetted by The Dark Side, Ulic and Co.’s master – Arca is kidnapped and the resultant fierce saber swords and scorching lasers conflict themselves. Not solving the problem but only exacerbating it, a call for help is summoned and rank and file of scholar-warrior allies via Courscant descend upon the epicenter of battle.

With only the most pyric of victories to be savored, good guys do indeed lose this round of interstellar-conflict. However, a grand(er) finale, a solidly laid groundwork for the rest of the series has been set.

Generally good read.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another thing I appreciate about these comics is that because they came out before the Prequel trilogy, the Jedi are still rather more subdued and the Force powers not nearly as visually impressive or bombastic - and this is one of those things where less is more. We all liked Duel of the Fates but it rather turned the whole order into a bunch of acrobats, to say nothing of when Yoda took the field.

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This takes places directly after the events of the battle for Onderon. Ulic Qel-Droma has asked for assistance from the Republic and the Jedi Order. They face a rebellion by the former Royalist forces that have been deeply influenced by the ancient Dark Jedi, now Sith, Freedon Nadd.

As the Jedi combine their powers to eventually overcome the Naddists, a pair of rich siblings are chosen by Nadd to carry on his teachings. What is interesting is the hint that Nadd drops about some of the Jedi already belonging to the Dark Side. Who is he talking about? I know, but do you? If you don't, you really need to start reading this series.

[Marta Duda-Gryc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story... And bland, bland writing. So bland! Rarely do I find such boring and, frankly, awful dialogues and descriptions in SW comics (and let's not forget I really don't read SW comics for sparkling banter and character's wit). Almost every written word lessens tension in the story.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3998 BBY

This graphic novel collects issues 1 and 2 of the Freedon Nadd Uprising (Collected Tales of the Jedi Vol. 4). The planet Onderon is morning the loss of their Queen and a Dark Jedi named Fredon Nadd, both having a procession and burial set to go to one of the planets moons. The spirit of Nadd projects itself and and captures one of the Jedi protecting the procession, instigating a need for more Jedi to embark to the planet to end the Sith power wreaking havoc. Meanwhile, on ancient Coruscant, two "scholars" seek Sith power, stealing an ancient Sith book from a museum. They find themselves on Onderon, seeking the aid of a Sith.

I was not a fan of the art in this volume, now was I a huge fan of the story. I enjoyed some of that aspects of Jedi training that are different from Luke's time and how the Order operated at the fall of the Jedi. It's always fun to see how the Sith has a pretty common presence here and there too. I didn't really feel any connection to the characters or the time period, though still enjoyed a different aspect of the timeline as a fan.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much better than the previous Tales of the Jedi story. In this story Nomi Sunrider goes to the planet Ossus to further her Jedi training before getting sent with other Jedi to Onderon to help end the Dark threat that still presides there. There she teams up with Ulic Qel-Droma and the other Jedi Knights apprenticed to Jedi Master Arca.

In Tales of the Jedi: Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon we learn more about the ancient Sith Lord Freedon Nadd. In this story we learn A LOT more which made for an interesting story. Also, we get to see the planet Ossus where the Great Library that was mentioned in Tales of the Jedi: The Fall of the Sith Empire by Odan-Urr. Later the planet is seen in the Legacy of the Force and the Fate of the Jedi series as a Jedi Temple for Luke Skywalker's Jedi Order. In addtion to cool information regarding the anicent Star Wars, there was much action involved and very cool plot ideas including the use of King Ommin.

I great story. My only wish was that it was a little bit longer. The future works for the series look quite promising.

[Lance Shadow · Rating 2 out of 5]

*see my review of Tales of the Jedi: The Collection (link below) for my thoughts on this two-issue story arc, I reviewed this along with "Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon" and "The Saga of Nomi Sunrider".*

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Martin Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is somewhat better than the previous book, but still far from good. There is now actually a lot of action and stuff happening and the art has improved again, but in the end it's still all very banal.

[Kelly Lynn Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty sure if GL had read Tales of the Jedi before making the prequels, they would have been so much better.

[Books_gang_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Víte, jak mě to mrzí dávat takové hodnocení SW komiksu, který má docela dobrý nápad? Ale řemeslně je to tak špatný, že prostě nemůžu.

Zkráceně řečeno, tenhle komiks byl velkej binec. První věc, která mě iritovala, byly rámečky. Ano, rámečky byly v devadesátkových komiksech časté a v předchozích volume Tales of the Jedi byly také, jenomže minule se mi to líbilo hlavně proto, jak byl příběh stylizovaný do pomalé pohádky. Tady jde o dva sešity a rychlý příběh. A hlavní problém je, že v těch rámečkách jsou často zbytečné informace, bez kterých bychom se obešli. Další problém jsou postavy, které kvůli otravným rámečkům dost ztratily svůj "hlas" a spíše to působí, jako kdybych se koukala na dokument, kde se lvi perou a mluví do toho vypravěč. Co se týče kresby, tak tam to spadlo zase k horšímu. Zatímco ostatní volume měla ty své "umělecké momenty" ve smyslu třeba lépe nakresleného většího panelu, tady není nic. Takže ani se na to nedá hezky koukat.
Je hrozná škoda, že tak super nápady mají takovéhle zpracování. Ač tomu dávám stejné hodnocení jako Dark empire, tak pořád je to nápadem lepší jak Dark empire. Sakra ať další volume budou fajn!

[BIGnick BIGnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only downside to this story is it’s so short. It should’ve been tacked onto the Tales of the Jedi graphic novel or, better still, made longer!
I love this series for its characters, plot, and illustrations, however there were a couple things I could have done without in this issue.

#1 Cay loses his arm…again! (If I’m not mistaken I think he gets that same arm cut off a third time in The Sith War) After a certain point he doesn’t deserve that appendage anymore.

#2 The illustrator has the Nadists wearing Scottish Balmoral hats with the red pompoms and everything. It’s nice to pay homage but this was a little on the nose. It’s weird seeing Jedi fight Scotsmen.

Still a great addition to an incredible series!

[Francesco Lechi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this series after playing to death the "Knights of the Old Republic" games as a kid is frankly a treat. I'm usually not one to point to something and go "oooh I remember that from that other thing", but here I can't really help it. And it's especially fun to rediscover how weird and wonderful Star Wars can be, after falling out of love with the franchise in recent years (with the rare exception here and there). It's cheesy and melodramatic, but it used to be my thing, you know? And you can't deny yourself for too long. I love this dumb shit.

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was written well. The dialogue and art could be better, though.

[liv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Onderon is cooooool

[CT-7056 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing that really blew me away, but it was okay I guess.

[Jaycee Costley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perfectly fine, but nothing outstanding either, in story or in art. It’s mostly set up for what’s to come.

[Gerardo · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a bit better than the previous volume, but not by much. It just isn't very well written at all.

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars Legends Project #8

Background: Tales of the Jedi: The Freedon Nadd Uprising was released in two issues August/September of 1994, but the trade paperback didn't come out until December of 1997. At one point, it was included with the other comics in Tales of the Jedi: The Collection (my review here), and has since been republished solo. It was written by Tom Veitch and pencilled by Tony Akins. This is Akins' only foray into Star Wars, but his work (for DC, Vertigo, and Dark Horse) is highly-acclaimed (particularly in Jack of Fables) and spans multiple popular franchises, including Terminator, Aliens, and Wonder Woman.

The Freedon Nadd Uprising takes place a year or two after the previous series, approximately 3,998 years before the Battle of Yavin. Nomi Sunrider and the characters introduced in her "Saga" join Ulic Qel-Droma and his supporting cast on Onderon, bringing the two previously-featured Jedi into a single story. There is also a pair of characters from the Empress Teta system, which features heavily in The Golden Age of the Sith and The Fall of the Sith Empire.

Summary: The war-torn world of Onderon should have found peace at last, thanks to the marriage between Galia, queen of the sprawling city of Iziz, and Beast-Lord Oron Kira. Unfortunately, the influence of the dark side remains strong, and a rebel group calling themselves the "Naddists," after Dark Jedi Freedon Nadd, aren't going to give up without a fight. Somewhere, far in the background, sinister forces are pulling the strings, and it will be up to the best and brightest of the youngest generation of Jedi Knights to stand firm against it.

Review: Bizarrely short. That's the first thing that's got to be said about this comic. 2 normal-length issues, and that's it, making it less than half as long as any of the previous story arcs. As I mentioned, it was first published as part of a collection with the previous 2 arcs, but it has since been republished twice on its own.

That said, this is a really good story. It does a great job building off of the previous two arcs, allowing it to jump right into the action: a sizeable contingent of Jedi Knights (10) waging full-on warfare. And they aren't just unstoppable, invincible forces of nature, either. Some are injured. Some even die. The outcome of the conflict genuinely feels like it's in doubt, and the peril feels real. Also, while it introduces a couple of new Jedi characters, who feel a bit disposable, the majority are characters that have gotten a fair bit of development in previous stories. I cared whether they lived or died, and I was invested in the story as a result.

This comic, and actually Tales of the Jedi in general, takes a really interesting approach to differentiating between the dark and light sides of the Force, or at least between Jedi power and Sith power. The Sith villains are more than just Dark Jedi who tap into the Force with negative emotions, maybe throw out a little lightning or a Force choke here and there. Their powers are legitimately evil and creepy, and it is always clear both why they are an incredible danger, and why they must be stamped out.

My two biggest complaints about the story have to do with some of the villains. That awesome-looking Vader-esque figure on the cover there is (rather poorly) named Warb Null. The epic greatness of his appearance is inversely proportional to the significance of his role in the story. His departure was abrupt and anti-climactic, and I was left feeling confused about who exactly he was and what his story was. Then there are the two cultists, the spoiled royalty from Empress Teta who swoop through a parallel plotline. There are some interesting things about them, but most of what happens in their story makes very little sense. It's all setting up the next story arc, but it feels incredibly obvious and forced. Just a really, really clumsy way of attempting to keep the threat introduced here going into the next series. Could have been worse, I guess, but this is a significant failure in the writing.

Neither of these complaints, though, really get in the way of the actual enjoyability of the comic, and although it isn't quite as fun as the previous arc, it also avoids some of the hokiness as well. It's another keeper.

B-

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was s hort installment of the "Tales of the Jedi" series, but it was a good one. I feel like we learned a lot more in this volume and I enjoyed every time Freedon Nadd was involved.

[Joey Chocolate · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story is decent and simple but is more of a basis for a plot: Jedi investigate a place with the Dark Side, one is taken prisoner, other Jedi go to rescue him, a bit of padawans, and a whole lot of talking about the Dark Side's presence in said place.

The story lacks cohesion, as we go from one set of characters and plot to the next, similar to a pulp, which would ultimately result in their team-up in the second issue but lacks impact, as these characters' involvement seem to be lucky happenstance and none of them really interact with one another. Instead, the characters are described through descriptive text, which becomes frustratingly distracting from the visual pace of the narrative.

The translated book was meaningless and only served to get two Jedi to meet the villain and join the fight, amongst multiple other characters who've been presented up to this point.

A Jedi constructs her lightsaber and might be the most interesting and lively character here, but she isn't provided much else than that she joins the fight, has a child who has the Force and that she will soon be given the title of Jedi. Bear in mind that this was written before the Prequels and George Lucas' Jedi lore was more gingerly established.

There's a woman who helps, who is the daughter of the villain, but her lineage has no bearing on the story.

There is a bit of action, however, rather than showing, most of it is told via descriptive text. Indeed, many comics pre-2000 had descriptive text, albeit, they were there to accompany the visual storytelling; the visual medium came first and foremost.

The dialogue was not great and mostly felt superfluous to the already repetitive text-heavy panels.

Perhaps by having less characters and sub-plots and having the apprentice and the daughter of the villain be the sole focus, the story could have been tighter and stronger.

There is some fun to be had here, but it wasn't for me.

The artwork and lettering are nice. I do enjoy the pre-2000 style of colouring and so forth, and these comics are pleasing to gander upon.

[Zare · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story (only 50-something pages long) is about the rise of Dark Force cultists on Onderon with goal of restoring the overthrown royal family of city of Iziz.

Master Arca and his apprentices, brothers Ulic and Cay Qel-Droma and Twi'lek Tott Doneeta will soon find out that demise of the old witch-queen of Iziz did not end the influence of the Freedon Nadd, Dark Jedi from the times forgotten, on the planet Onderon.

I liked how cultists were portrayed - organized militia like troops led by Dark Force adepts. Images of them clashing with the Jedi's are very much like conflicts between Chaos cultists and Adaptes Custodes of Warhammer 40k Universe. Just like in W40K universe characters are truly legendary figures, strong beyond belief and wielding great powers.

Dark side's effect on the Jedi's shows that in old times Dark Jedi's were truly force to be reckoned with. I liked how corruptive effect shows on exhausted faces of master Arca's force as they fight the cultists and seek the source of the Freedon Nadd's influence.

Art here is your standard action comics style from the 90's. It might not be every-bodies cup of tea, sure took me a while to adjust but in the end I liked it.

Highly recommended to fans of Star Wars and SF/Fantasy.

[Taka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give it a 7.5/10.

"The Freedon Nadd Uprising" is a short 2-issue story collected into one volume. It concludes the prior story "Knights of the Old Republic" about jedis Ulic Qel-Droma and Nomi Sunrider, and the wars in the planet Onderon.

It's a pretty short action driven tale, which keeps a pretty good pace until the end. I would say it is pretty entertaining, but it doesn't blow your mind. Which is okay for this genre.

Recommended for anyone who loves Star Wars or the Old Republic in particular.

[Juan Carlos Toledo Núñez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Corta, apenas dos tomos, pero al fin aclararon ese vacío que dejaron con el final de The Fall of the Sith. Y dándole continuidad a la tradición sith viva en la República. Ese poder de Nomi Sunrider ojalá lo retomen en el Episodio VII pues Lucas no lo aprovechó en las dos sagas ya filmadas. Me gusta la línea de Tales of the Jedi, muy ad hoc con ciertas características "pendientes" de la trama original.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ulic and his fellow Jedi continue to fight the Dark Side on Onderon. Nomi Sunrider continues her Jedi training which eventually leads her to the conflict on Onderon. This short graphic novel moves the story forward, and now the conflict is leaking into the rest of the galaxy. The most interesting part of the story is getting the Jedi characters together to confront the Dark Side threat. Now the stage is set for a major conflict and ground-breaking character development.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Same as the previous one, even though this one was GOING somewhere interesting and pretty much gets you prepared for what to come in the next volume.

Again, same things apply here as the previous volume, the Sith look awesome and fun to read about, and the Jedis are running around like children doing dumb shit.

I'd rather read about the actual stories of Freedom Nadd though and if you read this one, you would too.

Great art!

[Tom Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's funny how I read every other TotJ book when I was 10 year old, except for this one. Well not that funny I guess, since I read the library's trade paperbacks, and this arc was only two issues and it's own TPB is rather rare. Now I want to reread the other stories, which I thankfully do have at home due to a wise investment via eBay as a teenager.

[Alana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Freedon Nadd Uprising I guess is sometimes considered part of the Knights of the Old Republic collection and sometimes separate? It definitely feels odd as a standalone, since the leadup from the previous stories kind of culminates in this one. It's ok, but you definitely want the backdrop to keep the story straight. The ending is most interesting, as it ominously points to a darker future.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story itself isn't so great -- it's old school Dark Horse Star Wars fare, but better than most of the Tales of the Jedi Series. Also, this 30th anniversary edition is a fine book. Nice thick pages and minimalist design.