The Star War Jedi One shots feature several main characters from the movies as well as new ones. The art is fabulous, and the stories interweave with the Star Wars Republic comics but also stand alone. Each is larger than the regular series single comics.
Star Wars Jedi: Mace Windu
The series starts of with Mace Windu, on a mission to deal with Jedi who are refusing to join the war. What is behind this schism is a revelation that Dooku’s arguments has made inroads with the Jedi. Some are questioning whether the war is truly the will of the Force, and if the Republic they serve is truly the one with the ideals they are sworn to uphold.
The story features the likes of K’kruhk and Asajj Ventress, plus a certain Weequay Jedi who survived Geonosis. (You can see him in the background in the movie.)
Star Wars Jedi: Shaak Ti
The Togrutan Jedi’s mission to retake a planet involves breaking into a prison. Turns out some previously known characters are there. We meet a woman in for murdering Shaak Ti’s padawan. We also encounter Sagoro Autem, former Senate Guard and Quinlan Vos…aka Korto Vos. So this Star Wars Jedi One Shot is a nice tie in to the final pre war arc of Star Wars Republic comics, as well as one of the last ones, since Sagoro both starts the pre-war arc and finishes it.
Star Wars Jedi: Aayla Secura
Aayla is still reeling from unexpected dire news about her former master, Quinlan Vos. On a mission with Tholme, Traa Saa, and Anya Kuro, aka the Dark Woman, they investigate how CIS privateers are hitting Republic ships deep in Republic held territory. Going undercover on Devaron, they encounter an old foe of the Jedi: Aurra Sing. Can Aayla defeat the famed Jedi Killer on her own?
Star Wars Jedi: Dooku
Naming it Star Wars Jedi: Dooku strikes me as odd, given he is no longer a Jedi. He is a Sith. And the story features at least as much, if not more, of Quinlan Vos as of Dooku. Vos is on a mission to infiltrate the Dooku’s inner circle. The trouble is, Dooku knows it. He also knows that Quinlan does have a dark past, and how to manipulate that to his advantage. Pretending to be fallen into the dark, even if it is to serve the Jedi, might just lead him to truly fall. This story intertwines heavily with Star Wars Republic, and is I daresay almost essential to understanding Quinlan Vos’s arc during the Clone Wars.
Star Wars Jedi: Yoda
This story is unique, with the most unusual artwork. Clearly, this is not one of the usual Dark Horse Star Wars comics artists. The art has a manga like feel. The story itself is the most standalone arc of all the Star Wars Jedi series as well. The characters do not appear in any other stories.
Two padawan commanders are left alone on the battlefield. Summoning reinforcements gets them the Jedi Master they least expected. Yoda is not there just for a fight. He is there to attempt diplomacy with the planet’s leader, an old friend. But the corruption of the Senate that has led to this division is at work even in the family and palace of his old friend. Yoda will be fortunate to get out alive, and the two padawans have learned war better than the Jedi’s skill of keeping the peace and discernment of whom to trust.
Review:
These arcs are a wonderful read. I’d say of the lot, Star Wars Jedi: Yoda has the best eye candy, and perhaps overall warning of the dangers of the war. All the rest of the Star Wars Jedi One Shots have the usual art style that we would see in Republic Comics. Aayla’s story reveals an unexpected comparison between her and Aurra Sing that I’d never considered, as well as the relationships with both Master Tholme, who finished her training, and Master Vos, who began it. Mace Windu and Dooku arcs are very important to connect to the Star Wars Republic comics, for the characters there are interwoven deeply with those critical events in the Clone Wars.
Quinlan in this the Dooku one shot gives an idea what thoughts might just be going through Anakin Skywalker’s head right after he falls to the Dark Side, and Padmé’s death. His attempts at trying to prove he made the right choice, to justify it, are interwoven through Republic stories right to the end. The story focuses so much on Quinlan that I wonder why they didn’t name it after him, given that Dooku wasn’t a Jedi at the time. Perhaps they just thought he wasn’t as famous as Dooku,, but since Shaak Ti and Aayla weren’t front and center movie in the movies either, that doesn’t make sense.
Mace Windu’s story arc gives an interesting look at the Jedi dynamics, relationships and doubts about being called on to lead a Clone army. It also gives a hint why not all Jedi would’ve been surrounded by clone troops to be instantly slaughtered.
For comics that are one offs, each one really did a good job at showing the division and sadness of the war, while maintaining (mostly) the Jedi’s fierce determination to continue on defending the Republic, no matter the cost to themselves.
Notes
The Unmade issue:
A trivia bit I had forgotten was that there were originally meant to be more Star Wars Jedi comics. There was to be a Barris Offee one. Part of me is sad we didn’t get it, since we only glimpsed her in her role as healer in the comics, outside the Clone Wars digests done in the style of the Tartovsky cartoon. But apparently the story wasn’t considered her ‘style’ so it was rewritten to be part of the Star Wars Republic series. (She does get a brief appearance at the beginning.)
Archived Source
Where to find
The Star Wars Jedi One shots were available individually, as well as combined into graphic novels and omnibuses with Republic comics of the era.
Lore and Continuity:
As mentioned, these are interwoven with events in the Star Wars comics that became known as Republic comics. The first of them is the Mace Windu comic and starts soon after Attack of the Clones. The last and closest to the end of the war is Yoda.
The Mace Windu issue mentions Bakura, which is interesting because according to Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyers, it was a recent addition to the Empire according to that story. The world was apparently neutral when the Confederacy established a base there.
