The High Republic Adventures Annual (5/5)

 The easiest way to break down this review is to do it story by story. The High Republic Adventures Annual (2021) was co-written by Claudia Gray, Justina Ireland, Daniel José Older, Cavan Scott, and Charles Soule, with each of them writing a different short that went into the larger work. Overall, I would love to see these stories expanded on, but I know that even if each of them were their own comic miniseries, it still wouldn’t be enough for me, because I am obsessed with The High Republic and everything about it. I overall rate the Annual five stars because of the writing quality and artistic quality of each story. Each of the authors did an incredible job.

First was Charles Soule’s “Set For Life” which took place on Elphrona as a Bell and Loden story. I love the setting up of this one and the ease that the Elphrona Jedi have with one another in their day to day lives and how they handle things. Bell and Loden have to attend a collapsed mine and rescue a trapped miner, and Ember joins them even though Bell has her wait outside of the mine while he and Loden handle the situation. Loden takes the events of this story to teach Bell that even if a person is selfish or they are making a stupid decision, it is the duty of the Jedi to still protect that person which I think is a valuable lesson for all of us. A person making a poor decision is still a person and therefore worthy of help. My favourite part of this short was the lesson… okay fine, it was the Ember art. I just really love her, and getting to see her toebeans, which prior to the release of this, I had enquired about with the authors on Twitter. However this story didn’t really have anything that I didn’t like much. Even though it was Charles Soule’s Star Wars (2020) comics that got me into reading comics this past year, he hadn’t written any comics for The High Republic until this one, so I think it was really cool to see him get to do a comic for The High Republic.

Next up is Claudia Gray’s “No Stone Unturned” and this one was a lot of fun as well. Claudia Gray always does well writing the crew of The Vessel, and this short was a lot of fun to read. The comedy stands out, as it always does, because Geode is probably some of the greatest comic relief I have seen in a long time. In this one, Leox and Affie are able to diffuse a situation by returning an item they had taken from a village back to the village, and Geode is able to help them complete a sacred ritual of their people. Though Leox and Affie were initially in the wrong, their actions led the village to put trust in them and to be grateful for their help and understanding. We all make mistakes and it is how we handle those mistakes that allows us to grow as individuals. I thought that it was a really good story that added more depth to the Vessel crew, and it was just fun to read.

Next is Justina Ireland’s “First Mission”, which might be my favourite of the entire annual. It focused on Vernestra and her first mission as Stellan’s Padawan. Stellan in this short is so precious to me, okay he’s always precious to me, but this especially. He’s so excited to be Vernestra’s new Master, and when he asks her to spar and she sends him flying into the wall, he is so proud of her, which is so wonderful. It’s very rare that we have seen the first moments between a Master & Apprentice, and The High Republic is giving more of it, but there should still be more where the Master is genuinely excited to take on a Padawan. Also, I think it was very brilliant of Vernestra to uncover the plot and then just having to jump into action with her new Master, coming up with ideas and sharing them with him. I think it really speaks to Stellan’s journey as a teacher, where he is happy to learn from those that he is teaching. The ending is also brilliant, and you can see that the two of them are looking forward to teaching and learning from one another. I need everything about Stellan and Vernestra’s Master & Apprentice relationship because it is so beautiful. Definitely my favourite from the Annual.

The penultimate short in the Annual was Daniel José Older’s “Crash and The Crew Do What They Do” which was also a lot of fun. I had been looking forward to the introduction of Crash since Daniel introduced her to us on Twitter. If you don’t know, Crash is based off of the amazing and brilliant Alyssa Wong, who writes the Aphra comics, and if you don’t know who she is, what are you doing? Moving along, I really enjoyed having Chancellor Soh, Matari, and Voru in the Annual because I love her and I love her giant murder cats and their toe beans. My criticism of the short is simply: why didn’t the toe beans get properly shown? I want to see Targon toe beans, okay? Thank you. It was a brilliant little short that made me even more excited for more Crash content in the future. I love that she’s just in charge, a total girlboss, and gets the job done, with a little help from Matari. The moment though, where Matari catches the droid that is about to land on Lina and presumably kill her really does throw me back to in Light of the Jedi where Lina is thinking about how she isn’t all that concerned about an aerial attack because Matari and Voru could take down a speeder. Gimme more of these fierce kitties defending their mom, okay? Thank you. Of the entire Annual, this had to be the most fun of the stories because Crash just made it so fun!

The final short, Cavan Scott’s “The Haul” was exactly what I expect from him, which is sheer brilliance. We got the Blade of Bardotta and Lourna Dee? Amazing. Also, the last little bit of the short that kind of alludes to elements of The Fallen Star, Cavan you’re a genius. Yes, I am biased because Cavan Scott is my favourite author, but the bias is lesser because Porter Engle and Lourna Dee are not my favourite characters, I love them, but there are characters I enjoy more. This short is just a fun ride from start to finish in that it really doesn’t surprise the reader with how any of the characters acts if they’re a fan of the The High Republic and up to date on what is going on with the characters. Lourna Dee just leaving is so very in character of her, and I love that. Further, I love how Cavan never makes it feel as though Lourna is a coward for running, it’s self-preservation which is something that a lot of Nihil don’t seem to have very much of in the lower ranks. She’s intelligent and knows what she’s doing, and her running sort of reminds me a bit of General Grievous in the prequels. She will survive no matter what, and I love that. And Porter Engle just continues to be a badass with a reputation that depicts him as such. I really cannot wait for Phase II, and I hope that Cavan gets to work more with Porter Engle in the future (the past? I’m confused) because I cannot find a character that Cavan portrays incorrectly. He captures the essence of the character and builds on that, adding depth, complexity, and making us love them more. Which means it hurts even more when he decides that it’s time for our favourite characters (and our second favourite characters) to die. Just a five-star writer doing more five-star work here.

In conclusion, I really hope that we get more Annuals like this in the future where we get to see all of the authors in the initiative work on a set of stories that builds on the universe that they are creating. It showcases their talents and strengths, and in some cases explore new strengths that they have. I’m also a total sucker for content from The High Republic and so I will take anything they give me and gobble it up before sobbing that I want more. I would take novel length stories like this, but sometimes less is more, and I appreciate these shorts in a way that they provide a little snapshot of moments that are important for these characters that don’t really fit into a novel. 5/5 stars all the way, I really enjoyed this Annual.