Star Wars (2020) #20 by Charles Soule (5/5)

Luke Skywalker meets the best Jedi ever? Yes, please. Anyway, Yoda seeing the Force as a sea is definitely Elzar’s impact. Anyway, this is probably my favourite issue in Star Wars (2020) that doesn’t have Ellian Zahra in it. She is very special to me, and I am looking forward to her return in the next issue, but this one did blow my socks off (and yes, I was wearing socks when I first read this issue). I was not expecting Elzar Mann content in the era of the original trilogy, and I’m really not mad about it. I really really love The High Republic, and now that my favourite has appeared in a comic, maybe finally soon we’ll get official concept art… maybe not with him in his Temple Robes (which he canonically hates). Thank you, Charles Soule, for this brilliant issue, and thank you, Marco Castiello, for bringing it to life with your art. Especially for bringing Elzar to life.

One of my favourite things about this issue is that it teaches Luke, and the reader, so much about the Jedi, and the Force as a whole, and really goes hard on the idea that being a Jedi is, at its core, a choice that a Jedi makes in their everyday life. Learning it through Elzar is really special to me because of my special connection to him as a character. Getting a glimpse into his growing up as a Jedi really made me feel happy because he’s sharing the experience with someone who never got to be a Youngling or really, a Padawan. And, of course, Elzar roasting Yoda has got to be one of my favourite things in the whole world, it means a lot to me.

It was nice to have time for Luke to just really focus on learning, rather than being focused on the fight against the Empire. While that is also incredibly important, we need to remember that this story is taking place during a crucial time for his training. He goes from still sort of a Jedi beginner in The Empire Strikes Back to someone who is confident in his abilities in Return of the Jedi. That’s a lot of space for character growth, and I’m glad that we have Star Wars stories that are focusing on it that allow Luke to break from the not fully developed character that we see onscreen in the original trilogy to a complex and rounded character who is still incredibly strong but has been through some serious Sith spit. Also nothing will convince me that Elzar isn’t one of Luke’s fashion icons with the boots that he’s sporting in Return of the Jedi. After all, why else would Elzar mention his ‘beautiful leather boots’ that he wasn’t shaking in? Checkmate, Elzar haters?

However, the Elzar content also made me sad because mushroom pit Elzar had to think about the fact that by the time Luke is around, he and all his friends are gone, especially Avar. That really hurts, and I took emotional damage from it. Thanks, Charles Soule. You give me this duo in Light of the Jedi and then you remind me that eventually they’ll both be dead? How dare?

The next issue of Star Wars (2020) is due out on 2 March, and I am very much looking forward to it. If you haven’t been reading this series, please do. It’s amazing and does a lot for the characters to showcase their growth between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Also, Charles Soule is just a brilliant writer.