Comic Review - Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi Battle Enormous Monsters in "Star Wars: Jedi Knights" #3
Yesterday saw the release of the third issue in Marvel Comics’ ongoing title Star Wars: Jedi Knights, and below are my brief recap and thoughts on this installment.
Jedi Knights #3 begins with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan learner Obi-Wan Kenobi arriving at the planet WG4587 (apparently designated with an alphanumeric code because it was previously uncharted) in a T-6 shuttle like the one we see Ahsoka and Huyang piloting in Lucasfilm’s live-action series Star Wars: Ahsoka. Their mission is to rescue Junior Republic Senator Bail Organa and his staff, who transmitted a distress call from the planet after crash-landing there. So the interesting thing right off the bat about this issue is that it’s entirely made up of splash pages, which is to say that the pages are not broken up into smaller panels, instead conveying the action in one big frame on every page.
That’s a unique way of telling a story in the comics medium, and while I’m sure it’s been done before I don’t think I’ve ever encountered it in Star Wars. It also gives the writer (Marc Guggenheim, in this case) less overall real estate for narrative and dialogue, since there are exactly as many panels as there are pages in a standard issue. Upon arriving at WG4587, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan encounter giant, aggressive creatures called Kaijura (get it?). I guess I’m a little confused as to how the Republic and/or the Jedi knew the name of the indigenous species if the planet was uncharted, but I suppose that’s neither here nor there. At first the two Jedi must escape the jaws of one of these enormous beasts, and then Qui-Gon is forced to carry an unconscious Obi-Wan further into the jungle in search of the nearby source of Organa’s transponder signal.
Naturally after finding the Alderaanian senator’s ship they all eventually escape together thanks to some additional clever strategy on Qui-Gon’s part, but I can’t help but feel like the story is a little slight here, with this format necessitating a shift to visuals over pretty much anything else. That makes for a terrific showcase for the talents of artist Madibev Musabekov in collaboration with colorist Luis Guerrero, but it also gives me very little to write about in terms of an actual recap or review. I will say that I find it very interesting how across three issues and one Free Comic Book Day mini-story, Jedi Knights has set up several dangling plot threads that it really has yet to follow up on. I mean the title is obviously still just getting started, but having #3 essentially function as a standalone adventure– when there are so many unanswered questions already from #1 and #2– is an intriguing choice, and I have to wonder if it will make sense after more issues have been released and we start to see the bigger picture. Either way, I’d say this outing is worth picking up for the page-filling visuals, but don’t expect too much else out of it… at least not at the moment.
Star Wars: Jedi Knights #3 is available now wherever comic books are sold.