"High Republic Adventures #2: Bralanak City Smackdown" by Daniel Jose Older

"High Republic Adventures #2: Bralanak City Smackdown" written by Daniel Jose Older, illustrated by Harvey Tolibao & Pow Rodrix (Magnus Arts) and Rebecca Nalty

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While this was an enjoyable read, I still don't fully understand what is going on in regards to the Nihil's arrival on Trymant IV and their taking Elder Tromak, one of the leaders of the Elders of the Path commune who preaches against using the Force. The Jedi's subsequent arrival seems to make matters worse despite them having full intentionality to save the people of Trymant IV...the people of Trymant IV don't trust the Jedi and certainly don't want to be saved by them. (Check out my review of Issue #1 of this series HERE if you'd like some more context!)

The artwork was convoluted in places with what looked like dozens of people fighting in a single frame. You can tell the Jedi are wearing brighter colors and holding lightsabers while the Nihil are wearing dark reds and blacks but that's about it. Find an example below.

It was also odd how the cover says "Meet Lula Talisola" with a giant picture of the Padawan...but we already met her in the first issue of the series, really delving into her personality and character in that issue. In this issue she hardly stands out as an important character. I'm not trying to complain or dog the story, I'm just a bit confused about the emphasis is all... I missed last issue's thought boxes with the ponderings, fears, and concerns of Lula--there was no equivalent this week. Same goes for Zeen Mrala (the Mikkian Force-sensitive girl who lives on Trymant IV) unfortunately. She had a bit more involvement in this issue than Lula, but no thought boxes to speak of...and this girl had a LOT going on. In other words, her thought boxes would have been super informative and incredibly interesting. For example, Zeen does say to the Jedi, "I've lived so many places, but Bralanak City was the only one that I called home. They never really accepted me. Not for who I really am. Maybe I've never known what home feels like." But I would've liked even more than this just to flesh out what makes the Mikkian tick...

Most of the story actually focuses on Krix Kamerat and his confusion over his best friend Zeen lying to him about being sensitive to the Force. The boy goes so far as to choose the protection of the evil Nihil over the help of the Jedi (Yoda specifically). It's so sad watching these two best friends be split by their innate and ideological differences. Makes my heart hurt...mostly because I've totally been there before. *sigh* (See the leader of this group of Nihil, Elder Tromak, and Krix in the image below.)

There were a couple of intended-to-be-funny parts that felt more strange than humorous. First off, Master Buck, the Chagrian Jedi, calls himself Buckets of Blood but it turns out he hates fighting and "Buckets of Blood" is meant to reference him being a healer--"I help keep the blood within the body! Not take it out!" I mean this could have been funny and could have been surprising, if it hadn't already been hinted at in a High Republic live stream awhile back. Sometimes less info is better!! Secondly, Zeen has a pet Cru named Cham Cham who looks like a bat with a long tail. Yoda brings the critter back from trying to rescue Krix from the Nihil and Cham Cham looks nearly dead..."Well fed, your Cru is, young Zeen." Zeen responds with, "He ate a... a Nihil?!" And the *I'm sure this is supposed to be funny part*: "Only some fingers, I believe, an arm, perhaps." I just don't feel like Yoda would be one to be so nonchalant about violence. Which segues me into...

The Jedi in this comic's approach to killing other sentient beings feels way different than the Jedi in the Marvel comic's approach to the matter. As can be seen by Yoda's quote, he doesn't seem to care about the creature he carried with him having maimed another living being. And the Jedi as a whole are slashing left and right with their sabers annihilating the Nihil. In the Marvel series, Sskeer brutally kills a Nihil who was about to attack him and another Jedi--Avar Kriss says it was in cold blood and shames Sskeer terribly for the deed. But I feel like it was much more self-defense...and the guy was a Nihil...he had it coming... So why do these two storylines differ so much on the Jedi's perspective of killing?? I'm still working through Into the Dark (Claudia Gray's young adult novel) and it shows one main character slicing off the arm of a very bad man with his saber--the boy feels much guilt but still knows he did the right thing and even gets reassurance from his fellow Jedi in that. I do realize that this is a very complicated issue and because of that it shouldn't have an easy answer. But the discrepancies still seem quite disjointed.

So I don't know...this issue just didn't land with me the way the first one did. And I'm still of the mind that I wished this followed the format of the regular "Star Wars Adventures" line by having multiple stories going at once instead of just one continuous story like an adult comic. I love the fun and ingenuity that goes into "Star Wars Adventures" in regards to canon connections and wildly interrelated plot lines...at least what we got in the original run of that series and in Issue #3 of the second run. I'm not sure why they decided to treat this High Republic Adventures differently, but I'm not a huge fan of the choice made. Oh well, it's still a fine read and I'm excited to see what happens with Zeen moving forward! ...plus maybe we'll find out what in the world is up with Elder Tromak!!...

I'll leave you with a fabulous schematics page showing us the spider-craft of the Nihil as well as the Jedi's Star Hopper!!