Not all stories can be grouped thematically. Sometimes I am forced to combine novels and comics that do not fit together into one blog post. It provides variety at the expense of cohesion.
The era between Episodes I and II were full of odd stories. The Phantom Menace had provided us with a setting, explaining how the galaxy worked in this time period. The film and its tie-in stories also offered hooks for telling more tales across the Republic. Furthermore, several novels written in the 1990s made reference to this era, which could now be explored more fully.
This post covers a handful of novels and comics that do not fit thematically in with earlier stories. They do not pertain to bounty hunters. They are not in the immediate years following Episode I. They do not feature Quinlan Vos or any one other unifying character. They are not direct prequels to Episode II.
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| Nym on the cover of Starfighter: Crossbones 1. Image from Wookieepedia. |
For this post, I consumed the following stories:
- Jedi Quest 1-4 (comics by Ryder Windham, 2001)
- Poison Moon (mini-comic by Michael Carriglitto, 2002)
- Starfighter: Crossbones 1-3 (comics by Haden Blackman, 2002)
- Republic 46-48: Honor and Duty (comics by John Ostrander, 2002-2003)
- Outbound Flight (novel by Timothy Zahn, 2006)
Jedi Quest, Poison Moon, and Starfighter: Crossbones were all in the book Omnibus: Menace Revealed. I read the three issues of Republic in the trade paperback Honor and Duty. Finally, I read the novel Outbound Flight in paperback format.
Story:
The stories collected here are an assortment of unrelated tales that help fill in the gaps between Episodes I and II, but closer to the latter than the former (I already covered earlier unconnected stories here).
In Jedi Quest, Obi-Wan Kenobi and young Anakin Skywalker must put an end to the activities of a notorious slaver named Krayn. They find a Jedi, a former friend of Obi-Wan, among his ranks, but the Jedi Council won't tell them everything that's going on.
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| Anakin fighting the slaver Krayn in Jedi Quest 4. Image from Wookieepedia. |
Poison Moon was a four-page comic originally printed as four single pages in issues 44 to 47 of the anthology book Dark Horse Extra. Obi-Wan and Anakin find a crashed Republic ship. One of the survivors claims she had been transporting a Dark Jedi prisoner who escaped, but when they confront the prisoner, it is revealed that the survivor was in fact the Dark Jedi. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the remaining victim subdue the Dark Jedi.
Starfighter: Crossbones is a sequel to the game Starfighter, focussing on the character Nym, a pirate who was an enemy of the Trade Federation. He is hired by the people of the planet Maramere to stop another pirate named Sol Sixxa, who mostly targeted the Trade Federation but planetary leaders were concerned that either he would change targets or civilians would be caught in the crossfire.
Issues 46 to 48 of Republic (actually the first issues called "Republic", prior to this it was just "Star Wars") feature the final pre-Episode II story from that comic series. This story focusses on Sagoro Autem, a Senate Guard who must investigate the murder of a Republic Senator, all while dealing with a rebellious son who refused to follow in his footsteps.
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| Senate Guard Sagoro Autem and Obi-Wan Kenobi on the cover of Republic 45: Honor and Duty, Part 1. Image from Wookieepedia. |
Finally, Outbound Flight tells the story of an expedition sent out by the Republic to unknown space and possibly even another galaxy, led by a Jedi Master, which comes across heretofore unknown threats. Master Jorus C'Baoth and his former apprentice are but two of the many Jedi on the Outbound Flight mission, though representatives of Sith Lord Darth Sidious seek to destroy the mission before it goes too far. The Sith's envoy meets Thrawn, a Commander of the military of Chiss Ascendancy, a power in the galaxy's Unknown Regions. Thrawn has already come to know of the Republic by encountering a smuggler's ship a few months earlier.
Thoughts:
Before going too deeply, I want to discuss the fact that, throughout this era, another novel series was being published which I do not own and thus cannot read, also called Jedi Quest. The story was told over the course of ten young reader novels plus a special edition book (a novel version of the same story told in the comic). It was the sequel to Jedi Apprentice, which was about Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the lead-up to Episode I. That first novel series also featured Siri Tachi, the young Jedi who infiltrates Krayn's organization in this Jedi Quest comic. I read summaries of the Jedi Apprentice and Jedi Quest books in The Essential Reader's Companion for added context. Those stories would have been quite compelling, but I'm glad I didn't seek them all out to read them. I do have some Star Wars novels for that younger age range on my list, but seeking out that many books seemed like too much effort. Perhaps I may one day find ebook copies online. But for now, summaries will suffice.
Outbound Flight is best known as being the earliest appearance of Thrawn. First introduced in 1991's Heir to the Empire (the first published novel set after Return of the Jedi), Thrawn is a military genius who would be a huge part of the Legends timeline. He was so popular that he was also brought into the New Canon timeline, being a major villain in Rebels and having no less than six novels focussing on his story (at time of writing, four have been released). It was great seeing his Legends origin, as an officer of the Chiss fleet, many years before the foundation of the Empire he would later serve. I would go so far as to say that Outbound Flight is essential reading for people wanting to get into Star Wars novels.
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| Front and back cover art of Outbound Flight, showing the titular expedition ship and Thrawn. Image from Wookieepedia. |
The comics read during this period were fine, but nothing particularly special. I would not encourage people to hunt these down unless they were a completionist, or they are big fans of the Starfighter games. I am glad to have read them, but barring any plans to re-read all of these comics again, I doubt I will revisit them.
With this batch of comics finished, I want to note that I've now officially re-read issues 1-48 of Republic, more than half the series and everything pre-Clone Wars. Issue 49 begins the Clone Wars stories.
My next Legends post (Part 16) will be the final post before we get into the Clone Wars, an era that will take eleven posts to cover, from Episode II to III. The next post will cover stories that lead directly into Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
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