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Hello there! Padawan J here, the resident Star Wars expert from the ODPH! This week I’m here to review the very first issue of the comic adaptation of the Ahsoka television series from Rodney Barnes and Marvel comics!
As I mentioned this is the first issue in the comic adaptation of the Ahsoka tv series and as such it’s a quick, fun read if you’ve seen the source material. For those of you who haven’t, it takes place after the events of Return of Jedi and as such the Empire is “defeated”. And despite the peace former Jedi Ahsoka has heard rumblings of the possible return of Grand Admiral Thrawn, and that has her VERY concerned. But enough backstory, let’s jump into it!
Star Wars: Ahsoka issue #1 by Rodney Barnes (writer), Steven Cummings (penciler), Wayne Faucher (inker), Rachelle Rosenberg (colorist), VC’s Travis Lanham (letterer) is an incredibly faithful adaptation of the television series that will delight it’s fans and leave new comers wanting more. It contains all of the mystery and intrigue of the first episode, and also gives it the same action and excitement as well.
As I stated before the Empire is “defeated”, for now. Of course we know that’s not the truth, but in the moment of the story they don’t. And while the rest of the galaxy is enjoying some peace & quiet, there’s one person who isn’t and that’s Ahsoka Tano. She’s heard some rumblings that a plan is in the works to bring Grand Admiral Thrawn back to the proverbial playing field despite the fact that most (including those in command of the New Republic) believe him to be dead. considering he disappeared at the Battle of Lothal that took place about 1 year before the events of Episode IV: A New Hope. The issue starts out just like the show did, with a couple of mysterious figures breaking Morgan Elsbeth out of her prison transport, and kicks off from there.
My favorite part of the issue is just how faithful it is to the source material. Admittedly, I haven’t seen the first episode of the tv series since it first dropped on Disney+ back in August of 2023. But the entire team behind this issue did such a good job of recreating the episode on the comic page, that I was reading the issue and nodding along as I read it. Unless there’s something minor in the background or a plot point in the episode they glossed over for the sake of being able to fit the story into the size constraints of the issue, it’s all in there. I can’t commend the entire creative team enough for how good of a job they did with this.
I also love how good the artwork is in this issue. Obviously expectations are high when you’re adapting something that was initially a live action series. Fans of the source material will have expectations of what the characters are supposed to look like, and if it’s too far away from the original then they won’t like it. But that is not the case here, because it is a wonderful adaptation.
FINAL POINT: The issue is a fun, quick read that all fans will enjoy no matter if they’ve seen the show or not. It’s an incredibly faithful adaptation that follows the source material to a T, and is a fun way to revisit the show in a different medium. You should absolutely pick this issue up if you’re looking for something different at the comic shop this week, or you haven’t seen the Ahsoka series in a while.
Score: 9.0 out of 10
Thanks for checking out my review on Nerd Initiative. For more of my content, check out ODPHpodcast.com, follow me on Twitter, and check out more of my reviews here on Nerd Initiative: https://nerdinitiative.com/author/padawanj/!
