Star Wars: Jedi Knights #1 – A Very Strong Start

Hello there! Padawan J here, the resident Star Wars expert from the ODPH! And this week I’m going to be reviewing the 1st issue of the new series, Jedi Knights from Marc Guggenheim & Marvel Comics!

If the name Marc Guggenheim sounds familiar it’s because he’s probably best well known for being the creative force beind the Arrowverse on the CW for 12 years! Now, he’s stepping into the world of Star Wars! So let’s just jump right into it!

Star Wars: Jedi Knights #1 by Marc Guggenheim (writer), Madibek Musabekov (artist), Luis Guerrero (color artist), VC’s Clayton Cowles (letterer) & Rahzzah (cover art) is a very strong start to a promising series. It’s a series I have a feeling I’m going to love, and it’s one I’ve got high expectations for.

This series is set during the prequel era of Star Wars, and more specifically it’s set BEFORE the events of The Phantom Menace. The story is a pretty straight forward one, but takes a real interesting twist at the end. And it’s one that has me intrigued to see where it goes.

The story follows several well known Jedi, and a couple of new ones. They embark on a peace keeping mission between the worlds Vekura & Syrinx Prime. Vekura has invaded Syrinx Prime and an all out war has broken out. As a result Supreme Chancellor Valorum has dispatched Jedi such as Mace Windu, Ki-Adi Mundi and Yoda, just to name a few, to help resolve the situation.

The story is pretty straight forward but takes some interesting twists as it progresses. As is the case with warfare in Star Wars, nothing is always as it seems. And more often than not there’s usally someone (or something) pulling the strings behind the scenes. As such, this is the case here and that’s going to be the intrigue with the story going forward. Just who is pulling the strings?

Of course the easy answer is Palpatine. He’s the Dark Lord of the Sith, and the ultimate downfall of the Jedi in the not to distant future. But I don’t think that’s the case here. I think that’s just a little to obvious and way to easy of an end result. But on the other hand, I don’t know who it could be. And that’s all part of the fun!

The artwork in this issue is some of the best I’ve ever seen in a Star Wars comic to date. The characters in this issue are incredibly well known and have been shown across various mediums over the course of 26 years. And Madibek & Luis did a PHENOMENAL job of capturing their likeness. My favorite artwork in the issue is a bit in the story with Mace & Yoda towards the end. I don’t want to say what it is, but you’ll know it when you see it.

FINAL POINT: Marc Guggenheim pens a phenomenal first issue in a brand new Star Wars series that is sure to delight all Star Wars fans. It’s a great start to a very intriguing story that is sure to keep readers guessing right up to the very end. That coupled with literally some of the best artwork I’ve seen in a Star Wars comic make this an issue, and a series, you are NOT going to want to miss.

Overall Grade: 9/10

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/!

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