Review: Star Wars The High Republic Trail of Shadows #3

The High Republic team continually pulls off the greatest feat in fiction, a cohesive narrative universe with individual character-centered stories which all have a massive impact on the larger whole. Star Wars The High Republic Trail of Shadow is peak fiction with a noir mystery, fantastic characters and some of the best art in comics.

Daniel Jose Older writes strong characterization, even while balancing at least five different groups of characters. He does this in such a character specific way that the narrative always feels focused and simple to understand. Dave Wachter keeps getting better with some of the absolute coolest depictions of the Eye himself, Marchion Ro, along with massive alien Nihil, beautiful backdrops and familiar friends. It’s impossible to say too much about the depth that he brings.

The story is focused on Jedi Emerick Caphtor and investigator Sian Holt as they grow closer to the truth of what froze Loden Greatstorm in stone. Stellan Gios works with them to unravel the mystery even while dealing with Arathab Fal and the Nihil opportunist Uttersond. Marchion Ro has a mystery of his own as he is quickly realizing something is amiss with Uttersond. His Nihil agents arrive just after Uttersond has his own crew decimated.

The Jedi and Sian travel to Starlight to find Terec and Ceret are turned partly to stone similar to Loden’s death. Keeve is barely able to talk about the events we saw in the main High Republic series and they discuss how different her account is to Bell Zettifar and Elzar Mann’s recollection of the weapon. They realize the agent causing this could be a gas effecting how each Jedi sees it. Their discussion is disrupted by the race from High Republic adventures and the growing drama between Stellan and Avar Kriss.

The colors by Giada Marchisio and Ian Herring throughout the issue are incredible, but most so in the dark, monstrous scenes with the Nihil and Uttersond. Trail of Shadows is a perfect encapsulation of the story-telling, character building, action and connectivity that continues to make The High Republic saga such a rewarding ride.

Writing: 4.7 of 5 stars
Art: 4.6 of 5 stars
Colors: 4.5 of 5 stars

Overall: 4.6 of 5 stars

Writer: Daniel Jose Older
Art: Nick Wachter
Colors: Giada Marchisio and Ian Herring
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Author Profile

M.R. Jafri

M.R. Jafri was born and raised in Niagara Falls New York and now lives with his family in Detroit Michigan. He's a talkative introvert and argumentative geek. His loves include Star Wars, Star Trek, Superheroes, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Transformers, GI Joe, Films, Comics, TV Shows, Action Figures and Twizzlers.