Review: Star Wars The High Republic: Trail of Shadows #4

The High Republic has entered such a rich era with great characters and concepts filling so many books and comics. Daniel Jose Older shows just how great he is as a writer here creating a fun Noir tale with incredible characters.

Behind it all is the new enemy that has been turning Jedi to stone with the echoes of a childhood nursery rhyme. It is a fair question why everyone in the Galaxy knows the same childhood rhyme but it is an interesting trope. The twist revealed this issue is the appearance of the dark creature that attacks Jedi and the fact that non-Jedi clearly are not vulnerable or even see of the threat.

Kisma Uttersond is a Chadra-Fan who has been working with the Nihil. He returns home but does not realize that Beesar who mourns the loss of a Republic loyalist is following him with a tracker. She relays the data to Sian and Emerick. The Jedi track him to a Nihil ship but are attacked.

Uttersond lashes out at the Nihil when accused of betrayal just as Emerick arrives to capture him. This is complicated by a creature Uttersond releases emerging from a peephole. The creature is massive and monstrous, crying out the rhyme that has been clouding Jedi minds and turning them to stone throughout the High Republic.

Kisma tries to save him but Uttersond and his ally Arathab attack before they are cut down by the arrival of Sian. Kisma closes the peephole and the monstrous threat which affects only Jedi fades. They return to the location of Starlight but find it in flames and crashing fast due to Nihil sabotage.

This book is excellent in its characterizations and keeping the momentum going. It has a nice noir feel although the art in this issue doesn’t quite match up to that tone. It does extremely well don’t in the big action scenes but feels a bit rushed in some of the quieter moments. That being said Dave Wachter’s art really shines when depicting the non-human characters and creatures in this book and he is an ideal artist for a Star Wars book. This is a fun, interesting series with fantastic characters and some important clues as to the threat transforming Jedi.

Writing: 4.7 of 5 stars
Art: 3.8 of 5 stars
Colors: 4.0 of 5 stars

Overall: 4.2 of 5 stars

Writer: Daniel Jose Older
Art: Dave Wachter
Colors: Giada Marchisio

Publisher: Marvel

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.