Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures Phase III--Crash Zone

Star Wars: The High Republic

by Daniel José Older, Rachele Aragno (Illustrator), Nick Brokenshire (Illustrator)

Collects the complete story of Alys “Crash” Ongwa and her courageous crew, including the two Crash one-shots, and the 2025 annual from Phase III of the High Republic Adventures Saga.

Alys “Crash” Ongwa and her crew—Fezzonk, Svi’no, 10-K8, Ruu, and Baynoo—are the fiercest bunch of Nihil hunters in the Galaxy, and they’re searching for the ne’er do wells who plunged the planet Corellia into chaos. No villains escape these brave allies unscathed!

But when Crash’s mission leads her to the notorious Nihil commander Krix Kamerat, she chooses to join forces with her enemy in the hopes of catching Marchion Ro—the nefarious mastermind responsible for the galaxy’s suffering. It’s a difficult choice, and one that puts Crash at odds with her friends and family. Will Crash follow her road of revenge to the bitter end, or choose a more peaceful path for the sake of her loved ones?

Also collected in this volume is the 2025 Star The High Republic Adventures Phase III Annual: an anthology story featuring fan-favorite heroes and villains from throughout the High Republic saga!

Join a team of all-star creators, including Daniel José Older, Rachele Aragno, Nick Brokenshire, Justina Ireland, Charles and Rosemary Soule, Alyssa Wong, Zoraida Córdova, and Cavan Scott, for these action-packed chapters of the High Republic Adventures Saga!

Collects Star The High Republic Adventures Phase III--Crash Landing, Star The High Republic Adventures Phase III--Crash and Burn, and the 2025 Star The High Republic Adventures Phase III Annual.

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

Published April 29, 2025

About the author

Daniel José Older is the New York Times bestselling author of the Young Adult series the Shadowshaper Cypher (Scholastic), the Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series (Penguin), and the upcoming Middle Grade sci-fi adventure Flood City (Scholastic). He won the International Latino Book Award and has been nominated for the Kirkus Prize, the Mythopoeic Award, the Locus Award, the Andre Norton Award, and yes, the World Fantasy Award. Shadowshaper was named one of Esquire’s 80 Books Every Person Should Read. You can find his thoughts on writing, read dispatches from his decade-long career as an NYC paramedic and hear his music at http://danieljoseolder.net/, on youtube and @djolder on twitter.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

A big nothingburger of a volume. Crash and her team have been killing off Nihil who were involved with starting the war on Corellia. They find a joke of a Nihil who says he can kill Marchion Ro. It's all just pretty poorly done and the art is poor. These High Republic books have just turned into a big disappointment.

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Los dos primeros números de este volumen tratan de la historia de Alys Ongwa "Crash". Ella tiene a sus amigos el grandote Fezzonk, su enamorada Svi'No Atchapat y también Ruu un joven ex padawan. Cuando capturan a un Nihil él les da el nombre de Krix Kamerat como el responsable.
Van por tanto a buscar a Zeen y Lula quien había perdido la memoria para pedir informaciones de su paradero. Cuando Crash llega Krix le cuenta qué tan cercano es a Marchion Ro y cómo él lo ha criado incluso regalándole un casco que él mismo usaba de niño.
Como consecuencia de que Crash libera a Krix, este tramará luego desquitarse y lo primero que hace es meter a Eriadu en la Zona de Oclusión. Zeen llama a Crash anunciándole que esperan un ataque Nihil en cualquier momento y que no disponen de armas ni mucha gente. El arte sobre todo del primero número no me gustó y la historia tampoco me fascinó.
El último número es el del especial anual de The High Republic Adventures, cuentan varias historias alrededor de lo que pasa antes de la Batalla de Eriadu. Driggit Parse y su amiga Emelsine Tarkin. Churo The Hutt y el jedi Sul-Nath-Rune . Baron Boolan, quien estando en prisión luego de ser capturado en el volumen 3 de la fase 3 del cómic The High Republic recuerda cuando encontró a una cazarecompensas sensible a la fuerza llamada H´Tar c y la última una historia de Vernestra recordando a su maestro Stellan. Esta última fue mi favorita.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main story here is okay but what really takes the cake is the annual issue. A huge issue telling multiple stories from across the scattered Jedi forces as they prepare for the final fight against the Nihil. Stories of light in dark times and the ever expanding power of hope in the face of evil. Reminding us that we all have a way of making the world better no matter how big or small, the difference we make is worth it.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good but it didn’t hook me.

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't care less about the Crash story—it doesn't make sense, I don't care about the characters, it has no bearing on the larger Nihil story (except the part about Eriadu being pulled into the Occlusion Zone). But I did love seeing Churo the Hutt again, and the other one-off stories in the second half of the book are decent enough. I felt like a lot of the stories had pages missing, because things didn't connect at all.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

The art is horrid, and distracts so terribly that reading is a chore.

The good news is, you're (probably) an adult, and can skip any chore you want. Skip this one.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

228 BBY.
With the Nihil at the height of their power and influence Crash Ongwa and her team of misfits set out to get revenge against those who devastated Corellia shortly before the fall of Starlight Beacon. Crash reluctantly enlists the Nihil Krix Kamerat but has to face her own guilt in the hunt for Marchion Ro. After the Nihil's Stormwall expands, we get a number of tales following those caught on the frontlines.

The core stories and themes in this book are a weird choice for the 'Adventures' subseries of the High Republic, which are generally aimed at slightly younger readers and have unsophisticated cartoonish art styles.
Here, the main story has Crash trying to hunt down and execute those she sees as responsible for the damage done to Corellia and it has strong shades of the Jewish Nazi hunters following the Second World War.
This very dark storyline can't possibly be done justice in a book tailored to a younger audience. And it isn't.

We are also given as a main character Krix Kamerat, a delusional incel who attaches himself to an evil organisation in the hopes of being less pathetic, even if it means committing atrocities. Again, there's a great deal of story potential there and, frankly, a useful warning for young males in our world, but framing it in this style of book turns Kamerat into little more than a clownish buffoon, when really he's something much more insidious and banally evil.

The assorted short tales are fine, but largely unremarkable. The best of them, to my surprise, follows Churo the Hutt and explores his empathetic nature and reverence for all life. It's surprising heartfelt and has a strong moral message at its core.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

228 BBY

This graphic novel collects the two issues of Crash Zone ("Crash and Burn" and "Crash Zone",) as well as the collected annual one-shots. Crash Zone follows Alys "Crash" Ongwa along with her mother and the rest of their crew as they attempt to seek revenge against Marchion Ro and the Nihil for their atrocities of the Occlusion Zone. She meets Krix, someone who once worked for the Nihil, and returns with a plan to infiltrate and exact their plan of revenge. Or is he just doing whatever benefits him?

The annual one-shots are short and make up an assortment of different stories, like Baron Boolan's imprisonment and a reflection of his experiments, or a lesson Vernestra learns under Stellan's guiadance, among other stories. I kind of enjoyed some of the one-shots a bit more than the two-issue main story. The art is okay, but a bit flat compared to some other contemporary Star Wars works. The story does tie in with that of the Occlusion Zone, following after, and does include some characters the reader may have encountered elsewhere in other High Republic era works, but nothing integral. I do enjoy seeing Marchion's brutality as a character. He is rather intriguing.

[Hanneke · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one did not spark joy. poor stories and disappointing artwork (if you can call it even that). The stories about Crash did not make sence and did not add to the overall story: Daniel did it again - this could have been an email.

I did love the story about my favorite Hutt, Chiel! Gotta live that little dude, but again weak artwork. A big star for Chiro.

The stories about Bucket and Vern were decently drawn. so also a star there.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was disappointing. I didn’t really care about the Crash stories at all, and the only thing of mild interest was finding out why the Stormwall expanded so suddenly. I was excited to have a story about Churo the Hutt, a favorite book character, but it felt so pointless and the art was a bit disappointing. I felt the same way about Vernestra’s preachy story at the end.

[Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly not impressed by any of the artwork, especially those in the Crash one shots. Which is a shame, as the character designs seemed pretty cool. Most of the story didn't connect with me.

I did like the Vern and Buckets short stories in the annual.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories are very fragmented in their telling, like big chunks are missing. Plus, the artwork is really not very good. I don't know what's going on with this volume, but it is pretty bad on the whole.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crash Ongwa's storyline was the most compelling here and I'd have preferred to see more of her instead of the other random tales that fill out this volume (look, they aren't bad, but nothing in them justified their existence).

[Jazmin Castro · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

My favorite part from this is Krix's death.

[John Robertson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one is a colossal miss. Some of the stories in the annual are ok, but the first 2 issues included about Crash Ongwa are not great. The writing doesn't flow and the action is disjointed.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Crash and her crew well enough. I read these stories separately in various issues.

[Bane Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

1/5