Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures, Vol. 2

Star Wars: The High Republic

by Daniel José Older, Charles Soule, Cladia Gray

An even longer time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the adventures continue for Lula and her fellow Padawans in the Republic’s golden age!

The High Republic is an unexplored period in Star Wars history, set hundreds of years before the events of the Skywalker Saga—when the Jedi were at their height and Master Yoda was much younger, and still training Padawans in the field.

It is here where we find Jedi Padawans Farzala and Qort, who are taking a break from the ongoing battle against the dangerous marauders known as the Nihil. As part of a secret mission, they join an aging Jedi Knight on the starship The Vessel to negotiate a peace treaty with the Hutt crime family. Hey, what could go wrong? As it turns out: literally everything.

Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures is part of a broader storytelling initiative exploring a mysterious, bygone era of the Galactic Republic through comics and prose.

Collects Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures issues #6–7, Annual 2021 and the 2021 Free Comic Book Day story!

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

121 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 2022

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]

It's becoming clear that this title is the inconsequential portion of The High Republic story. The highlight in this volume is the stories from the annual where the authors of the novels come in and write little stories featuring their characters. The rest is pretty bad.

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this volume. I love the continuity between all the Star Wars universe. I love the way these connect to the novels and comics despite being from different companies.

This volume has a great mix of back stories, giving the lesser known characters a chance to grow and shine as well as moving yhe main story going on in this comics on.

The volume contains 8 stories of various lengths. Short to medium, but I definitely notice the main events in the novels that these stories are adding depth to. 9n a personal level I also prefer the artwork in thus volume over all to the first volume.

[Jim C · Rating 2 out of 5]

This the second collection of an ongoing series. Even though it is the second collection a reader could jump in here for a starting point. The reason for this is that there is not one continuous story line. Instead, we get a bunch of short stories.

If I had to use one word to describe this collection that word would be "inconsequential". Nothing of real substance happens in this collection. Nothing of importance happens in this collection. In fact, in one of the issues it replays a scene from another previous comic issue. That is not what I want in an unread issue. To read something that I already read. I would understand if it did this for an impact of the current story. It did not as it seemed like it was there just to fill up the pages. This series is for younger children and it definitely reads and looks it. The story borders on the silly at all times and the padawan characters come across as "mary sues" as they seem infallible. The artwork doesn't work for me either as it seems convoluted and the coloring does not do itself any favors.

I wasn't really expecting much going into this and it delivered on that account. I know this series really isn't meant for the serious reader. The problem is that Disney is treating like it should be when it isn't. Basically, this collection and series is just a cash grab for Disney using the series of The High Republic.

[katie :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love an lgbtq friend group

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los dos primeros números cuentan la incursión de algunos jedi a Bilbousa. Con los pilotos Leox Gyasi y Affie Hollow van los Jedi Farzala y su maestro maestro Obratuk Glii. En el planeta, Skarabda the Hutt será el encargado de negociar minetras su hermana Myarga está peleando junto a Avar Kriss. Pero algo sale mal y las cosas se encienden. Se cuenta aquí de un jedi antiguo llamado Tal Bota que se enfrentó a los Sith. Se recuerda también una importante lección de Farzala.
En el Free comic book day se nos cuenta cuando Ram Jomaram, Lula y Zeen Mrala se encuentran en pleno ataque Nihil en Valo durante la Feria de la República y se encuentran a Ty Yorrick montada en un dragón. Tratarán de ayudar. Finalmente, en el número Anual 2021 se cuentan varias pequeñas historias algunas actuales y otras atrás en el tiempo. Están Vernestra, Stellan Gios, Loden y Bell, Porter Engle vs Lourna Dee y otras cosas interesantes.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's all just fine, if mostly inconsequential and forgettable. The highlight of the book is the return of Geode, my favorite High Republic character. You just can't predict what he might do next.

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

i won’t lie: i completely broke down crying after reading the bell and loden story. the first volume of high republic adventures had a much more consistent storyline compared to this one, but i’ll chock that up to the annual being thrown in there

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a little disjointed. Some stories had art that was just okay, and some had art that was amazing. There also wasn’t a real overarching plot, which felt weird. Anyway, it was fine.

[Bernardo Martinho · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Each time we feel fear…It is an opportunity to become better at overcoming fear!"

I had a blast with this one. Older really nailed with the tone. Nice development of the story and loved the dynamic between the different characters (especially Geode and Qort, I had a big laugh with those two).

I was also very impressed by the impact these stories hold in the High Republic. On a side note, would love to see, in the future, more about this Tal Bota and his feats in the Old Republic.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures, Vol. 2 was a super fun read. There wasn't as much development of the main story as I expected but the 2021 Annual stories were such a delight that I still enjoyed the volume. These are some of my favorite characters in the High Republic universe. I can't wait to see how this phase wraps up.

[Leon E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starwars fanbook, based in the high republic.

[Alec Costa · Rating 4 out of 5]

BELL ZETTIFAAAAARRRRR

[Leensey · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an incredible variety of art styles and stories!

I was not the biggest fan of the first volume, but this one I enjoyed immensely. I loved seeing Ram, Farzala and Qort take the center stage in these stories. I also loved the Annual shorts, especially the one with Bell and Loden, The Vessel crew, and Stellan and Vernestra. I've never been the biggest fan of Crash back in The Rising Storm, but it was nice to see a visual representation of her character and her assistant droid while they protected Lina Soh. I also liked the Porter Engle story where Lourna made a wise choice to leave instead of facing the Blade of Bardotta himself. Knowing that his story gets fleshed out in his own comic run, has me very eager to get to phase 2 for that.

Again, all in all a much better overall story for me compared to HR Adventures v1.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sav Malagán is back!!! Only for a couple pages but boy are they some good pages. I haven’t finished the High Republic novels so hopefully she shows up in some of these last few ones but my experience with her so far has been the Manga and now this. This also brings in another awesome Jedi with Master Obratuk who has multiple lightsabers to represent each of his past Padawans. This volume is a lot more connected to the main High Republic story with the characters aging up a lot and meeting multiple big characters from across the High Republic story so far. The third volume comes out soon so I’ll make sure to snatch that up real fast and read it before this next phase begins.

[Adam Fisher]

Another Volume of the juvenile version of the High Republic stories. I do enjoy them, but wish they were longer and more involved. A bunch of topics are covered here:
Attack on the Republic Fair, Farzala taken hostage during a peace meeting between the Republic and the Hutts, Defense of Takodana (next time as this was only the setup), short stories featuring some Jedi we've already lost in the adult novels... but overall, a good collection.
Recommend.

[Mangrii · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 / 5

El segundo volumen de Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures es una amalgama de historias, estilos y rellenos que se siente desordenado y confuso para el lector. Juntando los números #6-#8 de la serie regular con el Annual 2021 y la historia regalada en el Free Comic Day 2021, al final, esta segunda entrega de The High Republic Adventures te queda un conjunto de historias cortas donde ver y conocer personajes que rodean todas las historias de The High Republic, sin tener un hilo o una trama general que seguir, salvo una pequeña historia con los padawans Farzala y Qort que negocian un tratado de paz con los Hutt.

[Logan Harrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10:
This collection of comics is so much better than the first! It does a great job connecting to the events of the High Republic era while standing on its own in terms of storytelling and better art than the first volume! Genuinely looking for reading more about these characters soon!

[Arualbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Storie per ragazzi, che però si dimostrano più interessanti di quelle per adulti narrate nei fumetti dell'Alta Repubblica. Non indispensabile, ma piacevole lettura.

[☮ morgan ☮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Jedi aren't supposed to be afraid."

Geode!

[Tyson]

they are everything to me 🫶

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was more a collection of short adventures than one cohesive story. I didn’t really like the artwork and got rather bored with this one

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. No protagonist. Just a series of random vignettes. They jump around in time and place with no guide. We have 20+ characters in 5 childrens comics with no character building.

Krix continues to have no motive. He wants to kill all Jedi and Force users. He wants to kill civilians. He wants to kill subordinates who are too slow or scared. He is a whiny brat who was given power that he did not earn, and is literally a sociopath. So…basically the same background as most Nihil.

What dumb antagonists.

The art looks like Sunday morning cartoons in the newspaper. The panels are too busy. IDW printed this at digest size so I can’t see anything. Some of the worst Star Wars since Episode IX.

An emphatic: 1/10

God, why do I still read every piece of Star Wars content???

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not connecting with these characters as well as some others, and I suspect some of that is due to artwork I don't like that well.

[Brett Wyman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I absolutely hate when the collection throws in issues that are not part of the titular series. 1 star for this disjointed waste of time. Does not contribute much to the High Republic.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars just for the flashback to Stellan and Vern meeting for the first time.

[Daniel Roslan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's multiple arcs in this, so I'm going to review them separately:

High Republic Adventures Vol 2 : Mission to Bilbousa (#6-7)
Story: 8/10
Important: 6/10
Reason: This was my favorite comic book story in the series to this point, my only real complaint with it being how short it was, but only because I'd have liked to stay with these characters longer, not because it felt rushed. For the first time in an Older book, I felt like the main character had some real depth and intrigue to them, and the story itself was compelling, with fun twists and actual tension. Like HRC vol 2, it also has some pretty significant story impact, though not nearly on that level. It's a surprising choice to have so much important story information in the comics, let alone located in vol 2 of said comics, but as some one reading them, I appreciate that the comics aren't throw away filler stories but have real significance.

The Galactic Bake-Off Spectacular! (included in HRA the complete phase 1)
Story:4/10
Importance: 1/10
Reason: The story's not actually as cringey as the name would suggest, but the framing narrative is, and the story itself is just very okay. Can't think of any story relevance. Feel free to skip if you want.

The High Republic Adventures #11
Story: 5/10
Importance: 3/10
Reason: Like the bake off's framing narrative, half of this story is very light hearted and cringey, but it sets up some important events among the villians, and gives a little, much appreciated, insight into the mental state of one of the main characters we've been following. Nothing to write home bout, but probably worth reading.

High Republic Adventures Annual 2021 (stories available in The Monster of Temple Peak collection or HRA vol 2)
Story: 6/10
Importance: 3/10
Reason: Its a collection of short stories, some I really enjoyed, others I was more meh on, but as a whole it was an enjoyable read. Surprisingly we get a lot of meaningful character back stories. Like the Starlight short stories, you don't NEED this info, but it does provide some meaningful context. As an aside, the reddit reading order wiki places these stories mid way through wave 3, however, because they were at the back of TMoTP, I read them right after I read that. Nothing struck me as a spoiler, and given HRA vol 2 also finishes right after TMoTP, I question why the wiki has it so much later. Best I can guess is one or more of the short stories is canonically around this moment in the story?

The High Republic Adventures #12-13
Story: 5/10
Importance: 5/10
Reason: The conclusion of phase 1 HRA felt very aggressively okay. Some of the art/panels during the lone action sequence were hard to follow, which didn't help, but despite a potentially interesting set up, the final action sequence pay off was rather disappointing. There were a few interesting nuggets that keep me from going lower then a 5, and the events had some greater story impact, so reading it wasn't with out value, but its sad to me that I can honestly say you COULD skip the finale of this series and it wouldn't be that big of deal.

[tony dillard jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

My local comic shop will sometimes order things for me based on previous orders. I don't really have the heart to say no, unless they order something I already have. But today's review is one of those recommendations that hit a bullseye.

Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures is the all-ages version of Marvel's more mature comics series. I haven't been reading any of this, mostly because my Star Wars era is Classic Trilogy. (The first is the best!) The premise is that centuries before the rise of the Skywalkers, the Republic is at its zenith. The Jedi are highly revered and Yoda is old, but not that old.

The safety of the galaxy is threatened by two fronts. A carnivorous species of plants called the Drengir is viewing the inhabited planets of the Republic as their own personal smorgasbord. Meanwhile, a group of space pirates called the Nihil see the Great Expansion of the Galactic Republic as a threat to their territories and way of life. Using a specialized type of hyperspace that can bend the rules of physics, the Nihil can attack anywhere at anytime without warning and without remorse.

The first collection of stories introduced all of the major players to this story. As I've come in somewhere in the middle, I was a little bit lost. Thankfully, the writers do a fairly good job keeping the readers on top of things. And whatever questions that still remain a quick jaunt to Wookieepedia provides me those answers I seek.

Besides Yoda, there aren't very many characters from any of the movie trilogies. And for now, Yoda is M.I.A. Yet without these familiar faces, this series is very much Star Wars. There's swashbuckling adventures, crossroad level life-changing choices and Jedi. Lots and lots of Jedi. The good thing about these stories is that despite not having those icons of Star Wars that are beloved, there is a theme and feeling that young readers will love.

My first toe dip into the Era of the High Republic. And I had a blast. My heart still belongs on Hoth, Bespin and a certain princess. But I enjoyed this collection enough to want to both get my hands on volume 1 and find out what happens next! I think the young reader Star Wars fan in your life is gonna feel the same.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of adventures from across the High Republic featuring Jedi tackling the Nihil, the Drengir and the Hutts, among other challenges.

The bulk of this book is made up of stories, by Daniel Jose Older, continuing the adventures of the young Padawans introduced in Volume 1 of this series, beginning with the attack on the Republic Fair (231 BBY), continuing through a confrontation with the Hutts and the Drengir and ending with a Nihil attack against Takodana (Maz Kanata's home from 'The Force Awakens', if it sounds familiar)

We then get a series of shorter tales which range from an adventure with Bell Zettifar and Loden Greatstorm from before the High Republic series began to Vernestra Rwoh's first meeting with her Master, Stellan Gios. Whilst less engaging than the main storyline, it was nice to see some vignettes of characters from across the High Republic story era.

It may be that this far in (for me; two novels and five graphic novels) that I've finally started to get to grips with the main players of the High Republic, but overall this book felt more settled and less unfamiliar than some of the other High Republic stories have. The appearances of characters from other mediums felt more natural and less forced, meaning that seeing the likes of Bell Zettifar or Ram Jomaram didn't feel as incongruous as they could have.
Strangely, this book was the first time that I felt as if the High Republic had a cohesive narrative, which was particularly weird in an anthology with tales from various timeframes.

It's far from perfect or mind-blowing, but this was a very solid and enjoyable addition to the High Republic era.

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

[Brittany | Magically_Blonde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel contains THR Adventures issues #6-8, the 2021 Free Comic Book Day story, and the 2021 Annual. Overall, I’d say this is a 4/5 read!

Attack on the Republic Fair — 2021 Free Comic Book Day:
This story was so bright and colorful, which is in interesting contrast to the dark events of the republic fair. While the story is serious, I like that the narration felt almost like Spider-Man vibes (iykyk). I appreciated seeing this story in connection with Race to Crashpoint Tower.

#6: GEODE!!!! This is exactly what I was hoping for getting back into this new wave of Phase I. The ending left me wanting more, the artwork was incredible, and I finally saw Geode!

#7: I love the discussion of fear within the context of being a Jedi. This comic seems to pull into the deeper themes of Star Wars, which is a nice change from the typical HRA themes being aimed towards younger readers. As a side note, interesting to see that Yoda being missing when people need him is a theme that has never changed…

#8: I like the development Krix is receiving, however, I’m not sure if this is just because this is for a younger audience so temper tantrums are relatable, or if he’s going to fall into the trope of whiny villains. I sincerely hope it’s not the latter because I feel he can become a strong force within the Nihil, motivated by his “betrayal” rather than plagued by it!

2021 Annual: I’m new to comics, so maybe this is normal, but it felt so all over the place to see so many different stories, characters, and times. I did particularly enjoy the first one though, “Set for Life.” Having Loden back was incredible, and I’m a sucker for an Ember appearance!

[TaunTaunTalk_de · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weiter gehts mit den Abenteuern in der hohen Republik. In Band 2 bekommen wir neben der Hauptstory in der es um die beiden Freunde geht welche in Band 1 getrennt wurden.
Da wäre Krix Kamerat welchen es auf die Seite der Nihil verschlägt und Zeen Mrala die sich nun in der Obhut der Jedi befindet und dort erst einmal bleiben darf.
Krix wird bei den Nihil immer weiter ins Vertrauen gezogen und bekommt sogleich einen Auftrag vom großen Auge.

Des Weiteren gibt es in diesem Band weitere kurzgeschichten in den wir den einen oder andern Charakter wieder treffen welche wir aus anderen Werken kennen.
Diese Storys handeln von Jedi auf Geheimen Frieden Mission zu den Hutten. Auf der Starlight- Station erleben wir ein grossen wiedersehen . Auch nach Takodana reisen wir, der Planet auf dem Maze Kanata ihre Oase betreibt.
Generell bin ich ein freund von Kurzgeschichten ,dennoch war ich gespannt wie es weitergeht mit den beiden getrennten Jugendfreunden Krix und Zeen. Auch Yoda wird immer noch vermisst.
Nichtsdestotrotz hatte ich Spaß an den anderen Geschichten, gerade das Auftauchen von dem einen oder anderen Wesen, welche ich schon vergessen hatte, war mir eine Freude. Mir persönlich wächst die Ära der hohen Republik immer mehr ans Herz und ist für mich auf jeden Fall in der Star Wars Galaxie angekommen.

Dieses Comic wurde mir als kostenfreies Rezensionsexemplar zur Verfügung gestellt. Meine Meinung ist dadurch nicht beeinflusst.