Review — ‘Star Wars: Inquisitors’ #1 Sidelines Its Title Characters

The Inquisitors occupy an interesting place in the Star Wars mythos. Seemingly born of the need to give the good guys somebody with a lightsaber to fight that isn’t Darth Vader (since, after all, if Ahsoka and Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger are fighting Vader all the time, it diminishes his impact), the Inquisitors fall into the same almost canon/Rule of Two-breaking area as Asaji Ventress before them.

They are Force-using, red lightsaber wielding bad guys who aren’t technically Sith. But beyond that, there isn’t much which defines them, as individuals or a collective. That leaves a fair amount of wiggle room to explore the motivations and characterization behind these villains, but aside from Reva in Obi-Wan Kenobi, no project has really set out to do so. Whether it intends to, by building this miniseries around them, Star Wars: Inquisitors is poised to explore that realm.

 

Somewhat ironically, Star Wars Inquisitors #1 isn’t really about the Inquisitors. The only one of note to appear in the issue is the Grand Inquisitor. First voiced by Jason Isaacs in Star Wars Rebels and later played by Rupert Friend on Obi-Wan Kenobi, very little is revealed about the character in this issue that wasn’t already known. In fact, the opening pages, in which the Grand Inquisitor terrorizes a settlement in search of a Jedi, reads very much like the opening of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He does some monstrous, evil things, but that’s not really anything new for the character, or his organization. 

Instead, the issue is really about introducing Tensu Run. The target of the Grand Inquisitor’s mission-du-jour (given to him by a cameo-ing Darth Vader), Run is a survivor of Order 66, and positioned as sort of a proto-Luke Skywalker. Thanks to a heroic rescue mission depicted via a lengthy flashback sequence in the middle of the issue, he’s become somewhat legendary throughout the galaxy. So much so that Vader fears his growing (political) power, prompting the Grand Inquisitor’s mission. 

It’s a smart move on the part of writer Rodney Barnes (if not the best way to showcase the title characters). It gives readers someone to root for, an original character with the space to develop however the story needs, without fear of tripping over events in the chronological future of the Star Wars narrative. Via a (loosely fleshed out) supporting cast, Run is established as being close to the fantasy literary tradition of knights that inspired the Jedi Knights.

He has, essentially, a sidekick/squire, a cleric, an elderly master from whom he can seek guidance, and a growing flock of refugees from the Empire that look to him for protection. It has an archetypal purity to it that makes up for the fact that most of the characters, at this point, are largely ciphers (Run has an eye for beauty and the kind of reluctance to be a hero required of all good heroes, and that’s about all we learn about his personality here). It’s engaging enough for a first issue, at least. 

Art in Star Wars Inquisitors #1 comes from Ramon Rosanas, who has amusingly bounced between the Star Wars books at Marvel and the Star Trek books at IDW over the last couple years. His work here and elsewhere is strong in a way that isn’t terribly showy. It’s very clean and detailed — backgrounds are always deep and varied, the clothing of everyone in a crowd scene is unique and fully rendered.

He consistently gets work in licensed books, presumably, because of a knack for likenesses, in which he manages to echo the look of familiar characters without resorting to pure photorealism (which isn’t as much of an issue here, where the only previously-appearing characters are Darth Vader — who wears a mask — and the Grand Inquisitor, who has already appeared elsewhere with varied looks). His action scenes aren’t always the most dynamic, sticking to standard panel sizes and layouts, but there’s a richness to them that makes them easy to appreciate regardless. 

All in all, Star Wars Inquisitors #1 is an entertaining and successful Star Wars adventure. It introduces a central protagonist in Tensu Run who is intriguing and engaging. The detailed artwork makes the issue feel visually full and satisfying. It is far less successful as a vehicle for exploring what makes the Inquisitors on the whole and their leader specifically tick. Bu if the ensuing story is good enough, that ultimately won’t matter. For now, at least, it doesn’t.