Force Matters: It’s Space-Halloween Time in ‘Star Wars: Tales From the Nightlands’ #1

The Jedi fight for Qui-Gon’s life while Anakin and Obi-Wan celebrate Space-Halloween on Ryloth.

Star Wars: Jedi Knights #7 by Marc Guggenheim & Madibek Musabekov

Mace Windu and Aayla Secura race to save Qui-Gon from a deadly poison!

• The fate of Qui-Gon, last issue’s cliffhanger, is resolved quickly on the first page (spoiler alert: he’s alive), which is probably for the best given we know he has to live to appear in The Phantom Menace.
• Interestingly, Aayla proclaims, “by the dawn” rather than “by the Force” when Qui-Gon turns out to be alive.
• Sinsara is in the Anoat system, which lies between Bespin and Hoth and thus was mentioned in The Empire Strikes Back.
• The architecture of Sinsara resembles that of pre-modernization Japan.
• Aayla’s characterization as a somewhat more reckless Jedi comes through here, as she basically bluffs her way into an audience with the anti-Jedi authority figure she and Mace need to see.

• The people on Sinsara have had dealings in the past with the Jedi and don’t like them; it seems pretty clear that Qui-Gon is going to have been the Jedi who soured them, particularly since Mace and Aayla battle a group that look an awful lot like Qui-Gon’s attacker who’s been stalking him throughout the series.
• Bringing back the Kaijura from issue #3 is a nice use of in-series continuity; it helps establish an internal continuity specific to this series in addition to its role as a chapter in the broader Star Wars narrative.
• The Jedi lamenting having to kill the Kaijura in order to save Qui-Gon — with the rationalization that they’re freeing the creature from a life of suffering — is pretty hand-wave-y, but still an appreciated acknowledgement of the Jedi’s relative respect for life.
• Jedi Healer Rig Nema looks like the X-Men’s Lilandra.

The wrap-up to the book’s first multi-part story is somewhat perfunctory — but then, it always was going to be, when it was build around a threat to a character with major plot armor. Smartly, the identity/motivations of Qui-Gon’s attacker and the broader mystery of Sinsara remain open questions to explore later, creating future opportunities to further the series’ own narrative.

Star Wars: Tales From the Nightlands #1 by Cavan Scott & Soo Lee

Obi-Wan and Anakin encounter an evil dark spirit on Ryloth.

• This is the latest iteration of Dark Horse’s “horror” themed Star Wars anthology series released around Halloween (often under the “Tales from Vader’s Castle” banner by both Dark Horse and previous all-ages Star Wars license holder IDW).
• As such, the story in this first issue takes place during, basically, Ryloth’s Halloween.
• Ryloth is the home planet of the Twi’lek species, whose notable members include Bib Fortuna, Hera Syndulla, and the aforementioned Aayla Secura.
• Scott showcases Anakin’s character in a subtle moment, in which, when trying to get inside a temple, he first attempts to mind-trick the guards, before using the Force to create a distraction that draws them away from the doors. Given the way some Jedi view the mind trick as walking dangerously close to the dark side, showing that to be the first tool Anakin reaches for is notable.
• The titular Nightlander turns out to be Twi’lek ghost-zombie spirit trying to fight their way back onto the mortal plane.
• The grief in Anakin that the Nightlander draws on in this story is specifically focused on the then-recent loss of Qui-Gon, rather than on having left his mother goodbye, which, given how much the later will fuel his transformation into Darth Vader, it’s refreshing to see something different be used here.
• The next time the Nightlander can attempt to escape their realm will come thirty years in the future, which, coincidentally, will be during the era of the Original Trilogy!
• The issue ends on a knowing/funny/sad note as Anakin suggests the Jedi will be around to help stop the Nightlander then, because what could possibly happen to them? [sad trombone].

These Halloween series are always fun (if a touch slight) and this is no exception. Scott has an especially good handle on preteen Anakin (a tricky character to write, as George Lucas himself knows all too well) and Lee gives everything a manga feel that fits the younger Jedi protagonists of the story.

Cover of the Week: Tales of the Nightlands #1

Francesco Francavilla’s “main” cover gets the nod this week, setting the appropriate tone for the series while featuring a movie poster-style layout.