The High Republic: The Blade #1 - Comic Review

Roughly 150 years before the fall of Starlight Beacon, Porter Engle is still a relatively young Jedi Master. In The High Republic: The Blade #1 we find Porter and his sister Barash finishing up work on a far away planet: The Boneworld. While Engle is serving up some stew to a few of the locals, Barash notices a dispute nearby and asks for his help. The two of them work together in an attempt to peacefully resolve the issue between two parties, both of which are accusing the others of lying and attempting to steal from them. Shortly after, the two Jedi decide to look into a new mission and come across a plea for help from a relatively unknown world in the midst of battle seeking the aid of Jedi help. The planet seems incredibly difficult to get to, and with the request giving very little information Engle wonders if it might not be worth it, but Barash finds herself drawn to this mission more than ever. It’s up to them to find transportation to the planet Gansevor and help in whatever way they can!

While I expected the writing for The High Republic: The Blade #1 to be good, it is Charles Soule after all, I have to be honest I didn’t expect it to be THIS good. Soule is a fantastic writer, but this issue is one of the best Star Wars comics he’s done so far. It can be hard to really drop the readers into the middle of a story and make it work, but Soule not only does that, but actually drops us into the end of a story, the one on The Boneworld, sets up the locals, the feel, and the vibes of the area in a fantastic way to let us know exactly how this planet works in just a few pages, and then immediately moves us on to the next chapter in these characters’ lives in a seamless way. It’s a phenomenal first issue in just that sense, but on top of that all the characters feel incredibly fleshed out, even the ones we meet for only a few panels, and the relationships between everyone are wonderfully written. And speaking of relationships, the interactions between Engle and Barash are so sweet and real—it feels like we’ve known these two for years, and their dialogue together works perfectly.

I could gush about the writing for The High Republic: The Blade #1 for ages, but the writing is only as good as the artistic team, and let me say Soule has some incredible people working with him here. Between artist Marco Castiello, colorist Jim Charalampidis, and letterer VC’s Travis Lanham, we’ve got yet another masterpiece of a High Republic era comic on our hands. The way Castiello draws the characters throughout this issue gives every single one of them their own unique feeling which makes each one stand out among the others even when they’re only seen a page or two. The action is also top notch, with both feelings of intensity and wonder throughout every sequence, absolutely with the help of Charalampidis’ color to add a beautiful look of vibrancy to each scene. Lanham’s work is also wonderful, as always, deftly fitting the speech bubble in ways that don’t block anything important within the background, even in very full panels, and knowing just when to add sound effects to give specific sequences more depth.

The main cover art for The High Republic: The Blade #1 comes from artists Giuseppe Camuncoli and Frank Martin and finds a hooded, near disguised, Porter Engle with his vibrant blue lightsaber blade and gorgeous and unique hilt front and center on a fantastic first issue cover. The first variant cover is by another duo, this time of David Baldeon and Israel Silva, and shows Porter striking a serious pose and using the Force to swirl around a hand of Sabacc cards toward the reading. This cover is probably the most visually pleasing one of the batch. And last, but certainly not least, is a variant cover that hits home for me especially, as John McCrea and Mike Spencer deliver an action packed depiction of Engle fighting off against unseen attackers. McCrea did the art for his and Garth Ennis’ The Demon and Hitman run, among other Ennis collaborations, and I’m such a fan of his work that this was an absolute delight to see!

Follow the legendary Porter Engle and Barash decades before the fall of Starlight Beacon as they explore the outer reaches of the galaxy in the earlier days of the Republic. The High Republic: The Blade #1 is fantastic and fun, and an excellent start to this miniseries. Fire up those Jedi Vectors and be sure to fly on down to your local comic shop to grab your copy today!