Dark Horse Comics has owned the publishing rights to the space opera Star Wars since the early nineties. Star Wars (of course) is a sales juggernaut and Dark Horse has capitalized on this pop culture icon and made the Star Warsfranchise one of their tent poles in a business plan that encompasses several cross media licensing agreements.
Their latest incarnation is titled, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, and features great new twists and a deep, deep back-story to the ever expanding Star Wars mythos by creating a comic that takes place 36,000 years before the Battle of Yavin.
The plot centers on a semi-religious, mythic society that has harnessed the power of the Force by being called by theThor Yor (pyramid shaped spaceships) that carried the chosen peoples to the planet of Typhon.
Essentially, several religious institutions built temples and orders around the buried and sunken Thor Yors on their own home worlds. After centuries, perhaps thousands of years, of contemplation and reverence the Thor Yors begin calling out to the faithful. As the followers of the Thor Yor gathered, an entrance appeared, and the Thor Yor flew through the stars to Typhon, a planet deeply entrenched in the tumultuous nature of the Force far in the core of the universe. The original peoples that were relocated by the mysterious, pyramid shaped spaceships once again began their studies on Typhon; they began honing their physical and mental equities—finding their relation to the Force. As generations blossomed some were naturally attuned to the Force and others were not. Those who were not in touch with the Forcecould not survive in such a dangerous land and thus spread throughout the solar system colonizing the other planets. As years waned and wars broke out the people of Typhon, also known as Tythans, became almost legendary and mythological in nature they were named the Je’Daii. Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi is the story of these mythicalJe’Daii—the origin story of the Jedi and the Sith.
Dark Horse’s zeroth issue is a great guide to the new mythos presented in Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi. It explains all of the locales, jargon, and histories leading up to the first issue. The back-story is deep and just by reading the prologue I was immediately snatched up in the intrigue. Much of the tangential history could easily be a comic book run or series of novels.
The prologue issue is a bit lengthy and excludes traditional comic book art in favor of concept art and sketches accompanied with an explanation of the character, place, or jargon’s importance to the series. This issue is not a must-have, but if you are on the fence about the series, or a diehard Star Wars comic book fan, I would recommend picking the issue up. After only a couple of pages I was hooked and immediately wanted more content. If you know you want to check out the series, but are on a budget skip this one and pick up issue number one, which is out now.
Overall, I am quite impressed. It is very reminiscent of Scott Allie’s 2011 Star Wars: The Dark Side run, and that is a serious compliment! It positively adds to the Star Wars universe by expanding on the histories and stories presented in George Lucas’ famous films in a way that only the comic book medium could present it.
Pick up anyone of the numerous Star Wars comics by Dark Horse at Merlyn’s on Main in downtown Spokane, but especially lookout for Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi—it is sure to be a must-have for any Star Wars aficionado.
WATCH Dark Horse Presents: Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #0 (2012) FULL MOVIE ONLINE STREAMING
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