Everyone likes Yoda. I like Yoda. Well, I like Yoda from The Empire Strikes Back, when he was the quirky little puppet hiding his great wisdom and power in order to teach Luke Skywalker a lesson about judging others based on outward appearance. So, I was encouraged when the first issue of this collection of the Yoda series from this past year started with Yoda on Dagobah, sometime just before Luke shows up.
But take a quick glance at the regular covers of this ten issue Marvel series and you see Yoda wielding his green lightsaber on most of them. He looks just like he did in Episodes 2 and 3 of the prequel trilogy – not my favorite version of Yoda. Don’t get me wrong, the covers are by Phil Noto, so they look great. But I did go into this collection with low standards.
So, I guess you could say that I was pleasantly surprised: for the most part, this series is much better than I expected. It’s spilt into three 3-issue arcs plus a one-issue finale. Each arc has its own creative team. Well, except VC’s Joe Caramagna letters every issue.
Unfortunately, the scenes of Yoda on Dagobah are just a framing device, Yoda reflecting on some memories from his very long life. The three stories Yoda reminisce about occur during the prequel trilogy or even before that. Only the final issue remains completely on Dagobah.
The first arc – issues #1 – #3 – is written by Cavan Scott, with art by Nico Leon and colors by Dono Sachez-Alamara. It takes place sometime long ago, I guess during the High Republic Era. I’m not sure – sorry, I haven’t read much from that Era.
Scott’s story sends Yoda off to end a conflict between two “primitive” races stuck in an endless conflict. It ends with a nice anti-war message that flips initial expectations a little bit. Overall, there’s more drama than action, but it’s good drama, with somewhat bittersweet elements. The lessons learned are somewhat obvious and simple, but wise nonetheless.
I really thought Scott has a good handle of Yoda’s character as a patient and wise teacher who only uses words when necessary. Scott also does a good job with Yoda’s famous sentence-structures. Leon and Sachez-Almara’s art in these issues is also impressive – very colorful and dynamic. They create a lively world filled with interesting looking characters.
The second arc – issues #4 – #6 – has a creative team filled with industry veterans and it shows. Written by Jody Houser with art by Luke Ross and colors by Nolan Woodard, the three issues look sharp, detailed and professional. The story is basically a schoolyard drama starring Jedis in training. Jedi Master Dooku – before his fall to the dark side – appears. It feels like he is supposed to be important – with hints of his future heel turn – but he’s actually mostly just a side character.
Like I said, the story focuses more on the schoolyard drama of three friends. As with the first arc, there is more drama than action. But we also learn another good if somewhat simple lesson – again with bittersweet elements. This time it’s about friendship and impulsiveness.
The third arc – issues #7 – #9 – is written by Marc Guggenheim with art by Alessandro Miracolo and colors by Annalisa Leoni. Guggenheim is also a veteran in the industry, but this is definitely the weakest of the three arcs. He just doesn’t get Yoda’s character quite right. He especially misuses Yoda’s unusual sentence-structure, using it as a gimmick most of the time and then forgetting it completely in other scenes.
This arc follows Yoda during the prequel trilogy, teaming up with Anakin Skywalker to stop some crazy ultimate weapon we’ve never heard of before. It feels a lot like Guggenheim writing Clone Wars fan fiction. Everything is completely plot-driven with twists and resolutions coming for the sake of the story, not because they are logical or earned. Guggenheim throws in plenty of cameos, including a lightsaber battle with General Grievous. To its praise, there is a lot more action in these three issues than in any of others.
Miracolo’s art isn’t bad, but not on par with the rest of the series. It leans more toward a cartoony-style of the animated Clone Wars, while the other issues depicted more of a live action film style. And too often, little details were missing in images, like faces on characters in the background. It was a bit distracting at times.
We also get another simple life lesson, one of Yoda’s most famous lessons actually. But, Guggenheim kind of beats us over the head with it, forcing it into every aspect of the story, as if to shout, “Hey look, I found another way to symbolize the message!” It’s not subtle, which is everything Yoda is supposed to be.
The final issue sees the return of writer Cavan Scott, to finish off the framing device he started. He’s joined now by artist Ibraim Roberson and colorist Neeraj Menon. We find out that Yoda’s reminiscing about his past was actually reflecting on mistakes and failures. The issue actually wrestles with the argument that Yoda and the other Jedi were complicit in the rise of the Empire through their “blindness.” Why didn’t they see the evil coming and do something to stop it?
Yoda ends up going into the famous “Dark Side cave” from The Empire Strikes Back in order to face his doubts. Here, the issue veers strongly into horror territory – I guess like The Empire Strikes Back did, too. Roberson’s style and Menon’s colors fit very well to this horror atmosphere.
Unfortunately, the issue wraps everything up a little too quickly. It doesn’t handle the question of Yoda and the Jedi’s potential guilt in enough depth or with enough resolution. And it definitely doesn’t spend enough time digging into how Yoda feels about it all.
In the end, this ten-issue Yoda collection was better than I was expecting. I can’t say that it was anything great and it probably doesn’t add enough to the Star Wars’ mythos to be very important. Based on the subject matter and the lessons being learned in each arc, I feel like this series is targeted more at the pre-teen to young teenage reader. I think it could make a nice gift for young Star Wars’ fans, in order to introduce them to content outside of movies and TV.
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