One of my favorite candies has always been Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, especially the full-size ones. Who can resist that perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter? You can’t just eat one, but you sure as heck shouldn’t eat 23 of them in one sitting. You know what else goes great together? Star Wars and kaiju. And you get 23 glorious pages of them, which you can devour totally guilt-free in Star Wars: Jedi Knights #3 written by Marc Guggenheim with art by Madibek Musabekov and colors by Luis Guerrero.
Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi travel to an uncharted tropical world to rescue Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan (AKA Princess Leia’s father) and his crew, who have crash-landed on the planet and sent out a call for help. That’s all you need to know. From there, just fasten your seatbelts and hold on, because this is one of the best Star Wars tales you’ll ever read. It has everything that makes a fantastic Star Wars tale: powerful Jedi pushed to their limits, an exotic alien world with equally exotic creatures, Force powers in action and daring escapes.
The book is all splash pages from front to back, making it feel incredibly cinematic, especially starting at page 3 where a Kaiju chomps into Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s shuttle, sending both of them tumbling from the sky to possible death below.
Marvel
Reading the issue, with its lightning-fast pace and breakneck action, it felt like watching A New Hope. As I turned the pages, I could practically see those “screen swipes” that Lucas used to change scenes, hurtling us forward in the story. Like A New Hope, it’s a story that’s not bogged down with decades of lore and mythology. There are no discussions of clones, Palpatine, the Dark Side vs. the Light Side, or (thankfully) Trade Federations here, just two Jedi desperately trying to survive and get themselves, Bail and his crew off the planet alive. In fact, there’s not even much dialogue at all. It makes the issue a tremendously enjoyable and breezy read, ending with a brilliant climax that shows why Qui-Gon is one of the greatest Jedi ever.
It’s always enjoyable seeing a young Obi-Wan, who also narrates the story. In some ways, he’s much like young Luke Skywalker here, still having some wide-eyed wonder at Qui-Gon and the crazy situations he finds himself in.
The monolithic beasts that pop up throughout the book are terrifying. These Kaiju aren’t loveable ape-like titans like King Kong, they’re horrifying alien creatures, with long snakelike necks, jagged mouths, a dozen eyes and stalagmite-like ridges jutting down their massive bodies. And they devour everything in sight.
Musabekov’s art is amazing and the splash pages allow him to really capture the scale of the Kaiju compared to the Jedi, who on some pages look like ants darting around beneath the beasts’ massive frames.
The issue’s a quick read, but you won’t soon forget it. I guarantee that you’ll be picking up the book many more times in the future to flip through it, drinking in that gorgeous art and reliving the story again and again. Star Wars: Jedi Knights #3 is a spectacular issue told with splash pages filled with gorgeous art. A fun and rollicking adventure tale unburdened by decades of lore and one of the best Star Wars tales I’ve read in ages.
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