Comic Review: Jedi Knights #1 — The Prequels are Back!

Marvel Comics

• Writer: Marc Guggenheim

• Artist: Madibek Musabekov

• Colors: Luis Guerrero

Publisher summary: First issue in the prequel era! It begins here: Marvel’s first series focusing on the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy: The Jedi Knights! Featuring your favorite Jedi like Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Mace Windu alongside brand-new Jedi sure to become fan favorites! And who is the mysterious new villain targeting Qui-Gon Jinn?

Why it matters: Marc Guggenheim takes us back to a golden era of the Jedi, years before The Phantom Menace. Despite the familiar setting and characters, Jedi Knights is one of the freshest Star Wars comics in years.

Marvel Comics

Key moments:

• Thrilling debut: You only get one chance at a first impression, and Guggenheim nails it. This series is classic Star Wars to its core — you’ll be begging for more the moment you finish. 

• Don’t call it a comeback: The Prequel years have become a recurring place of comfort on the timeline, and it feels good to be there again. Set before The Phantom Menace, this comic gives us an exciting look at a relatively unexplored part of that era.

• A stunning galaxy: Madibek Musabekov’s art is gorgeous. Star Wars has a rich history of outstanding artists, and Musabekov absolutely hangs with the best of them.

The big picture: For the first time since Star Wars: Republic (1998-2006), we are getting an ongoing series focused on the Jedi of the Prequel era. To that end, it feels like the Prequels are having yet another resurgence. No matter how many stories we get featuring an active Jedi Temple on Coruscant, it just feels right, and I’m always excited to see it. By placing the story just a few years earlier in the timeline, we see an exciting world, nearly completely removed from the Clone Wars years that we have revisited time and time again. 

This debut issue has everything you want a new #1 to have: a gripping story, fantastic action, and the promise of big things to come. The characters we know — heavy hitters like Yoda, Mace Windu, and Qui-Gon Jinn — stand tall, and Guggenheim (Han Solo & Chewbacca, D-Squad) nails their voices. But it’s the new characters that really give this series potential. While most of the characters are introduced solely through playful battlefield banter and some fun descriptive text boxes, the breakout star is Berem Khana, a newly knighted Jedi who is beginning to realize that Temple training does not prepare him for everything a Jedi can encounter out in the galaxy. For novel readers, you may notice parallels with last year’s fantastic The Living Force by John Jackson Miller, which similarly balanced a large cast of Jedi with deftness and took place around the same point of the timeline.

The plot is familiar: the Jedi assist two warring planets with negotiations. This well-trodden situation serves as a backdrop for introducing the impressively sized cast of characters, yet it doesn’t feel stale, thanks to a few new twists on the formula. The story’s hook comes from a mysterious assassination attempt survived by Qui-Gon Jinn, which seems to be our lead into next month’s second issue. As a bonus, readers get a glimpse of things to come via Obi-Wan’s meditative visions, which tease more cameos and plotlines to get excited for. Special mention goes to the new fan favorite, Kelleran Beq, who will show up in a future issue.

Of course, no comic works without its artist, and Madibek Musabekov is truly showing off here. His run of a dozen or so issues of Charles Soule’s Star Wars (2020) was always solid, but this is simply outstanding. It can be a difficult balance when drawing film characters, making sure they are on-model without looking traced, and the designs here are perfect. Each character’s identity is preserved in Musabekov’s own style, and the new locales are all perfectly Star Wars. The book never feels crowded, despite its plethora of characters and locations, as the page layouts keep things focused, and some truly stellar spreads let the art breathe among the more dialogue-heavy moments of the book. I also have to give a huge shoutout to Razzah for the outstanding cover depicting the book's large cast.

Marvel Comics

With the 2020 Marvel comics behind us and the High Republic coming to an end this summer, it’s time to begin a new generation of Star Wars comics. February’s Legacy of Vader was a great start, and we’re excited for the relaunch of Star Wars by Alex Segura. Still, it seems that Jedi Knights will lead the charge into this new era. Guggenheim and Musabekov have kicked things off in high gear — I can’t wait to read what’s next.

Our rating: Masterpiece

What’s next: The new series continues with issue #2, due in comic stores on April 9, 2025.

For a deeper discussion of this issue, be sure to check out this week's episode of The Cosmic Force podcast!