Comic Review: Pathfinder #2 - Phase More Continues

Writer: George Mann
Artist: Partha Pratim
Colors: Michael Atiyeh

Publisher summary:
On their way to investigate a mysterious comms disturbance, the Pathfinder team is caught in a hyperspace abnormality! As the abnormality and its monstrous inhabitants threaten to trap the Pathfinders forever, they send a desperate distress call into the galaxy… and the answer comes in the form of a fan-favorite High Republic character! Can the team escape before they are lost to the darkness between the stars?

Dark Horse Comics

Review:
We often take Hyperspace for granted. In general, Star Wars storytelling isn’t too caught up on the “how” of these things. They just work. After all, it ain’t that kind of movie, kid. But what would things look like if Hyperspace DIDN’T just work?

That’s the central conceit here in George Mann’s Pathfinders. Phase II of the High Republic established the eponymous pathfinders, teams of explorers and Jedi who are working to build and expand the galaxy’s Hyperspace lanes. We saw a bit of this aesthetic in the Phase II storytelling, but this is our best look at it yet, as Mann and Partha Pratim build out the era into something both clearly recognizable as Star Wars and also completely unique. Rather than the Sergio Leone-inspired gritty space western we’re used to, we’re in an optimistic, Manifest Destiny inspired frontier.

Dark Horse Comics

The story is a continuation of the murder mystery launched in issue #1, however the detective work takes a backseat to a fantastical space anomaly that can only work in comics. Partha Pratim uses clever paneling and perspective to depict the two sides of a dark matter trap that separates our two separate crews, then escalates the excitement with an epic space monster that could rival *Solo’*s summa-verminoth. Character work is light in this action-heavy issue, but our new cast of characters continues to be interesting. The spotlight is stolen as lovers of Phase II get a bit of fan service as hinted by the shield on the stunning Jake Bartok cover.

If this is what Phase More has to offer, then I say keep it coming. George Mann has unsurprisingly found the perfect way to continue the High Republic storyline with an electrifying adventure that stands on its own while also building out the era.

Our rating: Incredible

What’s next: Can our Jedi solve this mystery? Find out more in issue #3 - releasing July 1st.

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