A review by billyjepma
Star Wars: The High Republic Phase II Vol. 1: Balance Of The Force by Ario Anindito, Cavan Scott, Andrea Broccardo

adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

A decent read, but a clunky one. Scott’s comic work had yet to impress me, which is odd, considering how much I enjoyed what he did with The Rising Storm book. He’s got some decent ideas—using Jedha as a tense hotbed of different sects that use the Force in various ways is so cool on paper—that he doesn’t develop enough. I like the conflict he’s setting up, and it’s neat seeing some setup for stuff we saw in Phase 1 of The High Republic; the issue is how surface-level it all is. The characters are two-dimensional at best, annoying at worst (which happens more often than it should), and have so little connection to the plot so far that it’s hard to care. At least the art is better than the usual stuff from Marvel’s Star Wars lines. 

This is the first volume, so there’s room to grow, but an introductory arc should leave you wanting more, and this barely qualifies for that. The sudden ending doesn’t help, either. I wish Scott would get better about pacing his storytelling because he regularly ends “arcs”—if you can even call them that—on unceremonious twists or cliffhangers that feel shallow and leave the plot on an unfinished note. It’s weird how the Marvel comics for The High Republic have been such a clear low point for the series so far. The YA comics are easily better, too, because at least those have solid character work. 

All that said, I do sound harsher than I feel. I would still give this 2.5 stars, but I’ll round up because going lower feels too negative. These five issues are perfectly readable, have some decent ideas, and the art has some impressive moments, but it lacks the dramatic heft I want. Hopefully that improves moving forward.

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