This series is set five years prior to The Phantom Menace, and tells the story of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan basically solving a murder mystery. If you read my reviews regularly, you'll know that I am nutty about the Jedi, especially prequel era stories about Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. As soon as I heard about this series, I was excited. I hoped it would be better than the Jedi Council: Acts of War series, and despite my high level of anticipation, I was not disappointed.

The Story:

Five years prior to The Phantom Menace, Baroness Omnino of the Vena System arrives on Coruscant to petition the Senate for membership. As she steps off the ship, she is attacked by one of the blue-robed Senate guards there with Chancellor Valorum to greet her. Luckily for her, Qui-Gon Jinn is also disguised as one of the guards, and manages to save her life. But is she grateful? Not at all. Instead she berates Qui-Gon for not following her wishes -- she had refused Jedi protection. Years before, Qui-Gon had been escorting her husband when the man had died. Never mind that his death was from natural causes; she blames Qui-Gon. The Jedi are puzzled, therefore, when she later asks for his help in tracking down her missing son. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan find the son's ship, along with a Republic rescue ship, dead in space. All occupants have been killed, and a Mantellian Savrip lies dead in a cage. Its mate attacks the Jedi, and they are forced to kill the other Savrip. Realizing that the creatures are from Ord Mantell, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan go to that planet to seek answers. They travel to the moisture plant where Omnino's son had made contact, only to be set upon by droids. The Jedi soon learn that the plant belongs to Orin Bold and his daughter, Nella, who are beset by a land baron named Taxer Sundown -- who claims to be a Jedi and has mysterious mind-control powers. The settlers despise the savage Savrips, and Nella hates them because they killed her mother. But how and why were Savrips on Sando Omnino's ship? Does Sundown truly have Jedi powers? Why has he allowed Bold to keep his moisture farm, when he could so easily have taken it? The deeper Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan delve into this mystery, the more levels of deceipt and treachery they find. The ending, where everything is revealed, came as a true shock to me, as did Qui-Gon's handling of the situation.

There were so many things to like about this series. I have always enjoyed Ryder Windham's take on the Star Wars universe. First, there is the plot itself -- a murder mystery with lots of twists. Then there is the theme: In the beginning, Obi-Wan is contemptuous of the Savrips, and wonders why they are even allowed to exist. Qui-Gon chides him for his impudence, and by the end of the story, Obi-Wan has learned how wrong he was. Finally, there is the relationship between the two Jedi with all its humor and affection. At the beginning, as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are wondering why they've been summoned by the Baroness, they have this exchange:

Obi-Wan: For all we know, she may have taken a romantic interest in you.
Qui-Gon: What? For rescuing her? That hadn't occured to me, but I suppose --
Obi-Wan: Forgive me, Master. As you said, she may be delusional.

Later, when the Jedi are en-route to the disabled ship, they are playing Dejarik (the holographic game Chewie and Threepio play aboard the Falcon in A New Hope) and have this conversation:

Obi-Wan: Why did you insist we play this infernal game? Shouldn't we be meditating?
Qui-Gon: I am meditating. Dejarik is not so different from combat training. You learn much about your opponent -- as well as yourself -- with every move.
Obi-Wan: And here I though you just enjoyed seeing your big yellow herbivore stomp all over my big red carnivore.
Qui-Gon: Well, there's that, too.

This series contains many elements that are among my favorite things in a plot: a mystery to solve, lots of Jedi action, and a life lesson to be learned along the way. The only thing I can ask is that they give us more of this type of story.

The Art:

#1 comes with a special art cover variant by Tony Daniel, Howard Shum, and Dave Stewart. Despite Daniel's reputation, I found I liked the Bachs cover better. His art covers are imaginative, colorful, and fun. All three issues also come with a further photo-cover variant, although the photos of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are blurry and muddy, not to mention shopworn. Come on, Dark Horse! Throw the fans a bone, here. Surely there are photos of these two characters we've not seen before?

As for the interiors, I have no major complaints (other than Baroness Omnino's ugliness, but Qui-Gon's "Jedi Facelift" took care of that). There are a few nitpicks -- Qui-Gon's cloak mysteriously disappears in one frame, for instance, and somebody should tell the colorist that Qui-Gon's eyes are blue, not brown. A couple of times we see lightsaber wounds that are gushing blood; not only is that unnecessarily graphic, but also it is incorrect -- lightsabers cauterize wounds instantly. The characters' faces seemed to morph shapes constantly, which was a bit distracting. I did like the vibrant colors, the action, and the portrayal of the Savrips. This is not the best comic art I've ever seen, but it is competent and easy to follow.

I'll give this series an overall B+ ... A if you're a Jedi Apprentice devotee. I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing more stories about these two in the pre-prequel era.

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