Its fair to say that I've been on something of a Star Wars kick of late. Ever since getting back from Galaxy's Edge, there's been a renewed interest in George Lucas' seminal sci-fi series.
That's not to say I'm a fan of everything. I hated Force Awakens so much that I couldn't bring myself to watch the next two, and by all accounts I'd like those even less. The Acolyte was an atrocity and I was out by episode 2. I managed to sit through Ahsoka on my second attempt just for the Rebels connection, which brings us neatly on to why I'm here.
I came to find Rebels around 2018, essentially as it had finished. I remember binge-watching the show and getting increasingly drawn in to the adventures around Lothal, the character development driving the show and, more importantly, the canon establishment of the Rebellion. Because I'd missed the Clone Wars series entirely, I wasn't aware of any loss in quality from the animation between series, with Rebels being the first series produced by new owners, Disney. Looking at both now, I can understand why fans were so upset at losing a show with deep lore and emotional connections to this seemingly disconnected crew of misfits having adventures away from the fan-favourite characters with none of the resonance or impact on the story that we knew, at least in season one.
Missing this period certainly helped me embrace Rebels more readily than the hardcore fanbase, who weren't wrong in their initial assessment. Thankfully, I think most fans were won over in the end.
The show (and indeed, the manga) starts with one cell of rebels, lead by ace Twi'lek pilot Hera Syndulla and (as we later learn) Jedi-in-hiding Kanan Jarrus. They're joined by teen solider Garazeb ("Zeb") Orrelios and Mandalorian teen runaway Sabine Wren. Oh, and their cranky, murderous and rather ancient Astromech, Chopper. However, we first meet the street punk Ezra Bridger, a force-sensitive 14 year-old living on the Outer-Rim world of Lothal, surviving on his wits.
The manga is very faithful - it sticks largely to the original script and in this area really adds nothing more than the thoughts of the characters during this first season. But that's fine, it's the show in manga form after all. What makes it work so well is the art. There are some fun lines added though, including one that's quite disturbing when, during the welcoming party for Ezra, Zeb gets excited for "Ewok jerky". Poor Wicket!
Mitsuru Aoki is absolutely the life and soul of this book. The artwork is masterful, wringing every emotional beat out of the scenarios found in the original story. There's so much life in it, from action scenes packed with speed-lines to gorgeously detailed cityscapes, ships and general mechanical detail. The characters are also wonderfully realised, all recognisable from the cartoon but with so much more life to them.
Little scenes have been snuck in too - in one scene, Hera looks emotional at the controls and Kanan asks her if she's okay, to which she suddenly starts twisting with glee because she asked if Ezra needed anything and he answered "pyjamas", which she just finds too adorable to bear. Hera was always one of my favourite characters in the show, especially as she took the spotlight in later seasons, her love of flying and motherly instincts towards her crew making he a perfect blend of support and organisation for a rag-tag crew of misfits. Her relationship with Kanon is once of my favourite sci-fi romances of all time and the overall familial feel of the show (entirely intentional by the writers) makes this feel more wholesome than most Star Wars stories.
The manga really sells the dramatic and emotional beats. Hera x Kanan forever!
Because this is manga, it can linger on the emotional beats too - the first time Kanon draws his lightsaber, Ezra as a child with his parents, even a short at the end of book one which shows Vader's internal monologue as he crushes a ship full of Rebels. It so concisely sums up his worldview that it's genuinely chilling and understandable. There are even cameos that are just breathtaking - as Ezra forges his lighsaber and a shooting star crosses the sky, we see cameos from Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO and even Obi Wan, all looking to the sky from their own vantage points and seeing hope, finalised by a single shot of Luke and Ezra striking the same pose, their backs to us as they look toward the future. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.
The three books mainly cover season one, with glimpses of Season's two and three dropped in at the end to show how the series grows, adding Ahsoka, Rex and Garrus to a fantastic splash page showing the growth over time that the series achieved. As we only have three volumes I'd actually argue this is one of the best ways to get through season one, which was always the show's weakest despite some darker episodes - here, it's distilled into what matters; the fate of Luminara Unduli and the ghoulish use of her by the Empire, the Grand Inquisitor arc and Ezra and Kanan's visit to the Jedi temple, where Ezra retrieves his Kyber crystal. All important stepping stones to where the story will eventually take us, but sadly not with Mitsuru Aoki.
In fact, my biggest complaint here is what we didn't get - I'd have loved to have seen a manga adaptation of Hera's visit to the shipyards, or seen his interpretation of the Seventh Sister (easily the most alluring of the Inquisitors, love her cat-playing-with-a-mouse smile) or the final meeting between Kenobi and Maul- in fact, so many great stories in Rebels that it feels wasteful to leave them untouched by this amazing artist.
But I can only review what we have, and it's a treasure. It elevates the material beyond the show, which was already excellent thanks to an invested voice cast selling the characters and their relationships. Here, we get more time and, I'd argue, more resonance with these characters as we get to see not only how they really feel about each other (even Chopper gets a page of translation!) , but also glimpses of the larger story into which Rebels seamlessly sits. The finale is a great place to leave our crew, with a triumph and a new dawn for the Rebels, while new threats have them in their sights with revenge in their hearts.
It's rare I hand out a perfect 10, but this is an easy one. It's literally everything I loved about Rebels, only better. It's out of print but still readily available (for now) on the likes of Amazon. Just be careful and don't end up with the German edition like I did on my first buy!
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