The Star Wars Rebels Comic Anthology is a Must Have For Fans of the Series

I have waited for years for the Star Wars Rebels comics to come to the states. These issues ran in Star Wars Rebels Magazine mostly in Germany and France from 2015-2017, though it did run in America for about a year. I completely missed the magazine’s release and mostly followed fan translations on sites like Tumblr ever since. When I heard that Dark Horse Comics was going to publish an anthology in a trade paperback, I squealed in delight to finally delve into the series that I’d waited for.

I don’t envy these writers and artists. The amount of content they masterfully put into every story is truly impressive. They’re twelve pages each. For context, that’s about half of a typical comic issue which is usually 21-22 pages. Of course, it’s not perfect. There is a story here or there that resolves a bit too quickly, but for the most part, Star Wars Rebels works. It’s truly a show of talent to be able to do so much which such little space.

Each member of the Ghost crew gets plenty of time to shine. I especially loved this for my personal favorite character, Zeb. In my opinion, he got majorly shafted in seasons three and four of the show. I wanted so many more episodes about him. The Rebels trade paperback delivers in giving Zeb several poignant tales about his place in the Rebellion, grappling with the emotions of losing then discovering his people, and the relationships with the other members of the Ghost crew.

Something that the written word does so well that is lost in a lot of television shows is we get the internal dialogue of the characters. The writers handle Zeb’s internal dialogue, making him quite eloquent when left with his thoughts.

Sabine has some of the most butt-kicking comics, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from the residential Mandalorian. Hera’s leadership shines. It’s always fun watching her take charge. In the first few issues, Ezra struggles as an unsure padawan. It’s rewarding to see him grow into a teacher to other people his age by the end of the trade paperback.

The only character I wanted more of is Kanan. He falls off the back end of the series. In fact, he’s not in the last 150 pages of the trade. We also never get to see his season three and later design. The Kanan stories we do get are wonderful. I just wish we got to see one more story of him when he’s blind. They did such a fabulous job with Zeb’s internal monologue that I would have loved to see Kanan internally struggling with his disability.

The side characters of Star Wars Rebels are where this comic truly shines. It gives space for people like Commander Sato, Rex, and Fenn Rau to get featured. I was surprised to see that Lando got so many stories, which were all fun. I especially loved this for Ketsu. To me, Ketsu is one of the most underused characters in the series. I always wanted more from her. The Rebels trade gave her some stellar moments to show her development and why, like Sabine, she’s a force to be reckoned with. Even the baddies get some time. As a fan of season one which is my favorite season, the Aresko and Grint story was amazing on so many levels. It showed that they weren’t just lackeys but absolute cutthroat Imperials at their core. The Inquisitors got their own issues too. And no Rebels comic would be complete without Kallus. Though, like Kanan, I would have loved an issue about Kallus adjusting to working for the Rebellion during season four.

There are many new characters introduced in the comic as well. I was not expecting ongoing storylines. I figured this would be a series of one-shots. I was delighted to be wrong as many of the new characters returned for multiple issues. One of them had the most heartbreaking story. The final panel of her narrative got me in the gut when she left to start a new life on Alderaan of all places.

Something else cool to note about the Star Wars Rebels trade paperback is they introduced several new species.  The three big new characters introduced were the Thradians, the Xots, and whatever scary new species that Tomith Garbis is part of. His crime family might be terrifying, but his character design is a banger! I adore Star Wars stories that introduce new species and designs into the canon. I would love to see any of them come back in other media.

If you love Star Wars Rebels, I cannot recommend the comic anthology enough. This trade paperback is packed with everything that makes the show great. From politics to space battles to fun side missions and everything in between, there is something in the Star Wars Rebels comic for everyone.

Don’t wait. Go pick it up today!

Star Wars Rebels trade paperback is published by Dark Horse Comics and is available wherever comics are sold.