REVIEW: Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories – Tides of Terror #1

by Henry Wood

Written by George Mann

Penciled by Luis Morocho

Inked by Le Beau Underwood

Colored by Michael Atiyeh

Lettered by Tyler Smith & Jimmy Betancourt

Edited by Spencer Cushing, Joe Cavanagh, Grace Orriss & Robert Simpson

Jedi Master Kit Fisto and his Padawan Nahdar Vebb share an adventure alongside Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Shaak Ti! The two aquatic Jedi are called to the planet Tordus to mediate a dispute between an archeological dig and environmentalist protesters. The Jedi will have to discover the truth of their dispute while also protecting everyone from a potentially deadly underwater terror!

I’ll be honest, this was a book that snuck up on me, I had forgotten it was coming, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. George Mann does a very good job of characterizing Kit Fisto, Nahdar Vebb and Mace Windu in this story. I think he gets down Kit Fisto’s dynamic with Nahdar Vebb very well, alluding to Vebb’s single appearance in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the fatal flaw that ends up being his downfall. His need for actions and heroics are on display here, and the fallout of that is also here. I think Mann does a very good job of presenting Kit Fisto as critical of that, but not nearly critical enough, which can be seen as leading to his Padawan’s downfall.

The central plot of the issue concerns the theme of progress up against respect for the past and the environment. This is a theme we’ve seen a bit of in this era of Star Wars, that being shortly before the Prequel Trilogy, but it’s a theme that is definitely relevant today and has been since at least the industrial revolution. Mann does a good job of presenting these ideas to his younger audience for this book, as the readers learn this situation alongside Nahdar Vebb, placing him as a point of view character.

The thing that really stands out to me, however, is how Luis Morocho doesn’t always use traditional panel set up, instead letting the natural setting and environment act as the layout for the page. Using the setting of the underwater station to tell the story is inventive and refreshing, enhancing the story in ways that aren’t always apparent. Morocho’s emphasis on the setting adds dimension and at times reinforces the scale of the characters as small compared to the great big ocean they are in.

Altogether it makes for a fun read with deeper themes that can be understood by the book’s younger target audience without talking down to them. It also brings back a few familiar Jedi and adds depth to a relationship we only saw a little bit of in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. You are able to see where Nahdar Vebb’s flaws come from and how they may not have been properly highlighted by his teacher.