Star Wars: Dawn Of The Jedi – Force Storm #3 and #4
Written by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema
Pencils by Jan Duursema
Inks by Dan Parsons
Colors by Wes Dzioba
Cover Art by Jan Duursema
Dark Horse Comics
Issue #3 Release Date: April 18, 2012
Issue #4 Release Date: May 16, 2012
Issue #3 Cover Price: $3.50
Issue #4 Cover Price: $3.50

The intriguing basis for Star Wars: Dawn Of The Jedi continues to be its greatest selling point: this is a time before Jedi and Sith, and before the Light Side and Dark Side of the Force was so diametrically opposed to each other. This is the Star Wars galaxy before it was the Star Wars galaxy; where the Balance of the Force is beyond important and more significant to the plot than what it was in the films.

Issues #3 and #4 of Dawn Of The Jedi: Force Storm continues this universe revealed in the opening chapters of this series, which seems to be serving as a “Book of Genesis” for the Jedi Order. Complete with references to and cameo appearances of the Rakatan Empire, Dawn Of The Jedi covers an immeasurable amount of ground that is sometimes a little too much to digest.

Xesh, a Force Hound for the Rakatan Empire (basically a Force-sensitive warrior who tracks down Force energies for the Rakatans), finds himself on Tython. His mere presence there ignites a gigantic Force Storm, of the likes has never been seen in the galaxy, nor probably would ever be seen again. Members of the enigmatic Je’daii Order find themselves corrupted by Xesh’s Dark Side leanings, and torn away from the doctrine of keeping the Force in balance.

Star Wars: Dawn Of The Jedi #1
Story by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema
Pencils and Cover Art by Jan Duursema
Inks by Dan Parsons
Colors by Wes Dzioba
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: February 15, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

The debut issue of Star Wars: Dawn Of The Jedi is, in essence, a Creation Myth, telling the very beginnings and origins of the Jedi and the Sith. Set tens of thousands of years before the events of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the story tells of how the original order, called the Je’daii, came into being, and how their approaching conflict with the Rakatan Infinite Empire set their course away from balance and into division.

Dawn Of The Jedi, for the Star Wars continuity geek (such as myself – I like to consider myself a bit of an in-universe SW historian) is a dream come true – the publication we’ve long waited for. From start to finish, Dawn Of The Jedi #1 is chock full of new information about the deeply unexplored ancient history era of the Star Wars universe, providing a solid glimpse into a time where swords were used instead of a lightsaber.

Star Wars: Dawn Of The Jedi #0
Text by John Ostrander
Art by Jan Duursema
Cover Art by Rodolfo Migliari
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: Febuary 1, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

“Your Guide to the Dawn Of The Jedi era of Star Wars: It is an era of legend, an era before the discovery of hyperspace travel, before the foundation of the Old Republic, and before the philosophies of the Jedi and the Sith were codified. This is a tale of a great and mythic society, established and nurtured by powers unthinkably ancient and mysterious, on a collision course with an empire founded on darkness and death. These are the true roots of both the Jedi and the Sith Orders . . . the dawn of the Jedi.”

Issue #0 of the brand new Star Wars comic series Dawn Of The Jedi is not really a comic book. Instead, it is more of a text overview and an artistic preview of what is to come – and there is a LOT in this new series that will break a lot of ground in the Star Wars mythos.