Welcome back to another new comic book day, EveryWookiee!! Every week I take a look at the Star Wars comic releases and analyze for first appearances and key events that may be worth collecting or keeping an eye on for future development.
First appearances and keys from these weekly articles get added to or sister site and Star Wars comics first appearance and key issue database, Wookywiki.com!
This week we have Crimson Reign #2, Halcyon Legacy #1, and High Republic #14 to sink our teeth into! Let’s get started!
Crimson Reign #2
Variants:
First, as a note, the Crain variant had last minute revisions made to it resulting in the final product looking like this:
The Pham Syndicate variant is the Falleen Black Sun Crime Lord, Gyuti’s first cover appearance. The Rahzzah Knights Variant is the first cover appearance of a new Knight of Ren.
Qi’ra sends Deathstick and Ochi on two separate missions to further her machinations. Ochi made a first cameo in Darth Vader (Marvel 2020) issue 6, a first full appearance in issue 7, and his first cover appearance on issue 6 second print. Deathstick made her first comic cameo in Bounty Hunters 13, and her first full appearance and cover appearance in Bounty Hunters 14.
First off, we have Deathstick’s partial origin in this issue. We already know her back story from the mobile game Star Wars: Uprising, but this is its first representation in comics.
Ochi visits a poison dealer named Zlarb. At first glance, this character may seem like a throwaway character, but Charles Soule actually lifted him out of the Legends novel Han Solo’s Revenge by Brian Daley from all the way back in 1979! This is Zlarb’s first comic appearance.
Meanwhile, Qi’ra sends Deathstick to abduct Cadeliah. Cadeliah is the lovechild of two heirs to the two biggest Crime Syndicates around, Mourner’s Wail and Unbroken Clan. If you want to know Cadeliah’s backstory and how she ended up hiding on a rebel base, you’ll need to read Bounty Hunters Volume 1 and Volume 2. She made her first appearance in Bounty Hunters issue 3.
Halcyon Legacy #1
Variants:
Let’s address covers first. The E.M. Gist Cover A is beautiful, but it unfortunately is not Burryaga, the Jedi Wookiee’s first cover. Burryaga’s first cover is High Republic Adventures 11 Loo Variant.
The 1:10 Attraction Variant is D3-09’s first cover appearance. The Wijngaard, Ferry, and Sliney covers are all tied for the first cover appearances of Jedi Master Nib Assek and Nihil Tempest Runner, Zeetar. However, I’d pick the Sliney variant as the winner because it also has the first cover appearance of Gol Ponk, Kel Dor male who served as the captain of the Halcyon Legacy during the High Republic. The Sliney variant also has the first cover appearance of Shug Drabor, another member of the Halcyon Legacy’s crew during the High Republic.
First up, we have the first appearances D3-O9, droid serving on the Halcyon Legacy, Lady Cimina, and Shorr Komrin, passengers on the Halcyon.
Next up, we have the first appearance of Captain Keevan, Captain of the Halcyon during the Age of Resistance. We also get the first canon comic appearance of Crimson Jack in this issue. Crimson Jack first appeared in Star Wars #7 (1977) and his first cover was Star Wars Weekly (Marvel UK) #21.
Finally, we flashback to the High Republic Era and meet the Kel Dor Captain of the Halcyon, Gol Ponk and a tiny member of his crew, Shug Drabor.
It looks like Halcyon Legacy 1 was a popular book as a second print has been announced by Penguin Random House today. Final Order Cut Off for the second print is 2/14/2022, and it’s in stores 3/16/2022.
High Republic #14
Finally, we have High Republic #14. There are no notable first appearances in this issue this week, but the story gets us barreling towards the fiery conclusion of High Republic Phase 2. We see the events of Claudia Gray’s Fallen Star from Avar Kriss, Keeve Trennis, and Sskeer’s point of view which was so conspicuously absent in the book.
