Back in December 2021, an image leaked of a Lucasfilm cast and crew gift box which had an interesting logo on the side:
Right along with known projects in production was a “Tales of the Jedi” logo. Running from 1993 to 1998 across several mini series, Tales of the Jedi was one of the first major original Star Wars properties from Dark Horse Comics.
It followed a few generations of Jedi during the Old Republic era including important protagonists Nomi Sunrider, Cay and Ulic Qel-Droma, and legendary sith lord Exar Kun.
Yesterday, Starwars.com confirmed that Tales of the Jedi will be an animated anthology series sort of in the vein of Star Wars Visions. In the article, the panel schedule for Celebration 2022 is published and shows a short description of Tales of the Jedi:
“Saturday, May 28
Tales of the Jedi
2:30PM – 3:30PM, Live on the Celebration Stage; streamed to the Galaxy and Twin Suns Stages
Introducing Tales of the Jedi, animated anthology shorts. Hosted by Amy Ratcliffe with special guest Dave Filoni.”
So, before it’s far too late for those dedicated Star Wars comic collectors out there, let’s talk about some of the key Tales of the Jedi issues out there! Keep in mind that Disney and Lucasfilm can and have deviated wildly from previous Legends stories. This new animated anthology may be doing little more than lip service to the name of the comics. However, we have to work with the info we’ve got. Of course, everything that follows can be found on WookyWiki.com, the Star Wars comics first appearance and key issue database.
Dark Horse Insider 15 (2/1993):
Dark Horse Insider 15 is the first published Tales of the Jedi material. It prints the first two pages of Tales of the Jedi 1 8 months before Tales of the Jedi 1 was published.
This issue contains the first appearance of Arca Jeth (male Jedi Master), Tott Doneeta (male Jedi Knight),Cay Qel-Droma (male Jedi Knight), and Ulic Qel-Droma (male Jedi Knight). As well as the first appearance of Onderon (Planet). Now, as always, some may dismiss this as a mere preview, but the following Dark Horse Insider issues continued to serialize the entire content of Tales of the Jedi 1 and 2 in two-page increments.
Nomi Sunrider and her daughter Vima Sunrider’s first appearance was Dark Horse Comics 7 (2/1993). Not so much a preview as an anthology serialization of the story from Tales of the Jedi 3 and 4. Tales of the Jedi 3 came out 12/1993, so a really significant delay between the two appearances.
An interesting thing about Nomi Sunrider is that her line, in Legends, was still surviving all the way into the Post Return of the Jedi era. Vima-Da-Boda, a distant descendant of Nomi Sunrider, great-great-great-granddaughter of Vima Sunrider, presents Leia with a 10,000-year-old lightsaber in Dark Empire 3, her first appearance.
Dark Horse Comics 8 (3/1993):
Dark Horse Comics 8 (3/1993) is the first cameo appearance of Thon, Nomi Sunrider’s Jedi
Master (unnamed).
Dark Horse Comics 9 (4/1993):
Thon then makes a first full appearance, named, in Dark Horse Comics 9 (4/1993).
Tales of the Jedi 1 (10/1993):
For those collectors who dismiss the comics above as mere “previews” this would be the first appearance of Arca Jeth (male Jedi Master), Tott Doneeta (male Jedi Knight),Cay Qel-Droma (male Jedi Knight), and Ulic Qel-Droma (male Jedi Knight), as well as the first appearance of Onderon (Planet).
To up the ante on this issue, the entire first mini series of Tales of the Jedi came in a limited gold foil embossed logo variant:
Tales of the Jedi 3 (12/1993):
For those who similarly want to discount Dark Horse Comics 7 as a mere preview of Nomi Sunrider and Thon’s appearances, Tales of the Jedi 3 would be the go-to issue:
Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 1 (9/1994):
You have to be careful here because you’re only interested a copy of this magazine that came in the subscription service complete with a polybag and the contents of that polybag.
The reason being for this is that it was packed with the Dark Lords of the Sith Ashcan. This contains the first appearance of Exar Kun, legendary Sith Lord. If you can’t find a polybagged Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 1, you are just looking for this ashcan:
This ashcan was published in September 1994, a month before the regular newsstand and comic shop direct edition were published.
The Freedon Nadd Uprising 1 (9/1994):
First Appearance of King Ommin (direct descendant of Freedon Nadd (possessed by the spirit of Freedon Nadd), Warb Null (dark Jedi previously known as Shas Dovos), Dace Diath (Jedi Knight),
Vodo Siosk-Baas (Krevaaki Jedi Master),Shaoneb Culu (Miraluka Jedi Knight),
Pontite lightsaber crystals (originally a member of Adegan crystal family in Legends, later a member of Kyber Crystals in Canon), Qrrrl Toq (Nazzar Jedi Knight),
Kith Kark (Gotal Jedi Knight), Satal Keto (Dark side student), and Aleema Keto (Dark side student).
This issue features the first appearance of Mandalore the Indomitable. During the Great Sith War, the Mandalorians teamed up with the Sith in a bid to take control of the Galaxy. Mandalore the Indomitable was the leader of the Mandalorians during that war. If Lucasfilm want to bridge the gap between the Old Republic and the current Mandalorian series by mixing Sith, JEdi, and Mandalorians, the Great Sith War would be a convenient vehicle with which to achieve that and Mandalore the Indomitable would be a great addition to that storyline.
Golden Age of the Sith 0 (7/1996):
Taking place 1,000 years before the prior Tales of the Jedi issues we’ve discussed, this series takes a look at how the ancient Sith Empire came to infiltrate the inner reaches of the Galaxy we all know and love. This issue features the first appearances of Ooroo (Celegian Jedi Master. Celegians breathed a gas, deadly to most life-forms, known as cyanogen, whereas oxygen was deadly to them. Ooroos lived inside a crystal enclosure while on oxygenated worlds),
Aarba the Hutt, Hok and Timar Daragon (parents of Gav and Jori Daragon),
Jori Daragon, Gav Daragon, Memit Nadill (Male Jedi advisor to Empress Teta),
Empress Teta.
Now, of course, we can keep going deeper and deeper into Tales of the Jedi key issues, but it’s hard to do while stabbing in the dark. Hopefully on May 28, we get some tidbits that we can expand this list on a little further.
More later!
-DrunkWooky
