Do you know what would have been a better title for this lovely comic by Charles Soule and Marco Checchetto? “Obi-Wan and Anakin and HOLY CRAP PALPATINE NO!”

After crash-landing on Carnelion IV, Obi-Wan and Anakin find themselves pulled into the middle of an intense battle between the Open and the Closed. It’s not long before it becomes clear that there’s more going on here than either group is letting on. In the past, young Anakin pays a visit to Chancellor Palpatine.

I wish that I could focus my musings on this issue to be more about the Carnelion IV parts but everything Soule is doing with Palpatine is incredible and he’s not even doing that much. Palpatine’s page time in this book is short but a combination of Soule’s writing and Checchetto’s art packs a hell of a punch. There’s a page that got an honest-to-goodness audible reaction from me and that doesn’t happen every week with comic books.  If Soule wasn’t already lined up to write Poe Dameron after this, I’d be clamoring for a Palpatine book from him.

That’s not to say that the main story isn’t good. I’m curious to see both where it goes and who exactly sent the distress call. There’s also clearly a ton of history between the two people that could likely make for a fascinating tale all on its own. It’s also fun getting to see Master and Padwan work together but also have their moments to shine.

The best compliment that I can pay this comic so far is that it’s not quite what I expected but it’s definitely something that has me impatiently waiting for more every time I finish an issue and if that’s not a solid recommendation from me, I don’t know what is.