Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi Volume 1-Force Storm by John Ostrander

I'm a big Star Wars fan. I'm not cool enough to own my own lightsaber or have all the movies in collector's edition format or even have Star Wars bobbleheads, but I have loved the series ever since I was a little kid. I loved the idea of being a Jedi and bringing intergalactic peace. And you get a lightsaber! When I saw this comic on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it. I devoured it in the course of one night and one morning, and I looooved it.

It was fascinating to get to see the beginning of the entire Jedi Order, occurring thousands of years before the classic Star Wars story began. Force sensitive being were brought by large space ships to a dangerous planet, Tython, where they honed their skills and learned to use the Force and to balance light and dark. They come to be known as the Je'daii. They also had families (GASP), and some of their children were not Force sensitive; eventually these people had to leave Tython because the dangers on the planet were too great for those who could not use the Force. Eventually there is a huge war between the descendants of the Je'daii and the Je'daii, and although the Je'daii win, they take heavy losses. More than a decade later is when the main story of the comic begins. It follows three young Je'daii as they follow a call of the Force to track down a strong source of Darkness, the Force Hound Xesh, after he crashes on the planet.

This comic rocked. I liked all three of the journeyers that the story focused on: Sek'nos Rath (a Sith), Tasha Ryo ( a Twi'lek)and Shae Koda (a Dathomiri human). They were an odd threesome, all with different personalities and skill sets, which turned them into a pretty good team eventually, though they definitely still need some work. I could see them seriously kicking tail in the future, though. I also liked Hawk Ryo and Rori Fenn, and I would really like to know more about the romance that was hinted at between the two of them! Maybe they will get into that more in the next volume of the comic. I felt so bad for Xesh, and I don't like what happened to him at the end of the comic, but it could have been much worse! The illustrations were engaging and drew me into the story.

This is a completely awesome comic book series, and I would love to read more!

Thank you to NetGalley.com, Dark Horse Comics and Diamond Book Distributors for allowing me to read this galley!