Lit Books Comics The High Republic (aka "Project Luminous")

When I started reading that I thought oh Vern is a newly minted padawan just like Ahsoka and I thought that is MUCH better and then we get to the portion below where she's now a Jedi Knight despite her age and there being no war or reason for such haste in promoting padawans!
Sigh I like the pairing but every step forward, they take another two steps back and I'm hoping I'm wrong about this!

 

In Shops: Nov 25, 2020

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/inside-star-wars-the-high-republic-meet-yoda

Spoiler

In an exclusive series, StarWars.com is pulling back the curtain on Star Wars: The High Republic, a publishing epic set centuries before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, with insights from creators, new details, and never-before-seen concept art. Arriving January 2021, the story will be explored through multiple voices and span adult and young adult novels, children’s books, and comics from a variety of publishers. In this installment, StarWars.com gets a first look at a legendary Jedi Master as we’ve never seen him before.

“For 800 years have I trained Jedi.”

Yoda lived a long, legendary life. But we’ve only known him through his final act — in the last days of the Republic and Jedi Order, and during the training of Luke Skywalker. In Star Wars: The High Republic, we’ll encounter the Jedi Master centuries prior, and StarWars.com is thrilled to offer a first look.

Return of the Jedi

Yoda will feature prominently in Daniel José Older’s Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures comic, coming 2021 from IDW Publishing; the Jedi Master that Older depicts in his series, however, won’t be quite the same sage-like being we know.

“It’s especially exciting to be able to introduce him in the era of the High Republic,” Older tells StarWars.com. “The High Republic Yoda is a journeyman out in the galaxy.” According to Older, the Emperor’s “little green friend” will still be treading somewhat familiar ground — that of teacher.

“While he’s already a respected member of the Jedi Council at this point, we meet Yoda in IDW’s The High Republic Adventures series doing what he loves best: looking out for the young folks — in this case, a group of Padawans traveling around the galaxy to learn the ways of the Jedi with a hands-on approach,” Older says. “The Force study abroad program, basically.”

Ultimately for Older, depicting Yoda during a previously unseen era is an opportunity he doesn’t take for granted.

“The only reason writing Yoda wasn’t on my Star Wars writing bucket list is because I didn’t think it would ever be possible!” he says. “It’s an incredible honor to give words to one of my all-time favorite Star Wars characters.”

“A Huge Task”

With an appearance in a visual medium, that would mean a new design for the iconic character. It was a challenge not to be taken lightly. “The goal was to update Yoda, but to be careful and be true to the Yoda that we all know and love,” says Troy Alders, Lucasfilm art director. “Also, to really make sure that the new look was believable, as this is really the first time that there has been an opportunity to update his look and his clothing. It felt like a daunting and enormous responsibility to embark on and get right.”


Once design work began, Lucasfilm didn’t want to fix what wasn’t broken. At the same time, there was an obvious need to show that these were earlier days. “Well, Yoda is not that much younger — around 700 years old instead of about 900. But we thought that with it being hundreds of years earlier, he would definitely have a different outfit, maybe even more than one,” says Alders. “His age, as far as the way that his hair and face look, is maybe just slightly younger, but fairly close to his look in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.” And since the thinking was his appearance wouldn’t be radically different from that of Episode I, Alders went to one of the talents who visually defined that film.

“Right away, concept artist Iain McCaig felt like the go-to artist to help us start to explore this new look for Yoda,” says Alders, “so we called him up and started to talk about what directions to explore.” Other artists contributed, as well, with Disney Publishing illustration manager Jeff R. Thomas and Star Wars: Dark Legends artist Grant Griffin playing key roles in defining the final look. Griffin’s concept art, revealed here exclusively, shows a Yoda with slightly less mileage in terms of wrinkles, as well as fresh outfits; note the previously established High Republic-era lightsaber holster, more layered tunics, and cloaks reflecting the era. “This mission outfit, with just tonal markings on the robe, are inspired by the Jedi Temple architectural details. Many new fans may not even notice these very subtle additions,” Alders says. “The temple attire, however, from this special time of the golden age of the Jedi, feels so right with its elegance, and we are all extremely grateful for the artists that helped us arrive at such a beautiful solution for this important milestone in the Star Wars timeline.”

Alders and his team of artists took great care in getting these designs right — making sure they were worthy of the story, and a character loved across the world.

“I do not think that I, or anyone on our team, fully realized what a huge task this was,” Alders says. “But looking at where we arrived, after many countless explorations and iterations with various creative minds and artists, it feels authentic to what this noble Jedi would wear. Dressing Yoda for this epic time period, and creating designs adorned with gold, using beautiful fabrics and details, is something that he and all of the Jedi very much deserve, and the end result, I think, is gorgeous, and really celebrates this exciting and visually rich, gilded era.”

 

That’s cool, glad to see Yoda isn’t grand master at this point.

 

More concept arts.
https://www.starwars.com/the-high-republic

 

I do like we are getting Yoda in high republic stories.

Maybe one day we will see very young apprentice Yoda in the Early Republic age.

 

I did a concept of a young High Republic Yoda a few months ago. Glad to see him here.

 

something about Yoda's face looks off in the gold robes. Like the artist based his face on an actor i've seen before. I cant place it though.

 

awesome.

 

Master Yoda was Mace before Mace was born, lol.

 

Stellan looks like a guy i used to work with

 

Am I the only one who thinks Yoda adorning himself in gold is a little out of character? I like the look of his face though.

 

IMO it doesn't look too flashy, like Yoda covered himself in jewels or glitter or something. It's just the same gold ish colored robes the others are wearing.

 

Pretty sure the dress is blue and black, not white and gold.

 

Do we have release dates for the project yet?

 

Yep, Light of the Jedi and Test of Courage are January 5, Into the Dark is February 2, and I think I saw Scott or Older mention one of the comics starts on January 5, too.

EDIT: Cavan's comic is "coming in January with the launch", so presumably the 5th as well.

 

So if Yoda isn't Grand Master Jedi will he be "in the field" more often? Cuz I need more Yoda Jedi Master at Large stories in my life.

 

Yoda is Snoke confirmed!!!

 

It's a shame they decided on "early old age" for Yoda rather than "late middle age". Not a deal breaker, by any means, but it'd have been nice to see something a bit different.

Though he is the kind of character who could very easily be picked up and used by "real" Star Wars down the line, so I get that they wouldn't want to do anything that could rock the boat with him design wise.

 

So are we at the beginning of the 200 year High Republic or not?

 

Probably not. I doubt it'd last up to 32 BBY. We're probably just coming in at some middle point of the era.

 

I wonder what is considered the cut off for the end of the HR era and the beginning of the late Republic (PT) era.

100 years from the Great Disaster is an idea. Before Count Dooku is born but when almost all of the HR characters from these books, from adults and children are dead via old age, etc.

I do agree that we are in the middle of the HR era.

The name "The High Republic" is inspired by the High Middle Ages, both being a "golden age" compared to what comes later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Middle_Ages

An era that lasted around 250 years.

Maybe lucasfilm would use a similar timespan for the High Republic.

Once the Great Disaster period is covered pretty well, not only might we have stories in the years preceding the disaster, but if the Great Disaster is in the middle of the era, then possibly around 100 years earlier is the Dawn of the High Republic. Lucasfilm may want to do some origins stories, from how the the Golden Age came to be, to the background of the Nihil, etc. What kind of era preceded the High Republic?

 

The High Republic is mentioned by name as a past era when Dooku was a youngling in Dooku Jedi Lost.
It still does feel a little weird just how near that timeframe it is set, but I suppose that is just Star Wars time compression of sorts. It still wouldn't work for me if the end of the High Republic was within living memory at the time of Dooku's birth.

I would rather that we are at the tail end of that era.
To a young Dooku the High Republic should be pretty much what the Victorian era is to us today I think.

The real question is when did it become consensus that the era of the High Republic was over? Did the Republic just decide it was tired of expanding and exploring so it just decided to take a brake, get complacent and grow corrupt? Did the Jedi decide to throw off their fancy gold robes and dress like moisture farmers at random?

And now I want a short story about Master Yoda rummaging through his closet and throwing out all his High Republic era clothes once they fell out of fashion.

 

Although maybe a Victorian era that could potentially stretch back to the time of the Norman Conquest, relatively speaking.