Star Wars #25 preview is a celebration of Star Wars comics

Star Wars #25 is shaping up to be an unforgettable celebration of Star Wars comics. As the 100th Star Wars comic written by Charles Soule, it features four different stories from various eras of Star Wars, all of which tie into some of the previous comics written by Soule.

To make it even more special, Soule is reuniting with illustrators from each of the comic runs that connect to these new stories. An exclusive preview from StarWars.com offered a brief look at each story, and how the issue as a whole will celebrate some of the best Star Wars comics in recent years.

The first one is an Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker story set before the Clone Wars, the timing of which is made clear by the fact that Anakin still has his Padawan braid. The Jedi Master and Padawan can be seen dueling with lightsabers at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

Following on the heels of the pre-Clone Wars flashback with these two characters in Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars fans are continuing to get compelling Obi-Wan and Anakin stories from this era. Soule is reuniting with illustrator Ramon Rosanas to build on their work in the Obi-Wan and Anakin comics, which was one of Soule’s earlier Star Wars comic runs.

The second story focuses on Darth Vader shortly after Revenge of the Sith. The preview shows Emperor Palpatine challenging Vader to a lightsaber duel in the Works District of Coruscant. Both the Anakin and Vader stories show him dueling his master, but even the brief preview shows a stark juxtaposition between his training with Obi-Wan vs. his training with Palpatine. While Obi-Wan is there to genuinely teach Anakin, Palpatine is there to manipulate Vader.

Soule is reuniting with illustrator Giuseppe Camuncoli from their Darth Vader comics, which are often considered among the best Star Wars comics of all time. There is a good chance that the Grand Inquisitor and the Seventh Sister will also play a role in this story as they are on the cover of the issue and they tie in perfectly with a Vader and Palpatine tale.

The third story takes place during The Last Jedi, offering a closer look at Kylo Ren heading into the Battle of Crait. Soule and illustrator Will Sliney provided some essential backstory for the character in The Rise of Kylo Ren comics.

Taking place before The Force of Awakens, The Rise of Kylo Ren showed how Ben Solo fell to the dark side and explained what really happened during that fateful night at Luke’s Jedi temple on the planet Ossus. Having shaped his villainous origin, it will be interesting to see how Soule and Sliney show the character at the height of his villainous prime.

The fourth and final story takes place after The Rise of Skywalker, with Poe Dameron and Black Squadron mourning the loss of Temmin “Snap” Wexley. While he was introduced onscreen (played by Greg Grunberg) in The Force Awakens and lost his life flying during the Battle of Exegol in The Rise of Skywalker, Snap was most prominently featured and best developed in the Aftermath novels by Chuck Wendig, Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse, and in the Poe Dameron comics written by Charles Soule and illustrated by Phil Noto.

The preview for this story in Star Wars #25 is already heartbreaking as it shows Snap’s wife and fellow Black Squadron pilot Karé Kun–who has mostly appeared and been developed in the Poe Dameron comics–to be mourning her husband. All of this makes it fitting that Soule and Noto are the ones to tell the story of Poe, Karé, and other Black Squadron survivors giving Snap a much-deserved eulogy. This story will also provide a rare look at the galaxy in the aftermath of The Rise of Skywalker.

Star Wars #25 will be released on July 20th, 2022.