Mace Windu gets the party started in his own comic series

A prominent member of the Jedi Council is set to star in his own comic miniseries, arriving just in time for The Phantom Menace's 25th anniversary.

Announced back at 2023's New York Comic Con, Mace Windu will be featured in the Marvel Comics miniseries Star Wars: Mace Windu, which will take place before the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In addition, the miniseries will also chronicle Mace’s younger years before becoming one of the Jedi Order’s respected and revered Jedi Masters on the Jedi High Council. 

StarWars.com showcased a preview of the first issue. The pages have panels of Mace escaping an underwater prison on the ocean moon of Devshi and commandeering a boat to chase a group of droids on a skiff. And judging by the action-packed panels. The Jedi seems to have his work cut out for him and will probably take more than his unique purple lightsaber and his mastery of lightsaber combat Form VII, Vapaad, to finish the job. 

There haven’t been too many stories about Mace Windu’s younger years in the current canon (though Star Wars Legends has plenty of stories about him). There have been two comics that featured flashbacks of Mace as a padawan. The first comic is Jedi of the Republic - Mace Windu and Star Wars Age of the Republic Special # 1. In Jedi of the Republic, Mace is seen training with his Jedi Master, Cyslin Myr, and struggling with his emotions. In Age of the Republic, a much younger Mace is seen building his lightsaber under Professor Huyang’s guidance while getting frustrated at never getting his weapon completed. Just by reading these comics, one could almost argue that they show that Mace and Anakin Skywalker shared some similarities regarding their temper and youthful exuberance. 

We’ve also seen a younger Windu team up with a younger and conflicted Count Dooku in an episode of Tales of the Jedi titled “Choices.” In that episode, Mace and Dooku travel to Raxus Secundus to investigate the death of a Jedi Master, Katri. By the end of the episode, Mace would be granted Katri’s seat on the Jedi Council. This episode showed the contrasting views of how the Jedi should involve themselves, with Mace adhering completely to the Jedi Code and the rules laid out by the Jedi Council. At the same time, Dooku believed in acting on instinct and what he felt was right. Even after seeing glimpses of Windu’s past, we still do not fully know him like other Jedi like Obi-Wan Kenobi or the aforementioned Anakin. 

But that will all change with this Marvel Comics miniseries, which will show a more in-depth story penned by Marc Bernardin and illustrated by Georges Jeanty. 

The role of Mace Windu was brought to life by American actor Samuel L. Jackson. The actor would portray the Jedi Master in all three of the Star Wars prequel trilogy films, including The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. Jackson would also voice Windu in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars film. In the The Clone Wars animated series that spun off from the film, voice actor Terrence Carson would voice the character.

Mace Windu #1 arrives February 7 at wherever comic books are sold and on ComiXology.