The Tales of the Jedi you haven't heard about

In 2022, Star Wars fans were met with the surprise hit animated series Tales of the Jedi in the style of its parent show, The Clone Wars. Veterans of the franchise might be familiar with the name of the newer series. However, some fans might not know this isn't the first time there has been a Tales series in a galaxy far, far away.

Let’s take a look at the original Tales of the Jedi.

Star Wars is a franchise with decades of stories across every medium imaginable. The saga is just three years away from celebrating half a century of storytelling. With an entire universe of works to read, it’s easy to gloss over the hidden gems from the past.

One of these tales comes in the form of a comic series from the 90s called Tales of the Jedi by the late great Tom Veitch and Kevin J. Anderson. The series takes place 4000 years before the time of Luke Skywalker. It is a sweeping epic of family dynasties, Mandalorian warlords, and ancient Sith sorcery-- a blend of sci-fi and fantasy previously not seen to this extent in the Star Wars universe.

Prior to the series, the ancient past of the galaxy far, far away was virtually unknown. Now, of course, the distant past of the galaxy is a huge wellspring of lore and mystery. The depth of history in the fictional universe is made only richer when we learn that the history of the Jedi goes back yet another 20,000 years before even these stories that seem so far removed from the ‘modern’ day Republic and Empire most fans are familiar with.

George Lucas has described Star Wars as a ‘soap opera,’ and Tales of the Jedi harkens to this in its truest form. Throughout the series, there is betrayal, love, and a respectable number of twists and turns. It is dramatic, colorful, and emotional.

The art style of the series is a huge boon to the series and makes it stand out from the huge number of comics set in the Star Wars franchise. Fantastic cover art by Dave Dorman, Hugh Flemming, and others are iconic pieces of Star Wars art to this day. Perhaps the most memorable visuals from the comics come in the distinguished design of the ships, vastly different from those of the films, and the variety of costumes of Jedi Knights, a blend of cloth and armor, not previously seen in the franchise. The Order was not yet dominated by the famous plain brown robes of later eras.

A big part of why Tales of the Jedi was such a standout was the unusual amount of freedom given to the creatives in charge. In a 2008 interview with co-writer Kevin J. Anderson, he stated that "Lucasfilm was extremely flexible with these comics and allowed us to do basically whatever we wanted, so long as we remained true to the spirit of Star Wars."

The results had a spectacular result on the franchise as a whole. Perhaps the greatest example of this is the iconic RPGs of the early 2000s that were largely inspired by the story of Tales of the Jedi. I am of course referring to the beloved Knights of the Old Republic games which take place roughly 40 years after the last chapter of the comics. Through the huge tale of the games, the events of the comics are tightly interwoven, creating a spectacular meta-narrative through this colossal period of galactic history.

If you want to delve into the galaxy's ancient past, the original Tales of the Jedi will not disappoint fans old and new alike.