NEW YORK — The latest issue of Marvel’s Star Wars: Yoda has expanded on the background of the titular Jedi, depicting his first encounter with the being who will become his master: a wrinkled, mole-like creature named Q’reg who stands only 7 inches tall and speaks entirely in unintelligible aphorisms.
“The goal with this series is to give fans that same feeling they had when they first met Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back,” said writer Calvin Stock. “That’s why we had to make Q’reg even smaller and more confusing than Yoda. Whereas Yoda says, ‘Do or do not. There is no try,’ Q’reg says, ‘Of no use is a coward’s bile to God.’ Yoda tries to steal Luke’s rations, while Q’reg sells loose cigarettes and runs small-time cons for bus fare.”
Fan reaction to the new character has been mixed.
“To me, Yoda’s master will always be N’Kata Del Gormo,” said Jordan Kenner, referring to a character from the now-defunct Legends continuity. “But I do like how Q’reg is 9000 years old. It’s like how Yoda was 900, except it’s an even bigger number.”
The series, which debuted in November 2022, presented several unique challenges for artist Nico Philips.
“When I got the script for this issue, it kept describing the scenery as though it were a swamp like Yoda’s original appearance,” said Philips. “Since the story takes place on the hyper-urban planet of Coruscant, I assumed it was a mistake. But no, they wanted me to put mangrove trees and lizards in an alley behind the Jedi Temple. I would get drafts sent back with notes like, ‘swampier,’ and, ‘more snakes.’ I think I’ve permanently altered the canonical ecology of the planet at this point just to make this story work.”
At press time, the writing team behind Star Wars: Yoda were reportedly in progress developing a story surrounding a baby version of Q’reg who is even cuter and more innocent than Baby Yoda.
