Book Review: The Mandalorian: The Manga, Volume 1 (Star Wars)

Yusuke Osawa, et.al., Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Manga, Volume 1. San Francisco, CA: VIZ Media, 2023. ISBN: 9781974740963. 

Genre: Star Wars

Subgenre: science fiction, space opera

Format: Manga, e-book galley

Source: Netgalley

As I recall, The Mandalorian has been a popular series on streamer Disney Plus; there is even a movie in development at this time. Now we have a manga adaptation. Before I go on I will note that I have not seen the streaming series, so I come to this book as a reader. 

This book presents the initial part of the Mandalorian's story, a mysterious and laconic bounty hunter in the Star Wars universe. The story takes us up to the point where he meets The Child (Grogu). 

The volume starts with four pages in full color illustration. The rest of the volume is then in basic black and white. It is a pity the full story is not in color. Despite that, the art overall is good. The story is fast paced as the Mandalorian moves from one mission to the next. Being that he does not speak much, there is not a lot of dialogue, so the story moves along. Much of the story moves visually, and the visual elements are good. The book is a quick and easy read. This is the first volume of the series, so I hope the story shows some depth as it develops further. So far the story is fairly light. 

Fans of the series may consider reading this. It may work too for fans of newer Star Wars works. For libraries, if they have manga collections, and especially other Star Wars adaptations, they may want to acquire this. For my library, I would consider it an optional purchase. As a reader, this was nice, a bit of fun, but not terribly memorable. I did like it. 

3 out of 5 stars. 

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