In issue #8 of the Star Wars: Yoda miniseries from Marvel Comics, released two weeks ago, the diminutive green Jedi Master and young Anakin Skywalker attempt to infiltrate and destroy a droid factory before it can begin production on a new prototype of battle droid.
Yoda #8 begins at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where the Jedi Council is receiving a transmission from Yoda and Anakin while they are away on their mission. A discussion is had about the planet of Golatha and the droid factory that is located there, though Yoda implies that Anakin may be overconfident about the Republic’s ability to destroy this facility without much trouble. Then, when the two Jedi and their battalion of clone troopers arrive on Golatha, they find it deserted, with Yoda deducing that the factory must be hidden somewhere underground. Suddenly they are ambushed by an assault of blaster bolts from an unseen source, and the Jedi soon find themselves standing alone after all of the clones are eliminated in the battle. Yoda sneaks off into the forest and finds a lone battle droid, discovering the hidden entrance to the facility along the way. The Jedi descend into the underground factory, face off against more droids, and eventually discover the assembly-line floor they must completely destroy for their mission to be successful.
Having done so, Anakin mistakenly assumes that their job on Golatha is done, but here’s where his overconfidence really factors in: now he and Yoda must confront the single prototype battle droid that was constructed prior to the facility’s destruction. “Easy, this will not be,” remarks Master Yoda, giving us this issue’s cliffhanger ending, and promising us an action packed #9 next month. I enjoyed this chapter overall, and it was great to see Yoda and Anakin’s personalities bouncing off each other some more throughout, but I admittedly thought it was a little silly that the entire battalion of clone troopers would be wiped out by some battle droids hiding in the trees. That section of the story could have been handled better, as exciting and amusing as it was to see these two Jedi off on a dangerous adventure together. I did especially like Anakin and Yoda trading impressions of each other, and I could almost hear Hayden Christensen’s voice doing his best “Yoda” and Frank Oz’s doing a decent “Anakin.” Writer Marc Guggenheim is still doing a good job of capturing these characters’ mannerisms and speech patterns, while artist Alessandro Miracolo has a unique style that lends itself well to this particular narrative. I’m definitely looking forward to finding out what’s so special about this prototype battle droid next month.
Star Wars: Yoda #8 is available now wherever comic books are sold.