Today saw the release of the fourth and final issue of the Star Wars: Dark Droids – D-Squad spinoff miniseries from Marvel Comics, and below are my brief recap and thoughts on this climactic installment.
Dark Droids – D-Squad #4 picks up where the previous issue left off: with our favorite astromech droid R2-D2 and his unlikely robotic allies on the planet Ryloth, where they recently met up with Artoo’s old friend from the Clone Wars, QT-KT. QT has been blasted unconscious by a squad of KX-series Imperial security droids and their Dark Trooper companions, but Artoo works quickly to repair her while the others do their best to fight their enemies. And once everyone on the D-Squad is back in action, they are able to swiftly mop the floor with the invading forces, resolving to continue on their way once the explosive battle is over. Next they travel to Tatooine, where they believe Jabba the Hutt holds information on the whereabouts of the droid revolutionary Ajax Sigma, who may very well be the key to defeating the Scourge virus that is plaguing droids around the galaxy.
But before entering Jabba’s Palace, Artoo must don a disguise to avoid being recognized as an associate of the Rebel Alliance. Here’s where things get rather clever– this issue overlaps with the recent events of Marvel’s flagship Star Wars title (specifically issue #38), as R2-D2 and QT-KT cross paths with Lando Calrissian and Lobot inside Jabba’s Palace. But that chance encounter doesn’t really add up to much, and Artoo and QT follow through on their plan to retrieve the info. There’s a really fun scene with our protagonists deactivating many of the Scourge-possessed droids in the palace, and then the D-Squad heads to Mechis III, home of the Colony of the Second Revelation– Ajax Sigma’s cult of self-aware droids. Here we get the long-awaited team of of all these mechanized beings, and the tease that this story will culminate in the pages of Star Wars: Dark Droids #5, due out later this month from Marvel Comics.
And you know what, I’m not even upset that there isn’t really a conclusion to this story here, just an ad for a future release. I mean I was gonna buy the rest of Dark Droids anyway, so why not have these two already-linked-together narratives come to a head back over in the mother ship miniseries? Besides, I had a blast reading Dark Droids – D-Squad pretty much all the way through. How often do we get to see Star Wars events purely from the perspective of the droids, each of whom definitely have their own unique and compelling personalities? As much as they’re usually along for the ride, the answer is not too terribly often. Plus, writer Marc Guggenheim did a terrific job infusing this miniseries with a sense of fun and adventure, while artist Salva Espin and colorist Israel Silva really made the images come alive on the page. When I eventually recommend that friends read the collected Dark Droids saga (and I will), D-Squad will absolutely be an indispensable part of that.
Star Wars: Dark Droids – D-Squad #4 is available now wherever comic books are sold.