Yesterday saw the release of the third (and penultimate) issue in Marvel Comics’ Star Wars: Mace Windu miniseries, and below are my brief recap and thoughts on this installment.
Mace Windu #3 picks up where the previous issue left off with the titular Jedi Master and his newfound pirate companion Azita Cruuz having left the cave system on the refinery moon of Ro Mira with Azita’s supply of the hyperfuel called Coaxium Ultra. We learn a little bit more about Cruuz’s orphan past on Haruun Kal– which was also Mace Windu’s homeworld– before our two protagonists are chased in their landspeeder by the Ro Mira refinery’s security patrol. So Mace finally convinces Azita to sell the Coaxium Ultra to the Jedi Order and takes control of the situation, dismissing the security force. Sadly this newfound peace does not last terribly long, as the security ships are pretty much immediately destroyed by Yaya Shram, a tiny Anzellan bounty hunter working for Jabba the Hutt.
So begins a multi-page action sequence that is rather thrillingly drawn by illustrator Georges Jeanty, with writer Marc Bernardin providing narration by Windu, extolling the virtues of banishing doubt from one's thoughts as the fight progresses. Mace takes out Yaya’s invading forces and sends the Anzellan shooting up into the atmosphere via ejection seat, before he and Azita arrive at Ro Mira’s spaceport and Cruuz’s Corellian ship. But just as they are about to board with the Coaxium Ultra and head toward Coruscant, they are ambushed by two members of the Weavers of the Had’le Path, who had been watching them from the shadows last issue. These characters convey their opposition to the use of technology and declare their intentions to send Windu and Cruuz on “the path back to nature.”
That’s the cliffhanger ending for this month, and while this issue was mostly action-oriented via the extended chase and battle sequences, I will say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. I’m generally digging the budding allyship between Mace Windu and Azita Cruz, and I think the variety of enemies that Bernardin has assembled to pursue them make for an interesting melange of threats. That said, this is a pretty straightforward story that doesn’t have a ton of complications other than the assorted villains and the other miscellaneous obstacles in the main characters’ paths. It’s definitely entertaining enough, but I’ll be curious to see if that final upcoming issue raises the bar or in any way transcends what will otherwise be a serviceable, by-the-book, and ultimately fairly inconsequential Star Wars narrative.
Star Wars: Mace Windu #3 is available now wherever comic books are sold.