Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Madibek Musabekov
Color Artist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover Artists: Stephen Segovia & Rain Beredo
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
The galaxy is in peril as a new threat takes over droid after droid whether they serve for the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire. All are fair game, even those who are close enough to being a droid, like Lando’s old friend Lobot. While Lando was able to free Lobot of the dark presence, he couldn’t return him to normal, and seeks the only droid that can in Jabba’s Palace. But as we’ll see in Star Wars #38, not even Jabba the Hutt’s Palace is safe from danger.
Review:
So the comic picks up with the droid Talky, the one Lando is after, about to be prepped for adjustment down in Jabba’s Palace only for him to find that they’re all being possessed by some dark and terrible intelligence that can possess almost any and all droids. With this in mind, the comic gives the tone of a zombie story but with droids as Talky, Lando, and Lobot do what they can to avoid getting killed or possessed by this new threat that’s spreading like wildfire across the droids in the galaxy.
As I said before, the comic does a good job in portraying the story as a bit of a zombie story with elements of the initial “contagion” that keeps overtaking every other droid in Jabba’s Palace. On top of that, it keeps spreading more and more while people inside and out struggle to fight back or escape its grasp. The art goes a long way to sell this zombie aspect of the story as the mass of droids they show all feel like a single-minded horde that’s just looking to find any other droids they can to spread their influence to, including Talky who is not keen on joining it.
The core of this comic is undeniably all Lando and his dedication to helping Lobot. If you feel like Charles Soule hadn’t given you enough flashbacks with Lando and Lobot, you’ll find more in this comic. They all serve to cement the friendship between Lando and Lobot and more importantly show how deep their trust goes. This helps contrast with Lando’s decisions and actions in the comic as he makes his way into Jabba’s Palace only to find more problems, like the horde of droids who want to assimilate Talky. It shows just how far Lando’s loyalty to Lobot goes that he’s willing to risk facing such threats to help save his friend.
The downside to this comic is that it’s full of callbacks, teases, and fan-service that seems a little too primed for directly setting up the events of the beginning of Star Wars: Return of Jedi. It’s not a bad thing, but it’s very apparent in some parts more than others. With some feeling like they would’ve made the comic a whole lot more fun if they weren’t just points of fan-service but actual parts of the plot. However, it’s not all bad since the last bit at the end really does provide a cool setup in the next issue.
Final Thoughts:
Star Wars #38 kicks off the next phase of the Dark Droids storyline as Lando goes to Jabba’s Palace to find the droid he needs to help Lobot. Turns out that not even Jabba’s Palace is safe from the new threat that’s assimilating more and more droids by the second. The comic does a good job conveying a zombie-like story but with droids. There are plenty of callbacks and teases to the film Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, though it would’ve been nice if some moments actually led to more than just casual fan-service. However, the comic sets up a fun scenario that fans of the film will find exciting for the next issue.