Review: D-Squad Takes the Fight to the Scourge in ‘Dark Droids: D-Squad’ #4
It’s the climactic month of Marvel’s Dark Droids crossover. Just a few more issues to close out 2023 and head into a potential new era of Star Wars comics in 2024. Next year’s mysteries will come in good time. First, we must discuss Marc Guggenheim’s Dark Droids: D-Squad #4.
In the previous issue, the fabled droid squad got its makeover as R2-D2 brought together 4-LOM, IG-88, Triple Zero, and BT-1 in the fight against the Scourge. Their goal is to find Ajax Sigma as a last-ditch effort to save the galaxy. However, R2’s “love interest,” QT-KT, who conveniently is the key to that information, was caught in the melee and now lies battered and broken.
The final issue of this miniseries takes the team to familiar locales in what is ultimately a fun issue with some creative easter eggs thrown in there. Sadly, it’s also weighed down by the reality that Dark Droids: D-Squad feels inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Immediately rendering this issue moot is the knowledge that D-Squad has already tracked Ajax down in Dark Droids #4. It made investing in this issue from the jump hard, but Guggenheim wisely treated the fact his miniseries is behind the 8-ball as a feature, not a bug.
One last bit of housekeeping before we dive in: If you are reading this and are worried about Dark Droids #5 spoilers, don’t worry. The events of D-Squad #4 come nowhere close to those waters.
Spoilers ahead…
Once again, the star of this show is Salva Espín’s art and Israel Silva’s colors. The beautiful backdrop of Ryloth’s sunset works brilliantly to showcase D-Squad getting their groove on as they battle the Scourge’s forces. After some mayhem, victory is soon theirs. And because I knew the galaxy was concerned about QT’s fate, I’m happy to report that she is okay. The mission can continue.
They head to Tatooine and Jabba’s Palace, hoping the location of Ajax is inside. Guggenheim takes a moment to remind readers why Jabba is a crucial player in all of this. During Han Solo & Chewbacca, Ajax’s neural core was the central MacGuffin. Our favorite smuggling pair won the race and buried the core, going against Jabba’s wishes. Hindsight being 20/20, that wasn’t the best strategy, but Han is now in carbonite while the galaxy is in peril, so he must be playing 4-D chess.
Where this scene goes wrong is an author’s note teasing that Jabba’s desire for Ajax’s core will come back up in Bounty Hunters #42. Can we please get through issue #41 before hearing more about what’s after Dark Droids? Especially when that particular issue, Bounty Hunters #42, is the last issue of a series. It also rubs me the wrong way because that author’s note was placed immediately after another from a panel earlier, explaining the Han Solo & Chewbacca connection. I don’t need my authors inserting themselves all over a comic. Just let the story play out.
The difference between a good author’s note and a bad one can be seen shortly after when our crew runs into a familiar face inside Jabba’s Palace. Lando Calrissian is found sneaking through the halls with his destitute companion, Lobot. We’re reminded via an author’s note that Lando’s infiltration happened in Star Wars #38, which is helpful for weirdos like me who get a kick out of abruptly going back into an issue and stitching all of the dialogue and sequencing together.
Lando’s banter was especially strong with R2, who is also in disguise. None of this added anything to the overall narrative, but this is why crossovers can be cool. (Don’t think too hard about how this issue aligns canonically with Star Wars #38 and Dark Droids #3-4. It’s hurting my brain.)
R2 and QT go deeper into the palace and find a horde of Scourged droids, who immediately recognize R2 as one of the significant threats to its goals. The battle is on, and given this series’ penchant for letting the art, colors, and lettering speak for themselves during action sequences, it was a blast. At one point, R2 became Tarzan, latching himself to the ceiling and swinging around, taking out their assailants in the process.
During the all-out droid brawl, QT manages to get the coordinates to Mechis III and the colony of the Second Revelation. D-Squad ventures there and finds Ajax Sigma depressed and alone after his failure to stop the Scourge. They motivate him to fight on. I was hoping for a bit more out of this scene than what we got in Dark Droids #4, but oh well. I remain ready to see how this all ends.
Ultimately, Dark Droids: D-Squad was a miniseries that accomplished its goal. It provided levity in a crossover that is ostensibly a body horror movie. The results were often good when Guggenheim let the characters play off each other’s quirks. But the moment he tried to inject stakes, this iteration of D-Squad faltered. Beyond the Ajax backstory, a lot of the drama didn’t land.
Issue #4 is the best example of what this series tried to be, and for that, it gets a passing grade. If Dark Droids #5 is as good as we hope, D-Squad will be the series to thank.
RATING: 7/10
Nate uses his love for Star Wars and movies in general as a way to cope with the pain of being a Minnesota sports fan. When he's not at the theater, you can usually find Nate reading a comic, listening to an audiobook, or playing a Mario video game for the 1,000th time.
