Star Wars: Dark Droids #1 Review: Bringing Significance to Silliness

The current timeline of Star Wars comics at Marvel has adventures unfolding between the events of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Back in 2021, fans were thrilled by the kickoff of the "War of the Bounty Hunters" crossover event, as it confirmed that Qi'ra from Solo: A Star Wars Story was not only still alive, but was leading the Crimson Dawn organization. Despite the thrilling potential of this reveal, "War of the Bounty Hunters" and the subsequent crossovers "Crimson Reign" and "Hidden Empire" all failed to match the excitement of that Qi'ra reveal. In other words, times have been tough for fans of Star Wars comics when it comes to crossover events, and while the kickoff to the latest crossover, Star Wars: Dark Droids #1, doesn't deliver anything as exciting as Qi'ra's return, it does plant the seed for some uncharted territory in a galaxy far, far away.

Under the command of the Galactic Empire, a lowly KX-series security droid (think K-2SO from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) comes across a medallion containing the identity of a self-aware droid, which latches onto the security droid. When it returns to its Star Destroyer, it quickly spreads throughout the rest of the droids on the ship, igniting a revolt, with this organic eradication igniting interest from a sect of other self-aware droids in another part of the galaxy. Given the destructive nature of this entity, these self-aware droids know the danger it possesses, while the prevalence of droids throughout the galaxy could spell doom for the seeming owners of such droids.

Throughout the original trilogy of Star Wars films, droids were seen as bumbling and hapless figures who mainly existed to help move the story forward by offering up the exact services required of any character at any time. Whether it be the prequel trilogy displaying the weaponization of such droids or Rogue One showing that these figures could have their own motivations that didn't align with human owners, the perception of droids has changed over the years, though they are still often depicted as one-dimensional figures. As soon as the name "Dark Droids" was announced as a crossover event, fans were immediately skeptical that it would be a silly and superficial outing, and while those apprehensions could still be warranted, this debut issue teases the potential of much more existential themes being explored.

While it largely felt like it was played for laughs, Solo: A Star Wars Story delivered the droid L3-37, who not only had a seemingly emotional and physical relationship with Lando Calrissian, but also fought for droid rights. The character was so effective, in fact, that when L3-37's operating system was transferred into the Millennium Falcon, many audiences claimed that this was a fate worse than death. With Star Wars: Dark Droids #1, writer Charles Soule looks to be mining that vein of storytelling with a destination that's entirely unknown at this point.

The power and dangers of A.I. in our world has become a hot topic, not only with demonstrations of what these operating systems are capable of, but also in all of the ways they fail to replicate human insight. Dark Droids doesn't feel like it was an attempt to cash in on the topical trend, more serving as an eerie and prescient reminder of an eventuality. Throughout much of the Star Wars saga and all of its mediums, droids are often defined by human characters, regardless of whether those droids exist in support of or in opposition to those human characters' objectives. Dark Droids looks to uncover what these figures would pursue in a world devoid of humans.

This debut issue is a bit of a messy blend of thematic threads, as it delivers a somewhat absurd sect of droids that have had something akin to a religious awakening, while also delivering a mechanical massacre. We're being given both computational carnage and philosophical functioning, along with the tease of beloved characters being overtaken by nefarious motivations. These themes shouldn't really work together in concept, but Soule's storytelling and integration of the two narrative threads work in harmony with one another, allowing readers to avoid scoffing at the absurdity of the premise. The issue's intro does also attempt to retroactively add significance to the events of Star Wars: Hidden Empire, claiming it was a plan from Qi'ra that led to this dark entity being unleashed, though this seems more like an attempt to justify the events of that crossover and a bit superfluous to what unfolds in this debut issue. 

Similarly helping elevate the inherent limitations of the material is the art from illustrator Luke Ross and colorist Alex Sinclair. Some of the most iconic elements of Star Wars have been the scenes in which droids, namely R2-D2, have been able to tap into the computer systems of the Galactic Empire, with Dark Droids #1 finding a way to visualize how this data mining could look to the droid in way that authentically honors the retro spirit of the series. Much like Soule, Ross is a proven talent in the galaxy far, far away, so while it's no surprise that his more literal depictions of characters in the book or compelling, it's the ways in which the book highlights a droid's perspective and visualizes algorithmic computations that are the standout components. 

Where this Dark Droids story, or the whole crossover event, goes from here is yet to be seen and it's entirely possible that the concept could devolve back into superficial silliness or high-concept nonsense, but this debut issue provides more gravitas to the initiative than expected. The creative team on this title are all-star collaborators in the galaxy far, far away, so we can hope that this core Dark Droids title maintains some consistency and fares better than previous title-spanning storylines, though we also can't yet predict how fulfilling tie-ins will be. Despite inherent challenges, Star Wars: Dark Droids #1 proves that the most ambitious creatives in the game can find unconventional approaches to the most challenging and complex concepts and deliver something that is both superficially entertaining while also sparking existential themes of identity.

Published by Marvel Comics

On August 2, 2023

Written by Charles Soule

Art by Luke Ross

Colors by Alex Sinclair

Letters by Travis Lanham

Cover by Leinil Francis Yu and Romulo Fajardo Jr.