Star Wars: Dark Droids: D-Squad

Star Wars: Dark Droids - D-Squad #1-4

by Marc Guggenheim, Salvador Espin (Artist), David Messina (Artist)

Collects Star Dark Droids - D-Squad (2023) #1-4.

The unsung heroes of the Clone Wars return! A terrible scourge is corrupting the galaxy's droids. To fight this menace and rescue his best friend C-3PO, R2-D2 must assemble a team of droid the D-Squad! It's an adventure filled with guest stars from across the galaxy, including a special appearance by Chopper from Star Rebels! See Artoo battle the murderous BT-1! Witness the psychotic 0-0-0 in a showdown with the bounty hunter IG-88! Welcome the return of QT-KT! And as D-Squad's mission brings them into the palace of Jabba the Hutt, our heroes take on the malevolent torture droid EV-9D9! Will Artoo's journey lead only to carnage and destruction? Or will he also find love?

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Marvel, Fantasy, Fiction

115 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 6, 2024

About the author

Marc Guggenheim grew up on Long Island, New York, and earned his law degree from Boston University. After over four years in practice, he left law to pursue a career in television.

Today, Guggenheim is an Emmy Award–winning writer who writes for multiple mediums including television, film, video games, comic books, and new media. His work includes projects for such popular franchises as Percy Jackson, Star Wars, Call of Duty, Star Trek, and Planet of the Apes.

His next book, In Any Lifetime, coming from Lake Union Publishing on August 1st.

Guggenheim currently lives in Encino, California, with his wife, two daughters, and a handful of pets.

Keep up to date on his latest projects with LegalDispatch, a weekly newsletter where he shares news and notes about writing, comics, and the entertainment industry.

Reviews

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly relevant tie in to the Dark Droids crossover event featuring some of the more famous of the Star Wars droids.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

In what world was this not going to be a 5 out of 5. Some of the best droids in the galaxy coming together to fight other droids. Gold. I love R2-D2 so much. I knew Aphra’s droids would like him. Excited to see how this Dark Droids event ends. I desperately want to read Star Wars #41 but who the hell decided to release it before Dark Droids #5. I’m afraid to touch it for spoilers.

[Bernardo Martinho · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story, part of the Dark Droids event, is one of the funniest comics I've ever read. It truly captures the spirit of the Clone Wars D-Squad arc, and it was impossible not to smile at the interactions between our droids. The artwork was fantastic as well.

If I had to point out any flaws, it would be that the story is heavily tied to the larger Dark Droids arc, so to fully understand it, you need to read the other related stories. This comic seems to contribute only a small piece to the overall narrative.

That said, if this comic has shown me anything, it's that I’d love to see more adventures like this, preferably independent of other storylines. It would be guaranteed fun.

[fer · Rating 2 out of 5]

nao é ruim nao, mas nao me diverti mt com a historia, acho que deveria ter lido algumas outras das historias de star wars que intercalam com essa.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m always down for some 0-0-0 and BT-1 action, so I’m glad they made an appearance, but I feel like this was just as good as a droid-centric story like this could be. Not great as a self-contained story. I’ll see if it gets any better after reading more issues in this event.

[Emma (littledollreads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every once in a while I will pick up a Star Wars comic to see if they are something I want to try and more properly get into and every time I come to the conclusion that no they are not. The amount of call-over references to other comic events in here is staggering for what I thought was a stand-alone one-off thing. I was just super lacking in context to get the most out of this one. Now you may be wondering why I picked this one out of the many possible choices, ad well it's because of all the Star Wars characters, I do tend to like the droids a lot. I thought a droid-centric story would be interesting, and it definitely would have been if our titular key character was one who actually spoke in words and not sound effects. As it stands it feels a lot like everyone is talking at the audience and we only ever get half of a conversation, which works better in film than in does on paper. Just lack some dynamics when I have to imagine all the sound effects in place of hearing them in the flow of conversations. A real shame, I quite like 000. This one was just not for me.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

É curioso que esta é a terceira edição seguida com desenhos de Salva Espín que leio esta semana. Bem, pra começar preciso dizer que comprei esta edição um pouco por causa da saga Droides Sombrios, que gostei bastante da minissérie principal, e também porque os droides são os personagens principais dessa minissérie: R2-D2 e os droides torturadores e assassinos da Doutora Aphra. Mas mesmo assim, o roteiro é de Marc Guggenheim então claro que eu não iria gostar tanto quanto eu poderia ter gostado se outra pessoas escrevesse esse trabalho. Outra coisa decepcionante nesta minissérie que remete às Guerras Clônicas foi o fato de ela não ser autocontida, o leitor precisa ler a minissérie principal se quiser saber o que acontece no fim da saga e como os droides se livram da presença nefasta que os domina. O quadrinho também contém uma história curta do messias dos doides do universo de Star Wars, que eu achei chata e cansativa. Ah sim, e vale mencionar que metade da trama são bleeps bleeps boings boings feitos pelos droides.

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given this book 2 stars if R2-D2 was not one of my favourite characters, and I was glad to see him as the main character.

C3PO has been corrupted and turned on his long-time friend R2-D2. However, a simple act of throwing R2 out of an airlock into space is not going to stop R2 from saving his friend. R2 has the ability to run into the exact people he needs to help him or convince anyone else. Hence, the D-Squad is formed. Through I still do not understand most of their motivations for helping R2.

Except for AJAX's origin, the book was mostly filler or an excuse to see more of R2. A couple of cameos that don't really lead anywhere, but a bit of comic relief. The book finishes with a varient cover gallery.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A goofy, almost cutesy team-up for the droids of the Star Wars universe as they come together to uncover the means for defeating the Scourge. If you've liked the droid sidekicks roaming around these Star Wars comics, you'll enjoy D-Squad. I found it very padded and very silly, though the droids do play a surprisingly important role in the finale of Dark Droids.

[Sam Bakos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really should've read this before dark droids

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Star Wars: Dark Droids - D-Squad collects issues 1-4 of the Marvel miniseries event tie-in written by Marc Guggenheim, art by Salva Espín, and colors by Israel Silva.

Set during the events of Dark Droids, R2-D2 puts together an eclectic group of droids to fight The Scourge including IG-88, 4-LOM, 0-0-0, BT-1, and QT-KT.

The story told in the collection could have easily been a back-up story in each of the Dark Droids event issues. It is very light hearted and has a lot of humor compared to the very serious Dark Droids event. But all things considered, this is just filler. It really adds nothing to the event, mythos, or lore other than having some humorous moments.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

So after tracking down a reading order for the Dark Droids series, I decided to dip into these volumes in what I found was a near-chronological ordering of the issues, with Dark Droids wrapping up shortly before Star Wars, Bounty Hunters, and Doctor Aphra (which all felt like epilogues to this in their own ways). As such, I'm going to have this review in EVERY Dark Droids TPB review to open with my thoughts on the series before then moving into the specific TPB in question.

The Dark Droids Series:
I have VERY mixed feelings about this run. I didn't think it was bad, really, outside of one particular TPB -- everything else received 3s and 4s from me. However, nothing really excelled or really excited me. I think one of the major reasons for this is the framing -- this is all meant to take place in between ESB and RotJ, and it just don't make sense that come RotJ, we don't see ANY fallout from a mass droid uprising and the deaths of what in the series looked like thousands but given the galaxy-wide spread, was likely BILLIONS and BILLIONS of lives lost. Also, RotJ doesn't feature an uptick in cyborgs or hybroids (I really didn't love that name either!) which leaves this series feel like it only has stakes for characters we don't see in RotJ. Unfortunately, there aren't really any major character deaths either -- and to top it all off, any side characters for this run were mostly relegated to such a background role that we don't know a ton of what happened to them (sorry, Magna's cool squad!).

This idea is a really cool one, and I do like how it spins (somewhat clearly) out of all the stuff that happened around the Spark Ascendant stuff from Hidden Empire. I honestly think keeping the scale smaller and maybe relegating this to one system with some convenient story contrivances (or hey, I dunno...maybe drag all the important characters back to No Space?) would help this to make more logical sense within the larger framework of the Star Wars stories.

D-Squad:
Arguably my least favorite of this run -- IG-88 sounds really weird here, 4-LOM talks far too much, the implied romance between R2 and QT is just...silly. The abrupt cliffhanger-ish ending that's simply meant to lead into the rest of the Dark Droids series also didn't do a lot for me since I already wasn't all that fascinated with Ajax. I like the art in this run -- the line work is especially good, but it's just REALLY hard to invest in characters whose language you can't really follow. Also, the cameos of WAC-47 and Chopper felt SO pointless...

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tie-in to the Dark Droids crossover event, set between 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi'.
The malevolent droid intelligence known as the Scourge is taking control of droids across the galaxy and when it takes control of C-3PO and turns him murderous, R2-D2 sets out to put thing right. Resurrecting an idea from the Clone Wars, Artoo gathers a team of droids, a new D-Squad, to take the fight to the Scourge.

I like the idea of a group of sentient droids who we already know teaming up, albeit as an oddball team, to take on the Scourge.
What makes it even more entertaining is the specific group of droids Artoo gathers together. Sure, there's QT-KT from the original heartwarming and cutesy D-Squad, but the rest of the new team are the most violent and deadly droids to be found in Star Wars; IG-88, 4-LOM, 0-0-0 and BT-1.

It's genuinely interesting that I found the relationships between this group of mismatched droids far more compelling than almost all of the human relationships in these concurrent comics series. There's perfect mix of rivalry, tension, companionship and even a little droid romance.

The downside to this book is that it ends on a cliffhanger which requires you to immediately read the main 'Dark Droids' story (by Charles Soule) if you want any sense of closure.

Given the title of the book it was also nice to briefly catch up with WAC-47, another alumni of the Clone Wars team. However, I enjoyed seeing Chopper even more, particularly him refusing to help Artoo because he doesn't care. That's very Chopper.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[ashlabooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dunkle Droiden: D-Squad von Marc Guggenheim

Der D-Squad, die Droiden-Sondereinheit aus „The Clone Wars“ hatte ein ganz besonderes Unterhaltungspotenzial. Kein Wunder also, dass sich gegen die Droiden-Krankheit Widerstand in den eigenen Reihen regt!

Die Handlung:

Als R2-D2 durch seinen Freund C-3PO unsanft aus der Luftschleuse befördert wird, steht für ihn fest: Etwas kann mit dem Protokolldroiden nicht stimmen und der Astromech sagt der Plage den Kampf an. Glücklicherweise kommt WAC-47 daher und die beiden beleben die Droiden-Sondereinheit „D-Squad“ wieder...

Meine Meinung:

Guggenheim versteht die Droiden-Charaktere. Jeder der Hauptfiguren hat seinen ganz eigenen Stil: von kalt und berechnend bis mörderisch und verrückt. Die Auswahl der Figuren ist gelungen und bietet eine umfassende Darstellung verschiedener mechanischer Freunde (und Nicht-so-Freunde). Bei den Charakteren, die lediglich Binär sprechen, steht der Pit-Droide WAC-47 als Übersetzer zur Stelle. Grade hier gelingt Guggenheim der eine oder andere Lacher. Der Umfang der Serie ist mit vier Heften sehr knapp bemessen, sodass von der eigentlichen Story leider nur wenig bleibt. Die meiste Zeit sammelt man die Teammitglieder auf. Die Zeichnungen sind stimmig und abwechslungsreich mit hellen Farben und einer Menge Boom 🤩

Fazit:

Kurzweilige Droiden-Action mit einer Menge Spaß, aber wenig eigentlicher Handlung. Im Vordergrund stehen eindeutig die abwechslungsreichen Figuren.

Werbung: Vielen lieben Dank an Panini für die Bereitstellung des Rezensionexemplares!

[WILL U READ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so fun because of the connections with the D-Squad in the Clone Wars. I do appreciate the art, it was fun seeing the dialogue of beeps and whirs from the astromechs. It was great to say it out loud and see how accurate these go. I love the color distinctions and I love the love interest of Artoo Deetoo. It was soo cute! I also love the humor and the care for safety. I love the attitude of Chopper. Chopper is such an unexpected cameo. I found the droids to be interesting watch argue and discuss plans. Also, to see other cameos like Lobot and Lando. Lando being like have I seen you and R2D2 be like nah. Got me laughing. Also, the plot to help erradicate or escape the Scourge is fascinating. Also, yes, some of the plot or dialogue or part of the story is a bit confusing. Some context would have been appreciated but sometimes the library doesn't get all the issues or volumes but I do appreciate Libby. I would definietly recommend getting Comixology. I definitely long to get the subscription however, if you have KU (KIndle Unlimited for the uniititated) you will find a decent amount of comics if there is any. I loved seeing the droid bounty hunters fight and the strategy is unheard of. The story and its pace is amazing and takes you to different planets with an absurd amount of action and plenty of standstill dialogue. Marc Guggenheim is playing a big role in the comics recently so I will rank this lower and expect to see some amazing stuff in the future. I did find it less interesting and confusing in some parts but for the most part, it was nice comic.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

It isn’t that I totally hated this collection. It’s more that it was just sort of lame and actually kind of stupid.

While the main Star Wars crossover with the Dark Droids storyline wasn’t bad, this 4 part spin-off/mini series was dumb from the get go. Call me a gate keeper or a stick in the mud or whatever but to me, the idea of droids banding together to take out sentient AI feels juvenile.

Then again I already hate the assassin droids Triple Zero and BT from the equally hated Dr. Aphra comics so with those 2 being included, I was already going to go into this one with a negative viewpoint. And I did try to keep an open mind, since this was a slightly different arc for the series, and since Star Wars has been stagnating for like 5 years, just going around and around in repetitive story arcs…but really, this one never once grabbed my interest or kept me hooked. Instead I found myself slogging through and hoping each page would be the last.

Like Yoda and the main comic, it seems like lately Marvel and Disney have finally toned down on some of the absolutely pointless (and obviously shoehorned) political correctness, and that’s apparent here as there was hardly any kind of that going on. So that’s a plus at least.


#ashwednesday

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3-4 ABY

This graphic novel is four issues and fills the reader in on events during a special Star Wars Crossover called Dark Droids, of which includes issues from Star Wars (2020), Doctor Aphra, Darth Vader, and Bounty Hunters. In D-Squad, R2-D2 is on a mission to find a way to save his friend, C-3PO, who has been taken over by the Spark Eternal. Apparently, droids are far easier to corrupt than organic life forms, and the Spark makes its way through many droids.

Along the way, R2 finds a mis-matched crew of droids to help bring the Spark's scourge to an end. Ultimately seeking the help of Ajax Sigma, a droid from the High Republic era whose core is later found by Han and Chewbacca, and he is rebuilt in the age of the Empire. R2 believes Ajax's core and experience over various centuries might be enough to end the Spark's scourge.

I love the art in this collection. One can't really go wrong with droids. We get some fan favorites from across the various series, as well as some new characters and old friends. The dialogue is, as you can imagine between beep-booping droids, quite top tier. Overall, it was a really fun edition and setup for the crossover.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book entirely helmed by droids? Madness, you'd think. And yet, I was laughing so hard while reading this that I couldn't really deny that it was a good idea.

While droids across the galaxy are being manipulated by what was once the Spark Eternal, R2D2 and some robotic friends band together to do what they do best - save the day without anyone else realising they're doing it. There are some surprising appearances here, and the 'team' such as it is very rarely actually works together, but it's so much fun it's easy to overlook.

A light in the darkness that was the doom and gloom of Dark Droids.

[Martijn Van · Rating 2 out of 5]

It feels a bit weird, having this one released before anything else in the 'Dark Droids'-storyline. This thing seems to connect to a lot of the other 'Dark Droid'stories (and the Han Solo & Chewbacca run) seemingly spoiling some of the stuff that will happen in there. The drawing is nice but overall it feels like filler, moistly because it's yet another story happening between 'The Empire Strikes Back' & 'Return of the Jedi. A time period that is starting to feel cramped and should've ended after 'War of the Bounty Hunters', 'Crimson Reign' & 'Hidden Empire'.

[Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun mini-series that is held back by its need to be read along with the other series in the Dark Droids crossover. I guess that is the nature of comic crossovers. There's some good humor in this, especially with Triple Zero and the conversations between R2 and Chopper, and the artwork is solid, but nothing too special. Overall I think its an okay mini, which is probably more than I expected, as the D-Squad arc in the Clone Wars (which the title is a reference to, and which is referenced multiple times in the miniseries) is one of my least favorite.

[Luana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, I did laugh out loud several times, but it very much is the definition of inessential. This could have been a subplot in the main book!

Biggest lol: the romance between R2 (blue droid) and QT (pink droid) -- better make DAMN SURE we know the driving trashcan is NOT a homo trashcan!

Sigma Ajax and the Church of the Second Revelation is a concept that feels from a way cooler sci-fi series than Star Wars... or maybe a glimpse into what Star Wars could have been if its corporate leash-holders weren't giant wussies.

[Iván Pedro · Rating 3 out of 5]

La historia está entretenida. El dibujo, como siempre es bastante bueno. El pero que le saco es que, lo siento, pero no me creo que dos droides astromecánicos, por muy héroes de la rebelión que sean, puedan acabar con escuadrones de droides que van a por ellos en diferentes momentos de la historia, armados únicamente con una pequeña sierra, una chispa eléctrica y un extintor. Son héroes pero por diferentes motivos que no la lucha, quizás reflejar su victoria gracias a su ingenio o a otras cualidades hubiera sido más acertado...

[Zettifar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm always down for some Triple zero and BT-1 but having R2-D2 teaming up with them made this one of the most hilarious comics I've ever read.

Obviously a direct cross over comic with the Dark droid arc and so to full understand what is going on in this you need to have read the related comics but this one only contributes are small piece to the overall arc.

All that being said i would love more comics like this but just separate to any other arcs or storylines.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that great. Lots of extended scenes with R2D2 talking in his "beep, woop..." style (without subtitles!). Did you know R2 has a cute pink girlfriend droid (her name is QT. Get it? Cutie?)? A bunch of droids from different Star Wars properties all band together in the face of the Scourge and not a whole lot of anything happens.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last of my reads of "Dark Droids" was probably the most funny. Here, we have Artoo joining up with 0-0-0, IG-88, and 4-LOM to rescue BT-1, hoping to learn how to combat against the Scourge so he can save Threepio. Wouldn't be an all droids book without appearances from Chopper and QT-KT!
Fun read with tons of action here. Recommend.

[Sarospice · Rating 3 out of 5]

If they have to end Bounty Hunters, I would totally read a D-Squad title. Love the wordless pages of bots bleeping and booping. Love anything Triple Zero! Could care less about Artoo's girlfriend QT-KT. Yawn.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Art does a great job with very static and immobile characters, and the writing tries its best to make you care about everybody without breaking established language barriers or Canon, but ultimately the whole thing feels a bit silly, but takes itself too seriously.

[Stephen Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mildly diverting story of what (most of) the most popular droids get up to during the Dark Droids crossover, but it serves little purpose and has no ending within the TPB as the conclusion lies elsewhere.

[Benjamin Palladino · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had known this was an intertwined story I would’ve read Dark Droids and D-Squad back and forth in release order.

It’s not bad just feels like a waste of time when I already knew the true ending.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gosh, I think I love the D-Squad and I'm kinda mad they didn't get to feature more heavily in the core storyline. Heck, this volume didn't even give them an ending (though it can be found elsewhere). Missed opportunity, if you ask me. I enjoyed this quite a bit.