Category Archives: Comics

The Bad Batch Have a New Nemesis, and It’s Not Just the Clone Bounty Hunters – Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories – The Bad Batch: Rogue Agents #2 Review

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Warning: Spoilers for Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories – The Bad Batch: Rogue Agents #2

The Bad Batch: Rogue Agents puts the team of four unique clones on a new mission in the midst of the Clone Wars. This time, while searching for a scientist who’s created a powerful weapon, they run into another team of clones. Issue one revealed these clones to be defectors from the Republic that picked up a bounty from the Separatists to hunt down the same scientist as The Bad Batch. This issue reveals that this new group of defecting clones are not working alone, but with Aurra Sing, a bounty hunter that The Bad Batch has dealt with before.

Title: Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories – The Bad Batch: Rogue Agents #2

Writer: Michael Moreci

Artist: Reese Hannigan

Colourist: Michael Atiyeh

Letterer: Jimmy Betancourt

First Appearance of: Laruche

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Timeline: 21 BBY

In the second year of the four year Clone War, The Bad Batch: Rogue Agents allows us to see the Bad Batch in the first half of the Clone Wars, since we were only introduced to the team in the final season of The Clone Wars TV show. This is the third Bad Batch comic story, all of which take place back-to-back between The Clone Wars episodes “ARC Troopers” (S3, E2) and “Sphere of Influence” (S3, E4). The first was a one-shot story in the main Hyperspace Stories (2022) run, and the second was titled The Bad Batch: Ghost Agents.

Clones Have Defected Before, but These Are the First Clone Trooper Bounty Hunters

Sergeant Cole and his unit are not the first clones we’ve seen that have gone rogue. In season two of The Clone Wars, we’re introduced to the former clone trooper Cut Lawquane, who deserted the army when he was left as the only survivor of a Separatist attack. He no longer believed there was any meaning in his life until he found his future wife. In season one, Sergeant Slick became a clone deserter when he thought the clones as slaves to the republic, and traded Republic intel to the Separatists in exchange for money and the promise of freedom.

Now technically, Cole and his unit are not the first clones of Jango Fett to become bounty hunters. Boba Fett was also one of Jango’s clones that he raised as his son, but Boba was never a member of the Republic’s Grand Army, meaning he could not be a clone trooper bounty hunter. Cut Lawquane deserted to find meaning, Slick went rogue in exchange for freedom, and Cole and his unit defected because they saw money as more valuable than loyalty to the Republic. That love of money led Cole’s unit to work with another bounty hunter named Aurra Sing.

The Bad Batch Bested Aurra Sing Before, and Now She Wants Revenge

In the last Bad Batch mini comic series, Asajj Ventress hired Aurra Sing to assassinate a list of Republic double agents working within the Separatist Alliance. The Bad Batch foiled Sing’s plans, took the list back, lost her the payout, and embarrassed her in front of Ventress. Now it seems like Aurra is working with Cole and his unit of rogue clones to exact her revenge. Aurra is no stranger to deserting the Republic like these clones, because before she was a bounty hunter, she was a member of the Jedi Order who left to be trained as a killer.

I really like getting to see The Bad Batch in the height of the Clone Wars. We missed a lot of their adventures, because they didn’t often work with the other characters that the show focused on. In The Bad Batch TV show, we saw the team face off against armies of stormtroopers and their Imperial nemeses like Vice Admiral Rampart, so it’s nice to go back and see what villains from the Clone Wars era they often crossed paths with. I’m excited to see how The Bad Batch deals with Aurra Sing, and who they face off against next.

Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories – The Bad Batch: Rogue Agents #2 is available now – Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories: The Bad Batch Rogue Agents #2 (Cover A)

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The Guardians of the Galaxy Go Legit with a Brand New Lineup – Imperial Guardians #1 Review

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Warning: Spoilers for Imperial Guardians #1

Imperial Guardians follows Gamora as she leads her new cosmic team consisting of Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers), Cosmic Ghost Rider (Frank Castle), Darkhawk (Christopher Powell), and Brawn (Amadeus Cho). Assembled by the Inhumans to protect the new Galactic Union after the Imperial War, this new team of Guardians must run discrete black ops missions to make sure the new cosmic order does not crumble as quickly as it was put into place. Their first mission pits the team against the Kree Grand Admiral Sul-Hek, who has gone rogue in protest to the Inhuman Royal Family’s Rule over the Kree hegemony.

Title: Imperial Guardians (2026) #1

Writer: Dan Abnett

Artist: Marcelo Ferreira

Colourist: Rachelle Rosenberg

Letterer: Cory Petit

Cover Artist: Sean Izaakse

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

This is the first cosmic level comic book that I’ve read in a long time, the last one being Sam Alexander’s Nova from 2016, so I’m a little behind on recent events in this corner of Marvel. I may go back and read some of the series that lead up to this one, like Imperial, and Imperial War: Imperial Guardians. I considered picking up Imperial when it came out last summer because of Amadeus Cho, but I wasn’t sure I would be interested. I decided to pick up Imperial Guardians because I missed reading Amadeus, one of my favourite characters.

The Imperial Guardians is Like an Intergalactic Sitcom

Imperial Guardians has the characters keeping private logs that remind me of the interviews on shows like The Office or Modern Family. As the leader, Gamora has her team make these logs as insurance due to the nature of their mission. So if they ever do run into trouble, the members of the team have some coverage and proof of why they were doing what they were doing, and who sent them to do it. This interview style storytelling is actually a reference to the Guardians of the Galaxy series from 2008 where they did the same thing.

I think this is an interesting story telling strategy that works well to give more insight into the character’s personal thoughts and opinions. Though since this is a limited series with only five issues, there’s only so much space to fit the story they want to tell. Having the characters explain what they’re doing feels like a shortcut that allows the writers to jump straight into the action of the story without having to show what happened before. Limited series give a spotlight to teams and characters, but they don’t give as much space to develop them as an ongoing series would.

The Imperial Guardians Are an Interesting Team, but a Limited Series Doesn’t Allow Them to Develop

I like the dynamic between the characters in this team, but with only five issues in this series, by the time I’m really invested in the characters I’m introduced to here, it’ll be over, and the characters will go their separate ways. Especially for someone like me who hasn’t followed the stories for most of these characters, I don’t have time to become connected to them. One story arc doesn’t even give the characters enough time to develop, before they have to reset in the next storyline they join for new readers to jump in on, and the cycle repeats.

Internally, the Imperial Guardians are standing in as the current Guardians of the Galaxy run. Before the MCU, the Guardians probably weren’t Marvel’s most recognizable title, but now giving the Guardians a series, but not making it ongoing is baffling to me. Sure, this is not the iconic lineup from the movie, but I personally really enjoy this combination of cosmic characters. And with an ongoing, it gives the opportunity to bring back original Guardians further down the line. Star-Lord has even been mentioned already, but I guess we’ll see how the story plays out in the months to come.

Imperial Guardians (2026) #1 is available now – Imperial Guardians #1

Next Week’s Comic Reviews:

  • Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories – Grievous
  • Cyclops #2
  • Deathstroke: The Terminator #1
  • New Titans #33
  • Nightwing #136

A Brand New Character Steals the Spotlight from Darth Maul’s Own Story – Star Wars: Shadow of Maul #1 Review

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Warning: Spoilers for Star Wars: Shadow of Maul #2

Shadow of Maul takes us to a new planet called Janix. The story follows the captain of the local tactical defence force, Brander Lawson, and his droid nicknamed Two Boots, as he investigates crime lords operating in the planet’s capital city, and navigates corruption amongst his own ranks. It’s an interesting crime-mystery story, but has one glaring omission; Maul, the titular character of the book, is missing from it save the last two pages. Maul’s main story will take place in the show this book is a prequel to, but it seems Maul doesn’t have much to do here.

Title: Star Wars: Shadow of Maul #1

Writer: Benjamin Percy

Artist: Madibek Musabekov

Colourist: Luis Guerrero

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artist: Derrick Chew

First Appearance of: Brander Lawson, 2B0T, Clariveen Ruhl, Klyce, Hendrix, Jam Jam, and Fraxmoor.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Timeline: 18 BBY

Shadow of Maul takes place in 18 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin), one year after the end of The Clone Wars, but still during the height of the Great Jedi Purge when the Inquisitors are hunting down the surviving Jedi of Order 66. After escaping Republic captivity of on the Venator-class Star Destroyer, Tribunal, Maul returned to the underworld, planning to rebuild his empire. Post The Bad Batch TV show, the Empire is still in their early days, and are still a minimal threat, allowing syndicates like Maul’s Shadow Collective to grow and rise in power amongst the shadows.

Maul is Still a Looming Threat, But Has Yet to Make Any Big Moves

As I said before, Shadow of Maul is the prequel comic series to the upcoming Disney+ show titled Maul – Shadow Lord with the first two episodes releasing April 6th, 2026. Maul – Shadow Lord bridges the gaps of Maul’s story between the events of The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. It seems they’re saving the majority of Maul’s plan for the show, and using the comic to get him to where he needs to be when episode one starts. Maul doesn’t seem like he has much to do, the only thing he does in issue one is secure transportation to Janix.

Sadly, because of Maul’s minimal involvement in issue one, it feels like I was duped out of the Maul story I was looking forward to. Instead, this series seems to be developing new character Brander Lawson, who will make his animated debut in Maul – Shadow Lord. That’s not to say that Captain Lawson’s story is not interesting and well told, it’s just not what I was expecting. Looking at the covers for the next few issues, it seems that Lawson’s story will continue to be the focus, and Maul will continue to operate in the background.

Captain Brander Lawson’s Story is Unexpected, Yet Interesting

Ignoring the glaring exclusion of Maul, the story told in issue one of this comic is quite interesting. After a sting goes wrong, Brander Lawson is assigned a new team. Sure one of the officers under his lead is a mole, Captain Lawson sets up a trap, but the mole is assassinated by a third party, and now Lawson is being pressed by internal investigations. Lawson is an archetypal police officer with questionable morals, believing that things can’t get done without breaking a few rules. Him and his buddy cop droid TB0T have a dynamic that reminds me of Cassian Andor and K-2S0’S bantering.

Though I enjoy Captain Lawson’s do-what-has-to-be-done attitude, I do think he could’ve done well with some changes to his physical appearance. He stands out from the rest of his colleagues, wearing a brown jacket over his uniform, but I think they could have gone a step further and given him a Cad Bane like hat to resemble the style of wild west rangers, which I think would match his personality much better. I’m interested to see how he faces off against Maul. I assume he’ll learn about Maul in this series, but I don’t think they’ll meet until the show.

Star Wars: Shadow of Maul #1 is available now! – Star Wars: Shadow Of Maul #1

Next Week’s Comic Review:

  • Imperial Guardians #1
Ms. Marvel in Inglorious X-Force number one

Ms. Marvel May be the Most Important Mutant For Mutant/Human Peace – Inglorious X-Force #2 Review

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Warning: Spoilers for Inglorious X-Force #2

Inglorious X-Force follows Nathan Summers AKA Cable as he time travels to our future to stop the assassination of the President of the United States who is Kamala Khan AKA Ms. Marvel. However, something goes wrong, Cable is too late, and he is sent to present the day where he gathers a team consisting of all the people he believes to be the suspects to Kamala’s murder. As he leads the team on missions, he rules out suspects, but Cable fears he may be training the murderer to do the job he set out to stop in the first place.

Cover A for the inglorious x force number two

Title: Inglorious X-Force (2026) #2

Writer: Tim Seeley

Artist: Michael Sta. Maria

Colourist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artist: R. B. Silva

First Appearance of: Kali

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I picked up Inglorious X-Force because Ms. Marvel is my all-time favourite Marvel character, and this is the run she currently resides in. Though it’s not a Kamala Khan focused book, she’s one of the main leads in the story. When she made her debut in the MCU as a mutant rather than an inhuman, I was unsure about her character direction, but the comics have proved me wrong, and I love Kamala as a member of the X-Men. In this issue of Inglorious X-Force, Ms. Marvel proves why she could be the most important mutant in the X-Men’s history.

Ms. Marvel’s No Kill Rule is Why She’s So Important

Ms. Marvel initially declines Cable’s offer to join his new X-Force team due to their history of espionage, black ops, assassinations. She even stops X-Force member Akihiro AKA Hellverine from killing one of the villains she’s fighting. Inglorious X-Force #2 creates a little more of a moral dilemma when X-Force faces off against an undead enemy in the form of zombies. Though the rest of the team kill with no problem, Kamala still attempts a less lethal approach, which leads to Cable trapping her in a telepathy bubble to protect her, but takes her out of the fight.

The zombie leader, Barberry Boone, gets the upper hand over X-Force, so Ms. Marvel uses her new mutant powers to create a distraction and allows Hellverine to put Boone in a lethal position. Placing herself in front of Hellverine, Kamala convinces him not to kill Boone. Archangel questions Cable as to why he would drop a rookie into the deep end like this. Cable tells the team that Kamala took a risk by sticking to her code in such a dangerous situation, and this would be the reason that both humans and mutants would follow her as President of the United States.

Ms. Marvel is More Than Just a Mutant, She’s a Leader

Ms. Marvel is no stranger to leadership. Before she joined the X-Men, she founded and led The Champions, who separated from The Avengers after her disagreement with their rash mentality during The Second Superhuman Civil War. Once again, Kamala’s dedication to her code was able to convince Hellverine not to kill, and it’s that persuasion and zeal that will help her take her leadership to the next level and lead a country. Cable sees Kamala as the future of human/mutant peace, so if she is, she would be one of the most important mutant in their history.

In the comics, Ms. Marvel has come a long way to reach the level of importance she has now. Making her mark as an Inhuman, an Avenger, leading her own team of young heroes as a Champion, and now a member of multiple X-Men teams, I believe Kamala Khan is ready to take on the next step and lead a country. She is the right person to bring an age of mutant/human peace. I could even see them bringing this new importance to Kamala’s MCU counterpart, but she still has a long way to go before she gains the same potential.

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