Monday, September 18, 2017

Modern Marvel

Star Wars: Droids Unplugged #1

Droids Unplugged reprints the following backup stories by Chris Eliopoulos and Jordie Bellaire:

  • Probe Droid Problem from Darth Maul #1
  • Droid Dilemma from Star Wars #25
  • SaBBotage from Poe Dameron #1


The three short stories are for all ages.  Probe Droid Problem follows one of the three probe droids released by Darth Maul on Tatooine.  The probe droid rescues another droid trapped under a rock, gets captured by Jawas, and in return is rescued by the droid it helped earlier.  The probe droid is reunited with the other two probe droids but decides to stay on Tatooine with its new droid friend.  R2-D2 is the star of Droid Dilemma.  Luke Skywalker is given orders by Princess Leia to look for a missing cargo vessel.  Luke asks R2-D2 to prep his X-Wing Fighter and R2-D2 keeps running into other familiar droids on his way to the hanger.  When R2-D2 finally reaches the hanger, Luke informs him the cargo vessel just arrived and the mission was canceled.  This story is noteworthy because it is dedicated to Kenny Baker who died in August 2016.  The final story, SaBBotage features BB-8 helping a Resistance pilot and mechanic who are interested in each other romantically to meet.

The standard cover by Chris Eliopoulos shows the three droids who star in the stories.

Star Wars: Droids Unplugged #1a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (June 2017)
The variant cover is by Michael Allred, best known for his creator owned character Madman.  This cover is the more interesting of the two; it shows the three droids but also a myriad of other familiar droids floating in space.

Star Wars: Droids Unplugged #1b - Marvel Comics, U.S. (June 2017)
Michael Allred variant
For a title containing recent reprints, the issue sold very well, with initial orders of approximately 36,000 issues.  Eliopoulos and Bellaire also created a backup story in Darth Vader (2017) #1 which is about a mouse droid preparing Darth Vader's chamber.  I suspect we'll get more of these droid backup stories and Marvel will publish a second Droids Unplugged comic.

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