This week saw the release of issue #4 of Marvel Comics’ Star Wars: The Mandalorian second-season adaptation. Below are my thoughts on this installment.
“The Siege” is another memorable episode from The Mandalorian’s second season, and writer Rodney Barnes has done an excellent job of adapting it for the comic-book page alongside artist Steven Cummings and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg. For those who may not remember, this is the chapter in which Din Djarin and the Child (we hadn’t yet learned the name Grogu– that’ll happen in the next issue) return to the planet Nevarro for repairs after their adventure with the Frog Lady and Bo-Katan Kryze on Trask. There, Djarin is enlisted by Greef Karga and Marshal Cara Dune to take out the remaining Imperial base on the planet, while Grogu waits patiently in Nevarro City’s cantina-turned-school. It’s also the episode that brought to the forefront the cloning experiments being conducted by Moff Gideon, thanks to a discovery made by our heroes.
As always, there’s not a tremendous amount to say about a comic that is essentially a word-for-word, beat-for-beat adaptation of a TV series that most Star Wars fans already know and love. But I will remark that this issue especially really felt like it captured the spirit and energy of the show– I almost felt like I was watching along with it, and I could definitely hear the voices of the various characters in my head. Cummings in particular is extremely skilled at capturing the essence of a scene without copying the images directly from the TV screen. With The Mandalorian seasons 1 and 2 finally arriving on physical home media soon, it’s nice to know that this comic isn’t going to be the only way to own and revisit these stories without relying on a Disney+ subscription, but at the same time I’m still enjoying them as a way to take in the narrative through a different lens.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian #4 is available now wherever comic books are sold.