Yesterday saw the release of the tenth issue of the family-friendly comic-book series Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories from Dark Horse Comics, and below are my brief recap and thoughts on this installment.
Last month I was hesitant to admit that I was quite late in picking up on the fact that all the Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories issues were connected via an item known as Viiveen’s doll, and that tradition continues with issue #10. And although this month’s featured characters in this anthology title are the Bad Batch, AKA Clone Force 99, #10 actually starts off with Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker transporting the young Wookiee named Viiveen (misspelled in dialogue here as Viivveen) across enemy lines, bridging the gap between the events of issues #5 and #11 (according to Wookieepedia, which is far better at keeping track of these things than I am). When an explosion separates Anakin from the other two members of the group, Obi-Wan is forced to continue on with Viiveen, and her doll sadly gets lost in the shuffle.
Enter the Bad Batch, who are evidently early on in their career fighting for the Grand Army of the Republic, as Echo has yet to join their ranks. Wrecker spots the hastily abandoned stuffed animal and argues with Crosshair over whether or not he can keep it, with Hunter eventually cutting in and settling the debate for them. Later on the Outer Rim moon of Hylanth, Clone Force 99 arrives on a mission to take out some battle droids, and Wrecker has brought the doll along with him. He tries to use it to cheer up the always grumpy Crosshair, to no avail, but the Batch are soon confronted by a much bigger problem– the hologram of a mad doctor called Krail, who is working with the Separatists and has created his own “Bad Batch” of souped-up battle droids.
Much of the remainder of this issue consists of a skirmish between our Bad Batch and the one made up of overpowered droids, with Wrecker losing Viiveen’s doll off the side of a steep cliff during the battle. Then Clone Force 99 confronts Krail, our protagonists come out on top, and the doll is discovered by a familiar face at the bottom of the gorge on Hylanth in the final page, providing another link to the larger story. With this run of Hyperspace Stories supposedly coming to an end in December with issue #12, I’ll be very curious to see how the journey of this doll pays off. But in the meantime, writer Michael Moreci is still doing a good job of keeping things entertaining along the way, and artist Riccardo Faccini has a nice, kinetic style that really brings a lot of raw energy to the proceedings. In a way it’s almost a shame that this series is winding down, as I’ve really come to look forward to it, especially considering we get a different flavor of Star Wars each month. But thankfully there’s a new Hyperspace Stories line of graphic novels in the works from Dark Horse, and the last two issues of this series should prove fairly interesting before then.
Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories #10 is available now wherever comic books are sold.