“Song of the Drengir”
Creative Staff:
Story: Cavan Scott
Art: Ario Anindito, Mark Morales
Colors: Annalisa Leoni
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher
What They Say:
ATTACK OF THE HUTTS! The HIGH REPUBLIC JEDI clash with HUTT forces. GAMORREANS! NIKTO! BATTLE RANCORS! STARLIGHT BEACON over-run by a creeping alien horror! Can VERNESTRA RWOH and her Padawan IMRI CANTAROS find a way to save Starlight’s infected masses? Plus, KEEVE TRENNIS learns the terrible secret MASTER SSKEER has been carrying for so long. Can she ever trust him again?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With so much work to do to establish this time period if the comic is your first experience with it, I’ve really appreciated in the opening four issues what Cavan Scott did to deal with that. Though I fell out of the book during the start of its run for various reasons, going back now after reading one of the novels (belatedly, finally) hopefully will help this be just a bit more accessible to me. The artwork team of Anindito and Morales is working well with colorist Annalisa Leoni as there’s a distinctive feel to things while still feeling a part of the larger Star Wars universe. I like the detail we get with all of the creatures with the Drengir and just how Sskeer looks with the scales and the like.
The fight on Sedri Minor has definitely gone in a bad way and it goes a lot worse early on here, though it’s done with a flashback to explain it. I’m no fan of this back and forth in a fight sequence to explain things but here we are. With Sskeer taken over by the Drengir, he’s doing his best to fight it as Avar trie to negotiate with the Hutt that’s here, who is basically running a protection scheme on the planet in true classic Hutt style. That’s not going as quickly as Sskeer would like and the Drengir in him really starts taking more forward control which leads to him attacking the Hutt and throwing everything into chaos because of it, what with all that they command. That leads to a couple of different separated battles for a bit until things start coming together.
The main one we get beyond the core group is with Ceret as he’s struggling without Terec and it’s a tough fight for him to the point where he’s almost giving up, especially without a lightsaber. When Terec does return with both blades and sets things right, Ceret’s return to “normalcy” is pretty striking. The real story in this issue, however, is the focus on Keeve trying to save her master, Sskeer. She refuses he can’t be saved even after cutting him off from the roots doesn’t seem to help. But as they go at it more, Sskeer breaks through the control and gives her a way to at least temporarily change the nature of this fight through a mind touch from her that tells the Drengir to go away. You can’t imagine that working often or easily, and it’s worse for Keeve since it’s going through the mind of such an important person in her life. It’s not a grim end for Sskeer just yet, but it will be interesting to see if they do follow through on it.
In Summary:
While I’m still not really fully into the High Republic era like I am the prequel and original trilogy material, I’m still excited at the potential for the storytelling. This storyline is part of the larger overall push but I’m looking forward to some downtime soon with the characters to get a better handle on them and the galaxy they inhabit. Cavan Scott keeps things moving here with an issue that’s pretty much all action and the art team keeps up with it well between the variety of players and the way the situation itself unfolds. It looks good and has a smooth read overall which makes for a good experience.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: May 12th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
