Star Wars, Vol. 7: Dark Droids

Star Wars (2020)

by Charles Soule, Madibek Musabekov (Illustrator), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist)

Charles Soule continues his saga of STAR WARS !

When something goes horribly wrong with Lobot, it puts the Rebellion at terrible risk! Lando Calrissian will do anything to save his friend — even if it means betraying all his other friends…

Star Wars (2020) 37-41

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Marvel, Fiction, Fantasy

120 pages, Paperback

Published March 5, 2024

About the author

Charles Soule is a #1 New York Times-bestselling novelist, comics author, screenwriter, musician, and lapsed attorney. He has written some of the most prominent stories of the last decade for Marvel, DC and Lucasfilm in addition to his own work, such as his comics Curse Words, Letter 44 and Undiscovered Country, and his original novels Light of the Jedi, The Endless Vessel, The Oracle Year and Anyone. He lives in New York.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, Lando-centric volume tying in to the larger Dark Droids event in an organic way as L.'s good cyborg buddy Lobot gets drawn into the affair and Calrissian has to face up to his history of duplicity to make things right.

As is usual, if Soule is writing it, the Star Wars comic is above average.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is this title's part of the "Dark Droids" crossover. This mainly deals with Lando Calrissian trying to save Lobot from the evil infecting all of the droids, and his shady dealings finally come to light.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
Taking what was covered in the main crossover book and making it much more personal, this Volume focuses almost completely on Lando and Lobot. Lobot is being affected by the Scourge that is sweeping across the droids of the galaxy, but at a slower rate due to his cyborg nature. The only one who can fix him is the droid that Lando hid away at Jabba's Palace. Unfortunately, that droid also had access to much of the Rebellion's intel and codes. So off they go to rescue...
By the end, Lobot is cured, but Lando is in serious trouble with the Alliance, and must stand trial for treason. Now, we know that he is fine with the Alliance because of his actions in RoTJ, but it will be interesting to see how this all pans out.
One bonus point to make: When Lando and Lobot are in Jabba's Palace, they have stumbled upon a day where Jabba has taken his sail barge out for his weekly pleasure cruise. Lando is able to walk right up to Han and talk to him, and Lobot even suggests they free him. Lando says he will come back for him. WHY didn't they just wait till Jabba goes back out on "cruise day" to rescue Han instead of that complicated plan???

Overall, looking forward to seeing what happens next. (We've got to be close to green lightsaber building!)
Recommend.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn’t horrible and it wasn’t the best Star Wars story I’ve read. I’ve only read these issues in this event so far, so this probably wasn’t the best way to read, but I’ve been reading as trades get released, so it is what it is.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25
The Lando-Lobot side quest in conjunction with the Dark Droids concept was pretty decent.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Wars Vol. 7 Dark Droids collects issues 37-41 of the Marvel Comics series written by Charles Soule, art by Madibek Mysabekov, and colors by Rachelle Rosenberg.

Set during the Dark Droids, while the Rebel Alliance is preoccupied by investigating The Scourge, Lobot has also been infected and almost single handedly takes control of the Rebel fleet. Thinking quickly, Lando was able to knock out Lobot but now he is on a desperate mission to save his friend before the Rebel Alliance learns how dangerous Lobot could be.

While I didn’t care for the Dark Droids event as a whole, I liked the desperation Lando shows here to help his friend. Soule is doing a good job of showing the two steps forward, one step back as Lando tries to change his ways. There is very little development in the rest of the core cast of characters in this volume which was a disappointment. Also, how do you not have our core characters have an emotional dilemma on what to do with C-3PO being infected by The Scourge? The art is pretty solid throughout even though I wouldn’t say it stands out. I’m just ready for the events to be over with and move on from the post-ESB/pre-RotJ era.

[Robert]

The relationship between Lando and Lobot is one worth exploring, but the snarky, sneaky droid driving the plot is much less enjoyable.

[Keef Davidson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is pretty far fetched even for a Star wars story. Things just happen to get to the next point of the story. There are no stakes and everything is too strong when the author wants it to be.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor Lando. It's hard to know the truth when you lie all the time. Not sure what happened to the Scourge. The ancient droid has a very human personality.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

So after tracking down a reading order for the Dark Droids series, I decided to dip into these volumes in what I found was a near-chronological ordering of the issues, with Dark Droids wrapping up shortly before Star Wars, Bounty Hunters, and Doctor Aphra (which all felt like epilogues to this in their own ways). As such, I'm going to have this review in EVERY Dark Droids TPB review to open with my thoughts on the series before then moving into the specific TPB in question.

The Dark Droids Series:
I have VERY mixed feelings about this run. I didn't think it was bad, really, outside of one particular TPB -- everything else received 3s and 4s from me. However, nothing really excelled or really excited me. I think one of the major reasons for this is the framing -- this is all meant to take place in between ESB and RotJ, and it just don't make sense that come RotJ, we don't see ANY fallout from a mass droid uprising and the deaths of what in the series looked like thousands but given the galaxy-wide spread, was likely BILLIONS and BILLIONS of lives lost. Also, RotJ doesn't feature an uptick in cyborgs or hybroids (I really didn't love that name either!) which leaves this series feel like it only has stakes for characters we don't see in RotJ. Unfortunately, there aren't really any major character deaths either -- and to top it all off, any side characters for this run were mostly relegated to such a background role that we don't know a ton of what happened to them (sorry, Magna's cool squad!).

This idea is a really cool one, and I do like how it spins (somewhat clearly) out of all the stuff that happened around the Spark Ascendant stuff from Hidden Empire. I honestly think keeping the scale smaller and maybe relegating this to one system with some convenient story contrivances (or hey, I dunno...maybe drag all the important characters back to No Space?) would help this to make more logical sense within the larger framework of the Star Wars stories.

Star Wars, Vol 7:
So I mostly liked this run, probably largely because it focused on an established pairing of Lando and Lobot. Lando gaslighting Leia multiple times throughout this was only made a little less terrible by his being forced to confess everything he'd done leading up to and through this series as it pertained to his undermining or risking elements of the Rebellion. Maybe it's just the juxtaposition of the other TPB in this Dark Droids run, but I like that this series felt like it pointed somewhere at the end too. Last thing I found annoying was Lando getting right up next to Han and not saving him from his carbonite prison -- it makes sense in the context of these issues, but it also felt weird to have him that close and not have that spoken to ever in RotJ.

[Ian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book 7 of the ongoing series, tying in to the Dark Droids crossover event and not to be confused with the core book of the crossover, which has the same title (seriously Marvel, you need to get better at this).
When Lobot's cyborg implants threaten his life, Lando takes his friend into the palace of Jabba the Hutt in the hopes of finding the droid that can cure the problem. Things go awry, however, when they're attacked by droids under the control of the Scourge who are bent on kidnapping Lobot.

I had a weird sense of dread before starting to read this book and in a moment of epiphany I realised that I have come to absolutely hate this series.
What started off as an exploration of how the Rebels went from being scattered at the end of 'The Empire Strikes Back' to the battle-ready fleet of 'Return of the Jedi' has been repeatedly sidetracked by endless crossovers and pointless sidequests.
The element of the series I've come to hate the most, however, is the parts focusing on Lando. I've become so sick of his over-hyped bromance with Lobot which leads him to make very obviously stupid decision after obviously stupid decision, all but ruining Lando as a character for me.

So, here we get a crossover, a pointless sidequest and a focus on Lando's bromance with Lobot that sees him making multiple stupid decisions.
I found it tedious beyond words.

Also, if you're wondering what impact this story has on the Dark Droids crossover the answer is 'almost none'. Aside from explaining how the Scourge got hold of Lobot, nothing here feeds into the crossover in any significant way. You could easily skip this book and be none the worse off.
Better off maybe.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this is kinda like a sequel to the 2015 Lando thing that Soule did so maybe read that before this volume and it also ties into the event of the same name so you have to alternate between this and that event and I like how this volume chose to focus on the friendship between Lando and Lobot and like how he tries to help his friend before he gets taken over by the AI thing but then SCOURGE strikes and his friend is under the control of him and thus begins a quest to save his friend and in the process Lando finds a bit more about himself and also the past deeds he has done (selling a droid to Jabba thus betraying the alliance) will come into light and what it will mean for his character, so yeah a lot of drama and really makes you care about Lando and who he is as a character.

Its just great to see the focus on him for a change of pace in this run and maybe grow him a bit more and I love the call backs to other things and also the ending will kinda shake you but it does set up a cool story arc to come in the future which I can't wait for and also loved Lobot here.. made me care about his character here.

Definitely read this but know you have to read the event side by side else you will find it jarring.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3-4 ABY

This graphic novel is the seventh collected volume in the Star Wars (2020) line of comics consisting of issues 37-41. This arc is very focused around Lando as Lobot is affected by the dark droid that is trying to take over not only droids, but move its essence into organics as well. When Lando goes to Jabba's Palace to reclaim a Rebel Alliance droid he sold for its secrets, he knows he did wrong and has a chance to fix it. It's the only droid that can save Lobot from his malfunctioning tech. 

The art, as usual, is phenomeal in these comics. This particular volume shows Lando with his Skiff Guard helmet as he enters Jabba's Palace, with a momentary admiration of finding Han as a carbonite wall decoration, yet still alive. The set-up here is perfect for the lead-up to Return of the Jedi. Lando's actions do have ramifications as he sold/traded a droid with integral information related to the Rebel Alliance to Jabba. This sets up for a future trial. As the Star Wars (2020) series winds down to its end, it makes for a filling in-between for Episodes V and VI. An excellent installment any fan will enjoy.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another new Star Wars comic collection that wasn’t half bad? To say im surprised would be an understatement.

Granted, this 7th collection of the titular Star Wars line isn’t amazing, but it is a far cry from the dumpster fire this series has become as of late. Who would have known that skipping pointless SJW politics and other crap that few want to be forced to read and instead focus on what makes Star Wars fun would actually lead to a fairly decent and enjoyable entry? Shocker, right? (Insert obvious sarcasm here).

Soule (whose work with Star Wars has been pretty mediocre as of late) actually manages to deliver on the promise of evil droids against the heroes of the rebel alliance. Using Lando and LoBot as the main characters, instead of Luke or Han, brings a newish feel to the series and the artwork is good as well (something we haven’t seen in like 10 issues).

While I don’t know if this story arc will do much to further the plot of upcoming Star Wars comics, at least I cackled happily say I didn’t waste my time with this particular release.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark Droids is largely an engaging Lando-focused volume where we see him struggle to save his faithful android companion, Lobot, from the Scourge menace. But as the volume's title suggests, this is a tie-in to another event, which somewhat hamstrings the proceedings. Namely, towards the end of the volume, our gathered Rebel heroes arrive on the Scourge planet to defeat the final boss...only for that boss to be defeated off-screen, presumably in the main-line mini-series. Sweet! Deus ex machina is always fun.

Also, how many times has Lando been to Tatooine now, in between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi? Has to be at least five times - so many shots of Han in carbonite before we roam off to the dune seas or the droid torture room. Like, can't let Han rest in peace while everyone plans the big heist? We're really straining the timeline here.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book highlights one of the worst things about crossover stories - what do you do when you're not the main storyline?
For the most part, the book works well. Focusing on Lando and Lobot and their relationship is something that hasn't gotten near enough time in the canon, and seeing the two of them in their early days is fun. But the way the story interacts with crossover is less impressive - the first issue sets stakes but doesn't make sense by the logic of the rest of the series. And while the adventures in Jabba's palace are a good sequence, the ultimate resolution of the story is basically a full page from another comic and Lando saying 'well, somebody did something that just saved us.' It's one of the most cop-out of resolutions I've ever seen in a book, and something it can't really recover from. Which is too bad, because everything else in the book is pretty good.

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would have given this book 4.5 stars, but it definitely deserved a round up rather than down. I will admit Lsndo has never been my favourite character from the original trilogy, but something that I felt was left out was how Lando earned the respect of Leia and the higher up of the Rebels. The Disney era books and stories of him have done the job very well.

Lobot's Imperial Implants are having side effects on the Rebels ships and possibly killing him in the process. Lando will never lat that happen no matter how much it will cost him. The problem is that the one thing that could save Lobot Lando had to trade to save himself. All this and the Dark Droids are also causing mayhem throughout the Star Wars universe and Lobot might be their ultimate prize.

A great story showing Lando's development and flash back stories of Lando and Lobot's history together. Huge repercussions and things to look forward to in the future. The book finishes with a variant cover gallery.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

You've got to give Charles Soule credit - he's writing the main Dark Droids book, so you'd think there'd be a lot of crossover here, but instead he uses these tie-in issues of the main Star Wars series to further the Lando focus that he's been pushing the entirety of this run.

Lando returns to Jabba's Palace in an effort to save Lobot, but of course, the droid scourge gets there first. Cue betrayals, running away, lots of smooth talking, and setting up of the next big Star Wars plot beyond Dark Droids itself.

While I wasn't massively enthused by the ending of Dark Droids (more on that later), these tie-in issues are almost entirely separate to the main book, which makes them easy to enjoy on their own, to the point that I'd hazard to call them actual tie-ins at all.

[Bernardo Martinho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lando and Lobot take center stage in this volume, and I dare say they've been the heart of the run for me. Tied into the Dark Droids event, we finally see Lando making real progress in his quest to save Lobot and just how far he's willing to go for him. The character benefits greatly from the selfless development he's received recently, and I loved getting glimpses into their shared past. It's been a journey I've thoroughly enjoyed, and it organically bridges Lando's transition between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, from selfish scoundrel to rebel hero.

The only downside is that some events from Dark Droids felt a bit repetitive, with the main difference being that we see them from this trio's perspective.

Excited to see how this final arc for Lando will unfold!

[ashlabooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐️
Star Wars: Dunkle Droiden: Lando und Lobot

Die Handlung:

Lobot wird zusehends durch seine übergreifenden imperialen Implantate übernommen. Zeit für Lando seinen alten Freund zu retten. Doch dafür braucht er jenen antiken Droiden, den er vor einigen Heften an Jabba verkauft hat. Also nichts wie los nach Tatooine! Doch da wartet mittlerweile etwas Schlimmeres im Keller als der Rancor: die Plage...

Meine Meinung:

Die Hauptreihe nimmt hier erstmals seit einigen Heften wieder meine volle Konzentration in Anspruch, denn es geht um etwas - eine tiefe emotionale Verbindung. Lando und Lobots Hintergrundgeschichte wird in Rückblenden in die actionreiche Gegenwart eingewebt. Und für die Plage ist natürlich der Hybroid ein gefundenes Fressen. Lando wird zu tiefgreifenden Entscheidungen gezwungen. Das emotionale Gewicht wirkt erfrischend. Die Zeichnungen dazu sind wirklich gelungen - mit klaren Linien und starken Farben wird die Bedrohung der geplagten Droiden hervorragend eingefangen.

Fazit:

Eine sinnvolle und starke Fortsetzung der Hauptreihe, die den Fokus auf die wenig bekannte Beziehung der titelgebenden Figuren mit klasse Zeichnungen legt.

Werbung: Vielen lieben Dank an Panini für die Bereitstellung des Rezensionexemplares!

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another sprawling, Marvel-style, cross-over involving the whole Star Wars comic line. I've complained about these in the past, so I won't belabor it: I just don't find this method of storytelling to be overly satisfying. It's more tractable here than when they do it with the Marvel superhero titles, but the experience of reading any single title is never that rewarding (by design), and then even if you do read everything, that never is quite as satisfying as you want it to be either.

I didn't mind some of the previous big cross-overs like Crimson Reign, but this one feels like a nonevent. Over before it starts.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess if I'd read all the other volumes of Dark Droids this one wouldn't feel so unfinished? The story, which focuses on Lando's attempts to find a cure for his friend Lobot's malfunctioning tech, isn't bad, though it is incredibly interstitial to the main Star Wars universe (oh look! there's Jabba's headquarters with Han-in-carbonite hanging on the wall). And then there are all these evil robots running around, without much explanation, until suddenly, they're not. Something must have happened elsewhere to end the threat of the scourge, but whatever it was is not explained at all here. The art throughout is pretty good.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

[2.6]
I read this in single issues and in tandem with the respective runs of Dark Droids and Star Wars: Darth Vader (and a couple of other single ones), so will lump them together here.

I liked the premise of an AI running wild, and the story was interesting enough. Everything written by Charles Soule was pretty good, and most other stuff was mediocre or bad.
If you're a fan of SW or AI's going rogue, then it's an alright read. Otherwise, there are many other things I would read instead of this

[Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun crossover arc that really fleshed out Lando and Lobot's characters well. I enjoyed the first 3 issues which covered their friendship. Issue 40 I wasn't a huge fan of, as it overexplained Lando's character a bit much. Issue 41 has one of my favorite art panels. Overall the art was good throughout. I would caution readers to make sure you read the rest of the crossover before issue 41, as it has a massive spoiler.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a love story between Lando and Robot -- Prove Me Wrong!

For real, though, this was a beautiful story. It gives a lot of context to Lando's role in getting Han back and also feels super tense. The only thing letting it down was that I had read the other Dark Droids comic before reading this and knew what was going to happen. That would be my problem with these crossover comics; it felt too repetitive.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Wars 7 - Dark Droids. This series continues to entertain.
#37 - Lobot Lost - "So, we'll head to Tatooine.." - Lando.
#38 - Tatooine Treason- - "There's no secret to an outfit like this. Clothing's just another way to LIE." - Lando.
#39 - Hostile Hybroid - "You're maybe the luckiest cat I ever met." - Lobot
#40 - Droid Disaster - "I don't know, Luke. But it's not a good sign." - Leia
#41 - Lando Lost - "Concentrate on the FORCE." - Luke

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lobot is ill from his implants and in danger of dying. The only hope lies in the old "talky" droid Lando stole from the Rebels and gave to Jabba the Hutt. Now Lando has to go rescue the droid if he wants to save Lobot. But when he gets to Jabba's, he finds some malevolent droid entity has taken over all the droids and wants Lobot to further its control.
This was a bit of a weird story line, though it was interesting to have most of the comic focus on Lando and Lobot, building up their history.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reference to Solo and L3-37 and a reference to Kijimi and Babu Frick on the same page!! God bless who ever wrote this volume. Wasn’t expecting this to be about Lando getting Lobot and I’m still very upset to see how little everyone cared about C-3PO. Yes that’s the plot of D-Squad but Luke and Leia should care more about him too. Intrigued to see these next two story arcs that are coming.

[Martijn Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for a good Lando story and this is precisly that. It has some flaws (i think the stories between 'Empire' and 'Jedi' are to much, it feels cramped, and Lando leaving Han to dry didn't feel right. There should've been more to it). But overall this was a great story about Lando coming clean with is older self.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm frustrated that it took this long for Soule to address the Lando and Lobot arc. I was distracted by this dangling plot thread all the way through the Qi'ra stuff (which I could happily have done without) and the resolution is finally starting but... it's too late. Not to mention that the really fun Dark Droids content is in other TPBs.