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Star Wars: Droids (1994-1997) #1-7
The Kalarba Adventures
Years before the events of "Star A New Hope," Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio found themselves in a series of misadventures with pirates, bounty hunters, and rock monsters, as they did their best to stick together in an often dangerous galaxy.
117 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 16, 2019
Star Wars Legends Project #198
Background: Droids: The Kalarba Adventures was released in June 1995, collecting the 6-issue series of the same title (April-September 1994). It was written by Dan Thorsland (Issues 1-4, 6) and Ryder Windham (Issue 5), with art by Bill Hughes (Issues 1, 2, 4, 6) and Ian Gibson (Issues 3, 5). Thorsland's only other Star Wars work was an editor for several issues of Tales of the Jedi, but Windham has written several dozen Star Wars titles, both books and comics, mostly aimed at younger readers. Hughes's other artwork includes contributions to a few of the "Essential Guides" series, while Gibson also drew Boba Fett: Enemy of the Empire.
The story is dated at about 5.5 years before the Battle of Yavin, however, it could take place literally anytime between Episode III and Episode IV. There are no connections between this story and any galactic events or characters, other than that C-3PO and R2-D2 are the main characters.
Summary: Employed by the Pitareeze family as all-purpose servants, R2-D2 and C-3PO find their lives constantly interrupted by unwelcome dangers, from pirates, thieves, and assassins, though they always seem to muddle through, somehow.
Review: This is a genuinely wretched collection of stories, with ugly artwork to match. I can't recall a single moment in the entire run where I thought, "Now there's a flash of a good idea!" On a fundamental level, Artoo and Threepio do not work as protagonists. And, somewhat recognizing this, we also have Nak Pitareeze, a thoroughly unlikable kid who is introduced in the midst of literally torturing Threepio because he's bored before suddenly doing a complete 180 into someone we're supposed to be sympathetic with. And there's his pretty dull shipbuilder grandfather and he's even duller (but mostly absent) parents.
The villains are even worse. The primary recurring villain, Olag Greck, is an embarrassment who couldn't even get a job as the comic-relief henchman of a Saturday morning cartoon bad guy, but at least he offers an element of . . . consistency? I don't even know. What I'm trying to say is, the one-off villains that crop up here and there are even worse . . . a band of thugs who turned to piracy after they couldn't be chefs anymore, for example.
Not one of these short throwaway pieces of nothing offers any memorable elements. On the contrary, you'll probably want to forget all about it as soon as you've finished reading. Or, better yet, don't read it.
F
Background: Droids: The Kalarba Adventures was released in June 1995, collecting the 6-issue series of the same title (April-September 1994). It was written by Dan Thorsland (Issues 1-4, 6) and Ryder Windham (Issue 5), with art by Bill Hughes (Issues 1, 2, 4, 6) and Ian Gibson (Issues 3, 5). Thorsland's only other Star Wars work was an editor for several issues of Tales of the Jedi, but Windham has written several dozen Star Wars titles, both books and comics, mostly aimed at younger readers. Hughes's other artwork includes contributions to a few of the "Essential Guides" series, while Gibson also drew Boba Fett: Enemy of the Empire.
The story is dated at about 5.5 years before the Battle of Yavin, however, it could take place literally anytime between Episode III and Episode IV. There are no connections between this story and any galactic events or characters, other than that C-3PO and R2-D2 are the main characters.
Summary: Employed by the Pitareeze family as all-purpose servants, R2-D2 and C-3PO find their lives constantly interrupted by unwelcome dangers, from pirates, thieves, and assassins, though they always seem to muddle through, somehow.
Review: This is a genuinely wretched collection of stories, with ugly artwork to match. I can't recall a single moment in the entire run where I thought, "Now there's a flash of a good idea!" On a fundamental level, Artoo and Threepio do not work as protagonists. And, somewhat recognizing this, we also have Nak Pitareeze, a thoroughly unlikable kid who is introduced in the midst of literally torturing Threepio because he's bored before suddenly doing a complete 180 into someone we're supposed to be sympathetic with. And there's his pretty dull shipbuilder grandfather and he's even duller (but mostly absent) parents.
The villains are even worse. The primary recurring villain, Olag Greck, is an embarrassment who couldn't even get a job as the comic-relief henchman of a Saturday morning cartoon bad guy, but at least he offers an element of . . . consistency? I don't even know. What I'm trying to say is, the one-off villains that crop up here and there are even worse . . . a band of thugs who turned to piracy after they couldn't be chefs anymore, for example.
Not one of these short throwaway pieces of nothing offers any memorable elements. On the contrary, you'll probably want to forget all about it as soon as you've finished reading. Or, better yet, don't read it.
F
July 30, 2022
I understand the negative reviews of this book but I grew up with it and the stories, particularly "Shortcut" will always have a special place in my heart
March 9, 2023
Absolutely fine. I don’t think Star Wars should shy away from telling kid-friendly stories and there’s enough franchise iconography here for the whole thing to feel in-universe. There’s a bit of that old, Flash Gordony style to this that is similar to stuff like Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. It’s quite charming in that regard, if a little strange tonally. I don’t think there’s much here for an older audience, but it’s a perfectly serviceable kids comic that’s easy to follow.
March 1, 2019
Look, there’s nothing earth shattering or even new here — just a six-issue series about the adventures of C3P0 and R2D2. And sometimes that’s all you want or need. Some fun mid-90s work by Dark Horse, complete with beautifully painted covers. Issue (chapter) 5 is an especially endearing tale.
January 2, 2019
This is episodic in nature, much like the cartoon series of the same name. There is a progression from one to the next with the same villain cropping up time and again. The story and plot are aimed at younger readers with an artwork to match. All non-threatening and not all that impactful.
June 18, 2015
Enjoyable in the same way as watching an old episode of Scooby-Doo.
September 13, 2016
The droids belong to a family and end up going on lots of adventures. This is a fun, and very light read. I think it is mainly aimed at children, even though the cover looks more adult. A good read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews