Some of the first images we saw of Star Wars: The Force Awakens hinted at C-3PO having a red arm. Why did his arm turn red? Did he replace it? Is there an interesting story behind that? Will we ever find out? Well, in the one-shot Marvel comic all about C-3PO we learn all about the adventure that gave him that red arm in the first place.
Writer James Robinson weaves a tale that we’re only truly seeing the tale end of. Admiral Ackbar has been captured by The First Order. A Resistance team of fighters led by Captain Hoff have been tasked with finding him. They capture a droid named Omri who knows where Gial Ackbar is being held. But the ship crashes along the way, leaving only 6 droids to survive on a dangerous and volatile planet.
Of the 6 droids is our favorite protocol droid, C-3PO. Along with him are the construction droid CO-34, security droids PZ-99 and VL-44, and the medical droid Toomedtoo, all keeping track of the First Order droid Omni. They encounter a number of obstacles and creatures that they must traverse. It was an odd choice on the writer’s behalf to have the text read out the droids names as if showing us the correct pronunciation. I don’t feel like the droids would need to have their names spelled out as such, at least not to each other. I doubt that’s how they view their titles when speaking them aloud.
The art of Tony Harris did little for me. So much is captured on every panel that the dark tones and brushstrokes all seem to melt together. I often missed things because it was confusing to behold. But near the end, it serves well when you see Omni’s rust colored primer melt into focus. Some angles were awkward, like one where acid rain falls upon them and you’re looking down at them.
Overall, it’s a semi-satisfying look into the mind of a droid, and how their memories are tailored to their owners needs, though they sometimes remember things prior to having their memories wiped. On the way C-3PO loses his left arm, and it’s an emotional journey he goes on to get a red replacement – a journey involving friendship. But it’s not always a believable romp.
Grab a copy of Star Wars Special: C-3PO #1
Geekritique
I posted a cartoon about C-3PO’s red arm-ha ha!
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The art definitely wasn’t what I’m used to from Tony Harris. Ultimately this turned out interesting by the end, though I question the decision to start the story in the middle, only to waste the first several pages laying down thick chunks of monologue summarizing everything they’d decided to skip. It would’ve been a lot less clunky if they’d just added another eight pages and shown us the actual beginning in the first place.
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For a single issue as delayed as this was, I expected far better, honestly. Oh well. I agree with you, that they should’ve just added that. OR, gone the Star Wars route and given us a yellow crawler as a prelude to the events and then they wouldn’t have to explain anything.
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