– Spoiler Review –
First we focused on the heroes…and now with Hyperspace Stories’ return, we turn to the villains! Asajj Ventress’ testy relationship with Count Dooku is Amanda Deibert’s focus in Hyperspace Stories #5, which continues ties to the series’ over-arcing story, making a fun fall to the dark side for the series!
One of my favorite aspects to Hyperspace Stories is how it pairs characters together and even with the villains taking over for now, this motif remains a big selling point. With Asajj Ventress as the main character, her pair is with her Sith Master Darth Tyranus, better known as Count Dooku, and while it’s one we see often for her, Amanda Deibert captures their fraught dynamic well. With Darth Sidious breathing down the Count’s neck, he’s always hard and harsh on Ventress in return, both so she doesn’t make him look like a failure to his Master and to turn her into a deadly weapon for all scenarios. Ventress wants to prove herself, to claim the title she thinks she’s worthy of at this moment, Sith Master, but Dooku keeps moving the goalposts, always finding ways to make her feel like she isn’t good enough or a new task which should bring her closer if she completes it (and he often claims she didn’t complete it well enough), essentially gaslighting her. She doesn’t take his Force lightning reprisals or derogatory remarks lightly, but he’s a means to an end so as often as she wants to kill him, in typical Sith style, she ends up stopping herself in hopes she’ll still gain more power; after all, he’s still too strong for her, for now. Ventress gets to have a few fun zippy one-liners and snarky comments we all know and love from her time on The Clone Wars, so it’s not all anger and desire for power, and gives the issue some levity from the darker tone and shows how well Deibert gets the character. I will say her thinking Obi-Wan Kenobi would punish Anakin Skywalker for not listening to him seemed strange considering she was once a Padawan herself, so she should know better, but it was the only minor part that didn’t quite gel for me with the characters. Otherwise, Dooku feels appropriately dangerous and contemptuous of Ventress, but recognizes she’s still a useful enough means to an end as well. Regardless, in the end I quite liked how the story ends between the two, as she knows what she’s willing to take in reprisals if it means not giving him what he wants, which is more power to make him harder to overthrow at some point.
Hyperspace Stories has the connective tissue of a little doll, its journey through the eras giving these tales of heroes and villains a little extra meaning. I was left curious if the doll, which was originally stuffed with a mysterious object by a Wookiee Senator and given to his daughter, would even factor into the villain part of the series considering the doll finds its way back to said daughter, Viivieenn, thanks to Rey in issue #4, but I should’ve known it would be, especially since we don’t know what was stuffed in it. But thanks to issue #5, we might have a hint it’s an ancient Jedi artifact of some type, something Sidious has been searching for, as Dooku sends Ventress to track it down this issue. She visits a Jedi Temple on the moon of Staggec to start, senses it went to Kashyyyk, and ends up on Naboo nearly grabbing it from a Gungan local. She decides not to take it so as to cause Dooku issues with his Master so he gets punished like she did. I’m really looking forward to learning more about what this artifact could be in future issues!
Joining Deibert this issue is the art team of Riccardo Faccini, with Dan Jackson on colors, and the return of Tyler Smith & Jimmy Betancourt for lettering. Faccini’s range of Ventress is great, from the smug and sly looks as she’s cracking jokes or revealing her nefarious plans, to her outright anger with boisterous yells of rage, both are memorable, unmistakable hallmarks of his take on her we get conditioned to throughout the issue. It makes her surprise when Anakin isn’t punished stand out all the more, even under her hood, as we get the impression she’s not used to being proving wrong like this. Dooku’s look seems to borrow a little from the animation show but doesn’t go as exaggerated with his face, giving the Count an often dispassionate look, as if he believes Asajj is truly beneath him, though his sinister close-up shows the ambition and anger he so carefully hides, allowing him to have been in the open this whole time, setting up the war. I really liked the way, since this is an all-ages series, Jackson’s red came to signify both Asajj’s hate and she was/did/wants to commit violence, be it her lightsabers slashing out against the clones that ambush her, bathing the whole page in read, only showing us her first strike, the next panel they are all on the ground, or how she’s framed by the red prison gate, smiling when she learns the Jedi have left, and the next page we learn she took the outpost. It allowed for the series to go a little darker and not push much boundaries, a careful balance the emphasis of Jackson’s work maintains. For Smith and Betancourt’s lettering, I quite liked how the final exchange of the issue played out, Dooku’s shout of anger after Ventress tells him she didn’t get the item he wanted, taking over the panel and hovering over her, as if to point out his bigger and badder than her again, but the final panel, where he word bubble might as well be a thought bubble it hovers so close to her head, her saying this to herself rather than to him, shows it doesn’t matter how big he thinks he is, how bad, she’s already found her own way of rebellion against him.
Here are a few other things:
- It looks like releases will be a little more consistent going forward, with July seeing the release of #6, while #7 & #8 are set for August, and Quinlan Vos’ return to Dark Horse in issue #9 is in September. That means the series could potentially end this December. Hopefully we’ll have some word on what else Dark Horse plans to do with the license by then!
- Other Ventress appearances in print to enjoy include: Dooku: Jedi Lost, which has her learning about Dooku’s past; and Dark Disciple, which speaking of Quinlan, stars the two of them, though I have my issues with the ending.
- Ever wanted to slay your enemies as Asajj Ventress herself? Then check out the slightly complicated but stellar start to the Star Wars Villainous board game!
- Lastly, I hope this isn’t the last time we see of Jedi Master Mayanka Catrine and her Padawan Agustin (who we don’t actually see besides his foot!), as it certainly felt like there was more to their story if Catrine had such a big moment of capturing Asajj and getting to introduce herself to readers. Maybe she’ll be the focus of an issue down the line? Or maybe the names were fun references to people Deibert knows?
Hyperspace Stories #5 starts down a dark path in the best way possible, making me look forward to what other villainous tales are ahead!
+ Asajj and Dooku pairing
+ Good handle on Asajj overall…
– …though one little bit stands out
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of this comic from the publisher at no charge in order to provide an early review. However, this did not affect the overall review content. All opinions are my own.