– Spoiler Review –
In Mace Windu #3, the titular Jedi Master must prove himself to the smuggler Azita Cruuz in hopes the special coaxium formula she’s stolen doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, learning more about one another in the process.
After Azita Cruuz revealed she was also from Haruun Kal like Mace Windu, I’ve been curious to learn more about how their lives diverged to lead them to where they are now. As they gain a short reprieve from monsters in the caves, climbing into Azita’s hidden speeder, Mace starts asking questions about her past. We learn Azita’s parents died in something called “the Crossing” and she was left to fend for herself, alone, and such an upbringing and how successful she was led her to continue such a solitary life into adulthood. As she tells it, it’s all she needs, poke her head above ground enough to make do until she must again. It’s a huge difference from Mace’s upbringing, as while he was brought to the Jedi Order, he’s never been alone, both with all his fellow Jedi and the Force always as his ally, and his only response to her is that there are many ways to grow up hard. It’s not unsympathetic, but it does show he understands her upbringing and why she acts like she does now, though his words offer the sense she’s maybe not had it as bad as others could. Beyond learning more about Azita, writer Marc Bernardin shows readers the bond they’ve grown over the course of this ordeal with a rapport giving “They fly now” energy from The Rise of Skywalker, as the pair is trusting one another to get out of the latest dangerous situation. I’m curious how this series will end between the pair more than I am about what happens with the coaxium ultra, as will it be easy for one another to part ways or will their meeting leave a mark on one another?
When the local authorities start shooting at them, Mace offers Azita an ultimatum: give the coaxium to the Jedi Order, they’ll pay her of course, and he guarantees he’ll get her out of everything. She agrees, as he’s right, she’s out of other options, and his call to the authorities about him being a Jedi makes them back off, reluctantly. It doesn’t take long for the lingering thread from last issue about Yaya Shram, the little Anzellan bounty hunter grandma hired in secret by a member of Jabba the Hutt’s court, to make itself known, as she arrives with a little fleet and opens fire anew on Azita’s weaponless speeder. In a sequence that calls back to impressive feats Mace Windu will pull off in the future, like crossing the bridge on Ryloth in The Clone Wars (“Liberty on Ryloth”) or his mostly lightsaber-less devastation of droids on Dantooine in Clone Wars (“Chapter 12”), while also recalling Sav Malagán’s decimation of a Nihil attack on Takodana, Mace leaps into action and takes down Yaya’s fleet, causing her to eject from her ship. During the sequence, we get a glimpse into Mace’s thoughts, doubling down on his comments last issue to Azita about being exactly where he needs to be, as he talks about how he’s living the dream of being the light in the dark for those who need it and how, once you remove doubts, you can live your dreams in the open, like he is now. It sounds like Azita has removed her doubts with the way she lives, dreaming in the open the way she wants, but could it be more if she opens herself up to connections? Or are they both right to live the dream they want? As I said earlier, I’m curious how much of a mark their meeting will leave on one another, as I’m interested to see where Bernardin goes with their interactions.
Despite Mace’s impressive display when taking down Yaya, as the two approach Azita’s ship the figures watching them from the caves last issue make themselves known! These are those Dusk Weavers of the Had’le Path, whom we don’t know much about other than they seem technology adverse and have a leader called “The Shroud.” Are they set to be brought low by Mace in the series’ next and final issue or will be they be an annoyance in stories to come? We’ll find out next month!
Mace Windu’s spectacular decimation of Yaya’s ships, and his delight while doing it, all carry through thanks to the art team of Georges Jeanty on pencils, inker Dexter Vines, colorist Andrew Dalhouse, and letterer Joe Caramagna. He starts leaping to the ships, and we get a very heroic page of him climbing aboard, saber lit, prior to the two-page spread, but what a spread it is! Throughout, Mace seems pretty calm and Jeanty/Vines draw him as if he’s dancing to music, with majestic leaps or hand pointed off to the sky as the other drags his blade through a ship, it feels like one could put this to a great piece of classical music and it would be timed just right. The progression of his work is handled well by Caramagna and team, as Mace’s thought boxes pull as along, but so too do the bright explosions of Dalhouse’s colors, getting us to pull down to the middle image and back across the page, only for Caramagna to make sure we read left to right again for the final moments. I love how it ends, as his movement matches his words about living his dream, and then there’s utter surprise all over his face, and I don’t blame him, as we flip the page and we see he’s finally found little Yaya and he doesn’t quite know what to think of her. The brief flashbacks to Azita’s childhood on Haruun Kal almost feels like a different artist, as it feels more like a painting than the rest of the work, with far more variation of colors and characters than we’ve seen on the icy world so far. Of the two flashbacks, the one where she’s alone, cuddling her book, a sadness to her face, the way Caramagna leaves the dialogue box far from center, the only thing intruding on the scene, only adds to the words she’s saying about her being the only one without a family.
Here are a few other things:
- I found it a little surprising Mace might not know who Jabba the Hutt is yet, at least according to this issue…just seems like he’d have heard of the gangster as he rises through the ranks of the Order, right?
- Yaya claiming she’s working for Jabba when she was hired in secret…will she face consequences in this series, come back and her attack on Mace/Azita helps them against the Dusk Weavers and their leader? Or will this be the last we see of her?
- The Living Force is a novel not to be missed and Mace Windu fans will be well-served. As for his next book appearance, Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss, it’s been pushed back from its August release date until October now, just as a heads up!
Mace Windu #3 builds up the connection between Mace and Azita and shows how each live their dreams, though a new threat leaves us with a fun cliffhanger ahead of the finale.
+ Learning about both Azita and Mace
+ Mace’s poetic, peaceful destruction
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Bluesky, Twitter @MynockManor, and Instagram @mynockmanor.