– Spoiler Review –
The Knights of Ren tackle their biggest mission yet, journeying into the belly of the Sith Lord beast’s home on Qi’ra’s behalf, making for an action-packed Crimson Reign #4, though it doesn’t quite feel like the penultimate issue of this miniseries.
Each issue of Crimson Reign has dealt with the groups Qi’ra has brought to her cause and the mission they take on to help take down the Sith ruling the galaxy. Issue #4 brings us to the Knights of Ren, a group Charles Soule is rather familiar with after writing The Rise of Kylo Ren, as they are tasked by Qi’ra to steal a key from Fortress Vader. It’s a fast moving issue, as expected from the way this series has been, but it has fun and humorous moments with this ragtag crew of misfits and miscreants. There’s some hints at the leader Ren’s past, glimpses of a story that could be told, while many of the dialogue exchanges here help us enjoy the crew a bit more than the masked ghouls the LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales skewered rather well (though now I can only hear Ren’s dialogue in Christian Slater’s voice). It’s sort of fun to watch these pack of irreverent jerks, edge-lord like types, waltzing through Vader’s castle on Mustafar, their disrespect a delight when most people who visit cower in fear (you’ll be missed, Vader’s Castle series!), from how Fyodor (I think that’s his name) spits in Vader’s bacta supply or Ren goes with the flow when Vaneé unleashes a trove of troopers on them, it felt like a fitting show of how this group would deal with the Sith. For Ren himself, while CR #4 doesn’t much more depth to him, as reading TRoKR and this results in roughly the same man (who doesn’t seem to age much), though seeing him corral his crew together and have purpose other than aimless plunder was a nice addition that actually made me want more of his story (which Soule lays small tidbits for and I’d like to see him pick them up). Ren and Vader’s duel is short when he arrives, as it should be, while it reveals where Ren gained his stomach scar, and the whole encounter might explain why Palpatine even has them on his radar when Ben Solo comes into his/Snoke’s waiting arms. The other members of the Knights have their moments here and have expanded, though still limited personalities: I’d love to learn the choice for Bazzra’s dialogue being a bunch of black squares, especially since she’s a Twi’lek so we know they can speak basic…is it to signify we don’t know the language but somehow they all do, or it might simply come down to way too much swearing, which I love; Marinda being the doubter helped give Ren someone to bounce off of, dialogue wise. In the end, Crimson Reign #4 does the Knights some justice after insignificant or supporting roles, and it’s left me curious for a little more on them.
Qi’ra’s interaction with Ren when initially recruiting them had a hilarious moment where she quickly shows him how different she is than most people, let alone women he’s dealt with, and it’s this meeting that leaves Ren impressed enough to ally himself with her and the Dawn for the moment. There’s no explanation about the Screaming Key she tasks the Knights with retrieving, just that not even Vader or Palpatine supposedly know what it’s for but at least everyone knows it’s almost literally screaming in the Force. While Crimson Reign #4 is an enjoyable issue, and an intriguing one for Qi’ra’s grand plan, labeling it the penultimate issue doesn’t quite fit, as by the end it’s still not clear what any of Qi’ra’s plans have to do with her galaxy-brained one of taking down the Sith. Does this mean her big plan will begin, and end, in the finale, which due to shipping/paper delays won’t be out until June 22 now? There’s been no word on when or where The Hidden Empire, the sequel series to this/ending of her comic trilogy, will release, but it’s clear she’s still causing chaos before that next part begins (though we’re talking August for that story to start). I trust* Soule will make the finale feel appropriately large, and disastrous, for Qi’ra and the Dawn, but for now this penultimate issue doesn’t seem like it’s taking us towards anything grander than the next small piece of her Sith hunting puzzle.
It’s clear Steve Cummings, Victor Olazaba on inks, Guru-eFX for colors wanted to honor what came before with their art, be it Will Sliney’s art for the Knights of Ren in The Rise of Kylo Ren or even the small cave scene here taking from Giuseppe Camuncoli’s work in Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith, it often felt like they tore those moments and characters from the other series. It shows flexibility of style to emulate the other styles so well, as Cummings keeps Ren’s somewhat arresting face and the unique set of scars or whatnot on his body, while Olazaba and eFX retain the glistening sheen and green/brown coloring of the cave where Vader bled his kyber, giving me flashbacks of reading those respective series. Beyond that, having to draw all these masked, robes characters and keep them distinct and memorable likely wasn’t an easy task, nor would it be to color them all considering they are all black/grey, but the consistency of their appearances was astounding throughout. I loved the panel of Qi’ra pretending to fawn over Ren’s good looks, the big, expressive surprise close-up of her face, followed up by a panel taking a big step back, very removed, to accentuate how cold and calculating she is…and how unimpressed she is. And while he had it coming for spitting in Vader’s bacta, the gruesome, twisted death of Fyodor (should’ve guessed that since we saw under his helmet, he’d die) was an effective panel, as the mangled way he’s drawn with the sharp, almost shouting “krrck” from Travis Lanham’s lettering makes it easy, yet shuddering clear to hear Fyodor’s bones breaking under the weight of Vader’s grasp. I also enjoyed the dueling “whp” SFX at the end, the bold, red for Vader taking the key via the Force from Ren’s hand and the white, less bold for it returning to Ren after the Knights distract Vader enough for the less powerful Force user to win the tug of war match.
Here are a few other things:
- Lord Momin’s helmet destroyed?! Is this merciless and mercurial Sith Lord done for good, finally? His roles in Soule’s Lando and Darth Lord of the Sith series have been fun and I liked seeing him find a way to sneak him in here too.
- Soule’s big Star Wars #25 issue won’t be out until July now (originally June) due to delays, but it’ll have a little something from many of his past series, so don’t miss out!
- *I’m not the only one who trusts Soule, he’s now a Creative Consultant with Lucasfilm!! That’s big news and an even bigger congrats! His SW comics throughout the years have consistently been among my favorites, though it wasn’t until I read Curse Words and his second novel, Anyone, that it was clear to me the larger abilities of his storytelling chops. Plus, after the perfect novel to kick off a brand new publishing initiative, The High Republic – Light of the Jedi, can’t blame Lucasfilm for wanting to keep him around!
Crimson Reign #4 was a great spotlight for the Knights of Ren and a fun story overall, but it feels like we haven’t gone far enough for the finale to be next.
+ Knights of Ren’s irreverence for the big bad’s castle
+ Art both brings its own greatness and emulates past series for a cool look
– Penultimate, really?
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.