Star Wars: Inquisitors #2 - Marvel Comics

STAR WARS: INQUISITORS No. 2, October 2024

Focusing far more upon Fifth Brother’s “mission to kill a Jedi legend” than the Master of the Inquisitorius himself, Rodney Barnes’ storyline for Issue Two of “Star Wars: Inquisitors” certainly seems to be well-paced – combining the titular characters’ hunt for any Jedi surviving Order 66, with a thrilling dog-fight in outer space and nail-biting lightsaber duel. In fact, for a while the American screenwriter’s insights into just how Darth Vader directs his force-sensitive operatives is truly intriguing, with the Dark Lord of the Sith employing both the carrot and the stick to ensure their ‘loyalty’ to him; “Gratitude is premature. If my commands are not fulfilled, the Inquisitors’ suffering will be legendary.”

Disappointingly though, much of this impact is arguably then lost once the “knight named Tensu Run” makes an appearance, and the audience is suddenly expected to believe that a small group of bandits have suddenly decided to tackle Vader’s most-wanted whilst he’s travelling back to his “safe haven”. Admittedly, it is briefly mentioned beforehand that the outlaws know of the Jedi’s presence in the area, and that there is a price upon his head. But just how Pii-Lor manages to pinpoint the man’s precise location when the Empire apparently can’t is not touched upon. Instead, having found their prey, the pirates are simply shown to be completely incompetent pilots, and are all mercilessly blasted to pieces by their opponent’s star-fighter within moments of first firing upon him.

Similarly as unconvincing is debatably this twenty-page publication’s conclusion, which strangely sees Run decide to take his revenge upon the Empire for murdering (his) Master Elan, and battle Fifth Brother one-on-one on the long-abandoned planet of Gerrigon. Such a confrontation is definitely not unwanted, due to the sheer arrogance of the grey-skinned Jedi-killer as he stalks around the old Republic commerce hub hacking down security droids. However, their highly-anticipated exchange is rather short-lived, and it’s not really clear just how Tensu chops his foe’s arm off when he was quite literally on the back foot straight from the contest’s start.

Perhaps a bit more pleasing than some of this comic’s penmanship are Ramon Rosanas’ layouts. Imbued with a palpable claustrophobic atmosphere, courtesy of GURU-eFX’s colours, the opening third of this periodical is positively packed full of prodigiously pencilled panels depicting the Inquisitor’s aforementioned exploration of the world upon which he’s landed. Yet by the time Fifth Brother suffers his debilitating injury, there’s a profound stiffness seen in the artist’s figures, which makes the mutilating lightsaber strike appear to be physically impossible.

The regular cover art of "STAR WARS: INQUISITORS" #2 by Nick Bradshaw & Neeraj Menon