Star Wars: Inquisitors #2
DEATH BE NOT STILL
DARTH VADER has tasked the GRAND INQUISITOR with tracking down the elusive Jedi hero TENSU RUN.
While the GRAND INQUISITOR did not succeed in this mission, perhaps the FIFTH BROTHER of the Inquisitorius will be victorious….
Writer: Rodney Barnes
Artist: Ramon Rosanas
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Colorist: Guru-eFX
Cover artist: Nick Bradshaw
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: August 7 2024
After a strong first issue, Inquisitors continues with its second by changing tack and steering us away from the efforts of the Grand Inquisitor to the Fifth Brother as he arrives on the largely abandoned world of Gerrigon, a planet we learn was once a thriving society that was ripped apart by civil war after the Republic and the Jedi failed to intervene. Lord Vader is in communication with the Fifth Brother, reminding the Inquisitor that the shadow the Empire casts across the galaxy depends on the suppression of the Jedi, and how hope is the most dangerous spark for the Empire to allow to reignite. Vader reminds the Fifth Brother the price of failure as the communications end, and we watch as his accompanying Probe Droid explains the history of Gerrigon, how the planet is overrun and how the ghosts of the dead occupy the buildings.
We switch to Mustafar and the Grand Inquisitor as he stands before Vader, explaining how his plan to kill the master of Tensu Runs was to draw him out, a tactic Vader agrees with and which saved the Grand Inquisitors life, though future failure will see the Inquisitorious witness legendary suffering. We step back to the Fifth Brother as he trips an alarm and draws out a number of security droids which he dives into with relish, lancing through them with his red blade. With that threat ended he hears the voice of Tensu Run and walks into a side room where a hologram of the Jedi is flickering, and Run ponders whether it is indeed time for them to meet face to face.
Here we step back in time, to a younger Tensu and his master Elan as they sit around a crackling fire in a dark forest. Tensu is frustrated at their life on the run, sacrificing innocents for the ‘greater good’ of keeping the light of the Jedi alive. Elan warns the salty younger Jedi that his anger is a pathway to the darkside, and to carry his frustrations within and commit to his teachings.
Back in the present we follow Tensu in his Aethersprite as he’s tracked by a group of pirate vessels who appear keen to cash in on his bounty, and one by one he takes them down, destroying them rather than allowing them to run and dropping what appears to be a demp bomb on the last ship, cooking its systems and leaving him to be found by others, thereby elevating the legend of Tensu Run. He leaps to hyperspace as we step to the Fifth Brothers own musings, of his lifelong mission to carry out the promise of Order 66 and end the Jedi, and watch as the starfighter of Run drops and he disembarks, coming face to face with the Fifth Brother as lightsabers ignite and a duel begins. Tensu reminds the Fifth Brother that whether or not he survives their fight the Jedi will endure and they clash, the Inquisitor taking first blood before Run quickly counters, taking his right arm, and we end with Run leaving the Fifth Brother alone to inform his master once again that Tensu Run lives.
This series really is starting to hot up now, as the sabers fly and the background is filled in with flashbacks and grounding for the battles in the present day. Yes, as with the first issue Vader talks too much, but what he says is absolutely on point (and the more curt and threatening he is, the more ‘Vader’ he feels and sounds. Few can make a threat like the dark lord), and the slightly unnerving conversation between Tensu and Master Elan perhaps shows the first signs of a dark turn for Tensu Run, his frustrations apparent and his master seemingly aware of the darkness he holds within.
Another excellent issue, the art the equivalent of a night in satin sheets and the script tight and pacey, this is turning into a very worthwhile mini series considering the initial announcement had me less than enthused. As with all things Star Wars you need to watch / listen / read / play and make up your own mind rather than make judgements based on outside opinions.
