Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Marvel Comics | Tagged: ajax sigma, Dark Droids, marvel, star wars

Ajax Sigma Brings Dark Droids to Star Wars Marvel August 2023 Solicits

The Star Wars robot rebellion event Dark Droids  kicks off from Marvel in August as Bleeding Cool looks at the significance of Ajax Sigma.

The Star Wars robot rebellion event Dark Droids kicks off from Marvel Comics in August, here are the full Star Wars solicits for that month from Marvel. While at the bottom, Bleeding Cool looks at the significance of this storyline, and the influence of Ajax Sigma, ahead of the comic book timeline catching up to Return of The Jedi in 2024. But first, the solicits and solicitations for August 2023.

STAR WARS: DARK DROIDS #1
CHARLES SOULE (W) • LUKE ROSS (A) • COVER BY LEINIL FRANCIS YU
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
SCOURGED VARIANT COVER BY RACHAEL STOTT
SCOURGED VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY RACHAEL STOTT • VARIANT COVER BY JIM CHEUNG
FOIL VARIANT COVER BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
• Who or what is THE SCOURGE, and why is no droid safe?
• As a corruption spreads from one droid to the next THE REBELLION and THE EMPIRE face chaos!
• What role does AJAX SIGMA play in all of this? And whose side is he on?
• Find out when horror comes to a galaxy far, far away!
• Charles Soule continues his legendary run on STAR WARS with the most ambitious event in STAR WARS comics history! Joined by his WAR
OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS collaborator Luke Ross, the superstar team carves a new path for the future!
79 PGS./RATED T …$5.99

STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI – MAX REBO #1
DANIEL JOSÉ OLDER (W) • PAUL FRY (A)
COVER BY RYAN BROWN
CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY LEE GARBETT
VARIANT COVER BY VALERIO GIANGIORDANO
VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY RYAN BROWN
WHO IS PLOTTING TO KILL
JABBA THE HUTT?
• Wait…someone ELSE is plotting to kill one of the galaxy's most infamous gangsters? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!
• When you're JABBA THE HUTT, you make a lot of enemies…and sometimes, they're even under your employ!
• MAX REBO and the band have their own plans on how to deal with a mobster like Jabba…
• This issue bookends our JABBA'S PALACE one-shot and leads directly into the RETURN OF THE JEDI film!
40 PGS./ONE-SHOT/RATED T …$4.99

STAR WARS: YODA #10
CAVAN SCOTT (W) • IBRAIM ROBERSON (A)
COVER BY PHIL NOTO
RETURN OF THE JEDI 40TH ANNIVERSARY
VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS SPROUSE
VARIANT COVER BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
THE FINAL LESSON!
• After years in exile on DAGOBAH, legendary JEDI MASTER YODA is visited by a ghost of his past.
• Plagued by painful memories, he must enter the CAVE OF EVIL to face his ultimate fear.
• But will the Jedi's greatest teacher recall the most important lesson of all?
32 PGS./RATED T …$3.99

STAR WARS #37
BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
CHARLES SOULE (W) • MADIBEK MUSABEKOV (A) • COVER BY STEPHEN SEGOVIA
RETURN OF THE JEDI 40TH ANNIVERSARY VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS SPROUSE
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS 15TH ANNIVERSARY OBI-WAN VARIANT COVER
BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
VARIANT COVER BY LUCIANO VECCHIO • VARIANT COVER BY PHIL NOTO
LOBOT LOST! – A DARK DROIDS TIE-IN!
• Something has gone horribly wrong with LOBOT, putting the REBELLION at terrible risk!
• LANDO CALRISSIAN will do anything to save his friend, even if it means betraying the REBELS.
• Will the SCOURGE OF THE DROIDS destroy any chance to cure Lobot, or will he be lost forever?
32 PGS./RATED T …$3.99

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER #37
GREG PAK (W) • RAFFAELE IENCO (A)
COVER BY LEINIL FRANCIS YU
RETURN OF THE JEDI 40TH ANNIVERSARY
VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS SPROUSE
STAR WARS: CLONE WARS 15TH
ANNIVERSARY ANAKIN SKYWALKER
VARIANT COVER BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
VARIANT COVER BY BJORN BARENDS
CURSE OF THE JEDI – A DARK DROIDS TIE-IN!
• KILLER DROIDS have taken over DARTH VADER'S flagship Super Star Destroyer, the EXECUTOR!
• Will the lessons of JEDI MASTERS QUI-GON and OBI-WAN save him from the SCOURGE – or make him a tool for its galactic conquest?
32 PGS./RATED T …$3.99

DOCTOR APHRA #35
ALYSSA WONG (W) • MINKYU JUNG (A)
COVER BY JUNGGEUN YOON
RETURN OF THE JEDI 40TH ANNIVERSARY
VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS SPROUSE
STAR WARS: CLONE WARS 15TH ANNIVERSARY
ASAJJ VENTRESS VARIANT COVER
BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
75TH LEGACY HOMAGE VARIANT
COVER BY SALVADOR LARROCA
LEGACY ISSUE #75! A DARK DROIDS TIE-IN!
• Sent by DOMINA TAGGE to investigate a series of strange droid
malfunctions, DOCTOR APHRA faces a deadly enemy from the past.
• A horde of CLONE WAR-ERA PROTOTYPE BATTLE DROIDS designed
by Domina herself!
32 PGS./RATED T …$3.99

STAR WARS: BOUNTY HUNTERS #37
ETHAN SACKS (W) • DAVIDE TINTO (A) • COVER BY MARCO CHECCHETTO
JANGO FETT VARIANT COVER BY ALEX MALEEV
JANGO FETT VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY ALEX MALEEV
KLIGSON VARIANT COVER BY RYAN BROWN
RETURN OF THE JEDI 40TH ANNIVERSARY VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS SPROUSE
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS 15TH ANNIVERSARY AURRA SING VARIANT COVER
BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLIS: THE CLONE WARS 15TH ANNIVERSARY
AURRA SING VARIANT COVER BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
THE HAUNTING SECRET MISSION OF JANGO FETT! A DARK DROIDS TIE-IN!
• The BOUNTY HUNTERS must contend with the looming shadow of the sins of BOBA FETT'S father!
• What is the secret that lurks on the mysterious droid outpost, THE HAVEN?
• Who is TARR KLIGSON and what is his connection to Jango Fett?
32 PGS./RATED T …$3.99

STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN SEASON 2 #3
RODNEY BARNES (W) • GEORGES JEANTY (A) • COVER BY STEVEN CUMMINGS
CONCEPT ART VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
VARIANT COVER BY DAVID BALDEÓN • VARIANT COVER BY TERRY DODSON
"THE HEIRESS"!
• THE MANDALORIAN braves high seas and meets unexpected allies.
• Introducing BO-KATAN KRYZE, KOSKA REEVES and AXE WOVES!
40 PGS./RATED T …$4.99

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER – BLACK, WHITE & RED TREASURY EDITION TPB
WRITTEN BY JASON AARON, PEACH MOMOKO, TORUNN GRØNBEKK, DAVID PEPOSE, DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON, MARC BERNARDIN,
STEVE ORLANDO, FRANK TIERI & MORE
PENCILED BY LEONARD KIRK, PEACH MOMOKO, KLAUS JANSON, DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON, PAUL DAVIDSON, DANNY EARLS & MORE
COVER BY TAURIN CLARKE
Exciting tales from a galaxy of talents featuring the Dark Lord of the Sith! Jason Aaron returns to the world of Star Wars, teaming with artist Leonard Kirk
to present a new tale of terror! Peach Momoko spins a story in her signature style! Daniel Warren Johnson brings Vader to life like never before! David
Pepose makes his Star Wars debut! Marc Bernardin takes Vader on a mission you won't soon forget! Frank Tieri sends the Sith lord to the planet Hoth! And
Steve Orlando goes cerebral with the corruption of Darth Vader's mind! And more chilling tales of evil told in stark black and white – and the crimson glow
of a lightsaber! Collecting STAR WARS: DARTH VADER – BLACK, WHITE & RED #1-4.
136 PGS./Rated T …$29.99
ISBN: 978-1-302-95214-3
Trim size: 8-1/2 x 13

STAR WARS VOL. 6: QUESTS OF THE FORCE TPB
WRITTEN BY CHARLES SOULE
PENCILED BY ANDRÉS GENOLET, MADIBEK MUSABEKOV & ANDREA DI VITO
COVER BY STEPHEN SEGOVIA
Far, far from home! Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa and an elite crew of Rebel heroes are lost in the farthest reaches of No-Space after a mission gone wrong. A
desperate maneuver is their only chance to find a way home – but what will it cost them? Meanwhile, the efforts of Lady Qi'ra and Crimson Dawn to destroy the
Sith have sent ripples running through the Force, disrupting Luke's connection to the deep powers of the galaxy. How far will he go to rediscover what he has lost?
Luke must undertake an epic quest – or he, and the galaxy, will fall to darkness. In the clutches of Dr. Cuata, with his life hanging in the balance, only another Jedi
can save him! Plus: With the discovery that the Empire is building a second Death Star, disaster looms for the Rebel Alliance! Collecting STAR WARS (2020) #31-36.
144 PGS./Rated T …$17.99
ISBN: 978-1-302-94808-5
Trim size: 6-5/8 x 10-3/16

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER BY GREG PAK VOL. 7 –
UNBOUND FORCE TPB
WRITTEN BY GREG PAK & KIERON GILLEN
PENCILED BY ADAM GORHAM, RAFFAELE IENCO & SALVADOR LARROCA
COVER BY LEINIL FRANCIS YU
When the Dark Lord of the Sith loses control of the Force, nothing is safe – not even his own Star Dreadnought! But in the face of total destruction, Commander Sabé finds an opportunity. Does Vader's untrammeled onslaught expose a vulnerability? Or is it just another doorway to the terrifying tyranny of the Sith? According to the Jedi, fear leads to anger and anger leads to hate. But does hate lead to suffering…or power? Caught in a maelstrom, Sabé must finally confront the horrifying consequences of her choice to serve Darth Vader. Will she choose darkness over light? Are things so bad for Vader that he would reach out to his one-time ally Doctor Aphra for help? And where Aphra goes, will the killer droids Triple-Zero and Beetee follow? Collecting STAR WARS: DARTH VADER (2020) #33-36 and DARTH VADER (2015) #3.
120 PGS./Rated T …$15.99
ISBN: 978-1-302-948115
Trim size: 6-5/8 x 10-3/16 109

STAR WARS: BOUNTY HUNTERS
VOL. 6 – BEDLAM ON BESTINE TPB
WRITTEN BY ETHAN SACKS
PENCILED BY PAOLO VILLANELLI & ALESSANDRO MIRACOLO
COVER BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
ON SALE SEPTEMBER 2023
Bossk vs. Tanka! Forced to take on a job for Crimson Dawn, the bounty hunters clash with the Empire! But Valance has a mission of his own, one that will put everyone he cares about in danger! What is the dark secret that threatens them all? T'onga and her team find themselves in the crosshairs of an old ally, and Valance is out for revenge against Darth Vader! Can his fellow bounty hunters save him from a fatal confrontation? Will Vukorah survive the assassins throwing the underworld into chaos? And why is Zuckuss teetering between life and death? T'onga and 4-LOM battle to save their comrade in arms before his mind is lost – and before the Empire's most lethal unit, on the hunt for Valance, catches up with them all! Collecting STAR WARS: BOUNTY HUNTERS #29-34.
144 PGS./Rated T …$17.99
ISBN: 978-1-302-94801-6
Trim size: 6-5/8 x 10-3/16

STAR WARS:
SANA STARROS TPB
WRITTEN BY JUSTINA IRELAND
PENCILED BY PERE PÉREZ
COVER BY KEN LASHLEY
ON SALE SEPTEMBER 2023
Sana Starros stars in her first-ever series! Fresh off of a string of disappointments, Sana returns to her family's ancestral home for some downtime. But family time is far from relaxing for a scoundrel and her family of ne'er-do-wells, especially when Stormtroopers attack during dinner! The Starros clan is on the collision course of a lifetime – and Sana must take on her brother, Phel, or all is lost! But what mysteries from her past are coming home to roost? Whose party are they about to crash? And what does Deva Lompop – one of the galaxy's deadliest bounty hunters – want with her? The answers await on board an Imperial Destroyer! What could possibly go wrong? It's Sana, solo – and she has a bad feeling about this! Collecting STAR WARS: SANA STARROS #1-5.
128 PGS./Rated T …$17.99
ISBN: 978-1-302-93307-4
Trim size: 6-5/8 x 10-3/16

So where does Dark Droids come from and to what it it leading? In what looks like the big storyline before the Star Wars timeline gets to Return of The Jedi? The event is likely to be the Ajax Sigma event that Bleeding Cool previously talked about. "First it comes for the metal", indicating the droid uprising, is the prophecy from Star Wars: Revelation given to Darth Vader "First it comes for the metal, then  it comes for the muddle… and in the end, the mind"

The Star Wars prophecy

Marvel Comics published Star Wars: Revelations #1 in November last year, which teased the future of many of the Marvel Comics Star Wars titles, stating "Vader will also learn of a deadly new threat that's about to emerge. Meet AJAX SIGMA, a droid unlike any other. Discover his rich Star Wars-history spanning backstory and watch in terror as he reawakens with a goal that will shake the galactic landscape to its core!"

Darth Vader meets The Eye Of The Webbish Bog who shows the future with the repeated line

And we get a full view of the Star Wars future.

Ajax Sigma is both told and foretold

In Star Wars: Revelations, we first learned of the droid Ajax Sigma and an atrocity committed against sentient droids on Kligson's Moon by Jedi, slaughtering their uprising centuries ago. Or so Ajax Sigma believed anyway. There are more than one group of people who wielded light sabers after all.

In Star Wars, droids are depicted as being sentient but also being enslaved, slave traded, tortured, treated very badly and often sacrificed. And everyone seems to be fine with that, including the heroes. Solo: A Star Wars Story tried to deal with the issue but may have made it worse, as Solo, Chewbacca, and Lando now know very well that droids shouldn't be treated the way that they treat droids. Including the one they have locked up within the systems of the Millenium Falcon, removing her voice in the process.

But part of Ajax Sigma survived. And became a commodity.

And it is this which recent issues of Star Wars: Han Solo & Chewbacca from Marvel Comics caught up with. They came across a droid memory and personality core, hidden away in the urn of ashes possessed by Jabba The Hutt, with others in pursuit of it, including one pretending to be Han's own father.

It was all that remained of Ajax Sigma, whose history gets a further and more detailed retelling.

With that replicated marching scene reminiscent of certain American revolutions.

And the extent of his slaughter played out. And even a reference to those moments from Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Thank you, Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

And so, in Star Wars: Han Solo & Chewbacca #10, they do what was foretold. They bury Ajax Sigma's core.

Star Wars: Revelations also told what would come next.

Found by a droid and then reborn in days to come on Mechis III.

And so Ajax Sigma is revived, he will go on the hunt for his aggressors, the Jedi. And happens to find one.

Although they may not quite see it that way.

And although it happened over a hundred years ago…

It looked like Ajax Sigma made it back.

And the prophetic line "First it comes for the metal, then for the muddle, and in the end for the mind."

First it comes for the metal

And it is those words "first, it comes for the metal" which Marvel has again teased. Dark Droids is the new Star Wars crossover begins this summer in Star Wars, Doctor Aphra, Darth Vader, and Bounty Hunters.

The phrase is also reminiscent of Pastor Martin Niemöller's poem about Nazi Germany.

First they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me

Much of Star Wars is steeped in World War II, from the Empire uniforms to the use of stormtroopers. Would it be too cliche that Ajax Sigma will examine a very uncomfortable and hardly addressed aspect of the universe?

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