Existentialism on Fromm Night

Droids (1986) #2: The Ultimate Weapon!

Writer: David Manak

Penciler: John Romita Sr.

Medium: Comic

Publication date: March 1986

Timeline placement: 15 BBY

Apparently it was an Intergalactic Droid Agency shuttle that picked up Artoo and Threepio from Dodz, because that's where they are at the start of issue #2. Artoo's condition continues to deteriorate and he's on the verge of blowing up when Nikki Idd, co-captain of the vessel along with her brother Vik, inserts an energy feedback shield into R2-D2 to contain his excess energy. Their father, Lonn, will be able to repair Artoo, but Threepio explains the existential despair that droids feel when they don't have a master, so the two teens agree to act as their temporary masters until they arrive at Lonn's droid repair shop.

 

When they arrive, however, their father is nowhere to be found. The droids stay with Vik while Nikki goes off to find him, only to be captured by Tig Fromm and Vlix Oncard, members of the notorious criminal organization, the Fromm Gang. The Fromms have been attempting to coerce Lonn Idd into installing his new laser device onto their ship. When they threaten Nikki's life, he finally agrees. 

 

Thinking quickly, Nikki is able to push a button on the nearby computer console, transmitting a video feed back to her brother and the droids. Alerted to the intruders, our heroes set out to stop them, while Lonn sets to work installing his laser and Nikki is locked in a broom closet. '

 

Vik and the droids discover a non-functional Guardian Droid owned by Lonn, later retconned as an HK Guardian Droid, presumably making it of the same lineage as HK-47 from Knights of the Old Republic and HK-01, who led the Great Droid Revolution on Coruscant in 4015 BBY. HK Guardian Droids were known for being impervious to blasterfire, but Lonn Idd didn't allow any weapons on his space station, so R2-D2 volunteers himself to be their weapon.

 

Vik and and the droids confront the Fromms. Vik removes Artoo's energy shield, and Artoo starts bleeding electricity everywhere. Vik is able to free his sister from the closet, but Artoo is blasted by a Fromm hover guard droid and taken out of commission. The Idds are all taken prisoner, leaving C-3PO to save the day. 

After Lonn finishes installing his laser on Tig Fromm's ship, the Fromms decide to test it by killing the entire Idd family. But just then, the HK Guardian Droid comes in, its armor deflecting the blaster bolts of the hover guards. "Now it's my turn, you mechanical insects!" shouts Threepio from inside the Guardian Droid armor, destroying all the hover guards with his fists. Nikki blinds Tig Fromm with a spray of her perfume because she's a girl, then Vik drops a net on the Fromm Gang. Lonn promises them that they'll face justice, which of course they won't because they're the villains of the first story arc of the Droids animated series.

 

Later, Lonn finishes repairing Artoo and tells the droids that Nikki and Vik will take them back to the Intergalactic Droid Agency to be assigned to a new master. However, Artoo refuses to leave until someone fills him in on what he missed. Everybody laughs for some reason.

One thing I really appreciated about this issue is the art design and coloring. I like the colors used on R2-D2 by Al Williamson and/or Jon D'Agostino, the credited inkers on this issue. He's primarily white, yellow, and red, completely the wrong colors. He looks like a cheap Star Wars knockoff you'd find at the dollar store, a toy labeled something like STAR ROBOT and having nothing but blank cardboard on the back of its package. He looks so awesome.

 

I also love the Idds' cheesy-looking space jumpsuits, like costumes out of Lost in Space. The decades' worth of styles, designs, and influences spanned by the EU were among its greatest attributes, and really helped create the sense that this was a whole universe with different fashions and cultures, and the (frequently underutilized) potential to tell any kind of story you could imagine. Modern Star Wars continuity begins in the mid-2010s and everything sucks.