REVIEW: Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories – The Bad Batch: Ghost Agents #4

by Henry Wood

Written by Michael Moreci

Penciled by Reese Hannigan

Inked by Elisabetta D’Amico Colored by Michael Atiyeh Lettered by Tyler Smith & Bobby Bradford

Edited by Spencer Cushing, Joe Cavanagh, Grace Orriss & Robert Simpson

The Bad Batch is between a rock and a hard place on Doric Prime as Asajj Ventress and Aurra Sing prepare to abscond with the intel and Embo stalks the Batch. Hunter is forced to make a questionable alliance to save their skins, and Wrecker makes a startling discovery that will help them achieve their mission.

Resse Hannigan, Elisabetta D’Amico and Michael Atiyeh are still on their A-game with this book (have I said that already? I feel like I have). Regardless, it bears repeating. I love the way the three of them have melded their skills to create something better that feels better than the sum of its parts. For example, the fifth page of this issue does a great job of showing how something goes wrong in a close-quarters fight. It’s a marvel of panel breakdowns that shows exactly what it needs to do in a way that immediately comes across for the reader.

However, my biggest compliment is an inverse of one of my biggest criticisms of The Bad Batch tv show, which is that Wrecker is rarely spotlighted, and he never goes through any character development throughout the entirety of the three seasons. He’s typically depicted as dumb and shallow, but in this issue, Michael Moreci does a really good job of using that characterization to have Wrecker find a solution that the other members of the Batch wouldn’t look for. It makes his value to the team feel more than just the strong guy who blows things up.

We’ve got one more issue left and I’m a little nervous if they’re going to be able to adequately wrap this series up in a satisfying manner, but I’ve enjoyed it so far, so I’m still in for the end!