Crimson Reign #4 - Comic Review

Lady Qi’ra, leader of Crimson Dawn, has decided to enlist the help of the Force sensitive group of warriors known as the Knights of Ren. She approaches them with an offer to join her and Crimson Dawn’s cause against the Sith and they accept. Not without a little bit of worry from a few of the Knights, but it’s overcome by knowing that eventually Darth Vader will go after them and they might as well join with a powerful ally while they can. The offer comes with a caveat, however, a mission that Qi’ra trusts only them to do: break into Fortress Vader on Mustafar and steal a screaming key to a vault that only she knows the location to. Doesn’t seem that easy until the leader, Ren, informs the group that Vader is off dealing with his own problems. So now all they need to do is break into the scariest building in all the galaxy on the hottest lava filled planet surrounded by garrisons of Vader’s close stormtroopers. Piece of cake … right?

Writer Charles Soule continues his exploration of various people aligned with Crimson Dawn during this time period with Crimson Reign #4. This time he explores the fascinating and cool as heck group of the Knights of Ren. It’s fun to see a near mythical group get explored, especially during the Galactic Civil War era of Star Wars, and see what they do in the face of various dangers that they need to overcome. The artists that worked on this issue consist of artist Steven Cummings, inker Victor Olazaba, colorist GURU-eFX, and letterer VC’s Travis Lanham and do a wonderful job bringing Soule’s writing to life. Mustafar and Fortress Vader are always fascinating to see explored on page and they do a stunning job of showing off everything related to the fortress. From lava waterfalls, to hidden corridors, to treasure vaults and spots overlooking the planet, Crimson Reign #4 is a gorgeous piece of art throughout every panel.

The main cover art for Crimson Reign #4 comes from artists Leinil Francis Yu and Sunny Gho and is an epic piece featuring Ren in the forefront, lightsaber ignited, with silhouettes of his Knights behind him, a background of Fortress Vader, and an imposing portrait of the Dark Lord. As with the previous Crimson Reign issues, this comic has a slew of variant covers. These covers are Ario Anindito and Edgar Delgado’s Connecting cover, Clayton Crain’s Enemies of Dawn variant, Valerio Giangiordano and Arif Prianto’s Warriors of Dawn, Rahzzah’s Knights of Dawn, David Lopez’s Sabacc Card variant, Khoi Pham and Lee Loughridge’s Syndicate cover, and Paul Renaud’s Traitor of Dawn piece. The standout cover, to me, is Khoi Pham and Lee Loughridge’s Syndicate variant that brings a gorgeous depiction of various members of the Pike Syndicate.

Crimson Reign #4 continues the exploration of Qi’ra and Crimson Dawn’s various close connections with important factors across the galaxy, this time focusing on the epic and near mythological group of warriors called the Knights of Ren. It’s a fun and exciting issue that should be at the top of your comic pull list! So hop on your speeder bike and swing on by your local comic shop to pick up your copy today!