Crimson Reign #5 - Comic Review

The Dark Lords of the Sith, Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, have uncovered a hidden plot. Between assassinations, successful attacks on Imperial fleets, and the wildest heist in the galaxy, the Emperor realizes that someone is after them and that someone is winning. At the same time, Qi’ra begins setting the stage for the endgame of Crimson Dawn’s fight against the two Sith Lords and their Empire—with the Knights of Ren and the Archivist going on a mission involving the Screaming Key they stole from Vader being a main piece of her plans. Can Qi’ra’s plans be enacted before Palpatine’s, or is this the beginning of the end for one of the Empire’s greatest enemies?

Crimson Reign #5 is extremely fun and exciting—toeing the line between being a political thriller and a dumb action romp, and I think that’s a wonderful testament to Charles Soule’s writing. The scenes involving Vader and Palpatine are tense and full of near dread, while Qi’ra’s sequences are exciting and ignite a fire within the story. The best part of the issue for me is the mission given to the Archivist and the Knights of Ren. As a fan of wild Force related ideas, this seems to be as wild as it gets! Some may find the way Soule ended the issue to be a tad underwhelming, but with it being the end of the middle part of a trilogy I found it an exciting and enticing way to get the readers ready for what’s to come next!

Now let’s talk about the artistic team behind Crimson Reign #5. Comprised of artist Steven Cummings, inker Victor Olazaba, with colors by GURU-eFX, this issue is a beautiful piece of art. The team builds on both the tensity of the Sith sequences, especially the colors in those panels, and the fun and excitement of the Archivist’s mission. That mission specifically has a full page piece of art that I would deeply like framed on my wall for the utter horror and beauty that it conveys.

The main cover for Crimson Reign #5 is done by Leinil Francis Yu and Sunny Gho, and sees Lady Qi’ra literally playing with Imperial figures like Chess pieces. It quite perfectly conveys exactly what goes on within the pages of this issue, and is a stunning piece of art at the same time! Along with the rest of the issues of Crimson Reign, this one has a ton of variant covers. We have the Connecting variant by Ario Anindito and Edgar Delgado; the excellent Clayton Crain with a jaw-dropping depiction of Lady Proxima for the Enemies of Dawn cover; Valerio Giangiordano and Arif Prianto’s Warriors of Dawn cover; Rahzzah’s gorgeous Knights of Dawn piece with another member of the Knights of Ren; the Sabacc Card variant from David Lopez; Khoi Pham and Lee Loughridge with their Syndicate cover; and last but not least Steven Cummings and GURU-eFX with a beautiful Qi’ra focused variant.

With Qi’ra and Palpatine moving their pieces across the board, Crimson Reign #5 looks at the end of this portion of the comic trilogy while also teasing the epic climax to come with The Hidden Empire in October. It’s an exciting and fun issue that needs to be read to hype you up for the upcoming event finale. So jump in your TIE fighter and fly on down to your local comic shop to pick up your copy today!