Any additional Bad Batch stories outside of the series are welcome. It is disheartening that the series has very little companion content. The Bad Batch is a great show set during a unique time within the Star Wars universe. It follows a group of genetically modified Clones (even more than the regular Clones) that have to reinvent themselves in the aftermath of Order 66 and the birth of the Galactic Empire.

However, the Bad Batch was first introduced in the final season of The Clone Wars when they worked with Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex on a rescue mission for Echo, a Clone trooper presumed dead. Echo joins the Bad Batch, feeling he fits in more with them now than with the 501st.  

“Bad Batch, Right Stuff” takes place before all that, so we have the original Bad Batch team, including Crosshair.

The Story

Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are on another mission during the Clone Wars that involves protecting an older Viiveenn, who still has her doll. However, while running for their ship, she drops her doll and cannot retrieve it before Kenobi carries her away. Wrecker picks it up mid-battle and instantly wants to keep it, to the annoyance of Crosshair.

Sometime later, the Bad Batch is on a mission on Hylanth, a moon in the Outer Rim. The Republic sent them to neutralize an army of modified battle droids. While initially thinking this mission is beneath their skill set, the architect of the droid modification, Dr. Krail, appears on a holo to say he orchestrated this meeting: the modified Clones against his modified droids. Crosshair gets captured, and the team works to find the base to retrieve him.

The droids initially give the Bad Batch trouble, but the team learns and quickly adapts; however, Wrecker loses the doll (which he strangely brought with him). Tech locates the base, and the crew makes quick work of the Doctor and the rest of the droids, but the Wookiee doll is lost for a junk trader to find.

This doll has been through the wringer, and it is a miracle of the Force that it ended back (eventually) with Viiveenn. It’s almost as if there is a particular Force artifact within the doll. After ten issues, we know very little about that artifact. Glancing at promotional images for issue 11, it seems we will get some more context for whatever is in the doll, which is long overdue.

The Characters

Since this comic series is all-ages, it was wise to incorporate the most recent animated series, The Bad Batch. However, I wish this were a better story worthy of one of the best creations of Star Wars animation. I understand why this is during the Clone Wars and not during the events of The Bad Batch, as that series is still going, heading into its third and final season. However, there was still next to zero character development in this issue. It reminded me of the team’s first appearance in The Clone Wars, a surface-level character arc. But this also highlights Omega’s importance in challenging the team and forcing them to change (for better or worse) in the aftermath of Order 66. 

The only other central character in this issue is Dr. Krail, one of the least threatening villains, though his super droids give the Bad Batch a slight challenge. Krail’s presence highlights the constant comparisons of the Clones to the droids during the Clone Wars and perhaps underscores why the Bad Batch, in particular, has a chip on their shoulder. They are ignored and even mocked by their clone peers but also viewed as superior by some factions of the Separatists. The team always has to prove themselves to both sides.

Mostly, “Bad Batch, Right Stuff” is a filler story to get the doll from one place to the next.

Canon Contributions

The mysterious mission that reunites Kenobi, Anakin, and Viiveenn is a story we might see later. The species that picks up the fallen doll on Hylanth is the same as the shop owner on Banas in Hyperspace Stories #2. All the other new elements were made irrelevant by the end of the issue. There are no more super droids, Krail has been captured, and the Bad Batch is off on their next adventures as Wrecker decides the doll is not worth looking for. One Clone’s trash is a Wookiee’s treasure.