Din Djarin and Grogu are heading back underground for Halloween. Mad Cave Studios and its young readers imprint Papercutz, working with Lucasfilm Publishing, have released Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu: Nightmare on Nevarro, a spooky one-shot that sends the clan of two into the haunted depths beneath their old stomping ground.
The 40-page comic went on sale in comic shops yesterday (October 21st), and Mad Cave marked the release on X:
A Haunting Beneath Nevarro
The official synopsis sets up a creepy mystery: "Sinister creatures with glowing red eyes are terrorizing the people of Nevarro, and it's up to the Mandalorian Din Djarin and his foundling Grogu to put an end to the haunting! Once again, the pair venture into the belly of Nevarro's magma-filled lava tubes to uncover the truth."
Along the way, they will run into menacing cave creatures, a deranged mining droid and red-eyed flying specters, and the publishers promise a story "where not everything is as it seems!" Mad Cave's product page adds that it introduces creepy new Star Wars creatures and a new droid, and pitches it as "Perfect for young readers, blending suspense, humor, and heart."
The comic is written by Delilah S. Dawson, known for Star Wars Adventures and Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, with interior art and Cover B by Alessandro Ranaldi, whose credits include Darkwing Duck and Robin Hood.
Covers And Variants
Five standard covers are available to order through local comic shops and Papercutz.com, each priced at $6.99. Cover A is by Soo Lee, Cover B by Ranaldi, Cover C by Nicoletta Baldari, Cover D by Arianna Florean and Cover E by Juni Ba. A foil Cover F costs $7.99, and a metal Cover G is priced at $79.99.
Fans at New York Comic Con earlier this month got the first look at the book, along with a convention exclusive variant by Francesco Francavilla, the artist known for Star Wars: Vader's Castle and Dick Tracy. Mad Cave says that variant is limited to 500 copies in a standard card stock version at $20 and 500 copies with a foil treatment at $25, with a limited quantity of both offered through its website after the show.
Back To Where It All Began
Nevarro holds a special place in The Mandalorian's history. In the first season finale, Din Djarin, Grogu and their allies escaped an Imperial siege by fleeing through the tunnels under the city and riding a river of lava to safety, with IG-11 sacrificing himself to clear their path. In later seasons, the planet was transformed into a thriving outpost under High Magistrate Greef Karga.
The lava tubes have now become a recurring setting for the duo's comic adventures. Nightmare on Nevarro follows Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu: Danger in the Dark, Papercutz's first original one-shot starring the pair, which arrived in July. Also written by Dawson, that story sent Din and Grogu into the tunnels with a crew of Anzellan droidsmiths to defuse a crashed pirate ship, and it was set just before the events of the movie.
Both one-shots are part of a wider push. Lucasfilm Publishing and Mad Cave announced their partnership back in January, with plans for all-ages Star Wars stories under the Papercutz imprint. The line was also scheduled to include the graphic novels Smugglers and Scoundrels, starring Han Solo and Chewbacca, and Tales from the Outer Rim, which follows a young Luke Skywalker into Beggar's Canyon.
The Mandalorian And Grogu On The Big Screen
The comics are a companion to the duo's first theatrical adventure. Directed by Jon Favreau, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu opened in theaters on May 22nd and led the Memorial Day weekend box office, earning about $81.7 million domestically in its opening weekend according to Box Office Mojo.
The film finished with roughly $345.6 million worldwide. As Variety and Deadline both noted, that made it the lowest-grossing live-action Star Wars movie, coming in below the $393 million earned by Solo: A Star Wars Story. Deadline reported a production cost of $165 million before marketing.
The movie began streaming on Disney+ on September 2nd, giving fans who missed it in theaters a chance to catch up before diving into the new comic.
Are you picking up Nightmare on Nevarro for its Halloween story, or are you more interested in tracking down that Francavilla variant?
Sound off with your thoughts in the comments below.