Tracking down the details.
Creative Staff:
Story: Kieron Gillen
Art: Salvador Larroca
What They Say:
Vader has a new mission to do for the Empire. Unfortunately, it’s completely at odds with his own mission. What’s a Dark Lord to do?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Darth Vader series continues to work its two main stories at the moment, stories that intersect in interesting ways, and this installment is no different. What bumps this one up a bit is that a lot of it is focused on Aphra and the droids. It’s not that Vader’s uninteresting to follow, far from it, but Aphra and the droids have their own personality and style that’s distinctly different and colorful. It adds something the book needs to really be viable as a solo Vader book is something that could work but would likely fall flat if done as a regular thing. His utilizing them as tools for his own ends is pure Vader and offers up more variety for the work in a really engaging way.
Vader’s story in this installment is essentially a bookend one to what’s going on in the middle and it certainly works well enough. He’s continuing to clean up any possible loose ends from his own hidden agenda ahead of Thanoth finding out about them, but each one seems to have its own obstacles along the way. Not that he won’t just cut him out entirely should the need arise, but for the moment he’s still doing his best to keep it as under the radar as possible. That plays well in the first segment here as he deals with one of the familiar Jabba’s Palace creatures, The Dragon, that has information that could implicate Vader in what’s going on. While Vader dispatches of him easily enough we continue to see just how much of a thorn in his side Thanoth is with the way he gains more information and tightens the metaphorical noose around Vader. A noose you know he can get out of. But the cat and mouse game between the two is a real treat to watch and I’m loving every moment in anticipation of Thanoth’s eventual dispatching.
The bulk of the issue though has its focus on Aphra as she, Triple-Zero and Beetee head to.. Naboo? What it all comes down to, smartly enough, is Vader wanting real confirmations of what happened all those years ago. While he believed one thing the reality is far different. So sending the pair there to find Commodex Tahn, who handled Amidala’s body when she was finally returned to Naboo, is something that you might not think of at first. With her interrogators working for her they get to the truth of the matter of Amidala’s pregnancy, bringing us in line with the end of Revenge of the Sith. It plays well, gives Vader the knowledge he needs and understands as a truth now, and also does some great Aphra material. While she could be lying, I’m glad a simple bit of exposition over a page or two delves into some of her background. She’s a great character, but I don’t think we need a Young Aphra arc. I just want more of her in the now.
In Summary:
The Darth Vader series continues to be pretty much the best of the Star Wars books and that’s some very fierce competition. There’s a lot of things in motion here and the balance is playing well with what it wants to do. Vader isn’t primary in this issue yet his presence looms large and his time in it is spot on in coming across as ominous and imposing. Sending his minions off to do his bidding and gathering information fills in a few of the blanks and the end result helps to paint a larger and more interesting picture that takes us to that scene in Empire where he confronts Luke with the truth. Very good stuff here that’s made even better by Larroca’s artwork. His design work here, from character details to backgrounds, is impressive. Most impressive. Hopefully his take on Aphra will become defining.
You should be buying this book. Period.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: October 7th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
