The plan falls apart pretty spectacularly.
Creative Staff:
Story: Kieron Gillen
Art: Salvador Larroca
What They Say:
Aphra’s private investigation on behalf of Vader. Vader’s investigation on behalf of the Empire. It all comes crashing together…with deadly results.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Darth Vader series is getting ready for the Vader Down event next month and the current storyline here is one that does feel a little muddied and less than clear. Some of that simply comes from the time between installments since it’s easy to forget how to put it all together. I suspect that as much as I’m enjoying this arc now that I’ll enjoy it even more when read in full in a trade. Events have definitely been amusing to watch since Thanoth got involved and has proven to be problematic for Vader, which was already difficult with what Tagge is up to and messing around with. There isn’t a noose per se around Vader’s neck with all that’s going on, but he’s seeing some of the easier paths to resolution closing off around him and that means a few more direct interventions.
His attempts to find out where Luke Skywalker is at this point is something that has him trying to play two sides of the game, sending Aphra to The Ante in order to get the information while keeping Thanoth occupied long enough so that it can happen. Amid all of this the droids decided that they’re going to go play some holochess. This naturally brings back certain memories, but when applied to these two and their desire to wreak havoc on anything alive means there’s a lot of dark humor to be had and plenty of implied threats though the dialogue. The echoes of the original trilogy are well placed and skewed here, which can get frustrating when done in the main book yet manages to be quite amusing here due to the very nature of these two.
Vader’s time in his own book is certainly decent, but he’s more of an overseer of events. Aphra takes the stage more here as she deals with The Ante to get the information and then has to flee as Thanoth is there with a lot of stormtroopers and Vader. It makes for a great bit of chaos, which Larroca deftly brings to life with some great layouts and fantastic detail, and we get some almost Indiana Jones bits out of her combined with old Han Solo moments in a great blend. But it also takes things in a very, very dark direction because of how badly she’s screwed up by nearly getting caught as it forces Vader to eliminate her. And eliminating Aphra is something that sets a real panic in me while reading it because she’s been an absolute treasure, one that I can see them following through on eliminating in order to add some seriousness to the book. Thankfully, it doesn’t go in that direction, but it really does leave the relationship between her and Vader in a new and potentially far more intriguing place to explore.
In Summary:
Darth Vader moves into an interesting place here where there’s even more uncertainty than there was before with the core relationship that exists. Of course, everyone is expendable in this book and that’s something that really needs to be remembered as it defines it in a great way. Vader’s not going anywhere and we know the overall arc for him, but seeing the way things are fleshed out and how he interacts with others makes it pretty damn exciting, even when it goes in a kind of roundabout way like it does here with the information dealer and what’s being dealt with. There’s a lot to like here with its mix of action, humor and threat that’s all presented in another fantastic looking form from Larroca. This is a great book that just keeps me excited every time a new issue hits.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: October 21st, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
