“Into the Sand”
Creative Staff:
Story: Greg Pak
Art: Raffaele Ienco
Colors: Carlos Lopez
Letterer: VCs Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
We all know about Anakin Skywalker’s aversion to finely ground particulate matter. But what does sand mean to the Dark Lord of the Sith? When Sabé, Vader’s unlikely new ally, goes missing, Vader must confront his own dark heart in the maelstrom of a terrible sandstorm—while tapping into one of his earliest skills of him in a wildly unexpected way!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The current storyline is one that certainly makes a lot of sense to be happening amid other events between films and but it’s also feeling like it’s eating itself with all the characters involved. Greg Pak has made it interesting to see how it flows thanks to those that are aligned around Vader, such as Ochi and the various people working with Valance, which offers some solid variety. Raffaele Ienco returns back to the book with this issue and we get some solid stuff with the cast involved and just the way he handles Vader using the Force. Just the overall style of movement and intensity works well and Lopez’s color design also works really well, especially in the more Imperial aspects of this installment, making for a solid design overall.
One of the things that has frustrated me with the storyline is that it feels like Greg Pak is leaning too much into the connected nature of things. I get, it’s a given when it comes to Star Wars, but this is getting into some of the territory that even for someone as lenient as I am to be cringing a bit. Bringing back Kitster and others and then having this installment with Vader taking the pod racer to flight in order to go after Sabe is a lot. I will admit that structurally it works in what it does for the storyline but the visuals of Vader riding this thing just doesn’t click well for me as it’s too forced. Too much. Yet even then the way they work the material from the films here so that we see how Anakin was riding a regular speeder before to save his mother helps to frame it well, as does the nods to his youthful days in building the pod racer itself. These are all key moments that are resurfacing in him after keeping them buried for so long – the memories of a dead man – and it’s impacting him now.
And there are a lot of things that are drawn upon here, from the whole too much sand quote that is somewhat rightly mocked to other nods. But it does work well in the larger thematic sense as we know Anakin was too old to be taken for training after the bonds he had form. Seeing the tight relationship he had with his mother play out at stages here through her death and then to parallel that with Padem’s own death – while ignoring his own role in it, of course – helps to shape why he’s so intent on saving Sabe. And he is pretty intent on not letting her die and it’s not just because she’s useful. It’s awakened that knowledge of his inability to save other important women in his life and he doesn’t intend to fail again. And through that, it highlights to Palpatine that his servant isn’t as strong in his loyalty as he demands – as the Sith demands – and sets up his own attempt at replacing Vader with Luke in the near future.
In Summary:
A lot of this issue can be viewed as recap of parts of the prequel trilogy but it does play out in a good way to highlight the loss that Vader has faced over the course of his life and why he’s suddenly finding himself unable to keep it all sealed away considering how Sabe looks so much like Padme. The book looks good with Ienco really capturing some of the element of the film right for this particular style and intent while Pak’s script keeps things largely clean and accurate. It’s just that I keep feeling like it’s going too far into that interconnected nature in some ways that it defies belief. I know, I know, it’s just how Star Wars is to some degree. But this is just a degree too far for me, even though it works and I can enjoy it. Dealing with adult Kitster just feels wrong.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: August 24th, 2022
MSRP: $3.99
