“Techno (re)union”
Creative Staff:
Story: Greg Pak
Art: Luke Ross
Colors: Federico Blee
Letterer: VCs Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
Three decades ago, Anakin Skywalker slaughtered Wat Tambor, leader of the Techno Union, along with the rest of the Separatist leaders by the command of the Emperor. So who is the pirate Jul Tambor, what is he planning on Skako Minor, and what will the Handmaiden, who now stands at Vader’s side, do when it’s her job to choose if Jul lives or dies? Also, which Handmaiden is this? And will this new adventure fulfill Sabé’s dream of derailing Vader’s journey to the dark side — or simply complete it?
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, but what’s holding it together for me has been the use of Sabe. With this issue, we get Luke Ross stepping in to help with the artwork and that’s not a bad thing as his regular work on the Star Wars franchise has been solid in carrying the tone and style so that it feels like a part of the big picture. Federico Blee handles the color design for their work here and that helps to bridge things together as well while also having some nicely stylish moments.
The book is moving forward in a traditional way here with two storylines taking place. Both are interesting in different ways as I really like getting time with another of the handmaidens with Dorme. She’s intent on finding and saving Sabe from what’s happened to her and using Ochi to do so is amusing. She handles herself well at playing at being Sabe for a good chunk of it once abroad the Imperial Star Destroyer, and watching Ochi’s panic while trying to limit her interactions is great. I do like how we see Sabe’s rea mission becoming clearer to her but also how she’s not completely sure if it’s true or not. The inevitable does happen with an encounter with Vader as she used two of her privately assigned guards to get information about where Sabe has gone. But that just puts her on Vader’s radar and he knows clearly that it’s not her and is just toying with her at this point.
Sabe’s storyline has her going to a world where Jul Tambor of the Techno Union is delivering supplies to his people there. She’s trying to get a handle on what kind of character he is from a distance at first and then up close once he survives an assassination attempt. What we do see is him trying to draw her to his side with what Vader did to his ancestors and how his people are being treated today. The Techno Union has gotten little due over the years so fleshing it out a touch here works well, though Sabe knows that she can go only so far with this. There are complications to it but there’s also connections to the past that we see which is a lot of what she’s doing while working for Vader. As Ochi says to Dorme, Sabe is pointing him in the right direction to deal with old problems that help out the Empire in the here and now, even just a little. Dormer can’t believe it but Sabe’s actions keep reinforcing it.
In Summary:
Darth Vader has little Vader in it but that’s fine as it’s something that makes sense to do with the people that he’s pulled around him to accomplish his work. Vader does make clear early on that he is Sith and that he is not Anakin and it doesn’t feel like most anyone is trying to reach that side of him, which makes sense and ties into how Luke will end up reaching him eventually because of a different kind of connection. I really liked seeing Dorme may her way through the Imperial ship and deal with Ochi but I was surprised how much fun the bits with the Techno Union was. It’s something that needs a lot more exploration and done richly which we won’t get here, but just to acknowledge them a bit more hits a sweet spot.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: November 30th, 2022
MSRP: $3.99
