A short-run series with an ongoing story and standalone tales.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jason Aaron / Peach Momoko / Torunn Gronbekk
Art: Leonard Kirk / Peach Momoko / Klaus Janson
Colors: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
THE DARK LORD OF THE SITH LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN HIM BEFORE! Following the successful black, white and red series produced by Marvel Comics, DARTH VADER now takes the spotlight for tales of terror by some of the industries most talented creators! PEACH MOMOKO will spin a story only she can bring to life! PLUS, the return of JASON AARON to the world of STAR WARS with Part One of his Vader tale spanning all four issues!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening story for this book is the ongoing one that brings Jason Aaron back to the property and character. Paired with Leonard Kirk and Romulo Fajardo Jr., the tale feels like the late 70s and early 80s Star Wars comics from Marvel in a great way. Here, Vader has come to an outer rim planet upon learning that a particular Doctor is there only to discover that he’s dead and buried and he believes it’s a Rebel ambush. It’s actually more complicated and seemingly orchestrated by Sendvall’s son who has a snippet of dialogue related to Padme that further sends Vader into a killing fury. But he’s able to be taken down with a mechanical system override and no real details are discovered. But what we get is pretty intense and the color design combined with the artwork makes for some great action and a sense that his past is going to haunt him again.
The second tale is a standalone piece from Peach Momoko that’s without dialogue and is just a beautifully done expression of storytelling. It’s not something that has a deeper meaning in a way but focuses on a woman that’s haunted by Darth Vader and we see how it is in her nightmares as it takes on and twisted experience. It’s the kind of stuff you’d get out of a 70s animated short with a focus on someone going through a bad trip but they’re able to do it with a really strong sense of color design to it because the red is minimal and it plays so much with the greys in addition tot he definition black and white elements. It’s a good piece that’s worth just taking the time to go through it page by page and experience the artwork.
The third tale from Torunn Gronbekk pairs them with artist Klaus Janson and is another standalone piece. This one took a little bit to get into the groove of but it plays well to showcase the way Vader uses others to achieve his goals. Focusing on an Imperial facility on Toruk, a group looking to deal with a weapon and sabotage make their way into it by using the corruption and spinelessness of those there. These are true believers in the cause of fighting the Empire, though likely not part of the Rebellion. With losses suffered long before this, we see their tale unfold well all while Vader watches from above as he sees just what they’re capable of. And what he can use from them and discard. It’s a really strong story as it plays out and delivers a visually striking piece as only Klaus Janson can do.
In Summary:
The use of the black/white/red thing over the past several years doesn’t mean as much as it once did but what I get from it are generally good anthology books. And those are hard to come by. Getting the first of four parts of an anthology Star Wars series here focused on Vader is definitely welcome and they’re tales that you can either keep or toss away as part of canon and not worry about it. What you want is to just enjoy what these creators can do in playing in short form with the property and either going wild in their way or rich and deep in others. All three stories have great points to them and have that labor of love feeling that delivers.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: April 26th, 2023
MSRP: $4.99
