The lie becomes the truth.
Creative Staff:
Story: Charles Soule
Art: Giuseppe Camanucoli, Daniele Orlandini
Colors: David Curiel
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
As the Emperor grip tightens on the galaxy, no tolerance for rebellion can be afforded… especially not when being fomented by a surviving Jedi on Mon Cala.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While the main Star Wars book explores Mon Cala in the post-ANH continuity, I’m far more enjoying what Charles Soule is doing here in this post-ROTS era with Vader, Tarkin, and the rest. The task of bring various worlds to heel in order to further cement power is keep to Palpatine’s plans and showing how it was done is intriguing and varied. It doesn’t hurt that Soule gets to have both Acamanucoli and Oralandini handling the art duties on it as they’ve capturing the scale of the actions happening here, which are significant, as well as the up close and more personal elements of it. While there’s a spot or two that didn’t work as well for me as it should with the flashback, buy and large they again nailed things really well in this book.
With the Empire taking the platforms on the surface, which are basically outposts for the Mon Cala, the civilian population has evacuated below and things are getting serious. Tarkin’s intent on making an example of things here as tightly as he can as he doesn’t want it to get away from him but the king, Lee-Char, is not one to be taken lightly. Both he and Vader understand him because of the past with the Clone Wars and Anakin’s own role in helping him what seems like a lifetime ago. That plays well as Lee-Char orchestrates things to try and provide enough of a wedge so that any real attack will be extremely difficult and costly but it comes with him having to be on the front line himself with Vader and the Inquisitors that he’s brought with him. It’s a quietly frustrating experience for the Empire but they’re the piece that will continue to grind away at its target.
What really intrigued me in this installment, however, is the time spent with the mystery Jedi. Revealed to be Master Barr. What he’s orchestrating with Lee Char is the best way to protect Mon Cala but also, seemingly, a potential group of other padawan survivors that he may be trying to train for the future. What makes this really engaging is that he understands that Vader is Anakin and informs the pupils about what happened at the Temple and Anakin’s role in it. Where Soule won me over as a Star Wars writer was during the Lando miniseries when he had them talking about the view of the Empire by the average citizen combined with that of the myth of the Jedi that few ever truly saw. Soule tackles that again here when one of them asks Barr why nobody says anything about Anakin as Vader now and he talks about how the lie has taken root and cannot be changed at this point – and doesn’t change for decades to come, to disastrous effect when it is revealed. Exploring how those survived and know the truth handle it and the why of it all is one of the things I’m enjoying about the various new works.
In Summary:
With the prequel movies having been the origin story for Anakin Skywalker and the manipulations put into place by Palpatine to make him a useful tool for his own ambitions, Charles Soule has made this a strong and true origin story for Darth Vader himself. The film may have given us that final minute where the character exists in totality, but it’s in this work that we’re seeing how he embraces who he’s become and takes it further with every new step, every new domination, and every new death. There’s a lot to like here in seeing the connection to the Clone Wars and how that continues to shape events as well as seeing what Master Barr may be bringing to the table if he survives this and offers up another path to be explored out there. It’s a strong book with the story and setting material and it once again looks great and brings lots of neat details to the table to enjoy, especially for those that are engaging with all of the new expanded material out there.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: April 11th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
