Canon Comic Review: Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith “Burning Seas” Arc (Issues #13-18)

– Spoiler Review –

Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith‘s “Burning Seas” arc (issues #13-18) lives up to its name thanks to Vader and Tarkin attempting to bring Mon Cala to its knees, whom uncover another Jedi survivor with a few tricks up his sleeves, while the consequences of the arc are felt throughout the Saga in surprising, fun ways, making this another unforgettable arc for the series.

Set a year* after the Revenge of the Sith, “Burning Seas,” finds Palpatine ready to let the galaxy learn the Empire is not a benevolent successor to the Republic, but rather a dominating military power who is anything but the friendly neighborhood government. He tasks Tarkin and Vader with bringing Mon Cala to heel, providing the galaxy a lesson on how the Empire truly operates now. Tarkin is in charge of the military operation, while Vader and his Inquisitorious are meant to ascertain if Mon Cala’s King is working with a Jedi, and if so, destroy the Jedi. Things do not go easily for either side, as the Jedi helping the King stirs up trouble, causing the Mon Cala and Empire to engage in a prolonged battle, full of surprising tactics and deadly, far-reaching consequences.

The series so far has kept Vader, and plenty of introspective moments about the helmeted Sith Lord, at the forefront, but this was the only arc that doesn’t keep him in the spotlight as much. The first issue does find Vader revisiting his fateful battle with Obi-Wan on Mustafar, except this time he’s already Vader and thus able to win, as he is no longer the foolish young man Anakin was back then. Otherwise, some of the Tarkin and Vader relationship is brought to the forefront this arc, especially in the coda issue I’ll talk about in a moment, while we get to see how he works with the Inquisitors in the field now that he’s not all instant kill happy the moment they mess up, something the Emperor had to ask him to do in the previous arc. In the end, Vader is his usual Force to be reckoned with, from a brutal showdown with a Mon Cala squid to easily dispatching the King’s Guard, and he of course slays the Jedi and wins the day for the Empire.

“Burning Seas” instead spent more time with Jedi Farren Barr, who is presented as a pretty calm and collected Jedi with a plan. He has tons of evidence to prove Anakin Skywalker is Darth Vader, he’s helping King Lee-Char negotiate with the Empire, has a group of followers, knows all about Order 66 (which he uses to great effect against the Inquisitors and their clones), and realizes the Jedi failed because they had fallen to the dark side in their own way (much like Yoda tells Ezra Bridger in Star Wars Rebels). With all this information, one would think he’d reveal this to the galaxy and help unearth the Empire for what it really is, but he believes it’s too little too late, and the general public has moved on/accepted its new overlords. But it slowly becomes apparent this isn’t the only reason he doesn’t reveal what he knows, as he has had a Force vision to help save the galaxy, and so proud is he of the Force picking him to unfold its will, he’d rather get to say he singlehandedly took down the Sith than let anyone else get the credit. In fact, his followers were mind-tricked into following him, serving the purpose of basically being cannon fodder to protect Barr. He’s fallen so far it’s Vader who calls him out as no longer being a Jedi, because you know when Vader has to say it, you’ve done really messed up. By striking Barr down, Vader almost becomes the hero of the story, as he helps cut the needless bloodshed on both sides short, whereas Barr misleading King Lee-Char was continuing to lead to more and more people dying. The juxtaposition between the two was one of my favorite aspects to this arc, as it shows just how much damage a Jedi, fallen to the dark side and committing terrible acts for the right reasons, can cause, and how a Sith Lord can bring a close to needless violence, even if it is for the wrong reasons.

Charles Soule has proven himself to be an exceptional craftsman so far, but the way “Seas” connects across so many different eras and mediums of Star Wars storytelling is pretty damn amazing: King Lee-Char was first seen in The Clone Wars, where Anakin, Padmé, Ahsoka, and even Jar-Jar helped him unite and free his people from Separatist agents, and now in this series Anakin is helping to subjugate him under the Empire; Admiral Raddus from Rogue One shows off his tactical abilities, while this arc sets up his exodus from Mon Cala so he could be free to join the Rebellion and later help at the Battle of Scarif; Ackbar is once again the middle of another war; the Tenth Brother Inquisitor is actually a Jedi from the unfortunately forgettable Jedi of the Republic: Mace Windu series; Mon Cala is put in chains meant to be broken by the Rebellion years later; Order 66 strikes again; and Vader pulling himself through the water to a safer depth is a move Leia does when ejected into the depths of space in The Last Jedi. These connections across the timeline are just a few of the bigger ones, as there are plenty of other little, subtle ones hidden within too, but either way it’s amazing how deeply connected Soule manages to make “Seas” to the rest of the Saga. For those who have consumed all the pieces of connective tissue, it’s a great reward, but never does Soule make knowledge beforehand of these references necessary, which is a nice touch for those who can’t/won’t/haven’t yet visited the other material.

“Burning Seas” was part of a new type of crossover event, largely considered ‘thematic,’ as its story built up to events within the Star Wars series’ arc being released at the same time, “Mutiny at Mon Cala,” which took place decades after the events in “Seas.” I’ve found the previous two crossover events, Vader Down and The Screaming Citadel, to be fun in their own ways, but both suffered from how crossovers are traditionally done. For those, the two series crossing over were mushed together for 5 issues of a truncated story, which was normally wrapped up too quickly to really feel as epic as one expects a crossover to be, while the respective series didn’t deal too much with the fallout from the events within afterwards. For this ‘thematic’ one, both series were able to properly breath their own stories, keeping their own series’ tones and artists, while the events within entwined rather organically: King Lee Char is captured by Vader and the Rebellion frees him years later; Farr’s prediction of the Mon Cala fleet to be at the forefront of the Rebellion against the Empire comes to fruition long after he took it upon himself to make the Force vision a reality; etc. If this was an experiment, it was a success, and I hope they consider more crossovers of this nature in the future.

One thing Soule has done differently than most writers is giving his arcs codas, consisting of usually an issue or two, to wrap up a lingering thread or two and/or set up events for the next arc. I’ve enjoyed these in the past, but issue #18’s coda, “Bad Ground,” was one of the most thrilling and intriguing codas to date, exploring the relationship between Tarkin and Vader in a very unexpected way. Back in issue #16, Tarkin asks Vader to divert from taking down Farr and capture Lee-Char instead, hoping to use him to bring the Mon Cala resistance to an end, and Tarkin puts himself in Vader’s debt. Issue #18 is all about Tarkin repaying his debt, as Vader asks Tarkin to hunt him down, to prove there’s still a way someone could challenge him in combat now that the Jedi are largely gone. Tarkin pretty much wins, but the sheer determination and force of will in the Sith Lord gives him the final edge, and a mutual respect is born. As I put it in my review of the issue: “Predator meets Star Wars for one of the most chilling and thrilling issues I’ve read in quite some time.” The Annual issues for each series have been hit or miss so far and I feel like how this coda was handled would almost be a better way of doing Annuals in the future, as it returns it to how some of the better ones were in the past (Darth Vader Annual #1, Doctor Aphra Annual #1) as those connected to the main series’ plots and characters.

The art team of Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils), Daniele Orlandini (inks), and David Curiel, with an assist from Java Tartaglia and Guru-eFX for one issue, (colors) is one of the best on Marvel’s Star Wars many series at the moment. Be it the epic, grueling, wonderfully put together battle between Vader and a squid, told in utter silence, to the whales washing out the surface cities, Raddus’ great defense, Tarkin’s bombardment, or Lee-Char and Barr slowing losing it, it’s the big and small moments they bring to stunning life again and again. Sure, some of the white male faces look a little too similar, but it’s such a minor thing it’s barely worth mentioning, nor does it every take away from the majestic, epic nature of the team’s overall art. They even recently did a mini one-shot at the end of Star Wars #50 and it made me wish they could work on even more series. Charles Soule’s writing is what fuels this series, as I’ve gone over his ability to weave a great story with lasting consequences, but the art is what makes this series whole and I always look forward to every issue because I know the art and writing won’t ever seemingly disappoint.

Letterer for the arc was Joe Caramagna, while “Burning Seas” served as Jordan D. White and Heather Antos’ final issues for this series, with Tom Groneman as the new Assistant Editor joining in the end.

Here are a few other things:

*When issue #13 initially released physically, it had an error saying “Burning Seas” took place after a 3 year time jump, but it’s actually 1 instead of 3. This has only since been corrected in digital formats, and will be changed for the trade release of the arc, but it has lead to plenty of confusion for readers who aren’t scouring Twitter for corrections by Lucasfilm Story Group members like Matt Martin or Pablo Hidalgo. The biggest problem with the time jump being 3 years is that the Sixth Brother is killed by Ahsoka Tano shortly after the one year anniversary of Order 66, which would make his appearance here 2 years too many after his death, while the time jump only being a year makes it all fit.
One of the biggest hanging threads from this arc: Verla, one of Barr’s followers, who may or may not be Force-sensitive, survives. Where/when will we see her next?!?
The cliffhanger with the Ninth Sister’s fate HAS BEEN KILLING ME since issue #17 dropped back in mid-June. I want her sass back and I want it now!

Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith‘s “Burning Seas” continues this series’ impeccable record of amazing stories and fantastic art.

+ Vader is a “hero” of this story
+ Barr’s slowly unraveling stability
+ Consequences reach across time and space
+ Excellent coda

Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.

Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith
The Chosen One (#1-6) | The Dying Light (#7-10) | The Rule of Five (#11-12) / Arc Review | Burning Seas/Bad Ground: #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 | #17 | #18 | Fortress Vader (#19-25) / Arc Review | Full Series Review (by Chris and Ryan) | Annual: #2

Canon Comic Review: Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith “Burning Seas” Arc (Issues #13-18)

+ Vader is a “hero” of this story

+ Barr’s slowly unraveling stability

+ Consequences reach across time and space

+ Excellent coda

Check out the rest of our Canon Comic Reviews here!

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