– Spoiler Review –
With the resurgence of Crimson Dawn shaking up the power balance of the underworld and their spies permeating the Empire, Darth Vader #18 (Vol. 3) finds the titular Dark Lord recruiting a ragtag team to bring down those who would betray the order he believes the Empire provides, while a familiar face from earlier in the series (and Saga) comes packed with potential.
At the end of the War of the Bounty Hunters crossover, Darth Vader reproved his loyalty (or refocused his anger…or something, it was a little hazy) and was tasked by the Emperor to root out the Crimson Dawn spies within the Empire. While he was presented with a giant part of the Imperial war machine, he and Ochi of Bestoon agreed a subtler approach would be needed to go after undercover spies; there was also the whole surprise of Ochi supposedly part of the Dawn himself, rescuing Qi’ra at one point, but that doesn’t get any mention or continuation here. Regardless, Vader and Ochi are on the hunt for a different kind of army this issue and it brings us a wide, varied cast of characters, either skillful hunters or those with bones to pick with the Dawn and their permeation into every corner of the galaxy. This was both a fun and enjoyable aspect to the issue but also chaotic and shrug-worthy, as while there are some distinct designs for these characters, they all seem one-note to the point I question the longevity of the new life they bring to the series.
We meet two different groups, eventually united under Vader’s iron will that will help the Dark Lord find and destroy the Dawn spies. How they’ll go about that exactly, especially when most of them stick out like sore thumbs/aren’t very subtle with their tactics, remains one of the big question marks but for now I’m not going to worry about it. The first group is a few assassins Ochi hires from the guild he’s apart of (he killed a few other ones to save Qi’ra), their test run being breaking through the Dawn’s defenses of some random religious cult: Chilla Zin, a giant insect-like creature with a hunger to match; Gee-Ninety, essentially a giant ball droid; and Loriach, a gal with great sniper and driving skills. The second group, nicknamed by the Imperials as the Revengers, are all those who lost their villages or loved ones to the Dawn’s aggressive takeovers: Ankala, who looks coded as an Indigenous person, a rarity in Star Wars but I’m very happy to see; S’ira, a Weequay; and Tanka, a giant Trandoshan that sort of looks like a tank (please act surprised). Beyond some personality traits and scant backstory, that’s all we know of them, but they all agree to serve Vader because he’ll kill them otherwise, though since they all have the same enemy in their sights, it only makes sense they work work with him to serve their own goals. It’s a unique crew, to be sure, but we’ve had large groups of characters in this series before and it hasn’t resulted in much expansion on most of them, beyond a select few. And speaking of that last large group…
Way back in the opening arc of the series, “Dark Heart of the Sith,” Vader ran into Padmé’s handmaidens who had arrayed themselves with other like minded individuals in the search of answers for their Queen and Senator’s death, calling themselves the Amidalans. After working with them to deal with his grief, Vader lured them to Polis Massa, aka where Padmé died and his children were born, and before he could uncover any information they attacked. Weirdly, issue #5 didn’t make it clear about their fates, only for issue #6 to finally clarify a month later they survived, but left out how, how many, and what they were up to next. Well, at the end of this issue, Sabé returns (forecasted by recent solicitations), at the very least!! Is she alone? What happened to the others? The one thing we do know is she’s teamed up with Crimson Dawn now, though I’d be curious if this was the case since we met her or after the Amidalan’s defeat at Vader’s hands, so she has even more resources at her disposal whenever they’ll meet again. Why would she want to see Vader again, and for what purpose? Does she know the truth of Vader now and wants to carry out Padmé’s dying words, to see if good is still in him? As this series has had middling issues for some time now, often blasting through important moments or focusing instead on the crossover’s story, a return to one of my favorite parts in its beginning is enough to hook me back on the train for now. There’s also a small appearance from the mouthy and funny droid ZED 6-7, though I don’t think it’s much more than a small cameo here (I hope to be wrong).
Leonard Kirk takes over the series for the moment, with colorist Alex Sinclair joining, while letterer Joe Caramagna returns. Kirk isn’t a stranger to Star Wars comics, having drawn everything from Han Solo – Imperial Cadet to the Villain issues for Age of Resistance, and his familiarity with the galaxy far, far away, and my familiarity with his style, made him a natural fit. The opening panels of Vader’s scared head and face look like something from the films, while I really liked the design for each new character. There were some confusing panels, often too much at once so it wasn’t always clear what was happening or who was in it at times, but clarity wasn’t far behind when the action wasn’t kicking up into high gear. I found myself most intrigued by G-90, the giant ball droid, though I’m not entirely sure why: was it the way it could attached itself to the bottom of Loriarch’s speeder, its multi-detailed bulkhead design and little head with eyes giving me Driller vibes from Image’s Descender comic series, or that it was just a giant ball of death that rolled where it pleased? Sinclair’s colors are really what made Cygnus Anton work, the bird-like character so dapperly dressed I want more of his species immediately (almost gave me Vergere vibes from Legends), his coloring clashing with is regal clothes, while I liked the glow from the fire during the final few pages of the issue. Caramagna often doesn’t help the chaotic feeling of the action scenes, as he throws around a lot of SFX, though I did enjoy the placement and size of G-90’s speech bubble for when it says “Pardon” after running over some Dawn stooges.
Here are a few other things:
- Considering Bounty Hunters #18, which also released today, featured Vader heavily as he brought Beilert Valance into understanding his new role with the Empire, hunting down an Imperial betrayer for Crimson Dawn, I’m surprised this issue never mentioned or alluded to it at all. I’ll be curious if there’s any overlap between the two series, as well as to learn how they overlap in terms of timeline.
Darth Vader #18 (Vol. 3) finds its biggest potential with the return of Sabé, though there’s some hope elsewhere as the issue works on setting up its next arc.
+ Potential unlocked with Sabé’s return
+ Quite the interesting crew…
– …though too one-note at the moment
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
DARTH VADER (VOL. 3)
Dark Heart of the Sith: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 / Arc Review — Into the Fire: #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 / Arc Review — War of the Bounty Hunters: #12 | #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 | #17