– Full Spoiler Review –
How does a Jedi Knight turn into a Dark Lord? Well, if you’re newly christened Darth Vader, it’s not the way that you think. First, you have to get a Sith blade, but you can’t use an existing lightsaber that has been sequestered from fallen Jedi. No, you’re going to have to get your own. Oh, and you’ll have to find a list containing your own potential replacements from the galaxy’s second baddest ass librarian. While baby-sitting the newly formed Inquisitorious, which may also be your potential replacements. You’ll also have to put up with attempted assassination attempts from fellow Imperials. And bounty hunters. And Jedi. And an ancient Sith Lord who stabs you in the back.
Huh. Turns out, Anakin Skywalker, being a Sith isn’t everything you thought it would be. Writer Charles Soule, with his mix of narrow character introspective, grand scale storytelling, and grasp of the Star Wars canon, brings us tantalizingly close to the Dark Lord without giving us a direct window into his thoughts. We stay just outside of Vader’s helmet, never fully understanding his motivations throughout the series, but having enough of an understanding of his thought process that we might bring plausible theories into the mix. Aiding Soule’s masterful storytelling is the dynamic Giuseppe Camuncoli, who brings an electric art to the series. He strays from tracing or photo-realistic art to display well-known characters, instead choosing a vibrant, movement-filled, and angular take on our favorite characters, bring a level of movement to the medium the Star Wars comics haven’t seen before. He was not alone, with a team that largely stayed the same throughout the run, keeping the expansive colors consistent, be it the swirling red/black body of Vader in his mindscape to creepy glare of Mustafar and its underground caverns, everyone was just as vital to the work here. They are: Cam Smith (inks) issues #1-6, #25; Daniele Orlandini (inks/finishes) issues #7-25; David Curiel (colors) issues #1-25; Dono Sánchez-Almara (colors) issues #20, 23-25; Erick Arciniega (colors) issues #20, 25; Guru-eFX (colors) issue #16; Java Tartaglia (colors) issue #16; and Terry Pallot (finishes) issue #22. And for the series’ Annual: Chuck Wendig (writer); Leonard Kirk (pencils); Walden Wong & Scott Hanna (inks); Noland Woodard (colors). Letterers were Joe Caramagna issues #1-25 and the Annual.
Now join Chris and Ryan for the Good, Bad, and In-Between of the Darth Vader – Dark Lord of Sith series:
The Good
“No” to “Yes” Man Series Arc (Ryan): When Revenge of the Sith closes, Vader is last seen belting out a rather infamous “Nooo,” lamenting the ‘loss’ of Padmé and his new situation, how all his plans backfired. So how exactly does Anakin, newly christened as Vader, come to terms with his new life as an anger-spewing Sith Lord? It was a question I’d never worried much to have answered, but thankfully Soule wanted to explore it, which he dives into with aplomb, making it a question I wanted to see answered and was happy to have it drag out as long as possible. And by keeping it 25 issues, it became a succinct chapter of Vader’s life, and despite not getting into Vader’s head like the Legends novel Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader does, Soule and the art team made it just as easy to see how Vader is deals with his new lot in life and accepts it. The true icing on the cake? How Soule made the first line of the series the “No” from RotS and the final line a “Yes” from Vader, closing the loop both figuratively and literally.
New Way to Crossover (Chris): This was a really good series. There’s no doubt about that – almost every arc was firing on every cylinder, and because of that, there was so much good to choose from. But what I really appreciated was the new way that the ongoing series designed their crossovers this year. While Vader Down was a fairly good crossover, despite leaving some still dangling threads, the next one, The Screaming Citadel, fared far worse. It was rushed, the alternating art was distracting, and it has also been left on an indefinite cliff-hanger. 2018 presented a new problem: how can Darth Vader: Lord of the Sith crossover with Star Wars? Their answer was actually fairly brilliant. Both would do complimentary, but time appropriate story arcs. Darth Vader‘s “The Burning Seas” was tasked with showing how the Empire came down on Mon Cala, subjugating the Mon Cal and Quarren under their iron fist. Star Wars, set twenty years later, would show the liberation of Mon Cala in “Mutiny at Mon Cala.” This let both stories have plenty of time to breathe (each had six issues, rather than a total of six issues), while making sure both stories stayed relevant to the series. (I can’t help but admit that The Screaming Citadel dragged Star Wars to a stop, and when they restarted the regular stories, the event was more or less forgotten.) As we move into the new year, it looks like we’re moving away from ongoing series to lots of minis, so we may not see another crossover for 2019. If we do, though, I’d love for it to capture the feeling of this one!
The Bad
Mostly, the Annual (Chris): It was hard to choose something that was entirely bad about this series. In a discussion with Ryan, he reminded me that the series was broader than the 25 numbered issues: there was an Annual. Let me start by saying how frustrated the Annual’s numbering made me. Despite the fact that Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith is technically Darth Vader Volume 2, the Annual was numbered as Darth Vader Annual #2. Where do I put this? How do I arrange this series in my longbox? But, that seems like a minor issue. Chuck Wendig handled the writing duties on this issue, which means that this bad elements of the series doesn’t correspond with Soule’s writing. Unfortunately, this issue was wrought with problems, personal and big picture. Let’s start with my personal issues. Almost every single other Annual was designed to correspond with the main series. This one, and the third and fourth Star Wars Annuals, seem to be bucking that trend. This Annual featured Vader’s attempts at sabotaging the Death Star. The events of this issue take place in the middle of a chapter of Catalyst, and the comic contradicts the events of the novel. Even worse? In a big picture view, this issue robs Lyra of her agency in Catalyst. In the novel, she finds out on her own that Galen is working on a super weapon, and has to find her way back to him to warn him. In the comic? Vader sends a droid who tells her, so she rushes off without any information other than this mystery droid’s words to warn Galen. Such a bummer that it both robs a character who was already treated poorly in a movie from her big moment and contradicts canon at the same time.
The In-Between
Unfinished Threads (Ryan): I understand, like all mediums, space is limited, and in comics it might be even more so, AND you have to build up teases and excitement for other things down the line, but some threads left unanswered left me desperately wanting to learn more. First there was the unknown fate of the Ninth Sister, an Inquisitor who quickly became a favorite of mine due to her absolute sassiness, whose body was suspiciously missing after her fellow Inquisitor used her to escape a trap; one of Ferren Barr’s ‘disciples,’ Verla, escapes Vader and the Empire’s invasion of Mon Cala, and considering she was the only Force-sensitive in Barr’s group, she might still be out there, somewhere, training…; and of course the mysterious buildings revealed to be far beneath Vader’s castle on Mustafar. I’m glad Soule and team were able to leave these threads open but it’s really not easy trying to be patient on when we’ll learn more about them.
QUICK HITS:
Favorite Arc: Ryan – “The Dying Light” I was so very tempted to pick the 7-issue epic that was “Fortress Vader,” but I loved “Dying Light” just a little more because it took Jocasta Nu, a character written off by many as a snooty librarian in Attack of the Clones, and fleshed her out to be a pivotal hold out of the Jedi Purge, as she complies her vast stores of knowledge to keep the Jedi ways alive and tells it to Darth Vader straight about his relationship with Palpatine, though she’s not without her flaws either (the funny, awesome, “Keep your hands off my books” moment). Because of her words about the Sith Master/Apprentice relationship, the arc sees Vader making a very ambiguous choice when betraying his Master, while the beginnings of the Inquisitorius (first seen in Star Wars Rebels) are introduced. But the final panel of the arc, which ends with a glimpse into the future as Luke Skywalker finds Jocasta’s Nu-School for Jedi, showing the strength of her legacy, is what puts it above the rest.
Chris – Since Ryan didn’t, I will choose “Fortress Vader.” Talk about a wild ride. Even though we didn’t know it at the time, the entire series was building toward this moment. Sheev offers Darth Vader anything that he would want, including a planet. Darth Vader chooses, aptly, Mustafar. Not only did he suffer his worst defeat on Mustafar, but we know that even until he fights Luke on Bespin, he is constantly tortured by what happened there. He later takes Infil’a’s lightsaber to Mustafar to be bled, turned blood red. It is fitting that he would build his castle on Mustafar, wherein we also learn is a nexus of Force energy. Lord Momin, an ancient Sith Lord introduced in Soule’s excellent Lando miniseries, makes several fascinating, and humorous, appearances in the arc, teaching Vader how to build the castle in such a manner that it channels the Force more powerfully than anyone has before. Vader’s ultimate goal? Bring Padmé back to life. Unfortunately, Momin and the Force have other plans, and the final issue focuses on a massive Force vision that shows Vader just how far he’s fallen…but shows him that there is yet hope for him.
Least Favorite Arc: Ryan – Honestly, “The Rule of Five” isn’t even bad in any sense of the term, but it feels extraneous in the grand scheme of the series so therefore, if I have to pick a least favorite arc, this is it.
Chris – I gotta echo Ryan here. Was “The Rule of Five” a bad arc? Absolutely not! Seeing Chanath Cha in her early days was a delight. But the arc now stands as a set up for a story that never happened in the series, and one that we have no idea when we will see revisited anyway.
Top 5 Overall Moments (in no particular order):
Chris
- Darth Vader bleeds his crystal (issue #5): There have been few more powerful moments in Star Wars comic history. Honestly, this moment rivals the full page spread wherein Vader learns that his son destroyed the Death Star in Darth Vader #6. We know that Anakin has deep pains, but I don’t know how much we grasped what it looks like for him to deal with those pains until we saw this process play out across the panels. And, hey, I had to include it because it was also one of the first times we’ve seen someone bleed a crystal. It was truly a beautiful mix of both lore and character development – how many authors can you say do that really well?
Jocasta Nu takes on the Grand Inquisitor (issue #8): Jocasta might have been kind of a jerk in Attack of the Clones (how does that moral superiority taste when you’re ultimately wrong?), but seeing her take down the Grand Inquisitor in the Temple was such an awesome moment. As a former librarian myself (having worked in a University library for years), I know how it feels to see books mistreated. How much more, then, would it hurt to see a Sith acolyte reading the sacred Jedi texts? I wouldn’t be able to stop myself, either.- The Tenth Brother (“Burning Seas” arc): This one is definitely a personal top five, and probably wouldn’t measure on most other people’s. I loved seeing that the Tenth Brother was once Jedi Knight Prosset Dibs. Despite not liking Jedi of the Republic: Mace Windu much at all, I thought this was an excellent pay-off from reading the series. One of the things I appreciate most about Charles Soule is that he develops his own world (the repeated appearances of Chanath Cha and Momin prove that), but he’s also extremely adept at playing around in the entire canon.
- Anakin sees “his” Shadow (issue #25): After Vader enters the Dark, twisted Force realm that seems like a perverted World Between Worlds, he sees how the Dark Side has been influencing his entire life, all the way back to his conception. He watches as a younger version of himself walks down a Tatooine road, where he sees a spooky shadow. This shadow is a silhouette of Darth Vader, but more interestingly, is an homage to the teaser poster for The Phantom Menace! I especially loved this moment as I’m a sucker for the real world and in-universe storytelling combine in new and creative ways.
- “I am a Monster” (issue #4): I have to give a lot of credit to the first arc. It had a fairly hard job: how would it follow up on Kieron Gillen’s excellent first volume? Turns out, it would do, and succeed beyond our wildest dreams. If the first volume was about Darth Vader coming to grips with failure, and contemplate his relationship with his Master, then this second volume was Vader figuring out who he is. And boy, is it a mess. But a good mess. A mess that makes for a great story. But seeing Vader accept that he is now a monster, and opening a dam to kill a town full of people, showed us that we were in for a darker ride than we thought.
Ryan
- Vader Bleeding a Kyber Crystal to Create his First Sith Lightsaber (issue #5): I knew there was something special about this second Vader series, as we watched Vader suffer and triumph in his battle with Kirak Infli’a, but the moment when Vader bleeds Kirak’s crystal in the dark side locus on Mustafar to help create his Sith saber was what (pun alert) crystallized DLotS as truly special. From the vision he has of an alternate reality where he turns his back on Palpatine to how it portended things to come as Vader wanted to mine the locus for the breadth of the dark side’s powers/building his Castle as seen in Rogue One, the series all centers on this vital moment. (This also made the Top 5 of my 2017 Year-in-Review)
- Lord Momin’s Backstory (issue #21): First seen in Soule’s Lando miniseries as a creepy, mind controlling helmet which sowed chaos for the eponymous character’s crew, the helmet was glimpsed again in several panels of this series, only to come front and center in the finale arc “Fortress Vader,” as a vital part of the backstory for Vader’s Castle on Mustafar. But before we dove into Momin’s role in those events, the series took a journey into a long ago past, revealing Momin’s bizarre journey and desire to create a piece of art to (worship/honor) the dark side. Jedi intervened and it backfired, leaving him trapped within the helmet, possessing his way through history. The trip into his past is tantalizing due to Soule’s writing of Momin’s POV and the absolutely gorgeous and weird art from Camuncoli and team, detailing Momin’s journeys and ancient plans, helping Momin’s backstory live up to and beat expectations.
- Vision Questing with a Sith Lord (issue #25): The final issue was a moment unto itself, as Vader, free from distractions like ancient Sith Lords and Mustafarian revolts, tears open a doorway thanks to Momin harnessing the dark side locus beneath his Castle and steps through to the other side for one helluva a visual smorgasbord and physiological introspection. From the words spooling across time, seeing Anakin’s body transforming alongside his age while in the red and black swirling body of his meditations, bringing an iconic Ep. I poster alive, to visions of the past and future (like a glimpse of Luke again), the entire sequence is a beauty to behold. And how it helps Vader realize his life has all led to this moment, whether that means he’s still the chosen one or not, it helps the Sith Lord make peace with his new lot in life.
Tarkin Hunts Darth Vader for Sport (issue #18): Another issue where it’s a whole moment unto itself, Tarkin’s hunt of the Dark Lord is a mesmerizing journey, feeling like a true horror movie as Vader picks off Tarkin’s crew one-by-one from the shadows thanks to turning off his breathing machine to go silent AND an animal skin he wears that makes him invisible(!). And just when Tarkin looks to have beaten Vader, the Sith Lord calls on the Force to show he’ll always have the upper hand. Beyond their time together in The Clone Wars, even though Tarkin isn’t quite aware Vader is Anakin yet, this issue goes a long way in showing how the two have enough mutual respect where Vader wouldn’t mind playing second fiddle to Tarkin in A New Hope, as they both know Vader would still come out on top. It’s a tour de force issue, packed with visceral art, fantastic chills, and important background development of a key villain pair.- Vader’s Ambiguous Choice in Crushing a List of Force-sensitive Children (issue #10): After Jocasta Nu, captured by Vader, tells him why the Emperor might want the list of Force-sensitive children he stole from her, Vader makes a deliciously ambiguous choice. Killing Jocasta and the clonetroopers with him to erase any witnesses, Vader crushes the list of kids and lies to the Emperor about what happened. Is he doing it to save these kids of a future like his, wrought with pain and loss as he became the Emperor’s latest weapon, or is he securing his place amongst Palpatine’s new order by preventing him from finding replacements? The moment was/is/will be left open for interpretation, making it my favorite of the series. (This one made the Top 5 of my 2018 Year-in-Review)
I (Ryan) don’t quite know how to follow up on Chris’ intro, but here I go: Whereas Charles Soule’s Poe Dameron survived far longer than originally planned or hoped for, Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith came to an end exactly as planned, from an only 25-issue run mandate and a sincere creative team that wanted to explore an important part of the Dark Lord’s life without compromising his imposing stature in villain history, they pulled off what can arguably be described as a modern classic. While I would’ve loved to see more from this creative team as they put out fantastic issue after fantastic issue, we’re lucky we got such a solid, instant-classic series like we did, so not only did Soule turn Vader from a “No” to a “Yes” man, he turned me too, as I went from, “No, I want more Vader,” to “Yes, I’m glad it ended as intended.”
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. Chris is the Manor’s Sous Chef. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisWerms, You can follow the website @MynockManor.
All comic panel images credited to Marvel/Lucasfilm
DARTH VADER – DARK LORD OF THE SITH REVIEWS:
The Chosen One (#1-6) | The Dying Light (#7-10) | The Rule of Five (#11-12) / Arc Review | Burning Seas (#13-18) / Arc Review | Fortress Vader (#19-25) / Arc Review | Annual: #2
You can see where the Vader series ranked in Ryan’s 2017 and 2018 comic years-in-review