– Spoiler Review –
Left broken, battered, and unable to use the Force, Darth Vader is in a tough spot, even for him, made worse by the Sith Assassin Ochi of Bestoon on his way. Darth Vader #7 (Vol. 3) sees Vader try to build himself back up after his lowest point, all while battling Ochi, until a strange and mysterious resident of Mustafar appears.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Vader’s mechanical parts virtually destroyed and him left for dead, his first fight with Jedi Kirak In’fila didn’t go so hot, but last time he was able to rebuild himself thanks to the power of the Force. This time, Emperor Palpatine has expressly forbidden usage of the Force as part of his punishment, and Vader’s recent painful memories of the lashing he received at his Master’s hands is enough to prevent him from trying to use it here. However, as much as Mustafar has taken from Vader over the years, it has given to him as well, as his actions towards the end of Revenge of the Sith, slaughtering the Separatist leaders, provides him with spoils to rebuild himself. Recruiting a mouse droid army, Vader reassembles himself with various droid parts leftover from his massacre. The work’s finished in the nick of time, as Ochi of Bestoon arrives and the battle begins.
Ochi’s two scenes in The Rise of Skywalker are either of him as a skeleton or stabbing Rey Skywalker’s dad, without any dialogue, so beyond his face he’s basically a blank slate for writer Greg Pak to explore and build. Pak makes him an overconfident, smarmy jerk and, with his armor/helmet, it seems to fit, but I have a hard time imagining it when Ochi has his mask off. Regardless, his confidence isn’t entirely misplaced, as he holds his own and pushes back against Vader quite a bit, though the caveat this all happens while Vader actively decides not to use the Force isn’t the most glowing assessment for Ochi’s abilities. Their short but eventful battle reminded me a bit of Luke and Vader in Return of the Jedi, as Ochi, much like Luke, says just enough in response to Vader’s probing that he gives away a secret, though that was Vader searching Luke’s feelings through the Force and this time it’s because Ochi talks too much. Vader’s interrogation, using his giant new metal hand to overwhelm Ochi, leads the assassin to reveal he knows Palpatine is building something that equates to a power not even Vader could defeat, especially with a simple lightsaber. This would seem to be a hint about Exegol and his plans out there, but it remains to be seen how far this comic will go towards uncovering that aspect to Palpatine’s plans. Regardless, until Ochi takes his mask off, I didn’t mind him that much, especially since he had some pretty impressive moves and at one point used Vader as a springboard over the lava of Mustafar, which most people never get the chance to live and tell if they did that; lets just hope he stops forcing everyone to say “…of Bestoon” after his name. But there are more interesting things for Vader to deal with than some petty revenge to worry about…
Like, the Eye of Webbish Bog! If you’re left saying “Who?!” much like Korath in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, then you’ve likely not read The Rise of Skywalker novelization or the film’s art book, both which contain the Eye of Webbish Bog, a character cut from the final film. The novel runs you through the scene where Kylo Ren, in the opening moments on Mustafar, must trade words with the Eye before obtaining his grandfather’s Sith wayfinder, and now in Darth Vader #7 (Vol. 3) we get to see how Vader first met the Eye, while also eventually finding out how he makes it protect such an item for him. I’m looking forward to next issue since the Eye has some riddles for Vader, which it teases Vader his rage can’t solve, which means we’ll get to see more of Vader’s shrewdness and smarts instead of just his raw power again.
Initially, I found Raffaele Ienco (art) and Neeraj Menon’s (colors) art to be a little hard to follow for some of the battle between Ochi and Vader, but a second read through provided a little more clarity, as I was taking my time a bit more, and it flows much better than I thought. This should come as no surprise, as this art team continuously delivers the goods, especially in the short but brief red-tinted flashback/memories panels, be it the full page one of the younglings standing ominously over Vader as he slices through the Separatist leaders or the brief scene of Vader confirming he slaughtered ALL the Jedi in the Temple, alternating with the black panels with red bubbled writing (tip of the hat to letterer Joe Caramagna), really make these scenes hit home, and hard. I also really liked their panels with the mouse droids helping Vader, the hellish style they brought to Mustafar, and the look of the strange Eye of Webbish Bog.
Here are a few other things:
- Last week, we visited Mustafar in another spooky installment of IDW’s Vader’s Castle series, Shadow of Vader’s Castle, which teased quite the interesting next iteration for 2021’s Halloween festivities!
Darth Vader #7 (Vol. 3) quickly finds Vader back on solid ground after his thorough beating at Palpatine’s hands, even despite a Sith Assassin hot on his newly minted heels, while propelling him towards a strange and interesting creature in what is sure to be the series most intriguing issue yet.
+ Vader’s ingenuity
+ Hello there, Eye of Webbish Bog. Tell me your riddles!
– Much like last arc, maybe moving a little too quickly
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