Canon Comic Review: Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith #17

– Spoiler Review –

The name of his arc, “Burning Seas,” was not a misnomer, as Mon Cala feels the wrath of the Empire due to a Jedi’s meddling, setting into motion events which will reverberate across time and space, ending this latest story with true epic flair in Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith issue #17.

“Jedi Knight” Farren Barr’s Force Vision Misunderstanding (trademark pending) might be one of the most tragic in recent memory; I’m not counting Luke peering into Ben Solo’s mind as a FVM, though it would arguable be more tragic, but otherwise in the history of FVMs, this is one about tops them all. Billions die all because of a “Jedi’s” pride in being a catalyst in the fight against the Empire, to defeat the Sith, due to him seeing the Mon Cala’s part in the war but starting it too early. I’ve been hesitant to call Barr a Jedi for quite some time now, even going so far as to believe he was the one who blew up the Imperial diplomat’s shuttle to kick-start his vision’s rebellion back in issue #13 (and later #14 once Barr was revealed), but the one-two punch of this and last issue really brings it home that Barr has fallen in his own way. Due to Barr’s almost zealous trust in his Force Vision in #16, I became 99% sure Barr was behind the shuttle’s explosion, and this issue he admits it to Vader in their battle, for the reason I had guessed about setting his vision into motion. Also back in #16, it was revealed all his “disciples” had been mind-tricked into serving him, essentially to become cannon fodder to help him achieve his goals, so Vader is in the right when he tells Barr he’s no Jedi, and when Vader tells you you’re not a Jedi, you’ve really done and gone fallen off the path. Barr had the decent intention of destroying the Sith and taking down Palpatine’s Empire, but he went about it in a very un-Jedi like way, fueled mainly by his pride in getting to say he took down the Sith himself. I wish we had gotten a little more background on Barr, as the Inquisitors called him a Padawan and it was never clear if that was meant as an insult or if he truly was a Padawan when Order 66 struck. In a weird way, Vader ended up being the hero of this story, as preventing Barr from continuing means less deaths and less people mind-tricked into blindly following a fallen Jedi. At the end of “The Dying Light” arc, when Vader lies to Palpatine about the list of Force-sensitive younglings and destroys it, he was doing something good as well, but in both of these cases it’s been for selfish reasons i.e. preventing Palpatine from finding him useless. Barr did something bad for good reasons, and Vader’s done something good for bad reasons. The juxtaposition Barr created was quite excellent, and while his ability to uncover Anakin’s role in the fall of the Jedi was impressive, as was his commitment to his vision, I’m not sad he’s been killed by Vader.

As terrible as the outcome was of Barr’s involvement on Mon Cala, he does set into motion pieces on the galactic chessboard that eventually provide checkmates to evil across time and space. With King Lee-Char disillusioned once he learns the truth behind Barr’s actions, he calls for Mon Cala’s surrender, but Admiral Raddus ignores this order and flees the planet, hoping to come back one day with a fighting force. While he won’t get to do so, Admiral Ackbar will instead (as seen in Star Wars #49), Raddus being free from the Empire’s yoke allows him to be in the right place for the Battle of Scarif, being the first to come to Rogue One’s aid and devise the genius plan to destroy the shield gate, allowing the Death Star plans to be beamed to Princess Leia. With Lee-Char captured, he’s left as way to keep the Mon Cala in line, until the Rebellion, emboldened by the destruction of the Death Star, manages to smuggle out a message to show the Mon Cala people Lee-Char wants them to fight and regrets his decision to give up all those years ago (also in SW #49). And Barr even goes on to say the Mon Cala’s vessels, “…will be a symbol of freedom and defiance across the galaxy, ” and at the forefront of rebellions decades after the timeline of this comic, and decades after that i.e. the sequel trilogy. Not only did this thematic crossover with the Star Wars series’ “Mutiny at Mon Cala” arc play out wonderfully, but there’s something beautiful, poetic even, about how the events here help turn around so many conflicts in the years ahead, and far beyond. From Vader taking on the King’s final guard of Mon Cala, Barr and Vader’s battle, to Tarkin’s devastating show of power and destruction, the events within taken by themselves were epic, but looking at how they ripple across the timeline really takes this issue to a whole other level.

Out of all of Barr’s “disciples,” the remaining one, Verla, is a very interesting case. In #16 we saw flashback panels of how all of Barr’s followers were mind-tricked into joining him, and in #17 we get a glimpse at his meeting with Verla in the past, where she’s levitating a cube while he promises to teach her how to use her abilities. Did he levitate it, making her think she had the Force? Or does she actually the Force? One panel later, we see Barr telling her to leap with the Force over the clones attacking the Inquisitors, but his hand is suspiciously behind her back, either to support her meager abilities or to continue the illusion she has the Force. Regardless, she manages to survive the razing of Mon Cala’s seas and is sent out by Barr to track down other Jedi to train her. This means there’s another Force user out in the wild, and even has the knowledge of who Vader really is, which certainly comes as a nice little surprise tucked into this rather epic issue. I’m not 100% convinced she’s Force-sensitive, but I can’t quite rule it out, and I’ll be curious to see when and where Verla will pop up again in the future, be it this series or another.

Charles Soule continues to find a way to make Vader seem like the hero of the story, even though he’s anything but, and that’s one of the many impressive feats he manages to pull off issue after issue, arc after arc of this series. And he’s been joined by a stellar art team, bringing this epic alive panel after panel, with Giuseppe Camuncoli (layouts), Daniele Orlandini (finishes), and David Curiel back for colors. As far as I can tell, layouts and finishes are just different words basically for pencils and inks, so I’m not sure why Camuncoli and Orlandini were given those different titles this issue, but it doesn’t really matter because it’s still excellent work from an excellent team. The panels where Tarkin’s Star Destroyers rain down hell on the seas of Mon Cala are blistering in their ferociousness, while Raddus’ ships fleeing has a sense of beauty to it. Lettering is provided by Joe Caramagna, with Assistant Editors Heather Antos & Tom Groneman, and Editors Jordan D. White & Mark Paniccia.

Here are a few other things:

E3 2018 was light on Star Wars gaming news, but Respawn’s upcoming single-player game got a title, Jedi: Fallen Order, and some vague details, it follows a fleeing Padawan sometime just after Revenge of the Sith. I only bring this up because this series is set just after RotS as well (remember, it started seconds after the film ended) and the Inquisitors or even Vader could make an appearance considering their job is to hunt down Jedi in this era, meaning crossover potential. And it’s not a dream, folks: Lucasfilm’s Story Group member Matt Martin, who focuses on the comics, has actually confirmed there will be hints for Jedi: Fallen Order in upcoming issues of Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith!!! How cool is that? I can’t wait to find out where, what, when, and how they’ll tease the game in this comic!
Prosset Dibs aka the Tenth Brother Inquisitor, was killed from Barr’s usage of Order 66 on their fresh-batched clones. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE NINTH SISTER?!? The Sixth Brother, a real jerk of a jerk and now I am so happy Ahsoka kills him, leaves Ninth Sister to die so he can get away from the Order 66-ed clones. There’s a panel at the end, showing the scene of the crime, but no Ninth Sister to be found, so I’m holding out hope she survived because after her sass level 9000 treatment of Vader in issue #11, she’s the greatest and you can’t convince me otherwise. In fact, I bet she sassed the clones back to sanity or sassed them so hard she managed to escape, and that will be my head-canon until proven otherwise.
The cover from Camuncoli and Elia Bonetti…*Swoons*
Raddus calls the Imperials “devilsquids.” This I love.
Issue #18 wraps up a lingering thread about Tarkin owing Vader a favor from these issues, so expect an arc review of “Burning Seas” once that issue is out next month.
There hasn’t been a “This Week’s Releases” bit on Charles Soule’s website as of publishing, but I’ll update this if he puts one up. UPDATE: It’s been posted, and in it he basically discusses how easily this one flowed while writing and that Vader’s final words were a surprise to him.

Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith issue #17 didn’t need to prove how excellent of a series this was, but it went ahead and did so in spectacular fashion. Just like the Doctor Aphra series, make sure you are reading this if you want great Star Wars on a monthly basis.

+ Far reaching consequences
+ Vader’s kind of the hero again
+ Verla surprise
+ The Ninth Sister is totally alive…right???!?? Asking for a friend

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

Canon Comic Review: Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith #17

+ Far reaching consequences

+ Vader’s kind of the hero again

+ Verla surprise

+ The Ninth Sister is totally alive…right???!?? Asking for a friend

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