Canon Comic Review: Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith #19

– Spoiler Review –

Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith issue #19 begins an epic, 7-issue arc titled, “Fortress Vader,” and if this issue is anything to go by, it’ll unfold in the typical fashion of this series and be well worth your investment.

Considering “Fortress Vader” will get into the backstory of Vader’s castle on Mustafar (as seen in Rogue One), issue #19’s start was an intriguing one to say the least, connecting to a plot by Palpatine that’s been going on for years, touched on in several different mediums. #19 begins with Vader invading the home of ex-Jedi Eeth Koth, who has taken a new name, distanced himself from the Jedi, gotten married, and just became a father. Koth puts up a fight to protect his family and newborn daughter, but while he keeps Vader busy, three Inquisitors track down Koth’s wife, Mira, and their baby. Once they acquire the baby, Vader ends Koth’s life and the team returns to Coruscant, where they are told to be patient for the next target. The ending leaves plenty of questions, which I’ll get to in a bit.

The Inquisitors going after Force-sensitive children is part of a larger story that began in The Clone Wars animated series (which is coming back for 12 new episodes next year!). In the Season 2 episode, “Children of the Force,” bounty hunter Cad Bane is forced to reveal where he took children from a list of Force-sensitive kids he acquired after stealing a holocron from the Jedi Archives: a secret facility on Mustafar where Sidious is basically trying to make spies to send into the Jedi Order. Abandoned for the time being, Sidious, now Emperor Palpatine, continues the search for Force-sensitive children, though ex-Jedi Ahsoka Tano takes up a mission to save those she can (as seen in the Ahsoka novel) as early as a year after Revenge of the Sith. Palpatine comes close to another list of kids, but Vader wants to ensure his place in the Empire so he destroys a list he takes from Jedi librarian and Order 66 survivor Jocasta Nu, who tells him these kids will be used to replace him (as seen in “The Dying Light” arc of this series, specifically issue #10). By the time of Star Wars Rebels, the Inquisitors (both the Seventh Sister and Fifth Brother are seen in this issue) are still hunting down babies (as seen in “The Future of the Force”), something Ahsoka still tries to prevent but Kanan/Ezra take the burden of, though their efforts to protect the kids or if the Inquisitors continue being used post-“Twilight of the Apprentice” failure remains to be explored. For issue #19, the baby daughter of Koth is brought back to Coruscant to two weird beings with white, creepy masks that kind of remind me of the Force Priestesses from TCW S6 episodes with Yoda, so is this where the kids start the program to be turned into Inquisitors? It’s never explicitly stated what they are doing with the children, but this seems to be the most logical step for the program to take. In fact, the Grand Inquisitor name-drops “Project Harvester,” a program where potential Force-sensitive recruits for the Imperial Army are taken to Arkanis to become Imperial agents aka potentially more Inquisitors, something explored in the really excellent Servants of the Empire series that ties into Star Wars Rebels. Are the babies and those recruits both part of “Harvester?” Is this arc going to reveal more about the project or is this just a tantalizing tease? I sure hope it dives into it more, but I won’t be disappointed it won’t, as the Story Group has proven they not only want to play the long game, they really make it pay off when the time comes.

The Inquisitors Vader takes along with him include the Fifth Brother (introduced in Rebels alongside the Seventh Sister, who cameos this issue), a unnumbered Twi’lek male, and an unnumbered red-skinned female I’ve taken to calling Shades (yes, I’ve been watching Luke Cage) for the time being. She seems to be the more important of the new Inquisitors, as she’s the one who tracks down Mira and the baby, playing a rather nasty trick and securing the child as Vader ordered. Shades confronts Mira, on her way to her father’s ship to escape, and when Mira asks Shades to let her keep her child, woman to woman, Shades acquiesces and allows them to escape…only to snatch the baby out of Mira’s arms with the Force as she flies away in her father’s ship. It’s a cruel, but important lesson for Mira, who will probably never trust another person again, besides her father, though it could be a valuable survival tip that could go a long way. Back at Coruscant, Shades and her Twi’lek buddy share some drinks, only for Vader to rudely interrupt them by igniting his lightsaber. Wait…what??!? (~~Update: For those you who are reading this issue digital-only, the final page is missing. Hopefully this is corrected quickly though it’s been a day already…~~UPDATE 2: Digital editions now have the final page!)

Why does Vader raise his blade against them? It’s not exactly unprecedented, as he’s done so before, and chopped off a limb or two, back when the Inquisitor program first started, but this time feels a tad bit different. After returning to Coruscant, Vader’s question about the next target results in the Grand Inquisitor showing another list of Jedi survivors to Vader (we last saw such a list in issue #7) and then he’s told to wait as “Harvester” continues in the mean time. Vader ‘waits’ by meditating, fixing/modding his suit, and sparing, with the meditation bringing us another gorgeous panel of his inner turmoil, though where there were once tiny blue butterflies to symbolize the good still instead, not a single one is in sight this time. Content with his ‘waiting,’ which doesn’t seem long as the Inquisitor have only begun their post-mission drinking ritual, he comes for his lightsaber visit. What did he sense about Shades? Is he mad she let Mira go, despite not saying he cared earlier? Or is something else afoot? We’ll have to wait to find out until later this month, but this is an intriguing cliffhanger to go with.

Soule’s writing continues to be some of the best in Star Wars comics, and Star Wars in general, and issue #19 is no exception, as a story about Vader’s Castle begins in a surprise and intriguing way, and based off his previous work, I can’t wait to see where it all goes. The art team along for this journey is once again made up of the amazing trio of Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils), Daniele Orlandini (inks), and David Curiel (colors), whose work deserves lots of praise once again. I really enjoyed the style of fighting they gave Koth, while that first panel of Vader’s home invasion was suitably freaky as all hell, and their take on Vader’s meditation is still the best artwork as metaphor stuff in the comics to date. Letterer Joe Caramagna is here for the assist, while Assistant Editor Tom Groneman and Editor Mark Paniccia are officially in place and overseeing this epic, 7-issue story.

Here are a few other things:

If the cover of this issue reminded you of one of the original Star Wars posters, it’s totally on purpose, as Soule and team wanted to do something special for the cover considering how big of an arc “Fortress Vader” is supposed to be. While a close homage, someone helped take it one step closer by giving Vader Luke’s ripped chest.
Soule took to Twitter to reveal why Koth was chosen as the Jedi for this story.
Canon Chronicler on Twitter was nice enough to translate the Aurebesh and here are the names, which include a few new ones: Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Coleman Kcaj (!), Oppo Rancisis (!), Selrahc Eluos (aka Charles Soule backwards), and Ka-Moon Kholi (a reference to artist Giuseppe Camuncoli). So while the last two might be more list Easter Eggs, Soule shared a picture of which Battle of Geonosis Jedi Kcaj is, while I’m happy to see this list contains several non-human Jedi.
The baby’s face when Vader tells it to be quiet is very relatable.
It looks likely that the Ninth Sister did not survive the previous arc and I am very, very saddened…thankfully Shades looks to be a fun replacement.
UPDATE – Soule’s notes for DV #19 include a very interesting tidbit on how this 7 issue arc will play out: “…you should think of 19-20 as Act I, 21-22 as Act II, 23-24 as Act III and then the big #25 as a sort of coda.” A three act play with a coda? Very nice. If you read issue #18 and enjoyed it as much as I did, then you know Soule’s codas are pretty awesome and I suspect #25 will be more of the same (if not even better).
UPDATE: It turns out one of the unnumbered/unnamed Inquisitors seen this issue is none other than the Second Sister, who will be starring as the main antagonist for the upcoming Jedi: Fallen Order video game! This is the connection Soule teased was hiding within the final arc of the series.

“Fortress Vader” first issue, #19, looks to continue the Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith‘s creative team’s continued success as they begin their biggest story yet.

+ “Shades” and her nasty trick
+ Connective tissue
+ Vader’s drinking game interruption cliffhanger

Canon Comic Review: Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith #19

+ “Shades” and her nasty trick

+ Connective tissue

+ Vader’s drinking game interruption cliffhanger

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