Target Vader finds a group of bounty hunters, one from Legends past, out to take down, you guessed it, Darth Vader himself. With issue #1, this latest Vader-focused series might be playing a bit too much into the nostalgia factor with a Legends resurrection and can’t quite avoid making readers ask “why more Vader,” but it does have some intriguing mysteries I might want to see solved. In the interest of time, I’m only reviewing the first issue, but will return to review the whole miniseries once it’s completed later this year.
Another series about Darth Vader certainly feels like too much at this point from Marvel, but at least the Dark Lord doesn’t seem to be the main character of the miniseries, per se. Instead, that falls to Beilert Valance, an ex-Imperial turned cyborg bounty hunter with a penchant for working alone and not following the Bounty Hunter Guild’s rules. He’s a newer canon character, having first been introduced in Han Solo – Imperial Cadet, but for those who haven’t read the miniseries, it could seem odd to base a miniseries around Valance, and even as someone who did read the other miniseries, I can understand why a good portion of those fans might be questioning why the jerkish supporting character got a miniseries devoted to him instead of following up on the far more interesting thread with Kanina (because I certainly am!). But Valance has ties to the heyday of Legends material, specifically the Original Marvel Years way back in the 70’s/80’s, with his story finally being wrapped up in 2019 thanks to May’s one-off Legends continuation as a way of commemorating Marvel’s 80th Anniversary. For a section of fans and creators who did read those comics, excitement to see Valance brought into canon is something even I can relate to despite not reading those older stories, as I like the idea of such a Legends resurrection, but when there have been so many great new characters who deserve more panel-time than Valance, and his story got a happy, seemingly fitting ending just this year, why the need to revisit him for canon? Can they do his story any better? Will it make this make it worth sidelining far more intriguing and exciting new characters for Legends’ past? After one issue, Target Vader didn’t make me like Valance anymore than I already did, which admittedly isn’t much, but it didn’t make me like him any less, and while that’s something, it won’t be enough if it stays the same by series’ end.
My biggest concern going into the miniseries was my worry over there being too many Vader-focused series, as I said earlier, but so far Vader feels more like a threat hanging at the edges, kind of like in Rogue One, alleviating some of my concern. As much as I appreciated his limited appearances, I am thoroughly confused how Vader goes from being ordered to hunt down the mysterious syndicate by Palpatine to going around questioning why there is a plot to murder him (put out by the same syndicate). How did Vader hear about that when the plot had begun only moments before with Valance, and his newly formed crew, accepting the job?
Beyond having Vader, a ghost of Legends’ past, and even Dengar, Target Vader does add some new characters, even if a few randomly die the moment we meet them: First there was Xonr, who perishes at Valance’s hands after his conversation fulfills its expostional needs; Honnah, a female Gamorrean tracker who may or may not eat her victims, therefore making her my favorite of the issue; Urrr’k a deadly sniper cloaked in mystery, though her name does resemble those of the Mustarfarians; Chio Fain, an Ardennian (as seen in Solo) slicer; and R9-19, a droid claiming to be a Jedi hunter, but before we get any details, Valance destroys it to a) show how cool he is and b) because it has a tracker in it, and c) while Valance’s Legends story involved him hating droids after he was made a cyborg (as he is here), that doesn’t even seem to factor in his destruction of R9-19 so I’m wondering if they dropped that thread, which seems like a mistake as it turned into an important aspect for his redemption. Lastly, and most intriguingly, is a female Rebel operative who may or may not be running the Hidden Hand syndicate, introduced in the issue’s final panel. Is she smuggling weapons to make some money for the Rebellion, whether the rest of the Rebellion knows or not? As much as I want to learn more about her, and get to know these new characters, it’s hard not to see the writing on the wall with their fates. If the series is so willing to kill off new characters already, and we already know Vader won’t be killed by miniseries’ end, everyone’s chance for survival is very, very limited, making investing in these characters, and the miniseries itself, even more difficult.
Robbie Thompson showed he can handled a bigger cast with his work on Han Solo – Imperial Cadet, so I have high hopes we’ll have fun with the new characters regardless of how long they stay alive, while his idea to make Vader a background character was a smart choice, but so far he hasn’t made Valance anything but a walking tough-guy stereotype. Art comes from Marc Laming and Cris Bolson, with colors by a whole slew of people: Andres Mossa, Jordan Boyd, Neeraj Menon, Erick Arciniega, and Federico Blee; and Clayton Cowles on lettering. Everyone does a really good job of giving backgrounds a dark and grimy look, as we are dealing with the underworld types here, and I especially enjoyed the atmospheric opening with people disappearing into the mist due to Vader, though Valance’s big rampage through the bar was a little odd to follow. Overall great art team for the beginning of the series, though art will be trading hands for the remainder.
Target Vader #1 doesn’t dissuade my original fears regarding this miniseries, but I’ll be checking back in when it’s all over to see if it manages to overcome its shortcomings, as it does seem like there are some intriguing ideas hidden in here, somewhere.
+ Intriguing mysteries
+ Plenty of new characters…
– …that are gone, and likely will be gone, far too quickly
– Valance being picked to lead a miniseries on nostalgia alone
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
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