– Spoiler Review –
Darth Vader #13 (Vol. 3) manages to both catch Vader up on some of the details unfolding in the War of the Bounty Hunters crossover while expanding and starting its own story, though it might feel a tad familiar so far.
Last issue felt a little clunky with how Darth Vader finds himself eager to hunt down Han Solo, in some sort of attempt to break and later kill Luke, but issue #13 clarifies and sharpens the reasoning. After Palpatine’s show of immense power, Vader wants his share of it and sees the growing power and potential he saw in his son no longer an asset, but rather a threat to take his place at Sheev’s side, taking Obi-Wan’s words on the Death Star and turning them to truth: Vader can’t imagine how much more powerful Obi-Wan has become, a Force Ghost, instead only seeing Ol’ Palpy’s show of power as the ultimate goal and thus believing Obi-Wan’s words were a misdirect from the power within Luke, not anything Obi-Wan could do. In his hunt for Luke, Vader decides taking out his son’s friends, like Han Solo and Leia, will break him and allow the Sith Lord to kill him easily/draw him out. I’m a little surprised the vision Vader received on Exegol from the kaiju he subdued there, which showed Luke killing Vader and taking his place at Sheev’s side, hasn’t been factored in or mentioned much with Vader’s new line of reasoning and focus, because after all, it’s exactly what he’s worried Luke can do, so maybe it’s a subconscious thing now pushing this new train of thought or, unfortunately, the vision was left behind from the last arc. Either way, I’m just glad Vader’s hunt to kill Luke is clearer now.
Issue #13 picks up right where #12 left off, with Vader dealing with the Hutt Bokku to locate Solo, though he soon learns it’s far more complicated than Boba Fett taking Han to Jabba like they last discussed on Cloud City. Appealing to Bokku’s gangster senses, Ochi and Vader suggest they tell them what Jabba’s up to because of course wouldn’t he want to take out the leader and control the Hutt council himself; the guise works and Bokku suggests following a group of droids instead of all the other hunters going to Fett’s last location. If it feels too easy, or rather like a set up, it doesn’t take long for the trap to be sprung: the Droid Crush (yes, those foolish droids from last arc that talk just as much as Ochi) have IG-88 protecting them, and he has a device which can control Vader’s suit. If this feels familiar, Vader dealt with a somewhat similar situation in the first volume of his series, where Dr. Cylo, who created his armor, uses his secret code to shut it down, but through shear will of the Force/force, Vader overcomes it and kills him. Vader does much the same here, though in less memorable fashion, gaining a key piece of IG-88 to obtain more information on who hired him/where’s Han Solo, and Bokku sees the plan spiraling out of control and tries to kill Vader from his ship, which of course doesn’t work. Vader uses the droid’s appendage to finally learn about Crimson Dawn’s return and their possession of Solo, catching this series up on current War of the Bounty Hunters events so if a reader was only reading this series, they’d easily have some sense of the larger picture. I liked how Vader recognizes the asset of keeping Bokku around, and how the Hutt sees sense in not trying to betray Vader again, and the two continue to work together. Bokku reminds me a bit of Grakkus, a Hutt from Nar Shaddaa who was buff like Bokku, though he had to use metal appendages whereas Bokku gets around by himself and has some truly massive paws.
Vader doesn’t learn who hired IG-88, as he didn’t get the droid’s head, but we the readers learn: Administrator Sly Moore. The Umbaran administrator, who’s been with Palpatine since before the Empire, has some machinations of her own now, after watching Vader’s progress since his banishment to Mustafar. She’s concerned about his ability to overthrow the Emperor and therefore kill her… and her court! There’s a group of a few other beings alongside Moore when IG-88 reports going against Vader is futile and now I’ll be curious to learn more about them: why they feel they’re important enough regardless if the Empire’s alive or not and what they do right now that is so important. However, a cabal of figures standing against Vader because what he can take away from them also feels a little familiar too, be it the replacements Vader faced in the opening series, the Imperial officers who saw him as a threat in the Empire’s early days, or even the Amidalans from early in this run, but such is the perils of having so many Vader-focused series over the years, though I hope Pak can make this latest conspiracy against Vader fresh and exciting like he did with the Amidalans.
Welcome back, Raffaele Ienco! He’s been the driving force behind what makes this Vader run special, from the flashback panels twisted in unique ways as the series explores Vader’s psychology to his stylish way of bringing in content from all over the Saga, it was supremely weird to have him away for a single issue. Whereas the opening War of the Bounty Hunters issue didn’t bring much variety to the Hutts on the Hutt council, despite there being precedence for it, I liked Ienco’s Bokku, a leaner, meaner Hutt who hides his duplicity behind a rather friendly face, compared to most Hutts. In Vader’s battle with IG-88 and his armor controlling device, I really liked the panel of Vader’s saber inching closer to his helmet and then the one after, where the saber reflects within his visor’s eye but so too does IG and the controller, showing his true focus in the moment; in a way, it’s almost a way to get his thoughts in that scene, as it’s similar in style to this series’ internal thoughts bubbles, as this is a mostly black panel with red to highlight what he’s thinking about, like the panels which are all black with red bubbles for his thoughts. Otherwise, the big IG-88 reveal panel, with all his massive guns blazing, is a fitting intro while Vader blocking Bokku’s ship’s lasers is an explosive sight to behold, befitting his abilities. Jason Keith joins for the first time on colors, keeping the red tint the memory panels are drenched in, while I enjoyed the brightness and heat he adds to the explosions and the stark difference of seeing the green of Moore’s home on Coruscant. Joe Caramagna brought the chaos to the action, with tons of large SFX littering scenes like all the lasers/explosives IG’s slinging, while the “brakom” of Bokku’s lasers bearing down on Vader really give the barrage a weighty, deadly feel.
Here are a few other things:
- Don’t forget, the War of the Bounty Hunters crossover lasts through October, and we’ll be covering the whole thing here. Each month we’ll have our Hunters’ Guide, an article that rounds up the month’s issues about the event, detailing what happened and what it might mean for the rest of the event, which is a handy way to keep on top of the large story in case you’re not reading all of the content. The crossover was made modular in design, so you could read just the eponymous miniseries, but reading these tie-in issues expands and adds context to the larger story!
- I’m not quite there yet with enjoying Ochi, but this issue helped, just a little bit, with how he’s kind of Vader’s hype man now.
- Chris just release his arc review for “Into the Fire,” exploring the issues he had with Vader’s journey through Mustafar, Exegol, and plot points of the Sequel Trilogy.
- Only two Pride Variant covers left!
Darth Vader #13 (Vol. 3) can’t avoid some familiarity, but clarity in Vader’s purpose, the potential from the newest conspiracy, and it getting caught up with the War of the Bounty Hunters crossover helps the issue out.
+ Clarity to Vader’s new groove
+ Return of Raffaele Ienco!
– Air of Familiarity
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.
WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS CROSSOVER
May: Alpha #1 | Star Wars #13 | Bounty Hunters #12 | Darth Vader #12 | Doctor Aphra #10 / Hunters’ Guide for May
June: War of the Bounty Hunters #1 | Bounty Hunters #13 | Star Wars #14
DARTH VADER (VOL. 3)
Dark Heart of the Sith: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 / Arc Review — Into the Fire: #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11