– Spoiler Review –
Marvel’s longest running Darth Vader comic comes to an end with its 50th issue, but can it redeem itself for stretching out to get here?
My feelings about Greg Pak’s Darth Vader (Vol. 3) have been no secret, as I’ve talked a lot about it needing to end or being stretched out in my 2022 and 2023 comics year-in-reviews, and especially in my reviews of the last dozen or so issues. I don’t like to be negative unless it’s absolutely necessary, as I’d rather be critical and offer solutions instead, so most of my discussion has leaned that way, but in the last few issues it’s grown harder. For the finale, well…it’s just great we’re finally here and I’ll still do my best to be critical.
Much like its predecessors, Darth Vader (Vol. 3) had a goal for the titular character to achieve: the rebellious Vader, who attempted to get his son to join him to overthrow his Emperor and rule alongside him, has to not only deal with his son’s denial, but come to believe it’s useless to try defeating the Emperor, as he’ll tell Luke Skywalker on the forest moon of Endor. Could Vader’s acquiescence to Palpatine in Return of the Jedi work on the idea alone Vader simply needed/wanted his son to rule with him and his rejection in The Empire Strikes Back would be enough to make Vader feel like there was no use anymore, as fans had to accept for years until this comic? Potentially, but it would make more sense if Vader felt the sting of his Master’s wrath to an extent which even his son wouldn’t be enough to convince him to rebel, that his lot in life was to be the apprentice and never the Master or to never have the chance to get out from under the chains he put himself into. The opening arc of this series was a blast getting to such a point, bringing back some big surprises, like Sabé and the handmaidens plus the Amidalans, and ended with a nearly deadly blow to Vader and his resolve. It felt like a good enough place where Vader could’ve learned his lesson, but as the era dived into crossovers and Vader’s journey got more complicated by dueling and changing alliances in foes and allies, we got further from the point of the series as time went on, even as we revisited Palpatine beating down on Vader again and again, only for the Dark Lord to attempt to take him down once more. This repetition is one of many reasons why, by the time we get to issue #50 now, it’s as exhausting as it is for Vader to face Palpatine again as it is for us to revisit the same confrontation between the two. The way everything is wrapped up so neatly in the finale, to the point it’s basically back to where we started 50 issues ago, only hurts this issue and the overall series more, as suddenly, this time, after supposedly getting more power than the previous attempts, now it’s too much for Vader, now he’s ready to submit, but we’ve seen him laid low and fail so many times and it’s over so quickly here, it lands with a silent whimper of a moment. There’s some great imagery, especially under Raffeale Ienco’s always impressive work, but the pathos of the moment was lost a long time ago, and it doesn’t feel like we weren’t going to avoid this moment, it just felt like a prolonged inevitable situation we were hoping would come. The previous two series had definitive paths as well for Vader to take, yet told it in only 25 issues, and even with a shorter run they kept it feeling like Vader had insurmountable odds to get to where he needed to, to complete the character journey, but by elongating Vader’s struggles to 50 issues, alongside all these crossovers (which Star Wars comic readers might not be as accustomed to as most comic readers), and having him come close to the necessary revelation time and time again, it zapped this series’ efforts at the knees very early on. As I always like to say with Vader, less is more, and it’s been shown time and time again this adage is usually true, and it’s never felt so prescient than it has with this issue/series.
It’s neat there are several chapters to help wrap up other aspects of the series’ story/characters, but as I said before, this far too quick and neat bow undermines the finale, as it suggests we didn’t need to wait this long to get these answers. It would’ve helped if more changed beyond what we already knew would, Vader being subservient to Palpatine, but much of the series finds its characters back to their status quos as they were in the beginning. Sly Moore’s little Schism was, again like her supposed time with Crimson Dawn, all part of Palpatine’s plan? Did anything she say or do matter, or was it all a performance? If so, why? Why did we have to sit through them doing all this Exegol stuff just to get here? At this point, I don’t need these answers, but these are the questions this bait and switch leave us with. The M.A.R. Corps get to go home to the Rebellion, one of the Schism following them, with Luke and Warba in tow, but we don’t or won’t get to see how these events really affected them much, as this series never cared to go beyond plot usage for most of these characters anyways. Ochi gets back to being funny and then beat up, again, only to be a connecting punchline between chapters wrapping up other character’s stories, but please go read Shadow of the Sith to get a great depiction of him. Wald and Kitster manage to escape with some of the Tauntaza’s Death Machine power sticks, which allows them to buy the freedom of their other friends, Amee, Melee, and Seek, who also appeared briefly in The Phantom Menace as well. I liked this part overall, as at least they are all free and get to live a happy life now, though I was a little surprised they all held Anakin in such high esteem but if other material tells us there was often broadcasts of the Jedi’s efforts in the Clone Wars it would make sense they knew of his deeds.
What kept me coming back to Darth Vader (Vol. 3), and I was most interested with in the finale, was Sabé’s fate and teases of what could be next for her if she survived. Sabé’s return is what really hooked me in the beginning of the series, and kept me intrigued when she’d appear throughout later storylines, and I felt like the finale managed to mostly give her and her time here justice. She’s the one battling against Palpatine when he comes for Vader’s soul, trying to reach out to the good in him like Padmé believed was there, and her failure shows how it would take a far more special person to Vader’s heart to help bring him back to the light. So what does she do next? After having tested Luke, to make sure he’s not a Sith or likely to fall to the dark side like his father, she finally comes to test Leia, doing her best to not reveal the truth of Leia’s parentage in the process, and of course Leia is everything Sabé would’ve ever wanted to see in her best friend/heart’s daughter. I love the idea Sabé is still out there after this, her story not completely finished, so she could always come around again and interact with Luke and Leia.
On art, there were several teams, with Raffaele Ienco and colorist Federico Blee delivering the opening chapter, “Destroyer”; artist Paul Fry and colorist Frank William for “Chapter II: In Service of the Emperor”; “Chapter III: There is Another” has artist Luke Ross and colorist Alex Sinclair; and the final chapter “Phantoms” brings back Adam Gorham on art with Guru-eFX for colors; while Joe Caramagna remains as letterer across all.
Chapter I: Ienco has always been stellar, especially when it comes to scale and big, bombastic displays of power, so of course his final go of it doesn’t disappoint, Caramagna keeping up with him with sound FXs which consume panels, and Blee makes all the glowing explosions of power bright, blinding, and deadly feeling, to the point when they are gone, the resulting panels feel quiet. As much as I’ve always liked Ienco’s bigger moments, there’s some lovely smaller ones, like when we get a red-tinted flashback to Padmé as she hears Anakin’s slaughtering confession in Attack of the Clones and the next panel is Sabé, looking similarly distraught as she realizes all her work on Vader was for naught. On the next page, as Sabé and Palpatine fight for Vader’s soul, their faces are split in two by a panel cut, and her distress and his smirky smile are such great juxtaposing images.
Chapter II: After the extra dramatic events of the main story, Fry’s style, and William’s more subdued yet still dark coloring, capture a slightly lighthearted tone that feels refreshing. Ochi of Bestoon being a helmeted character, for the majority of his panel time, needs to be expressive in different ways, especially to convey the humorous tone he brings to the story, and Fry seems to be having as much fun as Ochi is lauding his perceived promotion over the droopy headed Vader. William conveys drama with deeper shadows or specific brightness to a panel, with my favorite being Vader’s form, wrapped in white clouds, primarily all a black shadow.
Chapter III: Ross’ fidelity and near-perfect likeness for characters is always something I look forward to, and his particular skills felt best for this story which features alt-universe images of what could’ve been, as it feels just a little more plausible. One part is seeing Sabé in her Imperial armor gear, leading the Imps in battle, first teased earlier in the series, which heads in a scene where she shoots Leia down on Endor, but the following panel is her in a Rebel outfit, a tear down her cheek. The following page, as she presses the test on Leia, we see the much-hyped image of Leia in an Imperial set of armor, stark white and majestic, but with similar belt and buttons it’s not too far off to see the resemblance to Vader’s suit, who looms in the background of the panel. It’s a spooky, yet effective image, and I loved Leia’s anger and disappointment for Sabé when she refutes such an idea being worth her time. Sinclair uses such a brighter set of colors it feels like an admittance of how we already know how this story and this test will end, as it never gets too dark. The final page of the story has some lovely imagery reflecting Sabé and Padmé holding Leia, as well as Rebel Princess outfit for Leia that is the refutation of the Vader-armor we saw her in earlier.
Chapter IV: Gorham’s more exaggerated style lends well to the tale of Kitster and Wald breaking free and helping out their friends, as they seem as silly and out of place trying to be clandestine and black-market savvy as readers would expect, from their excessive hooded robes and open flaunting of the power they have with them. When Ochi enters the story and we end on a scene with Vader, Gorham and Guru-eFX makes the pair and their friends feel so out of their realm with deep shadows and scary colored eyes on Ochi’s helmet.
Here are a few other things:
- Starting in early October, this era of Star Wars comics gets a big maxiseries to send it out with a bang: The Battle of Jakku! Consisting of three miniseries at 4 issues each, and having a near weekly release, the more we hear about it, the more exciting and epic-sized it sounds. As for what Marvel might do next after it’s over…we might find out late October at NYCC!
- On 9/19/2024, Disney Lucasfilm Press shadow dropped a new audiobook original Obi-Wan and Anakin story! Set three years after The Phantom Menace, the Republic needs their help to recover a spy…by having Anakin podrace?! Both this series and now this new audiobook having Anakin/Vader on a podracer again?! We are thriving!
Darth Vader #50 (Vol. 3) is the end of an era of Vader comics and it’s a good signifier of why it needed to finally happen.
+ Terrific art for each tale/Sabé’s journey through the finale
– Only hammers home the point this was stretched beyond necessary
– Resetting to where we all began makes the story feel futile
– Doesn’t make the wait feel worth it
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Bluesky, Twitter @MynockManor, and Instagram @mynockmanor.
DARTH VADER (VOL. 3)
Dark Heart of the Sith: #1-5 — Into the Fire: #6-11 — War of the Bounty Hunters: #12-17 — Crimson Reign: #18-22 — The Shadow’s Shadow: #23-27 — Return of the Handmaidens: #28-32 — Unbound Force: #33 | #34 | #35 | #36 — Dark Droids: #37 | #38 | #39 | #40 | #41 — Schism Imperial: #42 | #43 | #44 | #45 —The Razing of Exegol: #46 | #47 — Phantoms: #48 | #49