– Spoiler Review –
Two new stories join Jason Aaron’s recurring tale in Darth Vader: Black, White & Red #2, one with a creepy story and another with good art and an important message, though my feeling the series hasn’t made itself entirely distinct from being just more Vader remain.
“Hard Shutdown Part 2” Written by Jason Aaron, Art by Leonard Kirk, Colors by Romulo Fajardo Jr., Lettering Throughout by Joe Caramagna
While there’s no follow-up to the fan theory inspiring Cyn’s diversion to render Vader’s suit powerless, we do learn more about the man and his motivations. As hinted at in “Part 1,” Cyn’s father worked on Vader’s rehabilitation, but to perfect his work, he used his only son as a testing ground, tearing him apart and replacing him with various parts as well. This pain and agony, through Star Wars’ typical daddy-issues of course, has given Cyn the desire to destroy his dad’s greatest work, aka Darth Vader. While Vader is trapped in his suit, the only part Cyn doesn’t have control over is Vader’s mind and control of the Force, which the Dark Lord uses to turn the tools of his torture against his captors, bringing death to most and causing Cyn and the survivors to flee the building despite Vader still being strapped down. Cyn promises he’ll still win the day since he’s as much a weapon as Vader is, so what else might he have up his sleeves? I’m less eager to see what’s next than I was at the end of “Part 1,” but I guess I’m curious enough to see how far he’ll get before Vader will win…unless they are giving us a non-canon tale and he doesn’t, which would be very interesting.
Regardless, we’ve sort of been here before. Man of science has control of Vader’s suit. Thinks shutting it down will stop him. Man of science underestimates the Force, loses. If you read the Darth Vader (2015) series, which happened during writer Jason Aaron’s last time with Star Wars comics, then this whole story, in the broader sense, can’t escape comparison to Dr. Cylo’s machinations. We learn Dr. Cylo, who recreated replacements for Vader on behalf of Emperor Palpatine, also built Vader’s suit, so he knows the secrets to overriding it. Vader gets trapped in his own mind, in a fantastic issue, and uses the Force to help free himself. There are differences, for sure, but “Part 2” made it harder to escape the feeling we’ve seen and done this before.
The art certainly is quite different, though my issues with Kirk’s action being hard to follow, backgrounds amorphous and too packed, returned much stronger in “Part 2,” so it only added to my feeling of not really caring what happens to these people arrayed against Vader. Knowing Cyn’s history now makes the way he’s been drawn not only make more sense, but gives extra dimension to his tale as well. Fajardo Jr.’s colors in this part function more to give a panel layers, various shades of red to show depth, and they do help a little with the packed, over-filled panels. Caramagna’s lettering remains as unobtrusive as possible, doing what it can to move us around the clutter, while his more sparring SFX punctuates certain moments, like Vader closing the door with the Force, to show the Dark Lord’s power, even subdued as he is.
“The Endless Mercy” Written by David Pepose, Art by Alessandro Vitti
It seems the middle story in each issue so far is specifically designed to be harrowing to some extent, as last issue had surreal art from Peach Momoko I’ve had nightmares about and now this one has creepy creatures I’m sure I’m going to have nightmares about going forward. Alessandro Vitti’s art also gets a little hard to follow like Kirk’s was in the opening tale, but the amount of detail is very impressive, as is his control of the black, white, and red color scheme. The page where Vader’s trapped in some type of web after being knocked out, all sinewy and meaty red, is spooky and feels icky looking at it. The detail on his helmetless face, as it’s knocked off at one point, really makes the man underneath look as sinister as I bet some people imagined he would, matching the intensity of the monstrous faces of the creatures on the ship, showing he’s just as big of a threat as they are. When Vader confronts the Queen, her attempts to bring him into the hive mind bring him to his knees, and I quite liked the way the Queen puts an almost supportive pincer on his shoulder, like a mother, welcoming the next child into its family, though its terrifying visage, dripping in red, makes it feel anything other than motherly.
Having the monsters be hybrids due to the dark mind of a scientist, and having made herself the Queen, is a spooky tale, as I’ve always found transformation storylines scary for some reason. Regardless, Vader gets away in the end, the dark side of the Force, his anger and hatred, enough to overcome her hive-mind, so while an interesting concept, not much of a surprise in how it all goes down. I did like Vader’s final lines, a warning message the dark side will always endure, some way or another, telling us the fight against it will be a constant.
“Power” Written by Victoria Ying, Art by Marika Cresta
Last time we had a Vader seen through different lenses series, it had plenty of problematic elements to it, especially in a story where a kid essentially looks up to Vader as a hero. It shows how maybe those who believe in the Empire, even at a young age, could view someone as monstrous as him as a hero, but it never quite acknowledged or dealt with the reality of the fascist system he perpetrates. While “Power” has a similar outcome, Vader almost looking heroic to a kid who was bullied, Ying confronts the issues of this mindset as young Niko is now eager to gain power to bring the same terror down on his enemies, as the homes and ground around them burn. There’s a clear message here, on the horrible destruction the path for power can bring and terrible lessons it teaches those young and gullible or looking for a way to fight back against bullies and other injustices perpetrated against them. Acknowledging the reality of Vader and the system he represents, presenting him not as a hero to worship but as a force of destruction, tackles the worship of villains in a pointed, simple, and memorable way.
It was really great to see Marika Cresta’s return to Star Wars comics, as she helped usher in the latest iteration of the Doctor Aphra comic back in 2020, and I’ve been hoping to see her return somewhere ever since! Of the three stories this issue, Cresta’s was the easiest to follow, as I liked the way she used the red for dust in the background, filling in the negative space, while she used black or white with small accents from the other on most outfits to help define characters, and then her usage of red for hair or parts of some outfits kept it easier to discern where one character started and another ended as she packs plenty into a small space. The usage of red to denote moments of anger or surprise, filling in the background of panels, made each instance feel like a big moment, while the increase of red all over each panel as the story reaches its end, the stormtroopers shooting up the place and Vader entering the picture, made anger and the desire for power feel overwhelming, almost suffocating, as it should compared to being something to hope for.
Darth Vader: Black, White & Red #2 provides some uniquely stylized tales once again, but two issues in and it’s bubbling over the Vader saturation point.
+ The message of “Power” and its art
+ Still some potential in opening tale
– Vader saturation point is bubbling over now
– Art hard to follow at times
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.
DARTH VADER: BLACK, WHITE & RED REVIEWS
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