– Spoiler Review –
Despite having to follow-up issue #10’s crazy journey, Legacy of Vader #11 manages to maintain a similar level as it continues to explore Kylo Ren’s internal journey and sets up for what might be the biggest, most impactful issue yet.
What could top Kylo Ren visiting the netherworld of the Force, both light and dark? While Legacy of Vader #11 doesn’t surpass such a crazy and memorable journey, what it does for Kylo’s exploration of himself and Vaneé’s attempts to mold him as he sees fit manages to be just as memorable. Between this issue and last, Kylo’s facing down his most recent Masters. Confronting Luke in the Force Ghost Afterlife to air his grievances, which only resulted in him hearing his choices are his own. And now Vaneé, who attempts to morph Kylo fully into Vader or let him die in the process. Where Luke reveals to Kylo how the people closest to him want to support Ben, Vaneé pushes what he thinks the galaxy needs from Kylo, the strong arm of the Empire, Vader reincarnate. As Kylo breaks free from Vaneé’s weird methods to bring this to fruition, he realizes his expectations of the young man have been misplaced and he won’t become what he wants. It’s a point that hits way too close to home for Kylo. As has been clear with more content about the sequel era, expectations for Ben Solo’s greatness followed the young man his entire life, and embracing the dark side and destroying his past to escape those expectations have driven his actions across the films. It’s why his confrontation with Luke last issue was so frustrating for him, as both on Crait and in the afterlife, Kylo’s shown the futility of his choices, how he’s not making a name for himself by destroying the past, rather he’s making it even more about the past. Vaneé’s pushed him to do the flip side of the same coin, not destroy the past, but become it instead. With the life-long expectations of who he could become weighing on Kylo, this push from Vaneé is once again someone not allowing young Solo to simply be who he wants to, which only his fellow padawan Tai was able to offer accepting, though he did so far too late.
By the end of #10, I felt we were already getting the thematic bridge bright enough to make Kylo turn back to the light in The Rise of Skywalker work even better. After surviving a gauntlet of castle traps and deadly droids, Kylo catches up to Vaneé and the latter accepts his fate, to die at the hands of Vader’s line. When he’s unable to produce an answer about Vader’s vault, Kylo’s absolutely done with Vaneé, which I also felt by now, and wants Vader’s servant to stop wasting his time. With his head popped free from its monstruous body, Vaneé tries to tell Kylo he was doing all of this for the young man to achieve his potential. As Kylo says he’s been told about his potential since he was three, a line showcasing how he’s acted so far this era, his next line is far more telling about how he’ll act next, aiding to both solidify the journey writer Charles Soule meant to take Kylo on with this series and further touching on how he’ll make the choice to be exactly who he wants to be. Moments before killing Vaneé, he angrily shouts how he’s everything he needs to be, something it was almost hard to imagine he’d ever say prior to this moment. In The Last Jedi, he was still searching for himself, yet by the start of TRoS, Kylo felt like he knew who he wanted to be, but couldn’t quite take the step to accept it, especially not alone, without Rey. Does Kylo truly believe what he said here? And does he know what it means? Does he know who exactly he’ll be now given he believes he’s everything he needs to be? He doesn’t have it all nailed down yet, but this is a vital step. It was great to have him accept himself, to some degree, to take ownership of who is now and what he’s done. You can see the self-assuredness when he not only quickly bleeds the lightsaber he snatches from the depths of Vader’s Castle to fight off the droids, but cracks it, creating the signature effect from his normal blade, all with a self-satisfied “heh.” It doesn’t mean he’s less likely to turn after his mother reaches out to him, but rather it shows he’s ready to truly put the past behind him, to not let it hold as much sway over him, and write his own story, whatever it may be.
What secrets will Vader’s vault contain? Who was it that asked him if he was scared before entering it at the end of this issue? If how Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith #25 ended is anything to go by with where Soule can take things, I suspect we’re about to get a trippy and memorable finale to Legacy of Vader!
On art remains Luke Ross, with colorist Nolan Woodard and letterer Joe Caramagna. There’s some really great work, as usual, but the double-page splash of Kylo’s escape of the Castle’s traps as Vanee drones on about him is quite the damn sight. It really boils down to Caramagna navigating Kylo’s progress, leading us along the traps and narrow escapes via an s-shaped line of word bubbles, which also feel like they are chasing Kylo, adding to the effect it’s leading us along his path yet also it’s an annoyance he must endure. As for what’s in the spread itself, there’s a great sense of momentum, be it the traps that attack him or how he evades them, as he’s crawling beneath laser blasts, jumping over pits of lava or explosions, narrowly avoiding a barrage of lasers, or even catching arrows in the darkness. And because of how we see it all at once, yet can chart his journey, it seems like a tough gauntlet, but it also gives us a sense of his skill, of his confidence, that he can run through it so quickly. Woodward has a lot to do about pulling our eye along the path as well, making laser blasts pop and seem like quick, sudden shots he’s barely able to avoid, or giving the impression the castle’s a cold, dark, uncaring place as the only sparks of color besides the gray-drag of the bricks are the death lurking in its shadows. This even happens in a cool little part where Kylo’s just outlines in the darkness, catching arrows being shot at him, and given he stepped on a little button activating the traps, it felt like a fun little Indiana Jones reference in the process. The whole sequence of Kylo catching the lightsaber and using it defeat the droids, later bleeding it, was another highlight. Here, I really enjoyed how Woodard’s color work felt in concert from the neat effect of seeing a crystal bled in The Acolyte, as the first swipe with the blade it’s still green, and in the second panel, it changes from green to red mid-swing, and then on the next page, when he cracks the kyber, the background is lit from the blade almost, like this crack is Kylo in his final form, accepting who he is and what his signature look is. This panel is one of many greatly done shots of a shirtless Kylo this issue, for who all those who haven’t gotten enough, while the scars, his smirk, and his hair combine not only to make him as tempting as the dark side, but they show a man confident in who he is in this moment, like when Ben arrives on Exegol in those final moments of TRoS.
Here are a few other things:
- Given issue #12 in January is the end of THIS series, will Kylo return in a new comic? Soule’s hints about what he’s been writing certainly suggest there could be more on the way, but Marvel’s been quiet so far about what their plans are now all their most recent series are ending or have already done so. But given they think #1’s are what drive the best sales, I’m sure Soule will be back with more Kylo under a new series name sooner than later. Yet what it’ll be about is the bigger question we should really be asking and for that, I am even more excited.
- I’m working on my annual Star Wars comics year-in-review post, which should be out early January (but sometimes I get behind on it and it might not drop until late January), and I’ll dive more into the way Marvel’s handling their comics while you can be sure there’ll be a moment from Legacy of Vader which will make the year’s Top 5 Moments!
- I’m very curious about the lightsaber Kylo grabbed…I don’t recall it from Vader Immortal, where you see some of the castle’s depths, but it felt designed the way it was for a specific reason. Which Jedi’s blade was it? While it might be nothing, if it’s meant to be something, I wouldn’t put it past Soule to revisit it in the future somehow.
Legacy of Vader #11 sees Kylo let the past die, without killing it, to maybe start charting his own path forward no matter what anyone else says.
+ Kylo realizing he has what he needs inside already
+ The labyrinthine traps and his confidence shown in small and big panels by the art team
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky.
LEGACY OF VADER REVIEWS:
Reign of Kylo Ren Vol. 1: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 — Vol. 2: #7 | #8 | #9 | #10