This is only a Test.

Gushing & Procrastination     

Before I get to my review, I wanted to get some gushing and ranting about a few things off my chest regarding Darth Vader the character and the comic in general. In the interest of time I'm going to put that off and keep it vague for no, but I will be posting a more detailed post about Darth Vader as soon as I get around to it. For now I will just leave it at this: I think the Darth Vader series so far is one of the greatest things to ever happen to Star Wars. Seriously. No, really I'm not being hyperbolic. I'll back that up at a later time, now onto the review.

     Before I get to reviewing the story just let me say that this cover is amazing. All Adi Granov's covers are amazing so far. I have six comics, representing several franchises that I love, framed as decoration in my "office" or as my wife designated it when she designed it; "the nerd room". Currently I have Star Wars #1 & the 3rd printing of Darth Vader #1 (I preferred the green for decorative purposes) as the representatives of my Star Wars Fandom. I keep wanting to take down other comics to replace them with more Vader issues. Ok, for real this time I promise I'm going to write about the issue.

"You are so toast"

Finally...

     This comic was different. Personally, I like different. Different keeps things fresh and as much as I like the series and it's portrayal of Vader so far; I was starting to worry that Vader was just going to endlessly be playing "connect kill the dots" on some sort of wild mynock chase across the galaxy with no real purpose. The way this comic distinguished itself allayed those fears for now.

Uh, Wut?

     One of the thing that assured me that things will stay fresh in this series was Cylo IV/V's "Base". Holy space whales! I would love to hear other people's thoughts on it, because I still am not quite sure what to make of it with any certainty. The base would appear to be some sort of pod of dozens of cybernetic space-whales of enormous size, each with structures mounted to it. The image makes it hard to gauge accurate scale, but they almost look like tiny cities on each. I heard many a complaint about it being too fantastical or "Not Star Warsy". I can respect how someone might feel that way, but Star Wars is space-fantasy/sci-fiction and if you get yourself too hung up on "realism" you're going to miss out on a lot of fun.

This is only a test.

     The meat and potatoes of this issue was the revelation that the emperor has at least entertained the idea of replacing Vader and is going to force himself to prove himself. I love this twist. I have always thought of the Sith as being perpetually in a game of cat and womp-rat between master and apprentice all the while working together towards common goals. What better way to keep your immensely powerful apprentice distracted from focusing on usurping you than to constantly keep him in a state of self doubt over his worth? I by no means think the emperor genuinely expects that these jokers will replace Vader, but Vader, like Anakin has a chip on his shoulder that seems easy to exploit. I would guess mostly as a result of constantly being told he was the "chosen one" and all the fear of failure that those expectations gave him as a result. Vader know's he's powerful, but so long as the emperor keeps putting people in his path who view him as nothing more than a powerful relic of the past he'll keep focusing on knocking them down rather than turn his eyes to replacing the emperor...or will he?

"I'm fluent in blood draining"

My one minor critique of this issue has to do with Triple Zero. Personally, I have no objection to the sort of "Bad versions of R2-D2/C-3PO" that they are going for with 0-0-0 and BT-1. It's fan service, but I'm a fan and they haven't gone over the top with fan service so I appreciate it. What I don't like is that I don't feel that Triple Zero has had a consistent personality. Initially he felt to me like a polar opposite to C-3PO. C-3PO is cowardly and insecure, Triple Zero seemed confident and twisted, in this issue he came across as more insecure and needy like C-3PO. I'm probably reading too much into it, given his limited role so far, and maybe it's just a protocol droid thing to seek approval. Either way, I much prefer the confident and twisted 0-0-0 to the somewhat needier, but still twisted Triple Zero.

In closing, I wouldn't say this was the best issue, but it was certainly a good one. It did however contain what I think is the best line of the series so far and one of the best burns ever. Despite not being a super big fan of how he's been drawn, I think the below quote more than makes up for it. Thanks for reading.