Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Raffaele Ienco
Colorist: Federico Blee
Cover Artists: Leinil Francis Yu & Sunny Gho
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The galaxy is in chaos as a new threat emerges and this enigmatic presence creates the Droid Scourge, possessing all manner of droids it comes across and turning them against all biological life forms. Including the Imperial droids on Darth Vader’s flagship The Executor. Read Star Wars: Darth Vader #38 to see how Vader and his forces fight back against the Droid Scourge and retake his ship.
Review:
All right, if I had to describe this comic it would be that it’s not great nor is it terrible, it’s just a bit meh. The story is competently written and the plot is engaging enough to keep my interest while reading it, but it doesn’t instill any enthusiasm to want to read or more. What we get here is the continuation from the previous issue where Darth Vader and his forces on his flagship The Executor are fighting off the “Scourged Droids” (apparently that’s the name they’re going for).
Like before, Greg Pak does lean into some Zombie genre tropes that are very fitting for the story that’s been told throughout this Dark Droids crossover event. The Scourged Droids are swarming Darth Vader as well as Admiral Piett’s imperial forces on the bridge and throughout the ship. Things aren’t looking good for them and on top of that, a handful of star destroyers were deployed the Empire’s vizier (Emperor Palpatine’s public right hand man) to destroy The Executor and Vader with it if he fails to contain and eliminate the threat. Of course, this is hardly possible due to the true nature of the Scourge but that’s neither here nor there.
What works here is the sense of Vader getting overwhelmed or swarmed by the Scourged Droids as the Scourge presence talks to him through the possessed droids. Each of them all conveying how the presence wants to assimilate him, how there’s no escape, and that his assimilation is inevitable. The problem is that Raffaele Ienco’s art doesn’t really lend itself to this droid-zombie story as it fails to convey the scale of huge numbers that the story’s going for with the Scourged Droids. What’s more, it never really feels like Vader was in danger of being possessed since he was just blasting them down with his new shield until one small panel at the halfway point in the comic, but right when the panel shows up the threat is defeated before any sense of danger could sink in.
The synopsis mentions that readers would get a glimpse into Admiral Piett’s personality, but it’s not really that big of a deal. Yes, you learn a little bit of Admiral Piett’s character but it’s a blink and it’s gone kind of feeling. It doesn’t help that the series hasn’t really done a good job establishing Admiral Piett as an actual supporting character to make this moment really mean something. If Greg Pak had done that then this would actually hold some weight to it, but it doesn’t. By the end, the comic sets things up for the next phase of Darth Vader’s side of the Dark Droids crossover event that may or may not be a little more exciting. We’ll see.
Final Thoughts:
Star Wars: Darth Vader #38 continues the Dark Droids crossover story with Vader’s side of things as he fights to retake his flagship. The story is well-paced and the characters are competently well-written and Darth Vader does look cool in the art taking down the possessed droids. The only problem is that the comic wasn’t as exciting as it could’ve been and lacked a sense of danger for Darth Vader for the most part. However, the end of the issue sets up a new challenge for Darth Vader in his side of things in the Dark Droids storyline that could make things more exciting.