Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Raffaele Ienco
Color Artist: Federico Blee
Cover Artists: Leinil Francis Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $4.99
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Darth Vader has defied his master, Emperor Palpatine. He joined the traitorous Schism Imperial led by Administrator Moore, and they assaulted the planet Exegol. There, they raided what resources they could, specifically a large chunk of red Kyber crystal. But at the last minute, Vader was betrayed by the Schism Imperial and left on Exegol at the mercy of the cyborg MARS Corps, meanwhile Administrator Moore takes her followers to destroy Luke Skywalker. See how father and son endure their respective attacks in Star Wars: Darth Vader #49.
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Review:
Okay, last time Darth Vader was betrayed by Administrator Moore and the Schism Imperial. What a shock. And he was left at the mercy of the MARS Corps, a group of elite cyborg soldiers of the Rebel Alliance who were brainwashed to by Vader to serve him. Now, they want payback. But this all happens as Luke Skywalker is now targeted by the Schism Imperial to get in the Emperor’s favor. There will be SPOILERS in this review.
First, this comic can be split into to two halves. The majority of the comic has Darth Vader being tortured and interrogated by the MARS Corps, who really want Vader to know what pain they went through. But it’s ultimately thanks to his servant droid convincing them the reality of their situation and persuading them to help Vader fight the Schism Imperial and save Luke. Meanwhile, Luke is being attacked by the Schism Imperial and taking them on however he can while still being a hero and having time to save someone.
Vader’s half of the comic is sadly the boring part of this comic. The MARS Corps aren’t threatening, they’re hard to take serious, and the droid even calls them out for having little time before Vader regains control and kills them all. Whereas Luke’s portion of the comic is more fun and action-oriented. It also unwittingly shows how much of a bumbling fool Administrator Moore is as a villain and how incompetent she is too.
She was so quick to try and destroy Luke that she not only underestimated him, but she did all this while terrified of Vader showing up. We even see her fail to “convince” Luke to forge an alliance with her and the Schism Imperial, mind you after they attacked him. He naturally declines, and she falls back on threatening him again. Just in time for Vader to arrive on the scene to save Luke and get ready for the final battle.
I will say this, it was nice to see Luke be a hero and kick ass and even save the life of one of the members of the Schism Imperial. The writing for him felt right and on point with his character. It’s sad that the Vader portion was visually and writing-wise unimpressive and far from interesting in comparison. On top of that, Administrator Moore is far from a good choice for the final foe to close out a Darth Vader series as, from what I’ve seen, issue #50 will be the end of this run. Hopefully, the next and final delivers a more excitable conclusion to the series.
Final Thoughts:
Star Wars: Darth Vader #49 brings the penultimate issue to this run. Darth Vader is being tortured by the vengeful MARS Corps, while Luke Skywalker fends off attacks from Administrator Moore and the Schism Imperial. There are some underwhelming parts to the comic, but the best parts are seeing Luke Skywalker in action fighting off the Schism Imperial’s strikes, and the issue does a solid job setting up the finale between Vader and the Schism Imperial.