Writer: Greg Pak
Artists: Raffaele Ienco, Luke Ross, Paul Fry & Adam Gorham
Color Artists: Federico Blee, Frank William, Alex Sinclair & Guru-eFX
Cover Artists: Leinil Francis Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $4.99
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
We’ve finally arrived to the end of this journey. Where Darth Vader first sought to find his son, Luke Skywalker, he ended up trying to define himself in the shadow of the Galactic Empire. And more so, his master Darth Sidious, aka Emperor Palpatine. After many trials and tests, Vader now confronts not only the treacherous Schism Imperial, but his fate and what direction it will take. Read Star Wars: Darth Vader #50 for the series finale to this run centering on the cybernetic Dark Lord of the Sith.
Review:
Well, it’s been a long and bumpy road with this series, but we’ve arrived at the end. Here we have the series finale of Darth Vader’s journey and it’s conclusion that sets the stage for his character in the film Return of the Jedi. The comic has four chapters and I will cover them in order. Let’s get into it. There will be SPOILERS as the review will be split into two parts; the first section will center on this issue and the second half for the series as a whole.
Now, the first chapter picks up with Darth Vader about to lay the beat down on the traitor Administrator Moore and her Schism Imperial. And the comic reeeeally doesn’t waste time as Vader swiftly beats her, I kid you not, in the first two pages with ease. From there, Luke and the M.A.R.S. Corps regroup and leave but Vader goes to the planet-draining Death Machine and powers himself up like never before with its harvested energy. But it’s all according to Emperor Palpatine’s plan as he senses this and already sent a small army of the Sith Eternal with stormtroopers and the giant space squids to meet him. Vader easily decimates them with his new power, but this very power has rippling effects on his connection to the Force where he’s mentally bombarded with his emotions and sensations as he focuses on his hatred for himself, his enemies and his master. Speaking of whom.
It’s here where the Emperor takes control of the chaos and arrives himself (somehow), and we get the best part of the comic. An epic confrontation between the powered up Vader and Palpatine in both body and in the Force. At first, things seem to go Vader’s way, and Raffaele Ienco delivers some great action paneling and art with Vader and Palpatine. However, it’s all a farce inside Vader’s head as he is nearly consumed by his hate and emotions. Surprisingly, it’s Palpatine who breaks him out of the trance and subdues Vader through his signature Force Lightning. And it is here where Palpatine finally has Vader submit to him and realize who is truly in control here.
The second chapter continues with most of the imperial characters returning to Coruscant, with Ochi of Bestoon there to greet the failed Schism Imperial, particularly Administrator Moore. While Ochi taunts Moore for her failure, she reveals that she’s been working for the Emperor the whole time. Which is no surprise to the readers, but the real shock is Lt. Pryde also being in on it as he’s been the true mole in the Schism Imperial feeding their location directly to Palpatine himself. Yes, he’s very loyal to Darth Vader, but he does so believing that he and everyone fulfill their destiny in service of the Emperor.
For the rest of the second chapter, Ochi is placed “in command” of Darth Vader and is instructed to essentially help him work out his frustrations on something. What does Ochi do? Have them travel to Exegol to fight some of those giant space squids. On the way, he sarcastically goes over how he got hurt during his time with Vader before their arrival. From there, Vader gets to cut loose on the flying giant squids. But then Ochi gives Vader a command he doesn’t like, taunts him too far, and Vader punishes him for it.
Then there’s the third and fourth chapters, which are by far the weakest parts of the comic. They essentially wrap up the stories for Padme’s handmaiden Sabe and Anakin’s two childhood friends. Sabe’s chapter is admittedly more interesting as she confronts Leia about what fate awaits her if she continues to resist the Empire or joins Vader. While the latter reunite with their friends and family on Tatooine. They have a close call with some raiders but they’re miraculously saved by Ochi who’s there to recover the leftover planet harvesting power capsules for Darth Vader. But we do get a cool final shot of Vader in the fourth chapter that’s wallpaper or phone screensaver worthy.
Series Review:
Okay, I won’t spend too much time on this part, the review is large enough. I’ll say this, the series had a great start with the first dozen or twenty issues. Plus the opening premise was great! Darth Vader hunting down Luke while commanding his own squad of Death Troopers? Yes, sign me up. But after those first two or three story arcs, that’s when the series went downhill. Greg Pak deviated way too far into the sequel trilogy material, particularly the stuff from The Rise of Skywalker, which wasn’t a great movie period. Then the series got dragged down further with all the crossover events that went on for too long, like Crimson Reign, Dark Droids, and one more I think.
There’s Raffaele Ienco’s art being simultaneously cool looking while lacking any motion or dynamic energy to it at times. It also didn’t help when Greg Pak kept delving into ideas and concepts that were presented and executed better in the other Darth Vader series, particularly Kieran Gillen’s run. Multiple times across multiple story arcs. And the way Greg Pak wrote many characters aside from Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine and others like the Eye of Webbish Bog, always had this juvenile element in their dialogue that more often than not undermined the seriousness of the situations they were in and what they were trying to accomplish. The latest example being Administrator Moore and the Schism Imperial cast.
However, there is one thing that the series accomplishes: setting the groundwork for Darth Vader’s redemption in Return of the Jedi. The better stories in this run were mostly the ones that forced Vader to confront his true desires and emotions, to see what he truly wants from his son, the Empire, his master, and himself. And by the end, Greg Pak does a decent job in concluding Darth Vader’s psychological journey to show that no matter what he says or does, there truly is some good in him, no matter how small it is, it’s there.
Final Thoughts:
Star Wars: Darth Vader #50 concludes the long journey for Vader. Admittedly, the road to this final issue has more than its fair share of flaws and bumps in the road. But the high points still stand out, and the stronger parts of this issue accomplish the goal of laying the psychological groundwork for Darth Vader’s character in the film Return of the Jedi.