To say Darth Vader left an impression on me is an understatement. How do you write such a character into a monthly series without taking away his threatening nature? Simple put you don't, you use that to your advantage.
Taking place after the destruction of the first Death Star and the events in the current Star Wars series Vader is in trouble. As you may remember his line from ROTJ the Emperor isn't as forgiving as him. While Vader points out he's not entirely to blame for what happened at Yavin he's the only one that still lives. Sort of. The best twist is that Tagge--the guy that is famous for being the first person we see Vader force-choke--is alive. Worse for our lead is that the Emperor sees Tagge in a better light since he saw how arrogant they were being against the rebels even with the Death Star.
The Emperor sends his apprentice to make a deal with Jabba the Hutt twisting the knife at the fact he's going back to Tatooine. It's a nice detail at how cruel the Sith Lord can be with just his words even to his longtime ally. The friction is handled nicely with Palpatine refusing to tell Vader anything then expecting his student to report anything new. We learn that he didn't say anything about Obi-Wan dying at his hands, sensing Luke or meeting him in the latest Star Wars comic. It seems he also found out Obi-Wan gave his old lightsaber to Luke. I assumed that Palpatine would know the Obi-Wan part because Tarkin knew but then again it wouldn't be Tarkins' place to report it. No one else outside the rebels would know.
Arriving in Tatooine early he meets with Jabba to get a personal favor done first. It's a great comparison on Luke's own meeting with Hutt in ROTJ. Seeing it you remember why Vader is a threat and can't be swept aside. Vader hires Boba Fett and a Wookie to help him look for Luke. I always got the impression in ESB that Fett earned the spot as Vaders' go to guy there. While his bounty hunters turn away Vader remarks that he's done with the planet and we see he's killed another tribe of Tuskin Raiders.
Overall: I really enjoyed this and look forward to getting the trade at some point. Vader never voices it but his emotion is pretty damn strong throughout this. In his silent glances, his memories and as always in his actions. If you're a fan of Darth Vader and don't mind there being new canon this is a great book.
Questions Raised?: Vader isn't used to haggling? That may not have been Anakins' strong point but as a Jedi he at least knew something about it. A light nick picky on my part I admit as I can see him not wanting to negotiate. And well, we saw in the movies how one sided his deals were.
No comments:
Post a Comment