SWNN Review: Marvel’s Darth Vader #17

DarthVader17-cover

Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Salvador Larroca
Cover Artist: Kaare Andrews

 

• Would you follow Darth Vader into war?
• Better that than to be against him.
• A lesson the Ore Barons are about to learn…

 

Spoilers follow

 

 

Following the events of the previous issue, Vader gives an ultimatum to the ore-barons: cease the rebellion before Vader takes things into his own hands. Barons, however, do not intend to give up that easily. They intend to maintain their power over the planet and their ruler.

 

DarthVader17-1

 

Queen Trios has retreated to a sacred place of her people to contemplate the future. When the barons attack, Vader has no intention to run. Together with the twins Morin and Aiolin he destroys the imposing lava leviathan. The twins are forced, pun intended, to keep up with Vader who wouldn’t be broken up if they perished with the ship.

 

DarthVader17-3

 

Upon their return, several interesting things happen. Queen requests retribution on the baron Rubix whose vessel attacked the sacred site to which Vader agrees. While we didn’t see much of her in this issue, Trios remains an interesting character: she obviously cares about her people, but she is not beyond using Vader. It will be interesting to see if she eventually chooses to do away with barons entirely and become a true ruler, albeit under the Empire.

 

We also see that Cylo is in contact with General Tagge. Tagge respects Vader’s powers, but believes that he is taking too many chances. He is winning the battles, but cannot win the war. He wants the Shu-Torun campaign to end as a triumph of the Empire, not Darth Vader.

 

DarthVader17-4

DarthVader17-5

 

Vader gets the news that Aphra was found. But, before he meets with the bounty hunter, he is stopped by Aiolin. She tells him that eventually she would have to fight with her brother and asks Vader to train her, because he is the last legacy of the Jedi. Vader is entirely dismissive of both her and her brother and declines.

 

DarthVader17-6

DarthVader17-7

 

The bounty hunter is surprised that the client is Darth Vader. If he knew, he probably wouldn’t try to sell disintegrated body as Aphra’s. Vader knows that the body is not Aphra’s and disposes of the bounty hunter as a lesson to all the others.

 

DarthVader17-8

 

The ore barons are in turmoil after the demonstration of Vader’s powers. Cylo is presented as an expert and promises to deliver them Vader.

 

DarthVader17-9

 

While we have come to expect Vader destroying everything in his path, some more subtle elements were highlight of this issue for me. One of those things is Cylo insinuating the previous connection with Vader, one for which the Sith should have been grateful for. Is it possible that it was Cylo who created Vader’s suit and saved his life? One thing is for sure, Vader wouldn’t care, especially when he finds out that Cylo is making the same mistake Karbin did.

 

Aiolin knowledge of Vader’s history is interesting as well. We are led to believe that, especially in this time period, very few people knew who Vader was besides Emperor’s enforcer. Her knowledge suggests that Cylo has much closer relationship with Palpatine than what we might expect. Her request to be trained by Vader might also suggest the cracks in Cylo’s team or, at least, Aiolin’s knowledge that she could be replaced at any time.

 

I never hid the fact that these cyborg characters were annoying to me, mainly because they do little but boast how good they are. However, if we are given a bit more about them as people – who they are as individuals, what they want for themselves, etc. – I might be inclined to care for them more. If he has to keep them in the story, let’s hope Gillen gives us more nuances as he did in this issue. Larocca’s art continues to be one of the highlights of this series. His clean lines, details and use of shadows are perfectly complimented by Edgar Delgado’s coloring.

 

Since this is a four-issue arc, we can expect the story to move forward quickly. All the setup is in place so we will probably see Cylo’s plan unfold in the next and resolution in the last issue. For those who have been following Marvel’s Darth Vader from the beginning, this issue will offer several interesting tidbits about the comic’s players while delivering on hard-ass Vader and making promises on the future. The arc may suite newcomers well – it’s only four issues and it is a good sample for what you can expect from the series. I am excited to see how Vader deals with Cylo because he is certainly a smarter opponent then Karbin.

 

 

+ posts

Staff member, comic and book reviewer. Cheers for the Light Side, but would drink with Grand Admirals.

Jelena Bidin (LadyMusashi)

Staff member, comic and book reviewer. Cheers for the Light Side, but would drink with Grand Admirals.

5 thoughts on “SWNN Review: Marvel’s Darth Vader #17

  • March 4, 2016 at 12:30 am
    Permalink

    Cool

  • March 4, 2016 at 5:25 am
    Permalink

    Covers are improving if this is any indication of the direction they are going in. I’d like to see them reach the quality of the DH run in the early days much as I hope Rebels can someday match TCW.

  • March 4, 2016 at 9:06 am
    Permalink

    Not a fan of Cylo… that eye looks overworked and too reptilian.

    • March 4, 2016 at 2:01 pm
      Permalink

      According to Gillen, it’s a Rodian eye.

  • March 4, 2016 at 8:18 pm
    Permalink

    Great review, LadyMusashi. I enjoyed this issue, but I’m sick of the cyborgs as well. It seems like each arc we are just going to watch Vader dispatch one or a few of them. I wish we could find some new adversaries for him.

Comments are closed.

LATEST POSTS ON MOVIE NEWS NET