Published: August 16, 2023
Rating: T
Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Raffaelle Ienco
Colourist: Federico Blee
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Artist: Leinel Francis Yu & Sunny Gho
The synopsis;
CURSE OF THE JEDI – A DARK DROIDS TIE-IN!
• Killer Droids have taken over Darth Vader’s flagship Super Star Destroyer, the Executor!
• But even with the powerful Kyberite shield, the Dark Lord of the Sith cannot fully control the Force!
• Will the lessons of Jedi Masters Qui-Gon and Obi-Warn save him from the SCOURGE — or make him a tool for its galactic conquest?
The review;
Haunted by the gazes of his lost Masters, Darth Vader hurls blaster bolts backwards with his lightsaber in Yu & Gho’s direct cover. Placing the Dark Lord on such a pale background creates a striking juxtaposition and the Dark Droids crossover provides a very unique feel to this cover. Camuncoli’s The Clone Wars 15th anniversary variant cleverly uses Anakin Skywalker aboard a Venator, which is almost identical to how Vader appears in the Executor’s corridors. Meanwhile Barends’ variant has the Sith Lord looking down upon Mas Amedda, which is basically how the entire government views the so-called Grand Vizier, and Sprouse’s anniversary variant is a striking composition inspired by the Death Star II duel.
After having regained most of his control over his powers, Darth Vader receives an urgent distress call from Grand Vizier Mas Amedda. The Executor – the biggest Star Destroyer in the fleet and Vader’s personal flagship – is in grave danger. All communications are down, and it appears the crew are under attack from within. When Vader returns, he finds the crew destroyed, the droids in control, and the bridge command failing. If Darth Vader can’t stop the threat in time, then the whole ship will be obliterated by the remainder of the fleet…no matter whether he can escape or not.
Do you know how many people served on a Super Star Destroyer? Over 280,000 crew. That’s practically a city’s worth of Imperials, and after coming first for the metal aboard, the Spark Eternal wipes out almost the entirety of the Imperials aboard. No matter your allegiance in the galaxy, that’s a staggering massacre that really sets the tone for how Dark Droids intersects with Darth Vader (2020). Pak is not holding back at all, and it will require all the ruthlessness that the Sith Lord can muster in order to protect the Empire from this new threat.
As Vader returns to the Executor, the ship is eerily silent and dark. While its hulking presence in space usually casts a shadow on others, now the ship’s power is down, and it finds itself in darkness. Bombarded by TIE Fighters flown by astromech’s (yes, they can fly TIE’s now!), there is no easy way to get on board to assess the damage that the Spark Eternal has wrought. So, in typical Vader fashion, the Dark Lord rams into the hull and punches his way through.
Now patrolling the halls are droids rather than officers. This is hardly an issue for Vader though. Anakin Skywalker fought and destroyed thousands of droids during the Clone Wars, and now layered behind the armour of his suit, Vader cuts through the machines with terrifying ease. With some moral support from Zed Six Seven. Zed’s remarks as his master cuts through his own kind is the kind of dark humour that makes the story seem a little less bleak.
Even though Vader destroys a host of droids, there are still hundreds aboard that have been taken over by the Spark Eternal’s incessant hunger. It’s too many for the Sith Lord to take on while bridge command is perilously close to being overrun. Instead, Vader tries to use the fail-safe. It makes sense that the Executor would have a way to shut down its droids en masse, in case of a system breach or some Rebel hacker. Unfortunately, the droids got to it first and fried the system. It’s this part of the comic that also feels very reminiscent to I, Droid from The Legends of Luke Skywalker by Ken Liu.
In that short story, Luke uses the Force to switch off part of a droid’s programming which is making it excessively violent. And he does this to a huge number of droids in order to save them all. Vader tries the same thing with the fail-safe, but he can’t do it. It requires the focus and patience of a Jedi – two things the Sith Lord lacks. Brute strength will have to do in order to defeat the droids, even if Admiral Piett can’t hold out much longer. With the fleet gearing up for a mass bombardment to destroy the Executor, it really shows how much of a threat even the Empire thinks the Spark Eternal poses, even if they don’t understand what is making the droids turn.
Bringing this action to life is Ienco’s stunning artwork, which takes on a sombre, more moodier tone for Darth Vader (2020) #37. Having several panels show the lights winking out across the Executor is incredibly effective at suggesting the dark takeover that is happening on board. The sense of panic on the bridge is practically palpable, with the officers nervously standing by the blast doors, weapons raised in defiance. And then there’s Vader stalking through the Imperial corridors, unruffled and striking down droids with ease. There’s also an exciting flashback to Kenobi, which is a really nice inclusion to tie-in the comic with the current timeline.
With such a dark and atmospheric start to the Dark Droids crossover with Darth Vader (2020), Pak is promising a lot of action just from this issue alone. The threat of the Spark Eternal is everywhere, irrelevant of galactic allegiance, and the Empire is truly afraid for once. While the fate of the Executor is assured, it will still be interesting to see how Vader intends to stop thousands of corrupted droids and what it might mean for the rest of the fleet.
Availability;
Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) is an ongoing series published by Marvel Comics. This issue retails at $4.99 and is available via The Marvel App, ComiXology and from all good comic book stores.
