Published: August 24, 2022
Rating: T
Writer: Greg Pak
Penciler: Raffaele Ienco
Colourist: Carlos Lopez
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Artist: Rahzzah
The synopsis;
INTO THE SAND!
• We all know about Anakin Skywalker’s aversion to finely ground particulate matter.
• But what does sand mean to the Dark Lord of the Sith?
• When Sabé, Vader’s unlikely new ally, goes missing, Vader must confront his own dark heart in the maelstrom of a terrible sandstorm — while tapping into one of his earliest skills in a wildly unexpected way!
The review;
Entombed in sand, reaching out as if to escape his fate, Darth Vader is statuesque in Rahzzah’s direct cover. It’s absolutely genius the way the sands blur the title and seem to sweep away the page, matching the story inside perfectly. Meanwhile Maleev’s variant is a bold, graphic take on Vader’s helmet, splitting it into two sides, one of which is broken much like in Episode VIII. Finally, rounding out the Sith Lords is Sprouse’s Choose Your Destiny variant which showcases Palpatine and his lightsaber (that is unfairly elegant for someone so corrupt).
On the planet of Gabrador III, Darth Vader is battling against a deadly sandstorm created by the machinery of corrupt Imperial Governor Tauntaza. Stuck within the sands are Sabé and an old friend of Anakin Skywalker – Kitster. The only way to get to the pair is using a podracer built by Kitster himself, but only the greatest podracer could ever pilot it!
Darth Vader #26 could be titled ‘Ode to Sand’. Apart from Anakin’s famous line about hating the stuff, not many people would really think about the sand that’s found throughout Star Wars planets. That’s the genius of Pak’s writing in this issue. He takes grains of sand and gives them meaning. No longer are they just gritty particles. Sand is intrinsically woven into Anakin’s story and now into Darth Vader’s. He shows how sand has followed Anakin’s journey right from the beginning, and how it continues to haunt him as Darth Vader.
There’s a presence to this sand, so much so that you can almost feel it when reading the comic. Darth Vader is having to travel through a sandstorm in search of Sabé, and sand is suddenly the villain of this story. It’s wild and wicked, whipping up debris that Vader has to cut down using his lightsaber. It’s irritating, getting into the lenses on his helmet and restricting his progress. It gets everywhere, and Vader can hardly see where he’s going.
And Pak doesn’t stop there. As Vader fights through the sandstorm, he’s assaulted by memory after memory of events in his past involving sand. From the dunes of Tatooine to Padmé falling to the red sands on Geonosis. So many of his life struggles have been accompanied by sand, with some panels cleverly showing how sand has also come with Anakin wherever he goes, getting caught in clothing or sticking to skin. This story will make every reader rethink the purpose of sand as a storytelling device in the Star Wars saga, and Pak has made Darth Vader #26 one of the best issues he’s written. Everything about it is unexpected in the best way.
How can sand be so malicious? Well, Ienco’s artwork turns sand into something physical on the page. He captures each particle that bangs against Vader’s mask and hisses by in long lines, blurring the landscape into nothingness. There’s so much sand in some panels it chokes the rest of the artwork and it’s brilliant. What is also brilliant is the podracer that Ienco gives Vader. Or should that be souped-up, steampunk-dream, podracing super bike? It’s so big and it’s hard to resist yelling ‘now this is podracing!’ when it turns up on the page.
Darth Vader #26 feels like a story within a story. While it continues the main plot line it pauses to reflect on Vader, and how his past is still shaping his future. His mother died on the sands of Tatooine. He once had to abandon Padmé on the dunes of Geonosis. His determination to save Sabé, to finally defeat the sand, is bordering on fanaticism. He draws on every Dark Side bit of strength, every weapon he has at his disposal, all so that he can finally conquer the thing that has been haunting him for decades.
Which is where Pak leaves the story. It’s a gentler cliffhanger that suggests what is to come. While this series is meant to be read as a whole each arc, every fan of Darth Vader should read this issue. Pak has done something absolutely mind-blowing with Darth Vader #26, taking an offhand line from Attack of the Clones and showing how Anakin’s words meant so much more.
Availability;
Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #26 is published August 24, 2022 by Marvel Comics. This issue retails at $3.99 and is available via The Marvel App, ComiXology and from all good comic book stores.
