Published: April 26, 2023
Rating: Rated T
Writer: Jason Aaron, Peach Momoko, Torunn Gronbekk
Artists: Leonard Kirk, Peach Momoko, Klaus Janson
Colourist: Romulo Fujardo Jr
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Artist: Alex Maleev
The synopsis;
THE DARK LORD OF THE SITH LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN HIM BEFORE! Following the successful black, white and red series produced by Marvel Comics, DARTH VADER now takes the spotlight for tales of terror by some of the industries most talented creators! PEACH MOMOKO will spin a story only she can bring to life! PLUS, the return of JASON AARON to the world of STAR WARS with Part One of his Vader tale spanning all four issues!
The review;
A new Darth Vader series… hmmmm! My first though, this can go one of two ways: it either goes absolutely amazingly or horribly, horribly wrong. Vader is a difficult character to write. For although you are here to read about Vader, to understand his character better, he always works much better when glimpsed, when you see everything but Vader. He is a character that needs to be shrouded in mystery. So, to say I was reluctant about a series focusing on him didn’t fill me with huge excitement. But I then found that this was an anthology series base son an already established Marvel series. Now I haven’t read the latter mentioned series, but from some research it reminds me a lot of Batman: Black and White, which I have read, and thought was incredible. Small stories, with very little colour, providing a horror style to the galaxy’s most evil Sith. Now my interest is starting to be piqued. The last detail that made me think, this could work, are the authors and artists. We have Jason Aaron, who wrote a lot of early Star Wars when Marvel got the license back from Dark Horse, and I’m excited to see him return with artist Leonard Kirk. Kirk I can’t wait to see back as he illustrated the highly underrated Solo: Imperial Cadet. Peach Momoko has been doing a lot of Star Wars covers recently and her work looks incredible, I can’t wait to see the style come together with a story. Finally, we have Torunn Gronkbekk who is new to Star Wars (Although you might have read his Sisters of Battle series) and is joined by Klaus Janson, who worked on the original Marvel Star Wars series in the late 1970s. It’s quite a list and one that I’m sure will do the dark lord justice.
The first tale is the start of a series of four called Hard Shutdown. This is the one that I think will have the highest expectations from fans as the duo, Aaron, and Kirk, are already known to readers from their previous Star Wars work. What immediately catches the reader’s attention is the artwork. There is such a feel here of the old Marvel comics. It’s really surprising what a lack of ink can do to an image. I really like the stripped back nature of it. It’s kind of showing that the story itself is stripped back from everything else in the timeline, in the galaxy, we’re here to focus on Vader. The shadows are used beautifully here, there’s one bit where all you can see of Vader is his chest plate, the rest is just black. It’s glorious and terrifying.
The story itself gets straight into the action with Vader talking to an individual called Can. Putting the pieces together, his father did some work on Vader’s suit and Vader is worried about what may happen. I absolutely love the concept that Aaron has come up with. When you look at our real world, the problems with hackers, scammers, and technology as a whole, is the susceptibility of it to others. Vader’s suit is no different, it’s a piece of machinery that at is basic level can be overridden and controlled. Throw in lots of action for this opening scene and you have something that really looks like it will continue to be an interesting story. This is only the first of four parts, and I’m excited to see where it leads.
The second story is Inescapable written and illustrated by Momoko. This is a very different story, one with no words. I love these sorts of stories where the weight of it is carried with the visuals. As you would expect with Momoko, the artwork is stunning, filled with her style of artwork. The story is simply that you cannot escape Vader, for when he isn’t directly there, he will haunt your dreams. This leads Momoko to provide some gorgeous, yet horrific images of the Sith lord playing on the mind of this individual. The red in this tale is used extremely sparingly, allowing Momoko to really highlight key pieces with it. We follow the character through her nightmare as she can’t ever escape from Vader. It’s a stunning delight for the eyes as well as reaffirming how powerful Vader is. It’s not just Vader himself, but the very thought of him, the legend that proceeds him, that makes him so powerful and terrifying.
The final part is Dissolution of Hope by Gronbekk and Janson. This is the meatiest of the stories and Gronbekk is able to get a lot of story into such a small space. The tale takes place on a planet called Torku, an Imperial held world that has become the target for a Rebel attack. Gronbekk shows the high society that is here, how they expect to see Vader and are shocked when he doesn’t arrive. Although one would think that Vader at a dinner party would be hilarious, I also can’t see it, would Vader demean himself by doing such a thing? Thankfully Gronbekk also agrees.
The narrative guides us through the story as the Rebels prepare to attack the base. What was fascinating was the way Gronbekk examines weak points. Not only do we see that hope for the Rebels can sometimes be a hindrance, as well as their main driving force but also that the Empire has a huge weakness point: fear. The Empire rules by fear, which helps it to manage the vast number of planets in the galaxy. But that same weakness can also be exploited by the enemy, providing far more fear in a moment in order to achieve what the Empire does. It’s why we see Imperial officers doing what they’re asked when faced with a blaster in the face.
The artwork, again, is different and Janson uses the red colouring very differently. The style really does scream of the original vintage series, and I absolutely love that. Gronbekk adds so much into this story and yet Janson is never flummoxed. He is able to create a very easy flow to the story that, even though it is jammed full, moves effortlessly through the tale. You know exactly what is happening.
And the ending? It couldn’t be more perfect for a comic like this. Gronbekk really utilises Vader so well. It’s his name more than anything that you see, rather than Vader himself. This is how it should be. There is a mystery and a dread that come from the character in this tale and when he finally does appear, you can feel the anticipation in the story.
This is exactly what I wanted from a Vader series. He is the perfect character to have lots of short tales written about and have the maximum amount of impact. I mentioned at the start that I loved Batman: Black and White, in that you get glimpses of Batman, just like here when it’s glimpses of Vader. Both actually need to be utilised sparingly, making the impact when they do appear to so much more. With e comic like this, it’s also a chance to see a wide spread of writers and artists, telling stories differently in terms of the type of story and the visuals. There is a wonderful variety just in this issue and I can’t wait to see more impressions of Vader as we move through this series.
Availability;
Darth Vader: Black, White & Red is a 4-part mini series published by Marvel. This issue retails at $4.99 and is available via the Marvel App, ComiXology and all good comic book stores.
