Marvel’s two big Star Wars books, the main “Star Wars” and “Darth Vader”, have kept steady paces with one another. But now plotlines converge into a bombastic battle. How does the opening salvo fair? Let’s find out.
Story by Jason Aaron & Kieron Gillen
Script by Jason Aaron
Illustrated by Mike DeodatoWhen Darth Vader accidentally finds himself facing off against the Rebel Fleet on his own, the rebels will learn the true strength of the Dark Side of the Force! Once Vader crashes on a nearby planet, the Rebellion is willing to risk everything for this once-in-a-lifetime chance to take out one of their biggest enemies! Luke! Vader! Leia! Aphra! Han! Chewie! And all manner of Droid, good and evil!
Recommended listening.
Crossovers between books have a bit of a reputation of being a bit trite, having to really screw with a flow of a book to the point that people will drop both books until the crossover is complete. That said, threads from both Luke’s story and Vader’s have converged in a very natural way (perhaps it’s just easier to coordinate two books crossing over instead of seven, “Black Vortex”) on the planet Vrogas Vas, where there is the location of an ancient Jedi temple.
And the premise of this crossover couldn’t be more simple: Darth Vader vs. a battalion (which usually consist of anywhere between 300 to 800 soldiers) of Rebels.
Yeah. Not even a remotely fair fight.
This issue serves to set up the pieces, but Aaron’s scripting does a good job on it while weaving the threads in from Kieron Gillen’s “Darth Vader” series. And like any good “Star Wars” story (and some not really good ones), it begins with a space fight over Vrogas Vas, three squadrons of Rebel starfighters vs a lone, but customized, TIE fighter. It’s Vader, who proceeds to show why Anakin Skywalker was regarded as the best starpilot in the galaxy.
And this is where I have to start talking about the art a bit. Look, generally I like Mike Deodato’s artwork when working with Frank Martin (although I must say, sometimes…). And here, they do good work. One thing I really enjoy about the art, especially when dealing with Vader. There is a heavy emphasis of shadow with Vader, as well as clashing red light when it comes to Vader’s appearance in this book. It creates a very menacing tone as we see the Sith Lord in his fighter cockpit engage the Rebels, like he’s this demon out of Hell and you have no chance in stopping this guy (which is very much true).
That being said, the art has some problems in its space combat especially. A lot of the artwork in space, and the faces of characters, are a bit stiff looking and when Deodato does try to convey motion of starfighters moving in combat…well… Okay, let me give an example: There is a panel in here where Deodato is clearly trying to show an X-Wing in-flight… but honestly, it looks like the X-Wing is having a seizure. I rechecked to make sure that Vader wasn’t using the Force or something, but the book never confirms that. So maybe that’s what happened but it’s left very confusing.
This may also be a criticism of Marvel’s Double Shipping methods and how they affect artists. Like I said, I like Deodato, and he did a lot of issues in “Avengers: Time Runs Out” and there was a bunch of double shipping with that storyline and it showed on Deo’s work (as well as Kev Walker). Considering I thought some of the art looked a bit rushed, I’m curious as to how the art will be in two weeks when “Star Wars #13” (Part 3 of “Vader Down”) comes out with Deodato’s art. But that’s just speculation.
Aaron does a really good job on character voices, in particular I liked with Han and Leia when word of Vader’s ship down reaches the Rebel Fleet. In particular, Leia’s character work when she also learns that Luke went down too: she has to put aside her feelings for her friends because the Rebellion will probably not get a chance like this ever again. It also shows the changes Han has gone through Post-Episode IV, who now cares and such.
Continued belowOne final thing: It was slightly weird seeing a new writer do dialogue for Aphara and Triple Zero. Not bad! Just, weird. To compare it to anything, it was like back when Kieron Gillen wrote “Journey Into Mystery” and it crossed over with Matt Fraction’s “Mighty Thor”, it was weird seeing Fraction write characters like Kid Loki and Leah. Again, not bad!
But the best line of dialogue is the end when the Rebel battalion surrounds Vader. The Sith Lord’s response: “All I am surrounded by is fear. And dead men.” And that is Vader. Not this petulant brat complaining about he doesn’t like sand. This is a man on a mission and he will cut down any number of Rebel scum that get in his way.
I look forward to Part 2, which will answer the question: Will Vader give them a sporting ten-second head start before the murders commence?
Final Verdict: 8.0- High octane and awesome action as only Star Wars can do, mired slightly by some rough art.
