Darth Vader — the icon of all icons — now has his own Marvel comic book series. The company may as well be printing cash. Despite having several problems with their main Star Wars series, I'm all in.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #1, let's see what you've got!
The intro of Star Wars #2 made me worry that the opening crawl would quickly lose its allure if we see one every month. Vader's book has one as well, so I guess I may as well get used to it. Not everyone jumps on from the start, so I'm totally okay with these if it means each issue's new readers have an easy way to catch up. I also dig that the text is written from the Empire's perspective here.
We open with Vader paying a visit to Jabba the Hutt. The two basically try to out-intimidate one another in the midst of their deal. Even knowing the obvious outcome if the meeting were to go south, it's easy to get wrapped up in the tension. Salvador Larocca further enhances the mood with some excellent lighting. It seems he studied the opening scenes from Return of the Jedi quite closely.
The situation quickly escalates into a battle with Jabba's minions. It goes without saying; Vader runs through them with ease. The action looks a bit stiff, but I assume it's to illustrate either the cumbersome nature of the suit or how little effort the altercation requires. Whatever the intention, the characters still look fantastic.
The story shifts to a day prior, with Vader explaining his recent skirmish with the Rebels to Emperor Palpatine. It looks like we can expect the plots of each current Star Wars comic to work alongside each other. The titles can stand on their own, but if you're going the completionist route you'll be filling in pieces of a larger story. It's hardly groundbreaking, but still cool.
This portion of the issue takes place in the Imperial Palace on Corsucant. It's almost jarring seeing "Original Trilogy" versions of these characters in settings with a Prequel aesthetic. The brightly lit cityscape offers a welcome contrast to the murky scenery of Jabba's Palace however. It also works against what you'd expect from such a heavy scene. Larocca's artwork is excellent, creating an engrossing tone throughout.
I'm not quite as taken with the writing however. The scenarios are wonderful, but the stiff dialogue just isn't jiving with me. I don't care how "movie accurate" it seems, I'd much prefer the characters having naturalistic conversations. A few simple contractions would do wonders. Shrug.
The book wraps up with a little trip through Sith Lord Memory Lane, an unintentionally amusing display of curiosity from our star, and a sure-to-please cameo after shifting back to Tatooine. Overall, Star Wars: Darth Vader #1 has a lot more highs than lows. While it didn't leave me on the edge of my seat, I see enough promise to at least check out the next issue.
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