Written by Greg Pak
Art by Raffaele Ienco
Published by Marvel Comics
I never thought that I wouldn’t like an opening crawl, but here we are.
The latest installment of War of the Bounty Hunters attempts to re-write Star Wars canon by telling us that Darth Vader is out to destroy his son, Luke Skywalker because he’s a threat to his status as the Emperor’s #1.
In the opening crawl.
If we learned anything from The Empire Strikes Back, it’s that Vader may have had ambitions to usurp his master, but he knew his place and knew he couldn’t do it alone.
That’s the whole point of his arc in Return of The Jedi.
Darth Vader’s journey to the light side began in The Empire Strikes Back when he learned that the Rebel Pilot who destroyed the Death Star was his son. From that point on, his options on how to handle Luke were limited. Destroying his son for the sole purpose of ascending to ruler of the galaxy doesn’t remotely work in the context of the redemption arc of Anakin Skywalker.
Which is a shame because, based on the previous issue, Darth Vader #12, I was looking forward to where this storyline was headed.
What we got is a comic book-ified version of Star Wars.
Strip away Vader’s ultimate motive of killing Luke for his own personal ambition however, and there’s something serviceable here.
Vader and Ochi follow a lead as to the whereabouts of Carbonite Frozen Han Solo bringing them face to face with assassin droid bounty hunter IG-88. The encounter deepens the plot by revealing that there are entities out there who foolishly believe that Darth Vader is currently a vulnerable opponent, including the Hutt who Vader deals with this issue.
We all know Darth Vader is anything but vulnerable and its fun watching opponents try and fail.
As with other concurrently running storylines, Darth Vader receives no direct answers as to Han Solo’s location. But, he does get a major clue in the form of Crimson Dawn’s involvement. A clue that we, the audience, hope will bring everyone together for an ultimate resolution that seamlessly flows into the opening crawl of Return of the Jedi.
As per usual, there is beautiful art within these pages and it was a real treat discovering familiar droid parts that make up the kit bashed attack droids used by the Darth Vader’s antagonists.
All of this, however, is intertwined with not very Star Wars-y dialogue and perhaps an implausible concept: hacking Darth Vader’s mechanical limbs.
While I didn’t enjoy the entire journey, this story ends very well. The Hutt who double crosses Vader learns a valuable lesson; no one beats Darth Vader. The final panel reveals to us the others out there who have not learned this lesson.
And Vader knows this.
Vader is arrogant, direct, and yet merciful in this issue, perfectly capturing what makes Darth Vader an iconic villain.
