Written by Greg Pak
Art by Guiu Vilanova
Published by Marvel Comics
PRELUDE TO WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS: “RESTORATION”
In a nutshell, this issue succeeds as much as it fails.
Another prelude from War of the Bounty Hunters, this storyline, like others, carries the heavy burden of telling a story about a well-established character between well-established events.
It ended a heck of a lot stronger than it began.
It begins rather messily. We join the evil Darth Vader and his master, the Emperor, in the aftermath of a fight. One that, in my opinion, should definitely not have happened, resulting from a reveal that, although intriguing, also should not have happened.
I’m all for trying to tie in places and events to come within the Skywalker storyline, but I think a little too much is being asked of Star Wars fans here in terms of continuity.
I appreciate the intent, exploring Darth Vader’s inner turmoil over learning that he has a son. However, an out and out physical confrontation wasn’t the right call. It completely blunts the impact of Darth Vader’s return to the light side of the force in Return of the Jedi.
The Emperor meanwhile, is presented as if he’s Seth MacFarlane’s Emperor from Robot Chicken, with a completely out of character line of dialogue to start this issue.
These bits immediately took me out of it.
Then it got interesting.
We go into Vader’s point of view. His thoughts. Although not everything worked for me in terms of logic within the canon of the original trilogy films (I’m talking directly about the flashback story the cover alludes to,) the idea here is solid and well executed. An excellent way to set up Darth Vader’s motivations and to get to know what drives an iconic villain. We’re given just enough to whet our appetite and get us excited for the next issue.
While, in the real world, a character integral to the plot of The Rise of Skywalker is introduced. A risky move given my standards for continuity but, I found myself excited because it felt like the perfect beginnings to a side story that, if handled well, will work as intended: A story incited by characters from the original trilogy that seamlessly leads to events in the sequel trilogy.
All in all, where this story ultimately lands truly hooked me. So, I’ll forgive the rocky start.
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