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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Comics The Screaming Citadel (One-Shot, Star Wars #31-32, Doctor Aphra #7-8) (5/5 Released)

Discussion in 'Literature' started by The2ndQuest , Mar 17, 2017.

  1. Charlemagne19

    Charlemagne19 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2000
    I'm still hoping Aphra will end up back in Darth Vader's service. There's no way he's not going to pick up she's still alive with all the messes she's made.
     
  2. Darth_Voider

    Darth_Voider Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 4, 2015
    Considering the preview for Doctor Aphra #12, he will pick up that she's still alive. But I'm not certain that she will ever work for him again - Gillen has pointed out that he will try to kill her if he learns of her survival.

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  3. Charlemagne19

    Charlemagne19 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2000
    Eh, I like to think Darth Vader knows the benefits of a minion who is clever enough to fool even a Sith Lord.
     
  4. jamminjedi23

    jamminjedi23 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 19, 2015
    Yeah I think Aphra is done working for Vader. If she did go back working for Vader that would pretty much just be putting her character in reverse instead of moving it forward anyway. The whole point of the Aphra comic is to expand on her characterization. Show the audience that there is much more to her than strictly being a minion of Darth Vader.They can still bring Vader into her story again though (infact Vader might have a significant role in the Aphra series after issue #12) but the days of them working together are over.
     
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  5. Darth Zane

    Darth Zane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 21, 2000
    I'm sort of hoping that the cover and description of #12 are misleading, and that Aphra is only thinking about Vader (or her time with him). He's metaphorically back, she starts really dealing with the impact of their association, etc. Or maybe that he's nearby, and she has to actually hide from him. She never acted like she was in hiding before, turning in legitimate artifacts through official channels using her own name and letting a high-ranking imperial live who could identify her, so it would be interesting to see her display some actual fear for her safety. If they stick to the official story that Aphra legitimately tricked Vader after betraying him, I'm not sure I can see any version of their second meeting that doesn't start with Vader choking her to death. Though I've always personally headcanoned that Vader knew of her plan and just wanted to get her away from the influence of the Emperor, so if their meeting opened up with that revelation I'd be down.
     
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  6. ExplosivEwok

    ExplosivEwok Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 27, 2017

    I certainly hope they don't cross paths again. Vader shot her out of an airlock for a reason. She was a loose thread and she went behind his back on many occasions, like Aphra does. For them to cross paths again would mean that Vader now knows she survived and he will again aim to cut that loose end that got away, even if they found some mutual ground to work together on, in the end Vader would kill her and this time make sure he doesn't leave her an out.

    There are ways of having Vader a part of the story and not having them cross paths, and that's what I'm hoping for.
     
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  7. Ewan Tibbetts

    Ewan Tibbetts Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2016
    Vader VS a Rur controlled robot army would be so neat.

    Speaking of robot armies, why hasn't Triple Zero done anything more towards his reverse cyborgs?
     
  8. spicer

    spicer Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2012
    It may look cool initially, but what's the point? We know Vader will win or at least escape with his life. Just my opinion.
     
  9. Darth_Voider

    Darth_Voider Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 4, 2015
    The description of issue #11 says "Meanwhile, a dark figure from Apjra's past decides to make an appearance" while issue #12 simply says "Vader is back". I think we can safely assume that Vader does indeed appear in person in the next arc, and he probably will cross paths with Aphra again.

    The wording for issue #11 is interesting though. It doesn't say "A dark figure from Aphra's past does make an appearance". It's "A dark figure from Aphra's past DECIDES to make an appearance".

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  10. Charlemagne19

    Charlemagne19 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2000
    I'm hoping we can move from the one-dimensional "Vader kills everyone" characterization.
     
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  11. ExplosivEwok

    ExplosivEwok Jedi Youngling star 1

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    Jun 27, 2017

    Except he isn't one-dimensional and almost never has been, even in ANH you could argue that he had depth. I suppose you could view him as an ignorant killing machine if you dismiss every story that has come down the pipeline. He doesn't kill Fett or Jabba or anyone he finds useful. Yet he will inevitably make anyone that poses a threat or has proven to be unreliable sleep with the fishes.

    Aphra falls into the latter category.
     
  12. Ewan Tibbetts

    Ewan Tibbetts Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2016
    I'm sure they could do something with the technology vs nature theme from the OT. Kind of like what they did with the 2015 Vader comic and especially Vader vs Tulon.
     
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  13. Charlemagne19

    Charlemagne19 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2000
    Aphra and the Inspector both proved to be incredibly reliable yet he's tried to kill both. The thing about Aphra is she DIDN'T betray Darth Vader. He's also been killing stormtroopers and other figures who have questionable wrongs done to him at best.

    In short, Vader is being portrayed as a brute with no loyalty to any of his operatives and a crude figure.
     
  14. ExplosivEwok

    ExplosivEwok Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 27, 2017
    I can't really deny the fact that Vader is a brute, he's essentially the Empire's atomic bomb - when all else fails, send in the man in black to either gain results or destroy them - but he certainly has loyalties. As I mentioned before, he is really only loyal to those that don't pose a threat to him in one way or another, and even then there's nothing stopping him from force-choking a Hutt, either.

    --------SPOILERS AHEAD for those that haven't read the first DV series yet--------

    The Inspector had been suspicious of him since the beginning and was spying on him virtually the entire time they knew each other. Remember the entire reason he came around in the first place was because Vader was covering his tracks and killed the last Officer that was meant to keep tabs on him. So Vader laid the blame at his feet to keep up appearances. In the end Inspector Thanoth figured out exactly what Vader's plans were with Luke - using him to help take down the Emperor - and it's not like Vader could let that go. His days were numbered before they started. And calling him Anakin at the very end didn't do him any favors, either.

    As far as Aphra goes, she was loyal to Vader right up to the end. She did his bidding out of fear, but you have to remember that their ties were never meant to be known to the Empire in the first place. Vader went behind the Emperor's back to find her, recruit her and use her to find all the information she got. And once the Inspector started pointing the finger at her, Vader had no choice but to play the part, otherwise it would reveal everything he was doing on his own. Where Aphra betrayed Vader was in the end and out of desperation. She went to the Emperor behind Vader's back and filled in all the intentional holes in the story of what's been going on that Vader didn't want the Emperor knowing about. She thought that would buy her some immunity, but obviously didn't.

    My point is that, while Vader is indeed a weapon used by the Emperor, he's more complex than just being a blunt object. By the time of ESB, he commands a fleet and has all the respect the Emperor would ever give him.
     
  15. Ithorians

    Ithorians Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2016
    I don´t think Vader is being portrayed as a brute, since I got the feeling that everything in Gillen´s comic was a about portaying Vader use of wits and cunning to overcome a fairly deceitful rival with little to no resources of his own (besides his own abilities). What I think they are aiming for, and that was something present in Legends too (The Ghost Prison, TFU) is that Vader is a very dangerous man to work for, and any agent working for him directly is already walking in extremely thin ice as it is. This is why I get the feeling that some Rebel fans are unfair with the Inquisitors: if they could survive for years working directly under Vader, this means that they must have been not only very loyal, but VERY good at their jobs...
     
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  16. La Calavera

    La Calavera Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2015
    He is a character in risk of becoming one-dimensional in the comics, but I would argue that Gillen actually did not portray him as mere brute. He refrained from killing Aphra after she almost exposed him to Thanoth due to her carelessness and after she had already given him the location of Luke. He never explicitly ordered her to be killed even after she disappeared with the rebels, after his business with her was over. Heck, he ordered the murderous droids to just capture Aphra and bring her the Executor, for no real reason. He could’ve just ordered them to kill her. When he finally “kills” her, it was after Aphra deliberately exposed Vader’s schemes to the Emperor – and that was the final straw.

    His relationship with Aphra lasted as long as it did because Vader was still willing to give her second chances, even when he had no real reason to and was never able to trust her and she posed as huge risk for him. And every time an issue went by and Vader did not kill Aphra, there was always a fan or a critic complaining “why doesn’t he kill her!!?” because many prefer the Terminator Vader fanfiction over the somewhat-complex character that he actually was in the movies (remember he also stopped Boba Fett from shooting at Chewbacca and didn’t even try to terminate the Princess Leia "Traitor and Member of the Rebel Alliance" Organa whose execution had been supposedly scheduled 3 years ago, even though he had absolutely no reason to keep Leia or Chewie alive), and Gillen tried to give fans a little bit of both.

    Even in Rebels, he was hardly a brute. When he appears in SOL, he orders Tarkintown to be burned, then we later find out the population was taken as prisoners; and when you think he is about to punish Inquisitors for failing to capture the Jedi, he actually compliments their findings.

    Vader in the movies has always been a character that felt like he did everything according to his own, often contradictory, sense of honor and duty. A lot of his characterization is not different from "loyal, but complex" samurai general characters (well Star Wars was a lot inspired by Japanese movies) that they are written with their own personality and a sense of existential or spiritual doubts happening inside their heads that don’t get expressed in words, but the viewer sort of “senses it” via the character’s not-by-the-book behavior.
    He was willing to kill Imperial officers for failure, but unwilling to kill prisoners. He doesn’t object to entire planets being blown up, but he objects to the Death Star and calls it technological terror. He wants his son to join him and dethrone the Emperor, but he is also unwilling to disobey his own master.
    Like he always had two opposing voices of reason inside him – and when the character finally came together at the end ROTJ, it’s like everything else about him suddenly made sense in retrospect.

    Vader definitely has complexity, but at the same time, there are a lot of fans that seem that they only like Vader when he is killing everyone mercilessly and I fear that comics will eventually go too far in that direction and turn him into a clichéd, one-dimension and boringly predictable villain. Making Vader “predictable” or a one note villain would be possibly the worst thing you could do to his character, because he is the opposite of that.

    So even though I expect Vader to go after Aphra to kill her (and maybe fail if the character is suppose to survive for more issues), I’m still hoping that Gillen would surprise me and make Vader doing something that people don’t really expect.
     
  17. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    @La Calabera Did you not finish the last issue of Darth Vader?

    [​IMG]
     
  18. tatooinesandworm

    tatooinesandworm Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2015
    That was all covered in the post La Calabera made. Not sure what the point those panels are being used to make is exactly.

    @La Calabera

    I completely agree with the point you are making. I think that Vader is an incredibly complex and intricate character with lots of room for exploration. I am excited to see where the different authors will be taking Vader in the gaps that Marvel will be filling.


    Sent from my Ornithopter using The Force
     
  19. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    She? Said Vader never tried to kill Doctor Aphra.
     
  20. tatooinesandworm

    tatooinesandworm Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2015

    [quote="La Calavera, post: 54415095, member: 1409906" When he finally “kills” her, it was after Aphra deliberately exposed Vader’s schemes to the Emperor – and that was the final straw. [/quote]



    Sent from my Ornithopter using The Force
     
  21. Darth Zane

    Darth Zane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 21, 2000
    Their post acknowledged what happened in the finale of Darth Vader, but put "kills" in quotation marks. Indicating that they think Vader probably knew somehow about Aphra's escape plan.

    An interesting thing to note on that point is the previous time Vader got close to killing Aphra:

    [​IMG]

    When Vader was close to actually killing Aphra, before she leveraged her way out of it, he was going to kill her quickly with a lightsaber (like she requested when they first met.) In the finale he goes about it in a much more ornate way. You could argue that his respect for her went away enough, and he was angry enough, that he wanted her to suffer. But you could also argue that he "killed" her in the exact way she needed.
     
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  22. BigAl6ft6

    BigAl6ft6 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Nov 12, 2012
    Decent finale, had Han being mind controlled but still being Han, Luke learning more of The Force mostly by himself and the last second horror movie twist where, dahhhh, the baddie isn't dead after all! I think Luke telling Aphra to buzz off was really apt because they all just went through some seriously horrible stuff and it's all her fault.

    I liked Leia's softening and actually being nice towards the guys, she's definitely warmer to them in ESB than in ANH and that had to happen eventually.


    Pretty sure mine didn't, I noticed that they left it off the finale. Silly Marvel!
     
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  23. TiniTinyTony

    TiniTinyTony JCC Super Bowl Pick 'Em Winner star 7 VIP - Game Winner

    Registered:
    Mar 9, 2003
    BigAl6ft6 thanks for answering my question. Mine didn't and I checked Uncanny at the KOP mall and it didn't have it either. I tweeted at StarWars and crickets so I'm assuming it was probably just a printing error.
     
  24. Vialco

    Vialco Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2007

    At the end of the day, Vader is still a Sith Lord. Trained by Palpatine for twenty years.

    "There is no mercy."
     
  25. tatooinesandworm

    tatooinesandworm Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2015

    Forgot to let you know that I checked the entire stack at my comic shop. Around 40 copies. None of them had it printed on the Front. Definitely either a publishing error or a distancing tactic. Get those to buy it thinking that it "isn't" part of the lackluster arc.


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