Comics Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith #1-6: The Chosen One (6/6 Released)

ah, well i still say yick, yack, their new canon sucks.

disney went to GL in calli,
they we're lookin for star wars' soul to steal,
they were in a bind,
paying half their GNP to find,
cause they were popularly behind,
and thought they'd got a deal.
when they started altering the world they bought
and all the current life was fraught,
they believed their story telling was better than any one knew,
and yet so far the story they have managed to screw...

That's all i got, thanks to the CDB for the music. Hate it, Love it, or just deal with it I guess, HeHeHe!

 

I'm curious why you believe that. You had issues with certain aspects. Those were then explained to you. Do you have issue with Legends not being used anymore, or stories told in the new Canon, or something else.

 

or healed!

Ritual might be the wrong word here. It would be more of intentionally pulling the kyber out and, as stated in DV #2, pouring your hatred into it and thus 'breaking' the crystal so that the red spills through.

When I see the word ritual I imagine a cloth covered table with candles and some really old dusty book being read by people who don't know what they're doing. It's just, like, my opinion, man.

 

Are you sure? Because A'sharad Hett's first blade (and his fathers) in Legends were red, even before he became Darth Krayt. Though checking on the wookipedia it seems his duel blades during the clone wars became green (retcon?).

Part of the appeal for me in seeing natural red in the new canon is more diversity for saber colors for Jedi. Im glad we got yellow and even black (darksaber) as canon colors. A jedi red could be a rare color and given a lighter color so not to copy the Sith version. With Ahsoka's shoto being green/yellow, and Tera Sinube from TCW having light blue, another variation of red isn't far out their for star wars. I don't think another shade would work for Sith red because all bleeding crystals seem to give off the same hue of red.

 

Fairly sure. There might have been instances of red crystals occuring naturally, but I'm also pretty sure most of them were either used in a game, like the red crystals in KotOR, or pre-2002 when Synthetic Crystals came into the canon proper.

 

Actually Luke's crystal in ROTJ was synthetic, according to Shadows of the Empire - which was way before 2002. Jaina also had one, in Young Jedi Knights: Lightsabers.

There were plenty of synthetic crystals in the early EU - but they produced sabers of various colors - not just red.

 

After almost 5 years, we effectively get a new Purge issue.

Spoiler

I wouldn't be surprised if some people complain about this issue because, to my knowledge, this is the first time someone wiped the floor with Vader since Starkiller did in TFU games. In previous comics, the worst Vader suffered was a severed hand and a broken mask after he fought 7 Jedi simultaneously. Here, he loses an (almost) entire right robotic leg and is thrown off a small mountain! Kirak is a very formidable Jedi. Add to that the fact that Vader is still getting used to his suit - remember, he's been in it for less than a week!

Overall, this felt to me like an average Purge issue. Not as good as Last Stand of the Jedi or Tyrant's Fist, but better than Seconds to Die. If you liked Purge, you'll probably like this too. But again, don't forget that Vader's been in the suit for less than a week. This is NOT the Vader that wipes the floor with Jedi, but the other way around. We know he'll kill Kirak and take his crystal eventually, so chill.

The artwork is so-so. It was pretty decent in the first issue, ok in the second and it's ok-ish here too. Other for some cool panels and obviously, the duel, not much happens.

 

After this issue I can imagine Vader saying: "I hate water. Its smooth, fluid...it gets everywhere!!!!"

 

Am I the only one who thinks there was symbolism in that it was Vader's mechanics that seemed to cause him to

Spoiler

lose

in this issue not his force powers?

"He's more machine than man" and here the machine failed the man

 

That's one way to look at it I guess. It kinda makes sense too as that way it ties to the previous Darth Vader series.

Spoiler

In Gillen's series, Vader is again compromised due to his mechanical side, but he prevails by relying on the Force alone.

 

I'm not familiar with "Purge" that you're referencing spicer but I pretty much agree with your assessment of the plot and art.

Spoiler

The outcome did surprise me as I expected Vader to dispatch of Kirak quickly after the trials. Kirak was a little bit of a jabber jaw, but maybe that only felt that way because Vader doesn't really talk much other than to the computer.

 

I'm pretty happy with the art in these issues, it's a bit of an acquired taste, but I'm used to it from Amazing Spider-Man. Also, I've got a question for the observant readers

Spoiler

Did anyone see what which panel the material got ripped of his leg? It seemed like all of a sudden we can see his metal foot, but I flipped back a few pages and couldn't see where it happened.

 

I noticed that too, it happened off screen, while Kirak and the droid were talking together.

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Purge_(TPB)

It's an excellent collection of stories published by Dark Horse. They are collected in one TPB which is probably out of print now, but you can find them in Legends: Epic Collection The Empire vol. 1. They are set during the first few months after ROTS and deal with Vader hunting surviving Jedi. I recommend you check them out. This issue of Vader has a vibe that fits with the tone of the Legends Purge comics.

Spoiler

Well, considering the covers for the next two issues, I think it was reasonable to expect they'd deal with more Kirak, so no surprise he didn't die in this one.

 

Spoiler

I should not have read your last bit of spoiler text. I avoid the covers for potential spoilers. Oh well.

 

Spoiler

I'm really sorry, I didn't know that was the case...I didn't mean to spoil anything for you. But for what it's worth, I'm just guessing on what may happen in the next issues based on the covers. I may be way off, as more often than not, the covers aren't aligning 100% with the story, as their main purpose is to look cool in order to sell the comic.

 

I liked this issue a lot. The new Jedi is a badass and you get the feeling he's not quite the Jedi he should be. I wonder what his backstory is.

Spoiler

It makes sense that Vader loses at this point in the story. It became pretty clear that he's not used to the suit and his mechanical legs. Also, older Vader would have made a plan for approaching his enemy. This Vader seems so full of rage that he can't think clearly. I hope that's part of the story-arc for him, how to learn to master his anger.

 

Spoiler

My favorite panel in the issue is Vader about to be crushed by the wall of water.

Second favorite panel is Vader Force parting the water, even though it makes ZERO allegorical sense to the image at all.

Is Infilia Grey skinned? Or is that due to Force over exposure? Are his eyes blue on black because that is what his species naturally has, or is that the after effects of someone who is fully Force saturated, similar to Fremen and spice in Dune?

The art was average/above average. The wide shots took lots of shortcuts. The tighter panels are where all the effort and work was done. I know that the water was primarily due to the colorist, but damn was it pretty.

Finally, I love the dialogue with the droid when Infilia is talking about what the darkness surrounding Vader feels like. Vader took all the darkness from every Jedi that was killed during Order 66 and holds it inside him, almost as a personal torment instead of what a typical Sith would do and use the Death of a Jedi to fuel a bloodlust (example: Maul).

Love it!

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This series has given us some additional insights into Vader's reconstruction and it's absolutely horrific.

After what happened on Mustafar, Anakin has no business going on any kind of mission. Not for months or even a year. He belongs in a top-of-the-line medcenter where real doctors can treat him properly.

With all the advanced technology in Star Wars they could have rebuilt Anakin much much better than they did. Right now Darth Vader is a mechanical monster that spends all his time buried beneath black armour and a terrifying mask. All by Palpatine's design because he never cared about Anakin as a person. All he wanted was a weapon. And that's what he ordered his scientists and doctors to rebuild from Anakin's charred torso and stumps. But Anakin didn't have to spend the rest of his life trapped under constricting black armour and a dehumanizing helmet. (Yes I say Anakin because at the core of Vader there's a spark of Anakin left. Losing his humanity was a huge factor in Vader burying that spark of Anakin for decades.)

If Palpatine had cared about actually helping Anakin as a person after Mustafar (he wouldn't of course, because then he wouldn't be Palpatine) he could have helped his "friend" return to a facsimile of what he had been.

Deep bacta treatments, nerve regeneration and synthskin grafts could have healed the massive third-degree burns across Vader's entire body.

Painstaking surgery and lots of bacta therapy could have slowly nursed Vader's lungs back to normal, or at least to a state where he didn't have to be completely dependent on a respirator.

Real, human-like prosthetics could have given Anakin his hands back and helped him re-embrace his humanity. Follicle restoration treatment could have stimulated the re-growth of Anakin's handsome blonde hair.

He could have had his life back after Mustafar or at least part of it. He didn't have to be a black-clad monster for the rest of his life. But Palpatine only wanted a servant and didn't even give his servant time to rest or recover. The same day Vader is rebuilt, Sidious sends him off on this ridiculous errand. The saddest part is that this is Vader's life. Nobody in the universe cares enough to try and save Anakin Skywalker until Luke comes along, twenty-three years later. This is what feels like to be Anakin Skywalker....forever.

 

That was a pretty good issue, a bit of an abrupt end and I'm disappointed this Jedi isn't wise enough to kill him proper but the action was gorgeous, especially the scene where Vader goes all Moses and his cape is all torn up from the water. But I doubt this is the Jedi who Vader will take his Saber from due to the different look of the hilt.

 

He just wants In'fila's crystal. He'll build his own lightsaber and use the stolen crystal to power it.

 

And this is one of the reasons that I am loving this series so much right now. We are getting to see the depths of pain that Vader has to bury Anakin under for him to BE the cold calculating murderer that he is in the Original Trilogy. Anakin/Vader has to fail in order to learn how Palpatine deals with that failure. Vader can't just be the person he is in the OT without learning how to be that person first.

He didn't learn how to be a Sith in the 10 minutes it took to help throw Mace out the window and Palpatine anointed him Vader.

So far we are getting exactly what I wanted to see from the series and I will be very excited to see the next couple of arcs. Hopefully this series lasts at least 25, but I would be very happy with more.



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I agree that it is a cool and striking visual, I just don't understand what the meaning is behind it.

If it is just a cool picture, then there are plenty of other poses that they could have chosen without drawing that specific metaphor to the reader's minds.

In context, Moses is leading his people out of slavery and torment from their Egyptian masters. When he leads his people to the Red Sea, (being chased by the Egyptian army) they begin to despair that their rebellion has been for naught and they will be slaughtered with the survivors re-enslaved.

Moses, through the power of his faith, calls upon God to deliver them, and God grants Moses the power to part the Red Sea and lead his people safely across.

There is absolutely no allegorical parallel, that can be made with Vader or Vader's mission.

It isn't even a reverse parallel, where Vader is and unstoppable army parting the water to get to the powerless victims. Which can be a powerful visual in the case if you are making a statement based on misplaced faith or the fact that by faith alone you will be safe from a overbearing and powerful villain.

Infil'a is a powerful adversary not running to meet Vader, but at the same time not running from him either.

So the visual of Vader parting the water is either done just for a "cool" factor, or an extremely lazy attempt at some sort of meaning, which to me, fails on any level you could try to make it work. And if it is done just for "cool" factor, then I also think it was a lazy pose and something more creative could have been chosen.



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The end of the comic got me thinking. Vader lost his leg and was thrown into the abyss. However, its the same abyss that he threw the droid before.
So, the idea I got is that Vader will somehow scavenge the droid and use it's leg as a temporary replacement. What do you think?

 

Charles Soule and artist Giuseppe Camuncoli on Darth Vader