Comics Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith #19-25: Fortress Vader (7/7 Released)

For me, it´s mostly a matter of perception. Some things were a little curious, like:

- Vader being defeated and captured by insurgents in Atoa;
- Vader being surprised by Falco Sang;
- Being beated by Hoar, the Tusken (non-canon);
- Being basically beated by Maul´s clone (non-canon, I think?);
- Being humiliated in TFU;
- Being defeated in his moment of vengeance, in TFUII;

Some of those just feel a little weird, but almost don´t bother me. It´s part of the story, and well, Vader isn´t infallible after all. But others, well, did take Vader to a new low, like TFU, that ironically was promoted as the first game that would allow you play as Vader!

All in all, the big letdown from me came in Purge, with the whole 50 Jedi nest quote. Many things we assumed in terms of abilities and power from Vader in the OT seemed, at that point, just a lie or an exaggeration made by Palpatine. Keep in mind, this is all very subjective stuff, and has nothing to do with the story itself, only with the depiction of Vader; but for me those are all low points in his career I was glad to see erased!!

 

This post-Episode III series is much better than the previous post-Episode IV series.

It deserves at least 80 or 90 chapters.

 

Well, in the Coruscant set of books, Vader using the bad bota and getting knocked out. Vader getting beaten in TFU, TFUII, can't think of the other story in comic book. But the big one was the prequels. He was then said to be less than the Emperor by GL. He was said to be 80% instead of the 20%. In essence, the Vader that many of us remember from the OT that was bad assery became a lame individual who lost everything and in a last gasp went to the dark side. That wasn't the Vader we were use to, and while I do wish that new canon slow down on Vader. He undeniably has been brought back to the level and more of what we remember back in the OT. He is the man. When he shows up its over.That I do like about the new canon Vader.

 

These were what I was looking for and I completely agree. I am glad they erased all that stuff from before that pertains to Vader. Now, yes he is the mack daddy. The Emperor now is the one that needs a story or two because Vader is where he has to be.

 

As a general recommendation, I don't know how easily available they are now, but the best Legends comics EU Vader can be found in Purge and Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison.

Resurrection wasn't canon at the time, but a lot of people liked it for how Vader won the duel. Doesn't matter how many hits Maul got in, Vader got the hits in that counted.

I'm going to disagree on this. In the Coruscant Nights books, all four of them, every single move Jax and co make is in response to Vader. Even when not present on the page, Vader dominates those books. The only way the characters is by getting lucky, by Vader getting over-confident and a long, long shot coming off.

 

I... liked the prior Vader series, but it got goofy at times. That same loopiness went on to live and feel much more at home in the Aphra book, where I love it. It was a bit at odds with the gravitas of Vader, but in Aphra it just feels like Terry Gilliam does SW as Raiders, and it's brilliant. Meanwhile the new Vader series found the right tone, and I think we got the best of both aspects in their own books that way.

One more issue and I really don't even know what to expect... that's cool. (And the same is true with Aphra -- neither book is predictable, which has gotten to be a challenge!)

 

Agreed, these things are indeed a matter of perception. Here's my view on the topic:

- Yes he was captured on Atoa, but what followed afterwards proved that Vader is more capable than one might assume for a disfigured human. He was able to survive without his mask and defeat his oponents without much trouble. I find him terrifying in Darth Vader and the Lost Command because of that.
- Falco surprised him, yes, but Vader quickly overpowered him without a problem. At the end, Vader was pleased that Falco managed to surprise him in the first place, as he hired him to help find Jedi.
- I personally don't count the thing with Hoar, because it was never canon.
- Read above's post by @Jedi Ben. Vader won the duel in the end.
- I agree about TFU and TFU II. In my view, these two games are the only ones that potentially undermine Vader.

The 50 Jedi quote was another of Sheev's manipulations and I can't see how it reflects Vader's actual skills. Keep in mind that Purge: Last Stand of the Jedi takes place about 3-4 weeks after Vader was put in the suit - he was still getting used to it. Also don't forget that Vader faced 8 Jedi Masters all by hiself and managed to kill 5 of them relatively easily and quickly - one with a simple single strike by his lightsaber, and another with his bare hand (hand, not hands)! At the end of the duel, he didn't suffer any major injuries. He looked like this after fighting 8 Jedi Masters:


An easy and quick fix to his suit and he's good as new.

On the other hand, he almost died after dueling Kirak in this series. This is how Vader looked after fighting one Jedi Master:


So, how is his Jedi battle in Purge worse than the one in this series? To be fair, the fight with Kirak took place just 2 or 3 days after he was put in the suit, and he did defeat Kirak in the end.

As you said, those were your subjective points, and these are mine

 

Don´t get me wrong, I agree completely! But he won the fight after an almost suicidal move, because he didn´t have any options left. He did beat Maul, but personally, I didn´t think it was necessary to make it such a desperate victory. Maul is very powerful, but Vader as always been above him in my view, and I get the feeling that´s the road Canon has taken between the two of them.

Makes perfect sense! It just sounded weird to me to have Vader patiently waiting for a bounty hunter to deign himself to work for him, and even allowing him to beat him with... an iron bar? don´t quite remember. Sounded weird, because, well... just call an Inquisitor, right? But Vader came up as pacient and Salco Falg is obviously capable, so it really isn´t a big deal...

Oh, that´s very curious indeed! the thing that bothered me about Purge wasn´t, at all, that Vader was defeated. In fact, he was surprised by 8 Jedi masters with a cortosis blade a month after being in the suit; he did better than expected, to be honest, and that´s why being defeated by Kirak didn´t bother me at all.

What I didn´t like was this feeling of "Vader beat 50 jedi all by himself" when he obviously didn´t. It opens the door for many of Vader rumored abilities and victories to be just that, rumors and exaggerations (even if it´s not the case). In canon, we actually see, after being almost destroyed by Kirak, to fix himself, come back and break the man´s neck. No ambiguity there, he fulfilled his master´s mission: he succeeded. That´s probably what makes the difference in my perception!

 

Vader hired Falco because he managed to find Dass Jennir before he could, after months of serching. And he also forced Falco to train in preparation. It's kinda like in TESB - Vader and the Imperials couldn't capture the Falcon, so he hired Boba Fett. Inquisitors were a thing in Legends too, but Vader went with Falco anyway because he's proven capable to track down Jennir.

[QUOTE="Ithorians, post: 55518070, member: 1420598]What I didn´t like was this feeling of "Vader beat 50 jedi all by himself" when he obviously didn´t. It opens the door for many of Vader rumored abilities and victories to be just that, rumors and exaggerations (even if it´s not the case).
[/QUOTE]
Vader didn't like the rumor too. It was Palp's that came up with it on the spot, because of course he would.

 

Falco Sang was also one of the best rated bounty hunters around, I think? it also explains things. I just missed someone like Tremayne or Torbin in that series; felt like a perfect match... Then again, we got a very interesting Beyghor Sahdett instead!

 

I loved the idea of Sadhett's character. When brought face to face with the Dark Lord of the Sith that masterminded the entire war, who wiped out the Jedi and defeated the Grand Master in combat, what Jedi wouldn't surrender and switch sides rather than die a pointless death.

 

Loved how Sahdett was implemented in the series. His turn to the Dark Side was planned from issue #1!

 

I never noticed that hint. What a noteworthy use of subtlety. A very insightful observation on your part.

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I knew it! Vader is going to try to enter the portal! Only few more days

 

this is the most I've been looking forward to a Star Wars Marvel comic since .... probably Star Wars #1 dropped in 2015. The build up has been that good.

Cripes, were there any downsides on this run? Even the awesome Gillen/Lorrca run hit a slight snag in the middle there with the Shu-Torun stuff (which Gillen has been extended into his Star Wars run). This run... I got no downsides. Even Soule's excellent Poe Dameron run also had a middle lag there but dangit, nothing weak in 25 issues here, all killer no filler.

 

The hype is real.

 

The only issue I can compare it with in terms of hype is the amazing Legacy 27 Into the Core, where Darth Wyyrlock was revealed as the badass he is!

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No idea what’s going to happen. Excited but also sad this is the end of an AMAZING arc.

 

An AMAZING series.

 

Should we start taking the over or under % on Padme this issue and how she'll react

 

I don' think Vader is going to pull Padme through the World Between Worlds window or anything but I think he will see her and it will be... freaky. Like Vader still wants to save Padme and is bending reality to do it, it can't really end well. Also I'm thinking it'll have him definitively realizing that she is gone and only the Dark Side remains. this is Vader's Undercover Dark Side long con, kind of like how Luke went to the Dark Side in Dark Empire to try to destroy it. But Vader doesn't care about universal difference between light and dark, he just wants her to be his again.

 

Oddly my daughters and I just watched the end run of the Voltron reboot, and it seems thematically linked to where this is heading. Kind of agree, this series can only be faulted for ending. Really hope the Inquisitorius thread continues elsewhere soon.

 

Feeling right now like an Orpheus and Eurydice type story.

So the art, Vader goes through the portal but his life force is separated from his body?