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

Well, that was unexpected. And I kind of love it.

 

I figured out where I actually got my "Darth Vader flying in ESB" image from. It wasn't the novelization, it was the Random House The Empire Strikes Back Storybook, which describes the moment thus:

Luke tumbled down the stairs to the deck below. He looked up to see Vader, like a giant black bird, flying straight down at him. Luke rolled away from the Dark Lord.
"Your future lies with me," said Vader, circling. "Now you will embrace the dark side."

Thirty-eight or so years later it now seems pretty clear the storybook wasn't trying to say that Vader was literally flying around the room, but that's what my childhood mind somehow took away from the description of Vader "circling." Funny how things like that work. Every time I see that moment in ESB I think of it.

 

Yeah, and there was those other books that were newer adaptions (2015) that did imply the flying. Still, I read issue 24 and I understand what Matthew said about the evil superman. The thing is it goes back to perception. After reading that issue the question is did he truly fly like Leia did in the Last Jedi or the Inquisitors in the Rebels tv series? Those were to an extent truer version of flight. My answer is no. What Vader did in the issue was he was under the lava (like being under the sea), he used the force to protect himself, then moved a piece of the AT-AT's head, went to it and used it to leap from the AT-AT's head out of the lava were he landed on the side, where he then used the force to wipe the flames away. So in essence its not flight, but a leap that was enhanced by the force. Now, in issue 23, there is a minor blur scene that shows Vader leaping from where he was, and almost appearing to fly in a blur. Other than that, the next true power of flight for Vader will be in the Lord of the Sith novel.

 

But in Lords of the Sith, Vader's "flight" is him moving through the vacuum and using the Force and impulse from jettison out of a ship, so just like Leia in TLJ, I wouldn't call those moves flying

 

Yah I did notice that the assault on Vader's Castle in this book did tie in nicely with the story told in Tales from Vader's Castle. Anyway, Momin dropping some Chosen One factoids on Vader was my favourite thing in the issue. Okay and every other panel and page. But that too!

 

Do tell!

 

I forget the specifics by Momin basically knew that Vader was the Chosen One and yet the Chosen One completely failed to save his wife. It was a small reference but I loved it because if you want to get under Vader's helmet, you drop some Chosen One career stats on him. Career stats that are basically failures from someone trying to get under his skin.

Although how does Momin know that Vader is Anakin Skywalker/The Chosen One? Eh, wacky Dark Side Knowledge I guess.

 

He tells Vader toward the start of his villainous monologue™:

Spoiler: DV#24

 

yah, that's it! I loved that line "They called you the Chosen One, and you believed it!" Which is really interesting because the closest we got to Anakin's opinion on being The Chosen One was in the Mortis arc, I believe, and he totally waved it off as something he didn't really care to think about. But deep down, as Momin found out, Anakin did believe it which is why he thought he could save Padme by using the dark side. So in a way, it's another step on Anakin's fall and probably something Vader still believes deep down, considering the actions he is undertaking. He deeply thought he was invincible and all powerful Chosen One.

 

Vader has been one of the best written villains of all time thanks to George. We know his strengths and weaknesses, but these are not some obscure plot driven characteristics. With that said I am glad that Vader has been one of the best stuff done under the new Disney canon. Between the pre-ANH Vader comic and the post-ANH Vader comic. There hasn't been a single story I haven't enjoyed thus far. That said I believe everything Disney written post-ROTJ has not been good IMO. So thankfully they haven't found a way to put Vader into them.

 

I would say that this series gives us some pretty awesome insights into Vader's thoughts and feelings and a lot of the dialogue is simply great. For example the idea that he still thinks of himself as Chosen One (and thinks he needs the Dark Side to reform the galaxy) is great.

However the way Vader acts often feels very off, more like a chaotic evil cartoon character. I thought that Vader would grow out of his stupid phase later in the series, but now that the series ends ...

 

I haven't read this series yet, so I'm curious what you mean.

 

I can't agree with you there because while in the Lord of the Sith novel, he jettisoned from the fighter, he used the force to focus on the open area and moved to it. No thrust, no jet back, -441 degrees Celsius in space. To me its a form of flying. In TLJ, Leia was knocked out cold into space with no protection. The force, I guess awoken her, cocooned her, and moved her straight to the door. She was not moving, no glide, thrust or power. She moved from point A, in mid space to point B the door even dodging the space debris. Yeah, it looked hokey, got to admit but it was flying in star wars, just like the inquisitors in the Rebels episode. Like I said before, we are going to have a thousand and one experts Debbie down the event, but each person interprets the events as they see them. That's the magic of star wars.

 

Because Vader was definitely never a chaotic evil cartoon character in the OT, right everyone?

 

No, I wouldn't say he was. In ANH he came off as more of a bureaucratic sorcerer, and while he was a villain in the OT I never really saw him as cartoonish. The Vader comic feels a little like it's playing the result; it's using the fan interpretation of Vader as a badass evil-doer that's built up over the years and is characterizing him as that rather than how he was actually portrayed in the OT. Honestly Chuck's interpretation in Technological Terror felt truer to ANH at least than a lot of Soule's work.

 

It's interesting -- I don't usually like an overpowered Vader (his R1 scene is one of my least favorite things about the film) but everything else about this series kind of allows me to forgive it. It's good storytelling and use of the comic form, and good character work, so it gets a pass.

 

Vader in this comic is a lot more powerful than in ANH in the same way that you’re never going to see a lightsaber duel like Vader vs Obi-Wan on the Death Star again. If they remade A New Hope today, Vader and Obi-Wan would be doing backflips and force-pushing each other into the walls and stuff.


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I don't think they would. There's a middle ground between ANH and ROTS, and it's one that's been used in TFA and Rebels, among others. The recent fan remake of that duel shows how it could be sped up without resorting to Battle of the Heroes style acrobatics. Even Rogue One kept Vader as the plodding menace he was in the OT despite his new brutality. It could easily be kept as the classical, Samurai-inspired duel it was just with some refined choreography and a faster pace.

I'd like to think we've moved on from having CGI Christopher Lee flip over a balcony when the stairs are right there just to show off what cool stuff computers can do, and a remade duel would actually keep the intent and purpose of the original.

 

Honestly, this vision of Vader is probably my favorite aspect of Canon nowadays. There is nothing new, overpowered, or exaggerated of this Vader to me; quite the contrary, this is exactly the Vader I grew up with back in the 80s. Very powerful, actually closer in power to Palpatine (it´s Palpatine´s knowledge, not only pure power, that keeps Vader at bay when he decides to dethrone him) and yet not invincible.

In the mid 2000s, Vader was described as a loser, a cripple that "is not the devil, but the guy that gets the devil his cigarettes" or something like that. He was a stepping stone for a lot of other newer, "cooler" characters, when Vader was considered old news. Almost everyone must have chopped Vader´s right hand at one point or another, or plainly defeated him (this was pretty extreme in TFU, where you got the feeling that these stories where there to put themselves above the OT, not complement it).

Now this is all gone, and I´m very glad. Vader is back to being feared and respected, even admired throughout the Galaxy. And this comic, has shown us a lot of Vader´s power unleashed, without feeling forced. It´s been fantastic, really, and I´m sad it´s coming to an end... I will really miss waiting for the next issue!!!

 

I'm hoping the upcoming last comic has an ending that is both epic and satisfying. I want another Solo

 

I like this a lot. Vader was made to be a bit of a loser back in the old eu days. I know that I didn’t like GL,s take that Vader was less than Palms because he lost his human flesh. To me it was a cop out. Vader does now resemble the villain we loved back in the 80’s

 

Not really -- even the comics of the time didn't make him out to be quite this overpowered, and they could have. I'm of the opinion that a middle ground is preferable. As I said, it works for me *in this series* because of all the other elements in place. Elsewhere I find it to be rather glaringly fanservicey. I have loved this series and I wish it weren't ending, but since it is, I'd rather have Vader offstage for a little while.

 

I haven't read every single Vader story ever, but can you please point out which stories you're referring to here? Because I can't remember any where Vader is a loser, with the exeption of The Force Unleashed.

 

Vader is a mass murdering psychopath. He is a loser.

 

Looking from that perspective you are correct. But the impression I get from some is that by loser they imply "people wiped the floor with Vader in the old EU", and/or "he was an emo". The first is true in TFU I guess, but what other stories fit that description?