Comics Star Wars: Target Vader (6/6 released)

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Betting it's Dengar who's on Vader's side.

 

I said this in the General Release thread, but I bet it is the

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Tusken Raider who is on Vader's side. Aaron set up in the last pages of this run on the main title, that Vader has become a god-like figure to the Tuskens. If Valence put together a crew to hunt down a target, but didn't tell the crew who the target was, I can see the Tusken being mortified she was hired to hunt down one of her deities. Having her be the one to help Vader would be an amazing bit of continuity.

 

Do we know when Target Vader takes place in the timeline?

 

We never know when anything is on the timeline anymore

 

We know where almost everything is on the timeline so far. Target Vader hasn't given many context clues yet, but we're only one issue in.

 

@The2ndQuest @AdmiralNick22
1 of 6 released

 

http://www.adventuresinpoortaste.co...u0GyVcEQzLefovTuwfL3p-G3_k_uNuap73c7s8soLKh7s

 

@The2ndQuest @AdmiralNick22
2 of 6 released

Concerning #2 "The Plan"

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I liked the little bit about Valance's past as well as his overall plan. I wonder if he's also after the Hidden Hand. It makes sense as I wouldn't put my faith in a secret organization to pay up after the job was completed.

Any idea who Vader's person is on the inside? I feel Dengar is too obvious, but I still feel it's him.

For my own reference:
Honnah - female gamorrean (, tracker, bounty hunter
Urrr'k - female (tusken raider?), sniper
Chio Fain - Ardennian aka four armed monkey, slicer, possibly insane
Dengar - male human, bounty hunter

 

Issue #5 solicit.

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STAR WARS: TARGET VADER #5 (of 6)
ROBBIE THOMPSON (W) • STEFANO LANDINI (A) • Cover by NIC KLEIN
THE GREAT ESCAPE!
• VALANCE has been betrayed, captured, and now stands alone.
• But nothing will stop THE HUNTER from finishing his prey... DARTH VADER, who is closing in on his own target, THE HIDDEN HAND, a mysterious syndicate working with scum, villainy... and the REBELLION?
• Can Valance use his training as a former Imperial to escape... or will he find out he has more in common with the Dark Lord than he could ever have imagined?!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
Star Wars © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Text and illustrations for Star Wars are © 2019 Lucasfilm Ltd.

 

couple of good twists in here, I do like that Valance is crazy enough that he'll draw Vader to himself no problem. Probably won't turn out well. Vader should rightfully stomp him.

 

Ask Wolverine.

 

I tried and he told me to go **** off.

 

Agree with the poster that suggested this storyline is intended to create future storylines for Captain Valance and the Hidden Hand. With Valance's background as one of the Imperial Academy's best pilots, I'd like to see him go up against Inferno Squad. But giving Vader the "Wolverine publicity" of so many mini-series runs the risk of him being overexposed similar to Boba Fett was in the Dark Horse Legends comics.

I've never been a fan of "bad guy vs bad guy" stories (though I certainly love John Le Carre style moral ambiguity, and I greatly enjoy Punisher, Deadpool, and Death's Head stories where they have a Blue Oni to counter their red). I figure the Marvel Star Wars comic should be using Vader similar to how IDW used Megatron in their Transformers comic (before they made him a good guy): Generally appears when needed, with the occasionally surprise cameo; very few of the heroes were in his weight class, and those who weren't knew they were screwed whenever he showed up. Speaking of Transformers, I'd like to see a droid villain similar to Shockwave: Calculating, logic-driven, no regard for organic life as it carries out a clandestine agenda with the detachment of a real machine. Rather than being limited to being a "Therefore I Am" short story or an opponent for another "Evil vs Evil" Vader story, it would be a threat to both Rebel and Imperial alike. G0-T0 from KOTOR II was actually pretty close to that, it's a shame so much of his subplot got dummied out (Planet M478 and the HK-50 factory).

Legends never really did anything with the GenoHaradan. Missed opportunity there. Maybe the new canon can fix this. And Luke between ANH and ESB might not be able to go saber to saber with Vader yet, but he could handle a Riot Trooper, a Purge Trooper (if Cal Kestis and Ferren Barr didn't kill them all), maybe even an Inquisitor if there are any left. Though I suspect that the Inquisitors we saw in Rebels were the only ones still active by that point, and that the organization was dismantled when they were killed.

Putting it out there one more time: Valance vs Inferno Squad.

 

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It probably is. The real twist will probably be the identity of the Rebel spy.

 

I would suggest that Marvel's writers could learn a bit from IDW's Transformers comics. They thoroughly deconstructed the "one side good, one side evil" concept (Last Stand of the Wreckers was their Rogue One), were not afraid to show "good people dying in stupid, pointless ways", used masculine/feminine droid programming as a metaphor for gender identity, and did an epic space exploration adventure that put Star Trek, Blake's 7, Doctor Who, Red Dwarf, Futurama, Cowboy Bebop, and yes, Star Wars, into a blender and created a rather unique fusion (if HK-47 from KOTOR had joined the Lost Light crew, he would probably have been considered the most normal and well-adjusted of the lot, how's that for subversive?).

I know that IDW is a little more "indie" and "experimental" than Marvel usually is, but Marvel shouldn't be afraid to test the waters and go edgy.

I miss HK-47. I always read Triple-Zero's lines in HK's voice, Kieron Gillen's Furmanesque writing style helps.

 

I read T-Z in C-3PO's voice, I think that's a lot scarier than any other version.

 

Read the first two issues. I like Captain Valance. He reminds me of Snake Plissken. Even looks a bit like Kurt Russell in Terminator makeup. I like how the "No Honor Among Thieves" theme, it plays on LF-DJ's "Live free, don't join" philosophy in The Last Jedi. Since it's still early, it's interesting to see how Mr. Thompson will go with it, will he play it straight, or do a Rogue One style subversion? Valance is essentially scabbing from his own union, which makes him more of a jerk than previous "Scoundrel" class anti-heroes, but the indications that he's doing this out of desperation because paying for all those medical bills from the end of Han Solo: Imperial Cadet and Gwi's comments about him running out of places to hide makes me wonder if they're setting up some kind of redemptive arc for him.

Who's that Rebel commander from the end of part 1? Is she someone from earlier comics or laters seasons of Rebels, or someone new?

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I think Urrr'k is actually the Rebel spy. We've seen humans and near humans disguise as Sand People before, it's the perfect disguise because their religious customs mean all the "let's make sure he's not wearing a wire" tropes are off the table. The Imperial mole is most likely Dengar, we know he and Vader patch things up by the OT. It may seem "easy" but sometimes you put obvious plot developments in there to divert attention away from more surprising twists.

Gotta say though, whoever's doing the doing the intel gathering in the Hidden Hand doesn't seem to be doing a very good job. Their background check on R9-19 missed important details like "complete phony, likely to be a stool pigeon for Jabba".

 

Issue #6 solicit.

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STAR WARS: TARGET VADER #6 (of 6)
ROBBIE THOMPSON (W)
STEFANO LANDINI (A)
Cover by NIC KLEIN
Showdown!
• Valance has escaped the clutches of the Empire, and finally has a lead on who’s REALLY behind the mysterious crime syndicate, the Hidden Hand. In the process, he’s uncovered a mystery about his own past.
• Darth Vader… AND members of the Rebellion, desperate for one last arms deal with The Hidden Hand.
• Will Valance be able to finish the job and kill Vader? Will Vader crush the Rebellion once and for all? Or will The Hidden Hand continue to walk between the raindrops and escape them all? Check out the thrilling finale to find out!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
Star Wars © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Text and illustrations for Star Wars are © 2019 Lucasfilm Ltd.

 

I original thought Trip had a different vocabulator but he tricked Luke simply be being painted gold so I think he definitely sounds like Threepio.

 

I had no idea Valance was a Legends character. Neat.

 

Issue #3 preview.

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Shouldn't he have the metal eye in the grunt picture? In Han Solo - Imperial Cadet #5 they say he'll be grounded permanently and carry on as a grunt and have to pay for his own stuff himself, which happened after he got blown out of the sky. #minorgripe

 

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It looks like the operation gave him full synthskin, but the explosion he's in as a grunt exposes his eye. Same as Legends, really, where he looked human until he tore off the side of his face to reveal the cybernetics.

 

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So he was still loyal to the Empire after the raw deal he got in Han Solo: Imperial Cadet. Wonder what the straw that broke the camel's back actually was?

 

Issue 3 is out

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Hm, so that Tusken isn't actually a Tusken?