Darth Vader gets his body put back together while his mind wanders before setting out after Han Solo in Star Wars: Darth Vader #12 written by Greg Pak, art by Guiu Vilanova, colored by Dean White with Giada Marchisio, and lettered by Joe Caramagna.
Crossover tie-in issues are tricky. Tie in too lightly, and risk alienating any new readers checking out the book just for its connection to the overall story. Tie in too strongly, and risk an opportunity to showcase what is unique about the series to those new readers, in an effort to get them to stick around after the crossover (and risk alienating existing readers with a story that otherwise derails the seriesâ narrative). Greg Pak does his best to thread that needle with this issue, a tie-in to the âWar of the Bounty Huntersâ event running through all the Marvel Star Wars titles, but thereâs no denying this issue isnât as strong as previous ones, due mostly to the need to tie-in to the crossover.
Things pick up more or less where they left off at the end of the last issue: Darth Vader has (outwardly) re-pledged his fidelity to Emperor Palpatine, having witnessed the full extent of Palpatineâs plans and power on Exegol, and the issue opens with the Emperor dutifully returning Vader to Coruscant in order to repair his damaged/ad-hoc body. But Vaderâs inward resolve, formed at the conclusion of âInto the Fireâ, continues to burn: he still has every intention of making his son a Sith and joining with him to overthrow the Emperor. As Vaderâs body is (painfully) rebuilt, he ruminates on his son and past events, coming to the conclusion that Luke is weakened by his friendships. This, in turn, prompts a flashback sequence in which Vader is shown chasing after Han Solo & Chewbacca in the wake of the first Death Starâs destruction, culminating in Vaderâs present-day mission to track down his sonâs buddy for himself, thereby firmly inserting Vader (and Darth Vader the series) into the âWar of the Bounty Huntersâ event.
All of which is…fine. Itâs not the most elegant segue into a crossover event, but itâs not the most inelegant one, either. The flashback, which comprises most of the issueâs traditional action beats, is fairly routine. Its biggest problem is that it lacks a big, stupid, fun moment like, say, last issueâs âDark Side Kaiju fightâ. But even that is understandable: serial stories need variety in tone and scale as much as in anything else and going big like that only works if sometimes, the story also goes small. In the flashback, artist Guiu Vilanova does do some quieter fun stuff with the visual focus in certain panels, playing on reader expectations to create a funny visual gag in one section, and the final beat of the flashback, that Han & Chewie get away thanks to the relative ubiquity of the Millennium Falconâs make-and-model, is amusing.
But itâs also hard to imagine that this is what Pak would have done with the story at this point if left to his own devices without the crossover to tie into, that the next step in his exploration of Vaderâs character and in Vaderâs long term plans to overthrow the Emperor was always going to be âgo after his kidâs best friendâ. Itâs entirely possible that Pak will lean into this setup and find an engaging & entertaining way to thematically & narratively connect Vaderâs participation in âWar of the Bounty Huntersâ and his quest for Han Solo to the seriesâ ongoing arcs. But for now, regardless of whatever Pakâs plans may have been, itâs hard not to read this issue and feel the hand of editorial/marketing forces at work, to wonder what might have been, and to not feel like the issue is somewhat lesser than it could have been as a result.
Force Facts
- The medical center where Vader is rebuilt in this issue is the same one to which he was initially taken to receive his cybernetic enhancements and iconic armor in Revenge of the Sith.Â
- At the end of the issue, Vader & Ochi of Bestoon visit a Hutt looking for information about the whereabouts of Han Solo; this is Bokku the Hutt who, I believe, is making his first appearance here, but is slated to appear again in âWar of the Bounty Huntersâ. Â
Austin Gorton also reviews older issues of X-Men at the Real Gentlemen of Leisure website, co-hosts the A Very Special episode podcast, and likes Star Wars. He lives outside Minneapolis, where sometimes, it is not cold. Follow him on Twitter @AustinGorton
