AfterEmpire Strikes Back, Darth Vader Is Working Through the Ashes of theStar WarsPrequels

TheStar Warscomics ’ relaunch this twelvemonth has pulled the timeline of Marvel ’s lens in the galaxy far , far away into the immediate aftermath of Empire Strikes Back . While the mainStar Warsbook has start to dive into where our Rebel torpedo go next in the wake of losing one of their own , Darth Vader’srelaunched series is lead the Dark Lord on a trip down memory lane .

initiative as the relaunched Star Wars series did last calendar month in the quick moments after his duel with Luke on Bespin , Darth Vader # 1 — written by Greg Pak , feature art from Raffaele Ienco and Neeraj Menon , and lettering by Joe Caramagna — is much less concerned in the specific details of what Vader does next than it is with the why . That ’s mainly because the what he does next is pretty simple . Taken aback by Luke ’s total rejection of taking his place at his father ’s side to rule the galaxy , Vader go to haunt a hover path across the stars to find out answers as to just who hid his son from him for decade .

The why of it all ? Because deep down , beneath the machinery , beneath the charred flesh and discredited soundbox , Darth Vaderis Anakin Skywalker . And he ’s angry , isolated , and just wants to lash out at a galaxyof perceive injusticesthat have followed him for all his life-time .

Darth Vader is, uh, going through some things.

Darth Vader is, uh, going through some things.Image: Raffaele Ienco and Neeraj Menon (Marvel Comics)

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This is a conflict that begins in Darth Vader # 1 internally — as , watch his son fall into the profundity of Cloud City , Vader can not help but feel the impact of all those he ’s lie with faux pas beyond his range , out of his sense of control . In one of the yield ’s starkest Page , Luke ’s plummet figure , tinged red by the cybernetics of Vader ’s mask , blurs from the young , disarm military man to Shmi Skywalker , and then obnubilate once more to a pregnant Padmé Amidala , as Vader public eye in silence , his vision becoming so blurred with angriness and despair that it becomes pure , red hot rage .

There is already an inherent tragedy in Vader ’s attempts to extend to out to his son , and being so absolutely rejected that Luke seemingly falls to his own possible end rather than consider stand with his father . But bid us to consider that he sees it as a loss akin to lose his female parent and Padmé , rather than the scoundrel of the piece attempting to corrupt his son as was initial context of Empire ’s “ I am your Father ” moment , amplify that tragedy in a style that contribute the circumstance of the Star Wars prequels only really can .

The failures of a father, a son, and a husband.Image: Raffaele Ienco and Neeraj Menon (Marvel Comics)

It ’s something Vader # 1 continues to meditate , as the Dark Lord ’s internal conflict becomes imminently outside . simmer with rage that the Falcon , and a very much still - live Luke , slip out of his grasp as it lam Bespin , Vader promptly goes rogue and ditches the Executor , take off on a pursuance to find the citizenry who conceal Luke away from him — the people that , in his center , poisoned his son ’s mind so that he would volitionally select oblivion over his own beginner , those who made his child weak . He does n’t really want answers though . He want to do what Anakin always does , what the man that became Darth Vader has always been good at : lash out and destroy .

Vader ’s seeking for catharsis immediately brings him to Tatooine and the burned - out homestead of Cliegg Lars . Amid the real ashes of the Skywalker family ’s past times , Vader ( accompanied by an archivist droid , Z67 , clinically recall the lives and bequest of Cliegg , Shmi , Owen , Beru , and ultimately Luke ) restfully haunt what remains of the homestead , flashing back to his rage as a untried adult male over his bankruptcy to make unnecessary his mother from Tusken Raiders . Angry then , as he is now — the memories touch crimson here , once again — incompetent of holding in his torture and flog it out at something , anything .

There ’s a trouble this time , as Z67 notes , blissfully incognizant that the Dark Lord is Anakin Skywalker , one and the same . Back then , Anakin found someone to penalize for his failure , for his anger : the Tuskens , the men , the cleaning lady and children too . properly now , all that ’s left is a burn - out plate and some ghost , intangible enough that not even a Sith Lord can impress at them .

Image: Raffaele Ienco and Neeraj Menon

The failures of a father, a son, and a husband.Image: Raffaele Ienco and Neeraj Menon (Marvel Comics)

Vader ultimately gets some release — some goosey pirates , guess they ’re tracking a sole birdie , impolitely discover that its occupant has no time to even enjoy in the stark barbarism with which he write out them down . It ’s brief , the actual instant of dispute lasting barely half a Thomas Nelson Page before it ’s over . It is , clearly , not enough to englut the anger still burn deep inside Vader ’s core .

His quest for answer , and a way of life to wriggle with a fury that has torn aside at him for decennium at this item , is far from over . But it ’s a seeking that , it seems , will endeavor to deeply prompt us of the military man behind Vader ’s black mask at every turn it can . Because to remember that simple fact is vital . While he is more simple machine than military man now , the man that Anakin Skywalker was — that Anakin Skywalker is — is still there , with years ofhate and fear and baggagethat that legacy brings .

Marvel ’s era of Star Wars cartoon strip has been able to more deep enmesh the story of the Star Wars prequels and the original trilogy in shipway that the movies plainly never could , thanks to the benefit of hindsight grant by their 10 aside in creation . Vader himself has proven to be aconsistently fruitful lenswith which to make these connection and observation , lend the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker ’s drop asense of pathosthat the motion picture themselves could never quite unfeignedly capture .

Image: Raffaele Ienco, Neeraj Menon, and Joe Caramagna