SPOILER Jelena’s Review of Darth Vader #25

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Written by Kieron Gillen
Art by Salvador Larroca and Max Fiumara



It has all built up to this! Vader’s trials against Cylo’s creations! His machinations against the Emperor! His covert missions with Doctor Aphra and her murderous droids! All comes to fruition in an oversized 40-page issue by the stellar team of Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca! You won’t want to miss this ending!


We have waited for a long time for the final issue of Darth Vader comic and, now, that is out, I am not sure what to think about it. But, let’s start from the beginning.

Vader is in pursuit of Cylo, first by ship and, once he is on board of Cylo’s whale ship, in person. If there is any doubt that he is a murder machine, you can watch him as he efficiently disposes of ships, soldiers and finally Cylo’s own clones.

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Poor misguided, delusional Cylo! You almost have to be sorry for him (not really) as he continues to believe that his machines and clones would save him from Vader. Then watch Vader take the control of the ship and aim it at the sun. While Cylo is panicking, the Dark Lord of the Sith calmly walks back to his ship and flies away as Cylo’s ship explodes.

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Back on the Executor, Vader is faced with the Emperor – and Aphra. I don’t know what Aphra expected, but Palpatine’s or, better said, Darth Sidious’ reaction is exactly what you can expect from the Sith.

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As Vader walks her to the inevitable conclusion, Aphra is trying to once again talk her way out of the situation. She says she didn’t disclose Vader’s relationship with Luke, but can’t change Vader’s mind. He has no mercy, not even in the form of quick death. It seems that Aphra has come to the end of her way.

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The Emperor ‘demotes’ General Tagge and gives Vader the Executor as well as command over the fleet (as we find him in the beginning of TESB). Tagge tries Aphra’s approach, but is introduced to Lord Vader’s new favorite sport, choking of his subordinates. Admiral Ozzel (who will soon get a good choking of his own after prematurely jumping out of hyperspace) gets the task to get the Star Dreadnought ready in two weeks or face similar consequences.

With everything in his hands, Vader turns to the future. With familiar face in his mind, he promises: “Soon.”

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In the grand Marvel tradition, we get a ‘post-credit scene’. We learn that Aphra tasked Triple Zero, Bee-Tee and Black Krrsantan to use the equipment from the Son-Tuul Pride robbery and possibly save her life. They manage barely and when Triple Zero asks what she would do if Vader did use his lightsaber, Aphra shows that she did learn some wisdom after all.

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APHRA LIVES!



But, wait! That is not all, we also get a Coda. And, if I might say, it is the greatest display of irony you can imagine.

If you remember, in one of the past issues, Vader was chilling on Tatooine waiting for bounty hunters and passed the time by killing the entire village of Tuscen raiders. Unbeknownst to him, one of them not just survived, but witnessed the entire thing. He goes in the desert and calls for other Tuscens lead by some sort of shaman. The shaman reads the scene of Vader’s rampage and then tells the tribe about the event. The tribe gathers their dead and, together with the only survivor, burns them on the effigy – of Darth Vader.

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And, here we are at the end of all things or, at least, at the end of Marvel’s Darth Vader. After reading it all, I even more appreciate a decision to end the comic when the story is done. If I am being honest, the story might have been condensed even more. However, I am not complaining.

For every opponent, cyborg or otherwise, Vader had to eradicate, we got his relationship with Palpatine, Vader killing hundreds of Rebels, discovering that he has a son and destroying the remnants of his past. At the end of all things, we got Darth Vader at the height of his power, the Dark Lord of the Sith, ready to lure his son and try his chances against the Emperor. We got Vader we will see in The Empire Strikes Back.



The final issue lacked a bit of oomph for me though I recognize that having Vader deal with Cylo and Aphra couldn’t be made more spectacular. They, after all, are no match for him. I immensely enjoyed giddy Palpatine and I could almost hear Ian McDiarmid in my head. After seeing Vader’s side of this relationship, I cannot help but want to see Sidious’ at some point. I am grateful that the great secondary characters, made up for this comic, all survived. It is possible now that we will see them again in other canon material.

I always liked Larroca’s art, but it was Max Fiumara’s art of the Coda that really popped out, especially shaman’s visions. And the fact that the most hated beings in Vader’s life now worship him as a dark god is spectacular.

As I am finishing my last Darth Vader review, I came to realize that, as the overall story of Star Wars moves on, there are less and less chances that we will see the Dark Lord of the Sith again. Once Rogue One is released, who knows when or if we will revisit Vader’s story. If you haven’t been reading this comic, this is a perfect time – the story is done.


So, what did you think? About the last issue and the comic in general? Will you miss it? What do you think will replace it?