Max Nocerino 
Max takes a space detour to check out Marvel’s Star Wars: Darth Vader #39. But is it worth the galactic credits?
The dark side arises in STAR WARS: DARTH VADER #39.
My Star Wars comic reviews are usually intermittent, as I tend to scroll through the taglines and plot summaries, looking only for things that catch my interest. What really caught my interest this time was STAR WARS: DARTH VADER’s declaration that we would learn who he hates most in the galaxy. I could not think of a more enticing reason to read and I was not super-surprised by the result. Yet there are layers to Vader’s hatred and the first layer I will admit is surprising.
Vader has a flashback to his earliest days, right before he left to become a Jedi. And if I am interpreting this correctly, he is regretting ever becoming a Jedi in the first place (which lead him to being Darth Vader) and retroactively blames someone for his fate. Someone who originally planned to help him. At almost 45 years of age, Vader’s dream to become a Jedi has long-died down. The embers having been stoked into a raging fire of dark side hate. It makes sense that someone who is severely mentally ill and in the worst place imaginable, would irrationally cast blame at someone who started at all. I love exploring Vader’s psyche and this comic was very much food for thought. I must commend Charles Soule for all his work.
THE POWER OF THE DARK SIDE
On another note, I really enjoyed the visuals of this comic. My eyes moved super-fast as I became almost entranced with Vader’s blade and force abilities carving through droids. It was also very cool to see an Octupara Droid wage a battle against Vader. Its actually a personal Separatist war-machine favorite of mine.
As this arc continues, I also grow more and more intrigued by the hive mind A.I. entity The Scourge. I marvel at his fearlessness when dealing with Vader. Vader is a man of little words in all this, and doesn’t fear The Scourge, like the entity so arrogantly assumes. Beautiful.
VERDICT
I am very excited to see the conclusion of this multi-comic arc of the “Dark Droids” and will be following the Dark Droids tributary mini-series up until the final 4 issues. I love some good A.I. uprising fiction. And I am pleasantly surprised that Star Wars (of all mediums!) is the vehicle in which I am enjoying it.
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FORCE FACTS
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Vader’s temporary weapon, the Kyberite-shield, can also shoot blasts of energy. The blasts are gold in appearance and I ponder whether it is kyber energy fueling the blast and I am fanaticizing about a gold-bladed lightsaber. I may have missed this shield using an offensive ability in earlier comics (that I did not read), but I am excited by its capabilities nonetheless.
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When Vader uses his hate and anger, he regains control of his Force abilities. The Force Wave released by the Fermata Cage, temporarily disrupted them (which is why Vader used the Kyberite shield in the first place), but now they are back and as strong as ever. This is quite fitting that the dark side’s ember regains strength when channeling its most vital activator: hate. Vader also proclaims that hate is power and this may explain, why, a few short months later, Vader refuses to “let go of his hate” when prompted by his son. He’s re-confirmed the Dark Side’s power firsthand, and doesn’t want to lose it.
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So yeah, I didn’t reveal in the review the identity of the being Vader initially hated most, as I want readers to enjoy the comic. But if you scrolled down for Force Facts, it IS Qui-Gon Jinn. Anakin blames Qui-Gon for leading him down the path of the Force and not freeing his mother when he had the chance, leading to her death a decade later by the Tusken Raiders. It really isn’t Jinn’s fault of course, but Vader (in his sick and fragmented mind) believes he is truly responsible for his pain, by setting all the dominos in motion. Then, when he digs deeper, though, (as his power still didn’t return) it is obvious and understandable that he actually hates Palpatine the most, under the first, initial, layer of anger. Palpatine promised to save his wife and (even though it was his fault), he blames Palpatine supremely for “lying” and destroying the one person he loved more than his mother. The comic then ends with a juicy cliffhanger of Palpatine discovering this information and he laughs evilly, completely unafraid unfazed by this knowledge. He seems almost eager for another showdown with his wayward apprentice, and I am looking forward immensely to see it.
STAR WARS: DARTH VADER #39 is published by Marvel Comics and is available to buy now!
Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!
