Darth Vader #14 Review (Vader Down Part 4)

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How far will one princess go?

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Darth Vader #14, Vader Down Part IV.

Darth Vader #14

Writer: Kieron Gillen | Artist: Salvador Larroca | Colorist: Edgar Delgado | Story: Jason Aaron & Kieron Gillen | Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna | Cover: Mark Brooks

Comic book crossovers can be interesting things. In many instances, a crossover can be an opportunity to explore how two different types of super heroes, or antiheroes as the case may be, handle the same situation. Take for instance Spider-Man and the Punisher. Both are heroes that have had their destiny shaped by tragedy. Peter Parker took his dying uncle’s philosophy to heart: with great power comes great responsibility, and made his uncle’s death the rallying point to become Spider-Man and use his powers for good. Spider-Man doesn’t kill people (we will set aside the Superior Spider-Man for now), which sets him apart from the Punisher. The tragedy in Frank Castle’s life was the death of his family at the hands of criminal elements. Fueled by grief and loss, Castle became the Punisher and wreaks a terrible vengeance on those that not only murdered his family, but those that would inflict harm on the innocent. When the two find themselves in the same panels of a comic book, these methods collide and the juxtaposition provides fertile ground for discussion. Sometimes though, a crossover is just an opportunity to put a couple of cool heroes and villains together in the same panels and let the coolness happen.

The Star Wars and Darth Vader crossover that is Vader Down is a little bit of both. Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia have already dealt with Darth Vader in the opening issues of the Stars Wars series. In addition, the Star Wars saga is really about how the heroes overcome the villain. However, Luke and his friends have not had an opportunity to encounter many of Darth Vader’s new allies and minions. Han Solo is aware of Dr. Aphra, but he hasn’t ever gone up against her in a fire fight until the pages of Vader Down. Similarly, R2-D2 and C-3PO meet their dark doppelgangers in BT-1 and Triple Zero. Everyone’s favorite furry sidekick even gets an interesting encounter in the most recent issue.

Vader Down really shines in two areas. First, it demonstrates how powerful Darth Vader really is. He hasn’t had an opportunity to do that too much in the pages of his own comic. He is usually either leading a squad of Stormtroopers against Rebels or among other beings that are similarly gifted in either the Force or other skills that makes them a sizeable threat. Many of the panels of Darth Vader have been given over to Dr. Aphra and her droids. In the pages of Vader Down thus far, Vader has been removed from that environment and placed in a position of peril where he has far fewer allies. His combat abilities, his cunning as a Sith, and his power in the Force have had an opportunity to come to the forefront and shine.

The second area Vader Down  excels in is the contrast it draws between Vader and Princess Leia. Darth Vader, as we learned in the saga, was born of his jealous desire to prevent the death of the woman he loved. Chancellor Palpatine held the carrot of Padme’s salvation in front of Anakin Skywalker and lead him straight down the dark path. Despite Palpatine’s promises, Anakin failed to save the one he loved, and how he is motivated to have it all in order to fill the emptiness that was left after his fall. Part of that “all” has come to include having Luke at his side while he rules the galaxy. Despite the predicament he finds himself in during this series, Vrogas Vas has given Vader another opportunity to ensnare Luke.

Princess Leia is also motivated, in part at least, by loss. She witnessed the destruction of her world on the bridge of the Death Star. The architects of the death of her planet were none other than Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader. As we have seen in the pages of both Star Wars and the Princess Leia, Leia has used that loss to motivate her to do many things. She has funneled her energies in to supporting the Rebel Alliance in the fight against the Empire and saving the remnants of her people. Vader and Leia are two related people both dealing with tragedy and loss, and they both deal with it differently. Or do they? The answer to that question is part of what Part IV of Vader Down is all about.

The last issue of this series ended with a confrontation between Vader and Leia. Things looked rather bleak for the Princess, but Darth Vader proves to be very devious. While he may have had plans for killing the Princess, the moment that he heard C-3PO’s voice over the communicator relaying the message that Luke was alive and had been rescued, he formulated a new plan. One would have expected him to hold the Princess hostage and demanded Skywalker arrive to be exchanged for her. However, such a plan would have tipped his hand and given Luke and the Rebellion too much knowledge of his goals. Instead, he let her think she was getting away, knowing that she would either lead him to Luke or that Luke would come to her rescue.

Leia has plans of her own though and orders an airstrike be prepared to bomb her position once Vader catches up to her. She would be sacrificing herself to destroy Vader. This is an interesting plan to say the least. Her motivations in this story arc have been one of the central plot points. In previous issues, her desire for revenge was laid bare. Grand Moff Tarking met his demise at Yavin. All that was left for her was to seek revenge on Darth Vader. She has proven willing to go to great lengths to get that revenge. She was willing to sacrifice Luke if it meant destroying Darth Vader. Now, it is clear that she is willing to sacrifice herself for “the greater good.” However, is such a move for the greater good? As we have seen in the Princess Leia miniseries, the Rebellion command has been convinced that Leia is an important symbol of their movement. Would the Rebellion and the galaxy as a whole have been better off with Vader gone and Leia dead? Hard to say. The Emperor was still out there. Granted, not many knew that he was a Lord of the Sith at this time. That probably influenced Leia’s reasoning. Leia’s death would have made her a martyr for sure, and it might have been possible that more systems would have rallied to the Rebellion. Regardless, this plan was devised on the spot, and the consequences are not readily apparent had she been successful.

The “what if” can be extrapolated and debated from here, but it doesn’t seem like Leia really thought this through. Vader, so far, has laid waste to all of the Rebellion forces in his path. Every attack made on the Dark Lord has ended in a disaster for the Rebellion. In her desire for justice, Leia seems a little short sighted. While holding his skills in high regard, she seems to think she can trick Darth Vader into defeat. Therefore, she continues to throw Rebel forces at him. One can hope that she learns a lesson from all of this: Darth Vader cannot be destroyed through brute force (no pun intended). In her attempt to take Vader seriously, she almost takes the threat he poses lightly.

Anakin Skywalker acted rashly in his attempts to save Padme from death, and the end result was that he failed, fell to the dark side, became Darth Vader, and is now bent on avenging himself and his loss on the galaxy. Over time, he has managed to overcome his tendency to make rash decisions and has become a formidable Sith Lord. By contrast, at this point in the chronology, Leia seems to be doing the reverse. The difference is that her rash decisions tend to be isolated to getting revenge on Darth Vader. She isn’t successful, and we have the advantage of knowing her story arc following this series. She likely has an interesting climax to this story coming up that may set her on a different path.

So far, this review has avoided one of the biggest events of the issue: Wookiee throw down! Chewbacca versus Black Krrsantan! Unfortunately, the action was really only teased. Beckoned to Vrogas Vas by Dr. Aphra, Krrsantan arrived just in time to prevent Han and Luke from rescuing Leia. Krrsantan found himself in the perfect position to lay some serious damage on our heroes, but have no fear because Chewbacca took up the fight against the dark wookiee. This conflict received a scant three panels before the action moved on, but the tease for the fight in the next issue of the crossover event is there.

This issue ends with Leia’s plan falling apart. Commander Karbin, the Mon Calamarian cyborg, and one of Vader’s rivals from the Empire arrives and thwarts her efforts. He isn’t alone. The Empire has arrived with him. Now, Leia is still in the clutches of the Dark Lord of the Sith. Matters are worse.

Favorite Panel:

As much as I like Salvador Larroca’s Darth Vader and Dr. Aphra, I’m not particularly fond of his Princess Leia. To me, she looks a lot like Dr. Aphra. I don’t know if that is intentional, or just a matter of his style. Larroca did a great job with the wookiees and droids in this issue. However, one of the best panels, among many good ones, captures the worried expression of everyone’s favorite smuggler. It looks so much like what a young Harrison Ford would look like in that situation that it had to be this week’s favorite panel.