Taking the measure of a man’s reactions is not an easy feat when that man wears a helmet and mask at all times.
This review contains spoilers for Darth Vader #9.
Darth Vader #9
Writer: Kieron Gillen | Artist: Salvador Larroca | Colorist: Edgar Delgado | Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna | Cover Artists: Larroca & Delgado
After successfully orchestrating the theft of a large shipment of funds from the Empire to to support his own schemes, Darth Vader must now deal with an Imperial investigator keen on discovering the truth behind what initially looked like an unfortunate accident. Vader must cover his tracks, and begins this issue by lying in wait for Rebels whom he subsequently slaughters and leaves behind for Imperial Investigator Thanoth to discover on Anthan 13. The bodies of the Rebels are meant to be evidence in support of Vader’s excuse as to why he had stellar dust on him from Anthan 13, the sight of the heist. Employing logic in a manner reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes, Thanoth has essentially figured out how the theft of the resources occurred. Vader and Thanoth travel to Anthan Prime in the hopes of finding a man named Doowan that could lead them to “the Dragon.” Doowan is known to frequent a droid fighting den, and when Vader and Thanoth arrive, they find that the twins, Morit and Aionin, and a squad of stormtroopers are already present. Vader and Thanoth extract the location of the Dragon from Doowan and hand him over to the twins on the chance he might be useful to them. Thanoth is outraged when Morit immediately beheads Doowan in order to further his reputation on Anthan Prime. In the skies above Anthan Prime, Dr. Aphra continues to run errands for Darth Vader. This time, she has an audience with “The Ante,” an alien information broker, and she pays to find out everything there is to know about a retired mortician from Naboo…
The Darth Vader series is telling the story of three struggles: 1) Darth Vader vs. Grand General Tagge as they compete to be the Emperor’s right-hand man; 2) Darth Vader vs. Cylo’s creations as they compete to be the Emperor’s enforcers; and 3) Darth Vader vs. the Emperor as the Sith struggle to see who will carry on the legacy of the Sith. These stories all intermingle over the course of the series. General Tagge and Darth Vader began to wrestle for power back in issue two. The Emperor had already informed Vader that he would be subordinate to Grand General Tagge, and the Grand General could not help himself but to rub it in Vader’s face. An arrogant lieutenant was assigned to monitor the dark lord, but Vader put a quick end to that arrangement, winning the initial battle–but not the war–in his rivalry with Tagge.
The previous issue resumed the power struggle between Vader and Tagge. Vader and Cylo’s creations were summoned by Tagge to be given their assignments. After relegating Vader to an inferior task, Tagge added further insult to injury by assigning him a new adjutant: Inspector Thanoth. The core of this issue is the relationship between Vader and Thanoth. It is clear that Thanoth does not fear Vader in the least. However, he is much more calculating and careful in formulating his requests to Vader than his predecessor. At times, he attempts to evoke some camaraderie with the dark lord by noting that their assignment is beneath them and griping that the galaxy is full of impulsive children when the twins unnecessarily terminate Doowan.
Despite the attempts at camaraderie, Thanoth is not a fool, nor a man to be taken lightly. Much like the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes, whom Thanoth appears to be modeled after, the Inspector is very observant. He is also very subtle. It would not be surprising if he knew for certain that Vader was involved in the very theft that they were sent to investigate, and Thanoth is bringing Vader along, Columbo style, to gauge Vader’s reactions as the evidence is gathered. Of course, taking the measure of a man’s reactions is not an easy feat when that man wears a helmet and mask at all times. This is no obstacle for Thanoth. He knows Vader’s behavior and confronts the dark lord with the fact that Vader is acting out of character. Vader’s response is that he is attempting to ascertain whether Thanoth is dangerous. The inspector’s reply is classic: he is dangerous, but only to enemies of the Empire.
What shouldn’t be lost when reading this series is the conflict between the Emperor and Darth Vader. In issue five, the Emperor clearly outlined the relationship and duties between a Sith master and apprentice. It is the duty of the apprentice to learn what the master knows. It is the master’s duty to learn what there is to teach. The Emperor reminds Vader of the nature of the dark side and the Sith: strength. He who is strongest prevails. Everything that has transpired in this series has been in furtherance of Vader’s goal to acquire strength. He needs strength to overcome Cylo’s creations. He needs strength to supplant Grand General Tagge as the Emperor’s rightful heir and second-in-command. And, eventually, he needs strength to one day overthrow the Emperor himself. This issue touches on all those rivalries. Vader has acquired and appropriated Imperial resources to give himself strength to carry out his missions. He now must take deceptive actions, Sith style, in order to preserve his new found strength.
This series has had high and low points. The introduction of Cylo’s creations was somewhat clumsy, but the series appears to have recovered. Cylo’s minions initially came off like circus freaks and less like Star Wars adversaries, but now that they are active members of the plot, they fit in with the Star Wars galaxy better. The story has recovered some, and Vader’s journey as a Sith has come back to the forefront.
A Note About the Cover:
The Darth Vader series has had many fantastic covers. However, the cover of Darth Vader #9 portrays part of the quintessential Darth Vader audiences came to know during The Empire Strikes Back: Vader standing on his bridge or near some other viewport observing his fleet while he broods, contemplates the location of Luke Skywalker, and presides over his fleet. This is the quiet-before-the-storm Dark Lord of the Sith. This is the Darth Vader that stands in contrast to the other Vader from The Empire Strikes Back: the Sith Lord that boldly issues orders to his underlings, strangles the life out of those that have failed him, and relentlessly attacks his enemies. Larroca and Delgado did a fantastic job capturing the quiet, reserved Vader, and quite possibly created the best cover of the series so far.
Favorite Panel:
As mentioned earlier, this issue begins with Darth Vader lying in wait for a band of rebels. The Dark Lord has set a trap. Reading between the lines, or the panels as it were, it becomes apparent that Vader allowed his fighter to be seen near Anthan 13. When the Rebels arrive, they immediately sense a trap and realize that there is no way they could be so lucky as to get a shot at Vader by himself. Of course, it is a trap set by Vader. All that is missing is Admiral Ackbar declaring it to be so. Vader needs dead Rebels as evidence for his cover story as to why he was on Anthan 13 as Thanoth deduced in the prior issue. Apparently, it either took longer for the Rebels to arrive than Vader had expected, or he knew they would be slow in arriving, and that irritated him. Either way, the panel where Vader acknowledges and greets them is classic and foreboding, at the favorite panel of this issue.
Dennis Keithly is a graduate of the University of Missouri, North Texas attorney, husband, father of two, and co-host of Starships, Sabers, and Scoundrels. In addition to Star Wars, Dennis is a fan of science fiction, fantasy, and super heroes in general. When not engaged in fictional universes, Dennis is reading a good book or watching the NHL, football, or studying the NFL draft.