REVIEW: Run from the Inevitable in DARTH VADER #14
In Darth Vader #14 by Greg Pak, Raffaele Ienco, Jason Keith, and Joe Caramagna, with a main cover by Aaron Kuder and Richard Isanove, we get a story that reveals the behind-the-scene machinations that are taking place in the Empire in the days after The Empire Strikes Back. With a strong sense of Vader as a monstrous force that squashes those who oppose him, this issue is one of my favorite Darth Vader entries in War of the Bounty Hunters yet!
Photo: Marvel Comics
A Different Perspective
Part of what makes Darth Vader #14 so great is the fact that Vader is never the perspective character for the reader.
Photo: Marvel Comics
Instead, for most of this issue, we follow Administrator Moore, an Imperial who works for Emperor Palpatine, and who recently hired IG-88, the droid assassin, to murder Vader (in Darth Vader #13).
IG-88. Photo: Marvel Comics
As we already know from the previous issue, Moore’s plan to kill Vader failed.
But now, we get to see what happens when Vader confronts Moore over the assassination attempt. These scenes in Darth Vader #14 work extremely well because they are not from Vader’s perspective; we only see him presented as a larger-than-life force of nature. Think of that scene in the third act of Rogue One, Marvel Blog True Believers: this is Vader at his scariest!
Photo: Marvel Comics
To cut the tension a little bit, we get to see more of Ochi, the character whose corpse was introduced in Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.
Photo: Marvel Comics
However, the best parts of Darth Vader #14 are the splash pages that show Vader dealing out destruction in the way only he can manage.
Darth Vader #14
Thanks to issues like Doctor Aphra #12 and Jabba the Hutt #1, we already know Vader will be showing up at the biggest gala in the galaxy. But in Darth Vader #14, we get to see that eventuality from another point of view – and it makes the impending intersection of all these plotlines all the more exciting!
Photo: Marvel Comics
Have you had a chance to pick up Darth Vader #14, Marvel Blog True Believers? Which Variant cover did you secure? Let us know what you think in the comment section!
