After suddenly coming face to face to someone who seems like Padmé, Darth Vader must confront his returning love. Spoilers for Star Wars: Darth Vader #2 follow.
Coming off the back of its shocking twist at the end of the last issue, Darth Vader doesn’t waste any time moving forward. This issue is a great continuation of the previous issue, while also setting up the new status quo and story for the series. This issue does a great job of diving into the mindset of Darth Vader while also not playing coy with the answers that had been previously posted.
So, about those answers, what are they? Well, I personally thought it was going to be one of Padmé’s handmaidens, probably Sabé. Turns out, I was absolutely correct on both cases. Once you start thinking about this, it’s not exactly a shocking revelation, but it’s still a welcome one. If you’ve read Queen’s Shadow, it’s welcoming to see Sabé returning. If you haven’t, you should. It’s a great novel. Either, it’s a sensible answer to the questions posed at the end of the last issue. Plus, by bringing her into the picture, it allows for Darth Vader to be pushed out of his comfort zone.
And that’s exactly what a good portion of this issue does with Vader. He’s not acting like his normal self and there’s a reason for that. All the memories of Padmé are returning to him. It’s a brilliant way of recontextualizing many scenes in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith while also digging into Vader’s psyche. Greg Pak does an excellent job of getting in Vader’s head in this issue and throwing him off his game. Because of that, this issue is extremely fun to read.
The issue does rely a bit too much on repetition though, which does hinder the storytelling at times. Which, coming from me, a guy who loves writing styles like Stephen King and Tom King, the lords of repetition, is saying something. There are just times where the repetition is being used as a narrative crutch and not using pages effectively. It’s a minor thing that becomes more noticeable as the issue goes on.
As for the art, drawing Darth Vader is probably really, really hard. How does one draw an emotionless monster with emotion? Well, somehow Raffaele Ienco does so in this issue. His storytelling and general character work are very solid throughout, but his Vader is what shines. Through the use of body language and shot angles, he manages to bring out the emotion in Vader. Not only do we get to see Anakin shining through the black armor, but we get to Sith idealism drop. It’s subtle art to show this throughout the issue, but Ienco does a fantastic job of doing so.
CHECK OUT: Star Wars: Darth Vader #1 Review: The Tragedy of Denial
