Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Star Wars: Dark Times #12
Dark Horse Comics
Harrison, Ross & Wheatley
The bittersweet comic for this week falls on the lap of Darth Vader. Vector wraps up in Dark Times and with it, the series, until 2009. As sad as that is, this issue rocks. Darth Vader in action and with some excellent character development from him. When was the last time you heard that?
Celeste with the Sith artifact, Muur Talisman, continues to battle Vader. Vader doesn’t even know what the thing does, but he fights her anyway. First off, the lines given to Vader sound like him in all ways possible. He doesn’t have any cheesy lines like, “You fools!” Instead he talks about the power of the dark side and comments about when he has his opponent down to surrender or die. This is Vader.
After Vader knocks Celeste down things really heat up. The Sith artifact wants to posses Vader. Through Vader it sees ultimate power and it sees that Vader so badly wants the Emperor dead. Vader also sees that the Talisman will achieve his goal of killing his master, but that it will also simply make Vader a puppet to someone else. This is outstanding development for Vader. Vader has a motive. He seeks an apprentice to help him kill the Emperor, so he can be the master, not so he can be mastered by another.
As an added twist, Vader’s companion is spying on him for the Emperor. The Emperor knows that Vader wants him dead. Well, he suspects it. He sends this guy to watch over Vader and figure out if Vader hunts the Sith artifacts for power. Power that will allow Vader to knock off the Emperor. Vader figures this all out and gets quite angry.
All hell breaks loose when the zombies take over. Say what? You may recall that the Talisman turns dummies into zombies. When this happens Vader leaves.
What of Bomo and friends? Well they escape, but find some more heartache.
What of the Talisman and Celeste? Well, you’ll need to read that one for yourself.
Let’s talk art. A benchmark for this type of comic is Darth Vader. He looks awesome. Totally menacing. Another good benchmark for this series is the tone. It’s dark and very worn out. The whole comic gives the appearance that this time period is greasy and used. It fits so well. The art also handles the action and drama with equal care. Sure, the art has a rough look to it, but it still doesn’t detract from the goal of this story, which is: life sucks during this time period. A personal favorite for the story is the six panel spread at the bottom of the page where Vader is giving Celeste the order to surrender or die. What a visual of the characters and their reactions in the issue!
I’m not thrilled with the long hiatus for this series. However, this issue gives an excellent sendoff. I really don’t think you need to know one thing about the Talisman to enjoy this comic. If you like vintage Darth Vader then this issue gives that to you in many ways. This is what Star Wars can give you when it’s at its best.
5 out of 5 geek goggles
 Star Wars: Dark Times #12--Vector part 6 |
