Star Wars: Darth Vader — Dark Lord of the Sith vol. 2: Legacy’s End

For this second volume Charles Soule and Giuseppe Camuncoli set about giving the title character some actual power and showing us the subsequent fallout from that.  Things pick up with Vader asserting his dominance over the Inquisitorius and taking a personal interest in their mission to hunt down the remaining Jedi. One such Jedi, a teacher named Jocasta Nu, has been marked for special interest by Emperor Palpatine himself.  Such is her importance that Palpatine doesn’t want Vader to kill her, he wants his apprentice to bring her to him alive. This results in a story that works well enough, but probably would’ve benefitted from being cut down from four issues to three or even two to keep the pacing tight.  It still has some good action scenes and a lightsaber shotgun thanks to Camuncoli and some delicious tension in the interactions between Vader, the Inquisitorius, and the poor Imperial officers who cross his path. That said, I hope this is the only story in the Soule/Camuncoli run that deals with the increasingly tired trope of Palpatine wanting to find a replacement for Vader.

This initial arc also brings up an idea that plays out more fully in the second and offers further proof that Soule was onto something when he picked the post-”Episode III” period to set this story.  While we all know Vader’s deal and why he’s not to be trifled with, the Empire at large has no idea who this strange armored man is that Palpatine has suddenly decided to elevate for no reason. It’s an act that’s going to upset some higher-ups with enough power to take matters into their own hands to see this upstart dealt with.

That’s why the second arc kicks off with Vader, accompanied by the delightfully surly Inquisitor Nith Sister, walking into a trap while searching for more Jedi.  While the evidence he finds suggests that Palpatine may have had a hand in the attack, Vader displays some surprising restraint and presence of mind when he confronts his master.  This leads to his formal introduction to the Imperial rank-and-file, some of whom won’t survive the experience. Still, the thought of a conspiracy within the ranks to destroy Vader does have potential and I’m interested to see where Soule is going with this.  That this series is turning out to be a solid read in spite of the very high bar set by its predecessor is a pleasant surprise indeed.