Star Wars: Darth Vader — Dark Lord of the Sith vol. 3: The Burning Seas

I didn’t mention this in my review of the latest volume of “Star Wars,” but these two volumes represent a stealth crossover between the two titles.  Where “Mutiny at Mon Cala” shows us how the planet and its people came over to the Rebellion’s side, “The Burning Seas” gives us the story of how their initial resistance was snuffed out by the Empire.  Led by Darth Vader, of course. While that’s a good setup for this arc, I was pleasantly surprised to find more going on beneath the surface (pun intended) as we find out that the Mon Cala forces are being backed by a Jedi with an agenda of his own.  It’s not the kind of agenda I’d expect from a Jedi, which is part of what makes this arc so entertaining. That, in addition to some very dynamic art from Giuseppe Camuncoli that sells the big action sequences, quality political and tactical maneuvering from Moff Tarkin, a clever callback to “Episode III,” and the way writer Charles Soule continues to balance Vader’s indomitable-ness with the story’s need for him to struggle make this another entertaining chapter in what has been a surprisingly enjoyable series.

That’s not all as the collection is rounded off with a couple of one-off stories.  The first, from Soule and Camuncoli, shows us how Tarkin has to repay Vader for the favor he owes him from the previous storyline.  It involves gathering up a bunch of mercenaries to hunt Vader on a dry and decrepit world. The creators smartly play this story from Tarkin’s perspective and get some good suspense going as Vader methodically whittles down the man’s entourage.  In the end, they take the story as far as it can go without actually killing the two, with Tarkin’s interior monologue providing the commentary and eventual explanation as to why all this is going on in the first place. I’d be tempted to write this off as disposable fun, but the level of craft on display from Soule and Camuncoli bring it at least a notch or two above that.

Also, “disposable fun” is a good way to describe the final story from Chuck Wendig (author of the “Star Wars:  Aftermath” novels) and artist Leonard Kirk. It plays around in the realm of “Rogue One” as Vader is sent to investigate sabotage against “Project Stardust” on Geonosis.  While it initially looks to be the result of a power play between the project’s heads, Tarkin and Orson Krennic, Vader’s investigation leads him to another of the movie’s characters.  It doesn’t really add a whole lot to the story we already know or the characters themselves. Though I can still appreciate the efficiency of Wendig’s storytelling and the clarity of Kirk’s art, this isn’t on the same level as the main story and its follow-up in this collection.