Darth Vader – Black, White & Red #4
STAR WARS
DARTH VADER
BLACK, WHITE & RED
When Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side, he became Darth Vader, one of the most powerful Sith of all time.
In his service to the evil Galactic Empire, he has left a trail of destruction and terror, striking fear into the hearts of millions across the galaxy….
Writers: Jason Aaron, Steve Orlando, Frank Tieri
Penciller: Leonard Kirk, Paul Davidson, Danny Earls
Inker: Mark Morales, Paul Davidson, Danny Earls
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Paul Davidson, Danny Earls, Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Cover artist: Taurin Clarke
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: July 26, 2023
The final issue of Darth Vader: Black, White & Red couldn’t kick off with anything other than the 4th part of Jason Aaron’s Hard Shutdown story as Vader completes his epic comeback, taking down the remainder of Cyn’s men with his ominous Force powers even as they curse Cyn for his folly and their demise, leaving him alone with Vader. Cyn sees his brief control of Vader as a victory – he had the dark lord beat, but as Vader reasserts his control and uses the Force to pin Cyn to the ground we watch as hungry crab-like creatures rise from the flats, crawling towards him as Vader explains how he has removed his motor functions while making sure his neural receptors are working – in other words, he’ll feel everything and be unable to do anything about it, and we end the story as Cyn begins to be eaten alive while Vader watches on.
The Inhabitant by Steve Orlando and Paul Davidson begins with Vader on Uokara in the Unknown Regions, rain lashing down and his survey complete as he informs the director that their mining operations may commence. We cut to Vader, sans limbs in a cleansing bacta tank, a 2-1B droid checking his biometrics for infections, and quickly we realise he has been infected as he begings to thrash around the tank and the droid warns he may be susceptible to hallucinations. We’re inside Vaders mind as he ‘meets‘ Ghymnon, who describes himself as Uokara’s sole native, stretching from sea to sea. It quickly becomes clear Vader has little power here as Ghymnon dominates Vader, but as he hurls the ‘body’ of Vader – now battered and broken – into the fires of Uokara, Vader screams the ‘Uokara cries for order’ and Ghymnon realises this victory won’t be so easily earned. Instead of perishing, Vader stands strong and rebuilt in the flames, and faces down the soul of the planet, felling the beast as within the bacta tank he spits out the infection. We end as the Range Corp land on the planet and Vader uses his blade to burn out that final inhabitant.
We open the final story of this 4-part series with Return to Hoth and Darth Vader aboard his X1 TIE Fighter as he recieves a communique from one of his generals informing the dark lord of activity on Hoth and offering to investigate the planet himself. A probe droid has been destroyed, and Vader heads to the ice planet, landing and entering Echo Base where he finds the wrecked probot. Suddenly he is confronted by two wampa’s. slicing the arm off one, but not before his breathing apparatus is damaged and he begins to fade. He manages to escape outside and sees two wampas ripping his fighter to pieces, and knowing the odds are against him he gets inside a fallen AT-AT, hoping to wait them out, but five are on top tearing open the hatch. Vader attacks, slaying them with Force and blade before collapsing off the AT-AT into the snow.
We end with the general onboard a Star Destroyer, Vader snapping his neck with the Force as the issue ends and we roll out of Black, White & Red. An interesting series; some give a unique insight into the Lord of the Sith while others follow a more obvious route, and while some stories may be somewhat redundant, it’s been a worthwhile diversion from the norm.
- Aaron, Jason (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 136 Pages - 01/02/2024 (Publication Date) - Licensed Publishing (Publisher)
