Dark Horse features a short tale of Darth Vader and Boba Fett in their annual Free Comic Book Day Star Wars offering, written by Brian Wood.
As in years past, Dark Horse has two comic books out for Free Comic Book Day today, one that is all ages with a Star Wars story. This year’s tale is “The Assassination of Darth Vader” by Brian Wood, with art by Ryan Odagawa and colors by Gabe Eltaeb. It is in a flip-cover issue that has Doug Wheatley’s cover of Darth Vader and Boba Fett on one side, and a cover for their Avatar: The Last Airbender story on the reverse side (profile on DarkHorse.com), with a Captain Midnight story in the middle. (The other Dark Horse Free Comic Book Day issue has three tales: Mass Effect (story about Joker), an R.I.P.D. tale, and a preview of their upcoming Gerard Way title: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. Mild spoilers ahead.
Summary: “The Assassination of Darth Vader” – Set shortly before A New Hope, Darth Vader is aware of an assassination attempt as he goes out to meet with Boba Fett aboard the Star Destroyer Devastator. His rival doesn’t care about the collateral damage as he tries to get Vader out of the way. But the armored Dark Lord of the Sith is not without his own surprises, including his understanding of how his enemy has underestimated him – and how to account for other factors.
Review: It’s not much of surprise that Vader survives the assassination attempt – after all, he’s got a few movies to star in. But what is surprising is how Darth Vader deals with the immediate danger, and what he does to turn the tables on his rival. A clever story that brings in some new angles on the dark lord’s abilities, and shows the connection between the two helmeted men, which I’m sure ties into Fett’s relationship with Vader as to be seen in the ongoing Star Wars comics from Brian Wood. I’m not going to spoil some of the original things that Brian Wood has written here, so I’ll leave it at that.
Artist Ryan Odagawa is new to Star Wars comics, and his Vader comes out pretty well in most panels. The stormtroopers and Fett look a little less detailed perhaps, but there’s a good feel to the vessels and backgrounds used. Some creative license might have been used in the scale of the ships, but it gets the point across. There’s a great panel of Vader walking.. almost strolling.. in triumph, with explosions and Slave I behind him.
Overall, a fun short Vader story that brings something new to what we know about the man in black. Here’s a sample page of the art from Ryan Odagawa’s website:
Note: If you end up not being able to get the Free Comic Book Day Star Wars issue, the story will be eventually collected into the first trade paperback of the ongoing Brian Wood Star Wars series in September, but that’s months away.
Also, Dark Horse Digital is having a special for May the 4th: two mega-bundles of digital comics, and both have a two-page sneak preview of The Star Wars, the upcoming comic series based on the draft screenplay by George Lucas, written by J. W. Rinzler. The kids megabundle has over 1,000 pages of comics, bringing in 16 of the digest format Star Wars Adventures and Clone Wars stories, and is $30, while the regular megabundle has over 3,100 pages of comics for only $100, with over 120 issues of comics, ranging from classics like Dark Empire and the beginnings of the Legacy, Knights of the Old Republic and Empire series, to more recent tales such as Brian Wood’s ongoing Star Wars series, Dark Times, Knight Errant, Agent of the Empire, Dawn of the Jedi and Darth Vader. Both bundles are a 60% savings over their regular prices and are only available May 4th and 5th.
