Darth Vader gets tested as the ninth assassin sizes up his target, and the plot goes big in this week’s Star Wars comic release: Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin #2.
In the first issue of Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin, we were introduced to a mining industrialist willing to pay severely in order to avenge Vader’s killing of his son, and also the secretive assassin so lethal that he singlehandedly took down the businessman’s retinue in total silence. In this second issue (DarkHorse.com profile), the assassin shows off his planning ability as he puts a plot into motion to assess his target, by striking at an even bigger target and seeing if Vader can keep up. Make no mistake about it – the threat to Vader is real! Spoilers ahead!
Summary: A cult has popped up against the Empire, willing to use suicide bombers and really big weapons to slice a cruiser in half. Meanwhile on Coruscant, Vader appears just in time to save the Emperor from an attack… and cuts down most of the Imperial guard for either their incompetence or treachery. Taking two of the four remaining guardsmen to track down the plot in secrecy, they uncover another cultist in a bar on a remote world, but he detonates himself before revealing any more, while the assassin witnesses this confrontation from the crowd (and avoids taking any damage in the blast, despite moving in close). Vader reports to the Emperor that the cultist had the marking of a headless snake, and Palpatine directs Vader to the cult’s ancient temple but urges caution as something is clouding the Sith’s ability to sense things in the Force.
Review: Writer Tim Siedell shows us that this era is a time when the Empire is still very vulnerable: somehow a bomb gets slipped all the way into the Emperor’s office (still using the same office he had as Supreme Chancellor). I really enjoyed how Vader is depicted as saving the day: it’s not clear what he’s doing at all or what his motive is, until the bomb goes off safely away from Palpatine – Is he attacking his Master? Is this a vision or dream? Very cool.
I also enjoyed how the scope of this series has just gotten huge – the first issue keeps a very tight focus on the man hiring the assassin, with a little bit of the killer himself, and now things are going boom all over the place, with the assassin barely being seen doing anything. Clearly the assassin (I would really love a name for this guy) is both assessing his target, and directing him into unfamiliar territory – is this ancient cult’s temple the source of the Force clouding ability? Is the assassin a Force user of some sort? or just really good at finding exactly the right type of trap for his prey? Or is this Heinsnake cult a new factor, unaware that someone else is going to maximize the opportunity they’ve created, but definitely gunning for the head of the Empire.
Some fantastic art by Stephen Thompson (pencils), Mark Irwin (inks), Michael Atiyeh (colors), and Michael Heisler (lettering). We get a lovely cross section of a Venator-class Star Destroyer in the opening act (also some great expressions on the ship’s command staff and gnarly detail on the suicide bomber). Later on, we get some great poses and expressions of Vader as he saves the Emperor and wreaks vengeance on the Imperial guard. Darth Vader looks great in pretty much every panel – I think Thompson has got the proportions right and the rest of the team can put in the right amount of lighting on the man in black to give it great mood. The Emperor is a little trickier to get right, especially as he’s somewhere closer to the ROTS image and not yet the ROTJ likeness. The scum and villainy in the bar look fantastic – as with the well-defined motley crew from the first issue, this is a solid art team for characters!
Ariel Olivetti does the cover art with Vader looking like he’s coming out at you for the force attack, but the distorted perspective feels a bit too much like the Playskool Galactic Heroes Darth Vader for some reason. Maybe the post just reminds me of some of the Galactic Heroes packaging poses.
Overall, a fun issue that raises the stakes! Thumbs-up!