Darth Vader #15 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Favorite Quote:  "Leia!  I knew you'd never abandon us.  I mean, me."  "As if I could ever get rid of you this easily."  -- Han and Leia, with the banter

This event has been a bit uneven, veering from the hilariously chaotic to the confusingly vague.  But, Gillen sticks the landing, showing the emotional impact that it's had on the characters and, therefore, making it clear that it was definitely a "moment" in their lives.  In so doing, it also fleshes out some of the details about these lives that we've all craved.

For all her commitment as a commander in the issue -- where she told Han that she was willing to sacrifice Luke to take down Vader -- Leia is unable to do so as a soldier.  When Threepio describes the dire circumstances that her friends face, she passes up the opportunity to take out Vader, since she can't get pulled into his fight with Karbin:  she has other fights that she now has to win.  (Namely, she has to punch out Aphra as she's holding the guys hostage.)

In many ways, this issue is LaRocca's.  The pivotal moments all come by his hand.  He conveys the conflicting emotions that Leia feels as she contemplates taking out Vader but then finding her dead friends' corpses if she doesn't respond to Threepio's call for help.  He gets across Karbin's surprise to find himself in the middle of a trap himself, using a full page to show how small he is compared to Aphra's ship as it slams into him.  Finally, he makes clear the threat that Vader poses all on his own, standing on a rock outcropping, his cape whipping around him, and using the Force to take down the shuttle transporting Luke to Karbin's ship.

In the end, Vader is definitely the worse for the wear after this event.  Most direly, he's lost Aphra to the Rebels.  Although she did her best in this issue to try to win back his trust -- lest he think that she really did lead him into that Rebel fleet at the start of the event -- it's hard to see him ever trusting her after she spends some time answering the Rebels' questions about him.  That said, he has managed to defeat Karbin, striking off one more enemy from his list.  But, for a guy with a list as long as Vader's, does it really matter?

Meanwhile, Luke is similarly in a dark place.  Before this event began, he escaped Nar Shadda with only Ben's journal.  For reasons that aren't entirely clear to me, he leaves Vrogas Vas believing that he'll never be able to return to explore the Temple.  (Seriously, he couldn't just return after the Empire's troops leave?)  But, Gillen also makes it clear why Ben was so concerned that Luke would find the Temple last issue:  the last scene -- of Vader watching Luke depart on the Falcon -- makes it clear that Luke would've learned the truth about his father.  I have to agree with Ben, that he wasn't ready to learn that.  But, it also means that Luke has lost more answers about his -- and the Jedis' -- past than he even knows.

*** (three of five stars)

Star Wars #14 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Now, it's starting to get interesting.

First, Aaron nicely answers the question that has been nagging me for a while, namely how Luke came to Vrogas Vas in the first place.  I was pretty sure that he knew a Jedi Temple existed there, but then it seemed, when "Vader Down" began, like he just happened to be there with a Rebel fleet.  But, no, he confirms in this issue that he knew that it was there, but he didn't know how to find it.  Whew.  Seriously, I thought that I had made up the whole thing.  I'm glad to get that addressed.

Moreover, it turns out the Jedi Temple isn't some dusty collection of statues.  Ben's voice warns Luke that he's not ready to be there, and you have to wonder if it has something to do with the images that he saw a few issues ago.  The place even affects Vader, as he hears quotes from his life.  It's an unfortunate time for Vader to get misty-eyed about the past, though, because he's in a fight to the death with Karbin.  Speaking of Karbin, it's his arrival on the scene earlier in the issue that lets Leia escape from Vader.  Karbin conveniently narrates his plan for Vader, informing us that he intends to kill him and take credit for his destruction of the Rebel base.  (Honestly, it seems like a pretty modest goal.  Couldn't he have just destroyed the base himself, given all the effort that he's expended to get to this point?)  He also sends his troops after Luke, presumably planning to capture him and present him as an added gift to the Emperor.  Luke manages to evade them (thanks to some help from Triple-Zero and Beetee, since they're trying to save him for Vader), but eventually gets caught.  (Of course he does.)  However, it's unclear if it's Vader or Karbin's troops that nab him.

Meanwhile, Chewie and Han fight Black Krrsantan, to little effect.  The issue ends as Threepio is trying to hail Leia, noting that the team's situation "would seem to be rather grim indeed."  Leia's a little busy at the moment, though, since she's got a gun pointed at a distracted Vader.  Next issue should be a hoot!

*** (three of five stars)

Darth Vader #14 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

We're in part 4 of the "Vader Down" event, but the momentum unfortunately stalls a bit in this issue.

It's not to say that stuff doesn't happen.  Luke, Han, and Chewie find themselves face-to-face with Black Krrsantan as he presumably seeks to claim the bounty on Luke.  However, Han sends Luke to save Leia after they hear her on the comlink ordering all fighters to her position, intending to sacrifice herself to take out Vader.  To complicate matters further, Commander Karbin arrives on the scene, ordering his troops to find Luke.  At this stage, his goals aren't completely clear (other than getting to Luke).  For example, he takes out a Y-Wing on arrival, even though he seems to be helping Vader in doing so.  (The Y-Wing was part of the group going to bomb Leia's location.)  However, Karbin later claims that Vader's fate isn't relevant to him, since if he dies or survives Karbin wins.  (I'm not really sure how he thinks that he's got that sort of advantage on a guy like Vader, but we'll see.)

But, the issue as a whole lacks the emotional punch that you'd expect at this stage.  Gillen doesn't really have the time to focus on Luke's attempt to get to Leia in time to save her, so it doesn't feel as desperate as you'd expect it to feel.  (It's almost like he's seen "Empire Strikes Back" and knows that Leia survives.)  Similarly, Leia's confrontation with Vader is incredibly brief:  she just threatens him and flees.  It's not a terrible issue, but it definitely feels like Gillen is stalling for time to make it to six issues.

** (two of five stars)

Star Wars #13 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Favorite Quote:  "Ow!  Stop beating me with my own arm, your cretinous animal!  Oh, the indignity!" -- Triple-Zero to Chewie, accurately conveying how the fighting goes in this issue

It's hard to review this issue.  Aaron does such an amazing job with the atmosphere and tone that it's just hard to explain it.  A summary of this issue would simply be that Han bumbles his way into saving Luke and that Leia finds herself face-to-face with Vader.  But, this summary fails to capture the brilliance of the issue.  It doesn't talk about Triple-Zero's hilarious blood-thirstiness, something that still hasn't gotten old.  It doesn't describe Artoo's apparently profane screaming match with Beetee, a contest that ends when Beetee surprises him with his overwhelming arsenal (compared to Artoo's shocking wand).  It fails to describe the amazingly in-character fight between Dr. Aphra and Han, full of a bravado that seems misplaced when it comes to an end after both of them shoot a nest of wasp-worms over the other's head.  (They eventually knock each other unconscious when they run into each other while fleeing their respective swarm of bees.)  In other words, just read the issue.  It'll be worth your while.

**** (four of five stars)

Darth Vader #13 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This issue doesn't really advance the ball too much, though it doest set the stage for future fireworks.

Gillen picks up the story immediately where "Vader Down" #1 ended.  Han leaves Leia in a huff after she refuses to help find Luke, while Vader (not surprisingly) makes short work of the Rebel troops that are trying to capture (or kill) him.  Aphra stumbles upon Luke and disguises Triple-Zero as Threepio to capture him, hoping to win back Vader's trust (still afraid that he thinks that she purposefully sent him into a trap).

Really, that's it.  In fact, the issue raises more questions than it should, given how little happens.  Luke seems legitimately surprised to find the ruins of the Jedi temple, even though I was pretty sure that he knew that it was on Vrogas Vas and he got himself attached to the Rebel base there to find it.  (I mentioned my confusion over this issue in my review of "Vader Down" #1.  I guess that he really didn't know after all, even though I swore that he did.)  Also, we have a weird moment here where Luke sees a light and dark image in the distance:  he's convinced that it's Ben and his father, Anakin.  But, how would he know that it was Anakin?  He's never seen an image of him, as far as I know.  Are we supposed to believe that he "feels" it?  Gillen isn't clear, but hopefully we'll get more details later.

** (two of five stars)

Vader Down #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Favorite Quote:  "Chewie, get her ready to fly."  "HHHRRRHHH"  "What's the mission?  Oh, nothing much, pal.  Just the usual."  "RRRRRHHH"  "Right.  Something stupid.  Something very, very stupid."  - Han and Chewie, as Han wonders about the price of friendship.

Aaron brings together a lot of different threads here, and I'll admit that it took me a while to put them together.

For example, the intro page says that Vader knows that Luke Skywalker, his son, destroyed the Death Star.  But, I wasn't sure if we knew that.  We've seen Boba Fett tell him that someone named Luke Skywalker existed (in issue #6) and we know that Vader knew that the pilot who destroyed the Death Star was strong with the Force.  However, I wasn't sure if he conclusively knew that those two people were the same person.  After all, at the end of "Star Wars" #12, he's still looking to get the name of the Force-strong kid from Kreel.  If he knew that they were the same person, why would he press for that?  But, in "Star Wars" #4, it's pretty clear that Boba Fett is hunting down the kid that destroyed the Death Star.  If Vader knows that the kid's name is Skywalker, then Vader definitely knows that his son destroyed the Death Star.  (That said, I'm not sure how Boba Fett knew that Luke was from Tatooine, but I've already spent enough time on back-issue research.)

Then, I realized that I've been confusing Nar Shadda (the Smuggler's Moon) for Vrogas Vas whenever it was mentioned in the "Darth Vader" series.  (I spent most of the issue wondering how the hell the Rebellion was able to hide a base on the Smuggler's Moon.  You would've thought that someone would've noticed the X-Wing squadrons practicing maneuvers!)  If Aphra sent Vader to Vrogas Vas and not Nar Shadda, then "Darth Vader" #11-#12 -- where Aphra learns of Luke's location -- happen after "Star Wars" #12.  Presumably, Vader went to Nar Shadda after getting word from Kreel (in "Star Wars" #11, where Kreel tells his handlers that they better move quickly if they want "the Jedi" alive), while he simultaneously had Aphra working on getting Luke's location separately.  After failing to capture Luke in "Star Wars" #12, he has the interaction with Aphra that we saw in "Darth Vader" #11-#12, sending him to Vrogas Vas.  It took some re-reading to piece together that sequence of events, but I think that it's correct.

With that established, I re-read the issue so that I could actually focus on the story that Aaron was telling and not how we got to this point.  I'm glad to say that the issue itself is amazing.  Aaron uses it to remind us what a force (heh) Vader is, just in case we've forgotten as a result of his humbling in the wake of the Death Star's destruction.  When he emerges from hyperspace above Vrogas Vas, he appears right in the middle of three squadrons of X-Wing fighters engaged in drills.  He makes short work of two of the squadrons, and the entire creative team is at the top of their game in displaying his talent.  Aaron uses the pilots' chatter over the comm-link to document their increasing surprise (and horror) as Vader takes out ship after ship.  The tone goes from confidence in their ability to disarm a solo pilot to shock at how quickly the squadrons are being destroyed.  Moreover, Deodata is amazing throughout this sequence.  As good as Immonen and LaRocca are on "Star Wars" and "Darth Vader," respectively, Deodata knows how to draw a space battle.  He's greatly helped by the colorist, Martin, who set the tone through everything from the eerie internal lighting of the Tie-Fighter to the blazing red engines of the X-Wings.  But, it's the scene of the bodies of the dead pilots and drones floating in space that have the most impact.  It's something that we've never seen in the movies and, seeing this splash page, you have to wonder if space in this far, far away galaxy is filled with nothing but bodies.  But, it serves its purpose, driving home how lethal Vader is and what the stakes really are.

Vader's onslaught comes to an end when Luke realizes that it's Vader flying the ship and ambushes him, sending both ships tumbling to the surface.  After seeing Vader's performance in space, the reader is left more worried for the company of Rebellion troops that converge on Vader's position than Vader himself.  Vader's comment -- that he's surrounded by dead men -- is probably accurate.

Meanwhile, on one of the rebel starships in space, Han and Leia have yet another hilarious conversation as Han tries to remind Leia that Vader has almost killed them every time that they've been near him and maybe, just maybe, they shouldn't be rushing to confront him.  But, Leia reveals that Vader's on Vrogas Vas, and Han recognizes that Luke is there.  Once gain, Luke pulls Han into his drama!  Meanwhile, Vader senses that Vrogas Vas was, in fact, the site of a Jedi temple.  (Here, I'm confused by how or if Luke knew that Vrogas Vas had a Jedi Temple.  He originally went to Nar Shadda to get someone to fly him to Coruscant to find its Jedi temple.  Did Grakkus tell him during their conversation in his hanger?  I'd go look, but I'm tired, so I'm just going to go with it here.)  This revelation ups the stakes significantly.  After the devastating loss of Grakkus' horde in "Star Wars" #12, Luke unexpectedly gains the possibility of learning more about the Jedi...if Vader doesn't kill him first.

*** (three of five stars)