Today saw the release of issue #3 in Marvel Comics’ Star Wars: Darth Vader – Black, White & Red miniseries, which is an anthology of separate stories about the Dark Lord of the Sith told using only those three colors mentioned in the title.
Darth Vader – Black, White & Red #3 opens with a continuation of the main “Hard Shutdown” story written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by Leonard Kirk with colorist Romulo Fajardo Jr. This tale sees Vader having been captured by mercenaries seeking revenge on the Dark Lord, but we readers know he is far too powerful to allow himself to be bettered by this ragtag group of outlaws. In this chapter, the team attempts to simply blow up the building that contains Vader’s body, which has been immobilized and strapped to an operating table. They even send a starship in, armed to the teeth, but Vader gets the better of it, seizing control of the vessel via use of the Force’s dark side. It’s an awesome demonstration of the Sith’s power, but that’s nothing compared to the destruction we see on display in this month’s second story, entitled “Annihilated,” which was written and illustrated by Daniel Warren Johnson of DC’s Wonder Woman: Dead Earth. This story follows an Imperial strike force as it tracks a rebel ship to a hidden base, and then unleashes Darth Vader in his TIE Advanced starfighter to take out pretty much the entire fleet stationed on a Hoth-like planet.
That second tale is a real hoot, especially if you’re into seeing a comic artist just let loose with the character of Darth Vader and rain a fairly excessive amount of destruction down on the Rebel Alliance. But the third story, entitled “Diplomatic Impunity” and written by Marc Bernardin (Star Trek: Picard) with art by Stefano Raffaele (Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood) and colorist Andres Mossa (Elektra: Black, White & Blood), is a bit more subtle. In this final yarn, Vader enlists an Imperial officer named Lieutenant Sulaco to accompany him to her home planet on what he claims to be a “diplomatic mission,” but is really just a scheme to root her out as a rebel spy. Character-wise, this is probably the most interesting story of the three in issue #3, though I was taken aback a little by Vader’s willingness to allow Sulaco a chance to say goodbye for her family before he turns her into a double agent feeding the Rebellion information for the Empire. All in all, though, I’m still really impressed by this miniseries and getting a real kick out of seeing these comics creators go wild with one of the most famous villains in contemporary pop-culture history. With just one issue of Black, White & Red left to go, I can’t wait to see what surprises Aaron and company have in store for us next month.
Star Wars: Darth Vader – Black, White & Red #3 is available now wherever comic books are sold.