Darth Vader #11: A Taste Of Things to Come

It is clear to see by the cover that this issue was going to be a very climactic one. Vader has rebuilt himself and confronts the only person he has served for decades, The Emperor. This issue acts as a sort of lynchpin to tie together the original trilogy as well as the newer sequel films. The Rise Of Skywalker finally revealed that Palpatine had all along set up a massive contingency plan should The Empire ever fall. He accomplished this by toying with cloning and amassing a giant navy of ships, each equipped with planet destroying capabilities themselves. This chapter in Vader’s tale is his discovery of these things. After being beaten down, destroyed, and rebuilt Vader must see with his own lensed eyes how truly powerful his master really is.

The Rise Of Skywalker imagery in this issue is one of the best parts about this issue. This whole series has been about bringing the entire Skywalker saga together, with Vader as the tragic center point. The series started with Vader remembering the events of Revenge Of the Sith. As the series went on it referenced more contemporary memories, specifically those of his recent confrontation with Luke in The Empire Strikes Back. Now Vader travels to the future in a way to see the plans that would ultimately live on far beyond himself. Vader is set on the same tour his grandson would go through thirty plus years later. Even the Sith spirits from The Rise of Skywalker are present as was Ochi, Palpatine’s thug who murdered Rey’s parents. Although Ochi has been in this arc the entire time, he remains a connection to that final film as well.

Pak and team manage to stuff a lot of action, setting placement, and dialogue into this issue. This series has been very strong throughout and this last chapter needed to be a very strong ending. This issue a very “boss level” appeal, if it were a video game. The pages are splashed with plenty of fighting, but also a lot of just detailed artwork of Exegol itself. The color tone of most of the issue is grey and blue with some splashes of red throughout, which is very Vadery. Once Vader does confront The Emperor directly, the art is suddenly flooded with red, overwhelmingly so. This series has played with the color red the entire time, and to see it used here so oppressively drives that style home for a grand finish. Red is the prefect metaphor for Vader. His blade is red, his memories are red, his rage is red hot, even his vision through his mask tints his whole world red. However, The Emperor is much redder.