Darth Vader #40: More Machine Than Man

As a whole, this series has done a lot to establish who Darth Vader is in the last few months of his life. This issue seems to be the culmination of all of that. The entire series so far, has been about Emperor Palpatine testing Vader left and right as he could sense Anakin Skywalker returning. Vader has been tortured. He has been tested mercilessly. He has been victimized, and he has been rejected. Through all of that he still remains a cybernetic killing machine. This chapter goes off script a little as it doesn’t have any of the red tint memories that Is the hallmark of the series. Yet it absolutely feels like the lead up to the end of the story arc. It is also very connected to the “Dark Droids” multi-series event currently taking place in all “Star Wars” comics.

Add a quick glance this issue seems to almost ignore the “Dark Droids” events, however about halfway through the issue that changes dramatically. The first half of the issues represents the series extremely well by showing Darth Vader’s continued saga with the Emperor, while the second half ties to “Dark Droids” a bit more directly. As the whole event plays out in all series, the current narrative development involves the droids taking over cyborgs. This has major implications in this chapter, as Darth Vader and his Death Troopers are all cyborgs.

There is a strange mixture of brightness and shadows to the art and color of this particular chapter. There are no red-hued memories of Anakin Skywalker but there are lots of yellow skies and red lightsabers, and of course the shadows of Sith Lords to dominate each page. Thid creates a unique contrast with brightness versus shadow that reflects the deep darkness of Vader and his master against a backdrop of bombastic action. The impact on the over saga is quite apparent as this story arc acts as a showdown before the final showdown with Palpatine in Return of the Jedi. With the bright colors, fantastic art, and epic storytelling this issue is bound to go down as a classic.