The Queen And The Dark Lord: ‘Star Wars: Darth Vader #2’ Reviewed
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
Darth Vader is having visions of Padmé Amidala, his wife standing before him. It’s too good to be true, but even the forensics droid believes it’s her. However, Padme died years ago; this is her double, Sabé. She has been hiding out on Vendaxa with other Naboo rebels. She fights Vader by unleashing one of Vendaxa’s deadliest creatures, land squids, upon him. However, they are not enough to stop him and he catches up with her. He tells her that he knows she broke into Padmé’s quarters on Coruscant. He wants to know how Padmé really died and so does Sabé. He convinces her to join him in this investigation.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #2 finds the Dark Lord encountering more ghosts of his past in the wake of his encounter with Luke on Bespin. He is now standing before a woman identical to Padmé Amidala in almost every way and it is shaking him to his core.
I described the first issue of this new series as something of an extended mental breakdown for Darth Vader and this issue continues it. The normally ruthless and violent Vader is left speechless and hesitant by a woman he knows isn’t Padmé, but she’s close–close enough to soften even the Dark Lord.
It’s certainly an interesting side of Vader. A part of him still longs for the way things were and he knows being with Sabé can recreate some of that–if only for a little while. He’s even convinced himself that Padmé would have joined the Empire.
Raffaelle Ienco provides another issue’s worth of stellar visuals. His rendition of Vader is stunning and he does a hell of a job recreating the visage of actress Natalie Portman as Padmé. Ienco’s detailing and texturing is fantastic and color artist Neeraj Menon tops it all off with a well-balanced and vibrant palette.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #2 is an excellent continuation to the stunning opening issue. Vader continues to be haunted by the ghosts of his past and it may just be more than the Dark Lord can take. Regardless, this comic earns a recommendation. Feel free to give it a read.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #2 comes to us from writer Greg Pak, artist Raffaele Ienco, color artist Neeraj Menon, letterer VC’s Joe Caramagna, cover artist Inhyuk Lee, and variant cover artists Raffaele Ienco with Neeraj Menon; and Chris Sprouse with Karl Story and Neeraj Menon.
Final Score: 9/10
