Force Matters — ‘Star Wars: Legacy of Vader’ #11 Sets A New Artistic Bar For The Series

Let’s dive into all the Star Wars comics out on December 3rd — and by “all,” I of course mean “one,” but, if nothing else, it’s a great looking one.

Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #11

By Charles Soule & Luke Ross

Kyloe Ren fights to escape Vaneé’s dark plans for him.

• Ross’ linework, particularly in the first few pages, seems a little less polished, with more lines and rougher edges. Not sure if its an intentional choice to mirror Kylo Ren being a bit on his back foot at the start, or just the result of a some deadline crunches.
• Certainly, it’s not a bad issue, art-wise. Ross turns in another bravura two-page splash sequence, like the one which kicked off the series in issue #1, in which Kylo hunts down Vaneé while dodging a series of traps on a path laid out like a Moebius strip.
• The battle droids Ren fights are Phase-III Dark Troopers, which first appeared in the second season of The Mandalorian.
• That fight unfolds across a single page with 12 panels, an artistic feat as impressive for how contained it is as the earlier two page full splash was for being so expansive.

• Ren is able to bleed the Kyber crystal of a lightsaber, turning it red, more or less in real-time, something that was first depicted in the series finale of The Acolyte.
• Vaneé trying to speak to Kylo Ren about his “potential”, only to have Ren throw it back in his face, saying he’s been hearing about his great potential since he was three before declaring he’s everything he needs to be, is a great moment, one which speaks to the arc he’s been on throughout this series while still being consistent with the petulant stunted adolescent at his core.
• We get a “to be concluded” note at the end of the issue, which could just mean the end of the story arc (this is clearly the penultimate issue), but given Vaneé’s apparent demise here after being the guiding force of the series, it seems likely the book will be ending as well.

This isn’t the last issue of the series, but I’ll be surprised if Ross manages to go out on a higher artistic note than he does here, able to go both big and small as needed with ease.

Tales From The Bookshelf

Two book releases this week. First up is Doctor Aphra Volume 2: Friends & Enemies, an omnibus collecting the back half Aphra’s second solo series which launched in 2020 — the one with Sana Starros as a supporting character and a re-canonized Domina Tagge as the antagonist. I admittedly missed out on most of this series, but would like to go back and revisit it someday — I like the Aphra/Sana dynamic when I’ve encountered it elsewhere, and I’m always happy to see old ’70s era Star Wars comic characters pop up in the current books.

Doctor Aphra Volume 2: Friends & Enemies collects Doctor Aphra (vol. 2) #26-40, Sana Starros #1-5 and the second story from the Revelations one-shot.

The second book is Doug Chiang: The Cinematic Legacy & The Star Wars Legacy, a two-volume hardcover collection celebrating the work of artist/designer Doug Chiang. Start with the Prequels and going all the way to modern day Star Wars, Chiang’s artistic vision dominates the design and aesthetic of Star Wars more than any other artist since Ralph McQuarrie in the Original Trilogy.

This collection includes a volume dedicated to Chiang’s Star Wars work, and another volume looking at his work prior to coming to LucasFilm in the mid ’90s.

Cover of the Week

Not a lot to choose from this week, but this Rod Reis cover looks great and speaks to the sort of burning down of Vader’s legacy Kylo Ren undertakes in the issue.