Charles Soule’s first Darth Vader book gave us the vitally important origin story of... his lightsaber. Great… his fourth book is the equally unnecessary origin story of Vader’s Fortress. The one that we briefly glimpsed in Rogue One? The very same. I know, FINALLY, right? What’s that sound? Oh, just the bottom of the barrel being scraped!
It’s pretty bad, and not just because it’s pointless, but because it’s not very entertaining either. The dull storyline of Vader polishing off the remaining Jedi-in-hiding wasn’t interesting, nor was how he turned on his Inquisitors – bad guy did bad thing? Didn’t see that coming!
Then we’re on Mustafar as Vader and his Sith artist/architect (of course) figures out what he wants in order for Vader to “bleed” his lightsaber’s “kyber crystal at the Dark Side Locus” or some such gibberish. The locals try to get rid of their new, unwanted neighbour – think they succeed? Exactomundo. Ho hum. Charles Soule, the wheel-spinning master!
If you’re a fan of the prequels, you’ll love this one as Soule takes us back to Sprawling City Planet, reintroduces Padme’s shiny silver spaceship, and the quasi-nightmare sequence at the end acts as a kind of “greatest hits” collection of scenes from those movies. That sequence unintentionally made me laugh when the quote “Now this is podracing!” cropped up. Wow, what a steaming pile of movie The Phantom Menace was, eh?
Giuseppe Camuncoli’s art is superb though. The nightmare sequence was beautifully executed and the panel showing young Anakin with the Vader mask moulded into his face was quite shocking! Momin, the Sith artist/architect, was an imaginative idea too – a possessed helmet! That’s, uh, different at least?
Fortress Vader is another flashy but superficial Darth Vader book – which accurately describes the character himself as well! Soule’s ironically soul-less writing is perhaps the most appropriate match for this series. Next up: the origin of the coloured buttons on Vader’s uniform!
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