Tweet
Released by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: December 18, 2013
Purchase From Amazon
A recently-roboticized Vader is leading his clone troopers in his hunt for the remaining Jedi in the universe. He's tracked down one that interests him in particular, one named Dass Jennir, to a casino on the planet Kestavel. Vader leads a ground assault while his ship hovers above the planet and the bounty hunter Falco Sang lies in wait, ready to assist him as well.
But Jennir and a few others are readying their own escape from the planet. They are aided by Master Hudorra, an older Jedi Master who puts himself directly in Vader's path. After torching Vader's clone troopers the Sith and Jedi face off, with the old master throwing in a few tricks but, inevitably, falling to Vader's light saber. He'd bluffed Vader with a detonator that would destroy the whole casino - something Vader is only to happy to utilize if only to draw out Jennir. But, instead, Vader finds only a turncoat Jedi and that his prey has escaped. In killing this Jedi, though, Vader drops the detonator and sets off the explosions, barely escaping thanks to Sang's quick actions.
This allows Jennir and his party to elude Vader for a third time. Aboard their getaway craft, they play a message from Hudorra, who speaks to the hope of the spark of true Jedi that Jennir represents.
The story here by Randy Stradley is a pretty good entry for the “early Vader†era. The Dark Lord makes some mistakes, gets hasty, and loses his quarry yet again. Obviously, this will all change later but such stories allow for a smooth transition detailing the Anakin-to-Vader path that's not very clean, understandably. Douglas Wheatley's artwork is richly detailed, securing a lavish context for Lord Vader to become Darth Vader properly.
