REVIEW: Darth Vader #1

I find it kind of funny that these days the Marvel Comics titles that I’m most excited about are the Star Wars books. I mean, I grew up in the 1980s. Of course I love Star Wars. But to be honest, I’ve never been that much of a Star Wars comics fan. But that’s been changing.

Darth Vader #1 was a fine first issue. Not to mention, that this is apparently the first Darth Vader ongoing series. Writer Kieron Gillen puts the Sith lord into a situation where he actually appears to be sympathetic.

The series is set after the events of A New Hope, and Vader’s relationship with the Emperor is strained. After all, the Death Star did just get destroyed. Anyway, after a brow-beating from the Emperor, Vader is off to Tatooine for a meeting with Jabba the Hutt.

These scenes were so well done, with Jabba trying to lure Vader over the infamous trap door. The two have some Empire related business to attend to, but the real importance of the meeting is that Vader needs some bounty hunters (Bobba Fett and an evil Wookie named Black Krrsantan) to:

1. Find out who the mysterious young Jedi (Luke Skywalker) is.
2. To learn more about the shady new figure that the Emperor has let into his inner circle.

And while on Tatooine, Vader gets to get some anger out by slaying a Tuskan Raider outpost.

As for the art, Salvador Larocca just nails everything. It has the same visual feel as the movies.

Thumbs up.

Friday Fights#21: House of Magneto vs. House of Vader

It’s time for some villainous family feuding! What would happen if Magneto and kids tussled with Darth Vader and his own set of twins? The two sides have a pretty elaborate and expanded family tree but we’re focusing on Magneto, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch going up against Darth Vader, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker.

What you get with both families is a lot of dysfunctional relationships. Both the Vaders and the House of M have a lot of similarities. Both of them are headed by a father with some serious emotional issues, who have really strained (at best) relations with their children. After all, they have tried to kill them several times over the years! Luke and Leia are more stable than Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch; unfortunately the Skywalker twins accidentally made out! On the mutant side of things, it’s not much better as the twins are always trying to gain their father’s acceptance, even though they consider him to be a threat to the universe!

Ultimately both groups would have to coexist among themselves. The battle isn’t a matter of the Force vs. magnetism; it’s once Scarlet Witch uses her reality warping to take out her Jedi combatants. And after that, Magneto will take his kids to McDonalds for a Happy Meal.

Friday Fights #1: Doctor Doom vs. Darth Vader

 

I decided it was time to start a new feature here at Ridiculously Awesome. This one is called Friday Fights, where we examine what would happen if two characters from comic book, cartoon and general geek culture were to tussle.

The rules are simple; the two combatants are fighting each other in a neutral environment, where neither would get the other hand because of their surroundings. Neither has any preparation; they are just carrying what they would normally have on them.

This week’s match-up features everyone’s favorite Eastern European despot Doctor Doom against the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader.

THE ARMOR: Darth Vader’s armor is more so designed to keep him alive than for combat and weaponry purposes. Doom’s is fully functioning robotic armor, with all kinds of offensive and defensive capabilities, plus various scanners and intelligence gathering devices. Whether Vader tries to attack him by lightsaber or telekinetic-ally through the Force, Doom is protected. ADVANTAGE:  Doctor Doom

THE FORCE OR SORCERY: Darth Vader is a master of using the Dark Side of the Force. He can attack people through telekinesis, either by electrical discharge or blunt force. He also seems to have some telepathic skills as well. Doom is more than just a genius in robotic armor; he is also one of Earth’s greatest sorcerers. ADVANTAGE:  Neither

COMBAT: Vader has been trained as a Jedi, and he is way the superior hand-to-hand combatant. Plus he has a lightsaber. Although just as ruthless, Doom has no where the skill to match Vader in this area. ADVANTAGE:  Darth Vader

EMOTIONAL STATE: Darth Vader gains his determination from the sadness that is his life, suffering from borderline personality disorder. Doom is just as messed up, as his arrogance always seems to get the best of him. ADVANTAGE:  Neither.

SO HOW WOULD IT END: Doom would be on the run, defending himself using his seemingly endless supply of on hand gadgets and sorcery from Vader’s physicallity. Once Doom would realize that the heavy breathing coming from Vader was a weakness and how destroying his respirator would cripple the Dark Lord of the Sith, it would be shortly over. An immobilized, hyperventilating Vader is no match for the diabolical Doctor Doom. WINNER: Doctor Doom

Did Darth Vader Appear In A Blondie Video?

When I was at the gym last night, they had this music video for Blondie’s “The Tide Is High” on. I’ve never seen it before and it left me with one question: WHAT WAS DARTH VADER DOING IN A BLONDIE VIDEO?

Seriously, there’s a stand in Darth Vader looking longingly at projections of Debbie Harry the whole time. What is up with that? And when Vader turns around, it looks like someone shoved his toaster in his face. What a weird video.