Star Wars: Target Vader collects the 6 issue mini-series written by Robbie Thompson and illustrated by various artists.
Synopsis
A mysterious new crime syndicate called The Hidden Hand is being pursued by Darth Vader. The Hidden Hand operates through various fronts and is shrouded in secrecy. The Empire cannot abide this, nor can they allow the Hidden Hand to go on selling weapons to the Rebellion. The HH, however, does not go down without a fight. A group of bounty hunters, led by former Imperial Beilert Valance, is contracted to assassinate Vader. Valance, who feels betrayed by the Empire after he literally sacrificed his body in service to them, jumps at the chance to exact revenge by taking out its chief enforcer.
Review
Target Vader isn’t really about Darth Vader, it’s about Beilert Valance, and that’s a very good thing. Valance, a fan favorite character from the old Marvel comic series, was introduced into the new canon in the comic adaptation of Solo: A Star Wars Story and was given an expanded role in Han Solo: Imperial Cadet, a prequel to Solo. Target Vader picks up Valance’s storyline several years later (just prior to the Battle of Hoth). Valance seems like an outsider, even among bounty hunters. He doesn’t strictly follow their code and prefers to work alone. He is a broken man, inside and out; and it is not just the Empire he has to contend with here. It seems as if every place he goes there is someone ready to take him out, including a turncoat on his own team. Speaking of Valance’s team, they’re an interesting crew consisting of Honnah, a female Gamorrean whose dialog is always “OINK! SQUEE!”; Urrr’k, who appears to be a female Tusken Raider; Chio Fain, an Ardennian slicer; and Dengar, a regular bloke you may have heard of before. Actually, they start off with another team-mate, Arr-Nine-Nineteen; but Valance immediately destroys the droid in a very nice nod to his Legends iteration’s hatred of mechanicals.
As the story progresses, with plenty of action, we get glimpses into the pasts of Honnah, Urrr’k, and Chio and see why each of them would want to hurt the Empire. With Valance, though, we get more than a glimpse. We see where he comes from, a world that initially hailed the Empire as liberators from the slave masters that forced Beilert’s family and others like them to work the mines. In a chilling parallel to his own journey, we also see how the Empire took everything it could from this planet and then tossed it aside (metaphorically; they didn’t literally toss the planet out of its orbit and send it spinning; I feel the need to clarify that because it is Star Wars after all). As I already mentioned, Darth Vader is not the star of this story. He is in it, obviously, and we get some great stuff with him, the usual Vader being really good at killing people stuff. At one point it occurred to me that Vader probably knows he should just hang back and let someone else handle this thing, but his ego just won’t let him. He has to be the one to stop his would be assassins and track down the Hidden Hand. It is Valance’s story, though, and it is told almost entirely from his point of view. This is a good example of a Star Wars story that uses the Empire and Rebellion in supporting roles, but isn’t just another Empire vs. Rebellion story. In that sense, it is like some of the better Aphra stories, giving us a (kind of) new character doing their own thing with the war as a backdrop.
As usual, my only real complaint with this book is the inconsistent look and quality of the art. Some of it is good; and some of it, especially toward the end isn’t. Other than that, this is a great resurrection of a Legends character that adds depth and sets up the potential for more adventures with Valance either as sequels or prequels to this story. In fact, Valance will return in March in the ongoing Bounty Hunters series!
Notes
Valance originally appeared in the original Marvel Star Wars run in issues 16, 27, and 29; he also has a prominent role in Star Wars 108, a new story published under the Legends banner. The issues were recently collected in the trade paperback Star Wars Legends: Forever Crimson.
Comic Pack Wish List:
Valance, obviously. I think Urrr’k would be cool, too.
Score:
The ending is a little more convoluted than I usually prefer; and again, the inconsistent art; otherwise, it’s a winner. 4 Skulls.
