Darth Vader: Issue 42: Rise of the Schism Imperial
What is it ? : Mas Amedda is going to see the Emperor, but Sly Moore meets him and comments on him being scared, she then announces him to Palpatine. Palpatine tells her that he sensed Amedda's fear a kilometer away, and when he enters and is told that Vader has taken control of some of the Droids, and defeated the Droid Threat, he uses force lightning on Amedda telling him that he was sent after a weak Vader, and comes back with news that he is now more powerful.
He senses that Sly Moore is amused at the display, asking her if she could do better, and she responds yes.
On Zee-Nine City Seven, Lieutenant Enric Pryde is auditing a repair centre once used by the Droid Crush Pirates, and comments that the Imperial garrison there is under powered and a prime target for the Rebellion. As X-Wings streak across the sky, he calls for support from his Star Destroyer, but sees it falling from the sky burning, and begins to organise his forces for the inevitable Rebel attack. Rebels taunt him from their prison enclosures, and he threatens to kill them, but arriving Rebel forces demand he drops his gun. However he tells them that unless they drop their weapons, he will execute the prisoners, and the Rebels do drop their weapons.
Prydes moment of victory is short lived, as cybernetically enhanced Rebel Troops overwhelm his forces immediately.
Twelve hours later, Vader arrives and finds Pryde locked in a cage, and Pryde warns him that it is a trap. Vader tells him that he knows, but wants to know how many Rebels there are, but when Pryde responds with the figure of a hundred, Vader clarifies that he means how many cybernetically enhanced Rebels, to which Pryde tells him 4, but they are the best soldiers he has ever seen.
Vader frees Pryde, and Zed-6-7 tells him to run, but he takes a place at Vaders side as the Cyborg Rebels attack, they provide a challenge to Vader, but it is revealed that he is trying to capture them alive, as Mouse Droids arrive and fire control darts into their cybernetics and they turn on the other Rebels.
One of the cyborgs resists and watches in horror as her comrades destroy the Rebel forces, but she too is controlled as a another control dart is fired into the back of her neck.
Later on Mustafar, more permanent controls for the cyborg soldiers is put in place as collars which cannot be easily dislodged, and Zed-6-7 comments that they wouldn't ever break free of control if they removed their brains, however it's the skills they have gained which are most valuable so this is not a practical solution.
Sly Moore arrives, and she confronts Vader with the fact that at some point he must confront Palpatine or be destroyed, and offers him the help of the Schism Imperial, revealing Tauntaza and Corleque to already be members.
Vader dismisses this as he tells he all he sees is weakness, but Moore continues, telling him the Schism is full of unimportant and weak members, all too insignificant to be noticed, but together they wield power equal to the Sith. That the Sith only acknowledge power is why Crimson Dawn came so close to defeating them, and if he will only deign to look down and notice them, then all that power can be his. . .
High Points : A nice continuation of the story, with Vader using the technology gained in the previous storyline to use against the Rebellion, taking control of their cyborgs.
And Sly Moore's speech to Vader makes a lot of sense, the Sith do indeed tend to ignore the weak, they concentrated on Luke at Endor, while ignoring Han, Lando and Wedge, who destroy the defence shield, and take out the reactor destroying the Death Star Vader and Palpatine are aboard. Not sure how the Schism measures power through, as unless they are some kind of Anarchist collective they must have a leader, and by Sith standards that person has power.
Low Points : And the Schism, isn't this exactly the same as the time Sly Moore was working with Crimson Dawn, with lots of individuals adding up to great power. Has she just resurrected the scheme, is this a continuation of it, or did the writers just forget they did exactly the same thing before?
And while I recognise that the story arcs are split over different titles, so the Dark Droids storyline was completed elsewhere. But as a reader of only Vader, we get no resolution, it is just announced that it has ended. And while that might be realistic to a degree, after all most WW2 movies end without going into the suicide of Hitler and the fall of the regime, it's really not satisfying as it just began and ended without really making any sense.
So what do you really think ? : We're moving into yet another story arc, with the Imperial Schism this time, which as commented above is the same as something we've seen before, even down to Sly Moore being a key part of it. But the issue lacks any exploration of Vader as a character, and just tells us a bunch of stuff which happens to him without letting us see the journey he takes personally from Empire Strikes Back to Return of the Jedi.
Final Words : While it's well told, there's nothing I find interesting in this issue, the Rebel Cyborgs are a totally new addition, without them being introduced in the comic series, it's nice to see Pryde back, as he's been a supporting character throughout the series, and he is a little different to most Imperial officers. But on the whole it feels tired and routine, and doesn't seem to have any direction which might make it more interesting in the future.
Score : 7.5/10
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