Thompson, Robbie
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
4 out of 5
(1 book)
Star Wars: Target Vader
(Art by Marc Laming, Cris Bolson, Stefano Landini, Marco Failla, Roberto Di Salvo and Georges Duarte)
A mysterious organisation called the Hidden Hand hires the bounty hunter Beilert Valance to put together a team of hunters in order to kill none other than Sith Lord Darth Vader. However, Valance has a complicated history with both Vader and the Hidden Hand itself and matters are further complicated by agents of the Rebel Alliance.
I didn't want to like this book, really. Valance was a character created by Marvel in the 70s during their first comics run at the franchise and whilst his reintroduction in the 'Han Solo: Imperial Cadet' storyline (reviewed here) was a nice nod for long-time fans, a stand-alone story starring Valance with Vader versus bounty hunters seemed a little bit cynical and cash-grabby.
Despite that, this book won me over and I ultimately rather enjoyed it. Sure, it has very little impact on the larger Star Wars saga or even on the lives of its main characters but it nevertheless managed to tell a compelling self-contained story. I liked seeing Valance fleshed-out into something of an anti-hero, something which was also part of his story arc in the classic Marvel Comics, but I have to say that one element left out of this modern reinterpretation disappointed me. In the 70s stories Valance hides the fact he's a cyborg to avoid stigma and externalises his self-loathing in a hatred of droids, however he comes to terms with himself and with droids over time. Here, although there's a hint of his anti-droid sentiment, the subtext of him being ashamed of being a cyborg has been lost, which I feel robs the character of some of his complexity. And it's not often that the Marvel Star Wars series of the 70s can be called more complex than modern comics.
All told, this book left me keen to read more of Valance's adventures in the subsequent 'Bounty Hunters' ongoing series.
4 out of 5