Star Wars Friday 1/21/11

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Star Wars Friday 1/21/11

01/21/2011 11:42am

Before you pick up the first issue of Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command, check out this guest blog post by writer Haden Blackman!

As a kid, my favorite movie wasn’t Star Wars or even The Empire Strikes Back. That might be a strange opening line in a blog post about an upcoming Star Wars comic—specifically Darth Vader and the Lost Command, which hits shelves next week—and from someone who has forged a rewarding career writing Star Wars stories. But it’s true, and as Stephen King says in his fantastic book On Writing: “Write anything, anything at all, as long as you tell the truth.”

So the truth is that my favorite movie as a kid was (and still is) the original, black-and-white Frankenstein from Universal. I saw it for the first time on television, and the film’s ability to make the Monster gruesome and murderous, yet also tragic and sympathetic, awed me. Ever since, I’ve been drawn to those characters who remind me of Boris Karloff’s Monster and credit Frankenstein with turning me into a hardcore monster buff. Eventually, that passion led me to Hammer Film’s Horror of Dracula, in which Christopher Lee gives a brilliant performance as the title character. Later, Lee would say that he tried to infuse Dracula with “the loneliness of evil.” Dracula is a villain, but also a character who is “in this world, but not of this world,” and that “otherness” makes him isolated, alone, even tragic.

Which brings us to Darth Vader. While Frankenstein stands as my favorite film, The Empire Strikes Back is easily a close second, and it’s largely because of Darth Vader. Everyone has their own interpretation of Vader, who is perhaps the most recognizable screen villain of all time. Some people view him as an unstoppable and emotionless bogeyman, others as an antihero just waiting for his shot at redemption, still others as essentially Anakin Skywalker in a black mask. But ever since glimpsing Vader’s bald head, laced with grotesque pink-and-red scars, I have seen Darth Vader as a fusion of Karloff’s Monster and Lee’s Dracula—an incredibly potent yet flawed character, a monstrosity who is utterly alone and knows it, and a cunning villain who has given up huge portions of his humanity in exchange for power. Layer on top of that some traditional samurai traits—immensely skilled with a sword, proud and strong willed, loyal to his master, courageous even in the face of death—and you have my concept of Darth Vader.

In Darth Vader and the Lost Command, we try to show all these aspects of Vader through his current mission—the search for Moff Tarkin’s son, who has gone missing in the so-called Ghost Nebula. That task is complicated by the introduction of a rival officer, who may or may not have the mission’s best interests in mind, and a local shaman who wants to strike a deal with the Sith Lord. It’s our hope that throughout the series, you see the different facets of Vader. He’s not just a cunning warrior and Jedi hunter, but also a skilled pilot, an apprentice, a commanding leader, even a mechanic. If you don’t come away with a better understanding of Vader, it won’t be because of the impressive art crew—Rick Leonardi on pencils, inker Dan Green, and colorist Wes Dzioba. Their stunning panel work includes massive land and space battles chock full of Imperial hardware; a truly sinister version of the Emperor; crystal-encrusted alien landscapes; big explosions and quiet moments of contemplation; new characters, including Moff Tarkin’s son and the Ghost Nebula’s beautiful spiritual leader; and, most importantly, the many faces of Darth Vader. As a writer, there’s nothing quite like receiving a batch of pages and seeing how the artists have translated whatever I cobbled together on paper, and this group makes every panel so much better than anything I envisioned.

So, there you have a little context for Lost Command. But I would probably be remiss if I didn’t also address the small controversy that sprung up when the series was announced and was referred to as a story about one of Vader’s “greatest failures.” This was largely a joke, but again, here’s the truth: Vader will fail. In my mind, it is how characters react to failure that really defines them. Luke Skywalker, defeated and wounded, leaping to his possible death rather than join Vader; Boromir realizing that he has become a danger to the Fellowship because he can’t control his desire for the Ring, and then sacrificing himself to protect the hobbits’ escape; Peter Parker becoming a superhero after failing to stop his uncle’s murderer . . . All of these are defining moments for great characters, moments that are born out of both external defeats and personal failings.

But Vader fans can rest assured—you are going to see Vader succeed on multiple levels as well, and along the way he’ll conquer planets, gun down enemy starfighters, throw “rebels” into bubbling tar pits, shrug off attacks that would kill just about anyone else, and cut off a whole lotta limbs.

—Haden Blackman

Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command #1 is in stores January 26th.

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Star Wars Friday 1/21/11

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