Target Vader #6: "Free" by Robbie Thompson
Target Vader #6: "Free" written by Robbie Thompson, illustrated by Stefano Landini, Roberto Di Salvo, Georges Duarte, Neeraj Menon, and Rachelle Rosenberg
I can't say this was my favorite ending to a Star Wars comic mini-series. It didn't really answer any of the questions the series had brought up and it led us down some confusing paths. In fact, I keep going back and re-reading various parts of this issue but my brow is still furrowed to the max. I just am not getting what is going on. And the image on the cover is *spoiler alert* nowhere to be found in the issue...as in, that fight doesn't happen at all. I really hope I'm not the only one this confused...
We start off in the past with Valance teaming up with someone named Cavic who has set up outposts in asteroid fields in parts of the galaxy where the Empire doesn't reach. It is obvious at this point that Valance has no love for the Empire anymore. I'm still confused from last issue's revelations and this just muddies the waters more for me. Why is he running from the Empire? He got an honorable discharge so why does he want to retaliate? Well, according to the opening crawl/synopsis, Valance feels abandoned by the Empire both personally and in regards to his homeworld. But for someone who gave up his limbs and his eye for the Empire without questioning (and still wanted to jump back into the fight), I feel like something really huge needs to happen to change such a man's mind about a cause. He literally gave his body for the Empire, why in the world is he so hell bent on destroying it now just because he feels like he was abandoned?? It just doesn't make sense to me with what we know so far. I mean, I know abandonment can be a super scary thing and can make a person do crazy things, but Valance doesn't seem like the type of person to allow such a thing to alter his thinking...unless his love for his homeworld, Chorin, is a lot stronger than we were led to believe (which might actually be the case seeing as how this issue and series ends).
So in the present, we see Valance heading to one of the aforementioned outposts where he hopes
to discover the hideout of the Hidden Hand (see image to the right). And destroy them once and for all...wait, huh??? Why is he now desperate to take out the people who hired him for the kill Vader job in the first place? One explanation could be Vader's telling him that if he helps the Empire take out the Hidden Hand, that the Empire will come in and protect Chorin, but from the way everything plays out, it appears that Valance never trusted in this deal at all. So that couldn't be why he wants to attack the Hidden Hand. We do know that the Hidden Hand symbol was found on Chorin so it appears they formed there. Maybe the group was a descendant of the raiders that attacked after the Empire left? Again, I just don't get it.
On a positive note, the ending was super happy and joyful (and the title "Free" made a lot of sense) but then again, it wasn't all that impactful because the story has been so focused in on Valance himself rather than his people. Oh well, the first 4 issues were great!! And I LOVED the "Jedi Fallen Order: Dark Temple" series, so I don't think the problem is a lack of good story for mini-series. I think the problem is that they tried here to make things interconnected and in-depth but the final result just didn't make the grade, ending up complicated and confusing instead. Let's all cross our fingers that "The Rise of Kylo Ren" mini-series will be phenomenally wonderful and knock all our socks off!!!
We start off in the past with Valance teaming up with someone named Cavic who has set up outposts in asteroid fields in parts of the galaxy where the Empire doesn't reach. It is obvious at this point that Valance has no love for the Empire anymore. I'm still confused from last issue's revelations and this just muddies the waters more for me. Why is he running from the Empire? He got an honorable discharge so why does he want to retaliate? Well, according to the opening crawl/synopsis, Valance feels abandoned by the Empire both personally and in regards to his homeworld. But for someone who gave up his limbs and his eye for the Empire without questioning (and still wanted to jump back into the fight), I feel like something really huge needs to happen to change such a man's mind about a cause. He literally gave his body for the Empire, why in the world is he so hell bent on destroying it now just because he feels like he was abandoned?? It just doesn't make sense to me with what we know so far. I mean, I know abandonment can be a super scary thing and can make a person do crazy things, but Valance doesn't seem like the type of person to allow such a thing to alter his thinking...unless his love for his homeworld, Chorin, is a lot stronger than we were led to believe (which might actually be the case seeing as how this issue and series ends).
So in the present, we see Valance heading to one of the aforementioned outposts where he hopes
On a positive note, the ending was super happy and joyful (and the title "Free" made a lot of sense) but then again, it wasn't all that impactful because the story has been so focused in on Valance himself rather than his people. Oh well, the first 4 issues were great!! And I LOVED the "Jedi Fallen Order: Dark Temple" series, so I don't think the problem is a lack of good story for mini-series. I think the problem is that they tried here to make things interconnected and in-depth but the final result just didn't make the grade, ending up complicated and confusing instead. Let's all cross our fingers that "The Rise of Kylo Ren" mini-series will be phenomenally wonderful and knock all our socks off!!!
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