Star Wars Comics Meta: Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith #2
ღ - I wish I felt more comfortable talking about Steven Universe, because the worldbuilding on that show is phenomenal, but I binged the early seasons so long ago and wasn't really paying attention to the detail, that I feel like anything substantive (that others haven't covered better) would get lost in the crowd.
Add in that most of my thoughts/feelings tend to be speculative rather than poring over what we've just been given (which is not my preferred area of "making the time and focus to write these things down in words" meta) and it just sort of doesn't quite coalesce in my mind. Hence why![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bell should put together an SU post about last night's episode, so I can crib off her work instead. ^_~
(I just have So. Many. Feelings. about Pink Diamond!)
ღ - Podcast rec for the day: Dr. Death over on Wondery. It's about the surgeon who was so bad that he maimed 30+ patients for life and ultimately faced criminal charges for how bad he was. It's a little more sensationalist than I'd prefer (mostly in the presentation, rather than in the incredible research that's gone into the podcast, like, yes, having a folksy theme song is engaging, but is it really the tone you want to set?) but it's gripping and an incredibly well told story, one that's only partly about the man himself and is just as much about how the medical field got to where it is.
ღ - Comics meta! As always, don't hold me to my initial reactions on this issue, I'd probably be more favorable in a reread (though, I was warming up to it at this point), but I want to archive them as they were to show my journey with the comic, and that's the point of dusting off this DW!
Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith #2:
–Darth Vader #2
I was a little underwhelmed by Vader #1, but I think I liked #2 much better. As hilarious as the OMG LOL ANAKIN YOU DRAMATIC ENTRANCE LITTLE SHIT aspect of Vader here is, as much as it’s possible that I’m supposed to be thinking that Vader is high on his own unlimited power or whatever (and there probably is an element of that here), what I really took away from this issue was:
VADER HAS A DEATH WISH STREAK A MILE WIDE
He’s not being efficient here whatsoever, he goes to the station and deliberately doesn’t use his access codes, he just walks right into the middle of blaster fire and barely bothers to shield himself, he mows through the clones and then throws away the lightsaber that he could have used, he could have used that kyber crystal to corrupt for his own blade, but instead he seeks out a Jedi specifically to fight, one who is good at fighting.
There’s obviously an element of “I have no limits.” in the sense of Vader being the Most Powerful Ever and he’s pretty high on that, but given that issue #1 did seem to understand Anakin/Vader’s desire to follow the Empire, I’m willing to give this the benefit of the doubt and say, hey, yeah, maybe it gets that Vader, on some level that maybe he knew about or maybe he didn’t, really, REALLY wanted someone to just Kill Him Already, but no one who was willing was ever strong enough to do it.
[originally posted here]
FOLLOW UP:
#after all he can’t suicide any other way #his fucking suit won’t let him #his fucking master won’t let him #it’s why he keeps going after LITERALLY ANYONE #WILL SOMEONE PLEASE GET A LUCKY SHOT OFF?? (via @themoosejthm)
Sidious would never let his pet monster die and there are times when Vader does still feel rage, but most of those ~19 years are just ONE LONG BLACK HOLE OF DEPRESSION because he is SO READY TO DIE, there’s nothing in this galaxy left for him but the cold, empty order that the Empire will bring, there’s not even any satisfaction in it, not without the people he was meant to share it with, and he just wants to die already, WHY IS NO ONE STRONG ENOUGH TO KILL HIM, surely at least one pissed off Separatist or Rebel exists out there who’s capable! Maybe a hidden Jedi can do it! BUT NO, NONE OF THEM ARE STRONG ENOUGH, HE HAS TO KEEP LIVING WITH THIS, no matter how much it weighs.
But he can’t do it himself, because the suit won’t let him, because the only way he can survive is if he keeps putting one foot in front of the other, because Sidious would probably find out if he tried and punish him further.
But this is a hill I will die on. Darth Vader: Black Hole of Depression Who Just Wishes Someone Would Kill Him Alread
[originally posted here]
Add in that most of my thoughts/feelings tend to be speculative rather than poring over what we've just been given (which is not my preferred area of "making the time and focus to write these things down in words" meta) and it just sort of doesn't quite coalesce in my mind. Hence why
bell should put together an SU post about last night's episode, so I can crib off her work instead. ^_~(I just have So. Many. Feelings. about Pink Diamond!)
ღ - Podcast rec for the day: Dr. Death over on Wondery. It's about the surgeon who was so bad that he maimed 30+ patients for life and ultimately faced criminal charges for how bad he was. It's a little more sensationalist than I'd prefer (mostly in the presentation, rather than in the incredible research that's gone into the podcast, like, yes, having a folksy theme song is engaging, but is it really the tone you want to set?) but it's gripping and an incredibly well told story, one that's only partly about the man himself and is just as much about how the medical field got to where it is.
ღ - Comics meta! As always, don't hold me to my initial reactions on this issue, I'd probably be more favorable in a reread (though, I was warming up to it at this point), but I want to archive them as they were to show my journey with the comic, and that's the point of dusting off this DW!
Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith #2:
–Darth Vader #2
I was a little underwhelmed by Vader #1, but I think I liked #2 much better. As hilarious as the OMG LOL ANAKIN YOU DRAMATIC ENTRANCE LITTLE SHIT aspect of Vader here is, as much as it’s possible that I’m supposed to be thinking that Vader is high on his own unlimited power or whatever (and there probably is an element of that here), what I really took away from this issue was:
VADER HAS A DEATH WISH STREAK A MILE WIDE
He’s not being efficient here whatsoever, he goes to the station and deliberately doesn’t use his access codes, he just walks right into the middle of blaster fire and barely bothers to shield himself, he mows through the clones and then throws away the lightsaber that he could have used, he could have used that kyber crystal to corrupt for his own blade, but instead he seeks out a Jedi specifically to fight, one who is good at fighting.
There’s obviously an element of “I have no limits.” in the sense of Vader being the Most Powerful Ever and he’s pretty high on that, but given that issue #1 did seem to understand Anakin/Vader’s desire to follow the Empire, I’m willing to give this the benefit of the doubt and say, hey, yeah, maybe it gets that Vader, on some level that maybe he knew about or maybe he didn’t, really, REALLY wanted someone to just Kill Him Already, but no one who was willing was ever strong enough to do it.
[originally posted here]
FOLLOW UP:
#after all he can’t suicide any other way #his fucking suit won’t let him #his fucking master won’t let him #it’s why he keeps going after LITERALLY ANYONE #WILL SOMEONE PLEASE GET A LUCKY SHOT OFF?? (via @themoosejthm)
Sidious would never let his pet monster die and there are times when Vader does still feel rage, but most of those ~19 years are just ONE LONG BLACK HOLE OF DEPRESSION because he is SO READY TO DIE, there’s nothing in this galaxy left for him but the cold, empty order that the Empire will bring, there’s not even any satisfaction in it, not without the people he was meant to share it with, and he just wants to die already, WHY IS NO ONE STRONG ENOUGH TO KILL HIM, surely at least one pissed off Separatist or Rebel exists out there who’s capable! Maybe a hidden Jedi can do it! BUT NO, NONE OF THEM ARE STRONG ENOUGH, HE HAS TO KEEP LIVING WITH THIS, no matter how much it weighs.
But he can’t do it himself, because the suit won’t let him, because the only way he can survive is if he keeps putting one foot in front of the other, because Sidious would probably find out if he tried and punish him further.
But this is a hill I will die on. Darth Vader: Black Hole of Depression Who Just Wishes Someone Would Kill Him Alread
why don't i have a star wars icon
(re: SU: I AM GOING TO BE SUPER LAZY ABOUT THAT SPECULATION POST, FYI!!!)
Some scattered thoughts:
- LOL the comics art is *gorgeous* (did you see that page with the stars and space & nebulas? <333). It also brings home to me JUST HOW COMIC HIS SUIT IT. HE HAS A CHAIN LINK TO TIE HIS CAPE TOGETHER? HIS FUCKING CODPIECE?!?!?!? HIS THIGH-HIGH TIGHTS THING? Anakin tinkers with his suit all the time, these are things he can change at any moment. BUT. NOPE. DRAMATIC AS FUCK CAPE A REQUIREMENT.
- I know Vader is meant to be badass, but mostly I just feel SAD for him. Yes, the kyber crystal must be taken forcefully-- but must that include bystanders? AT ANY POINT HE COULD'VE GIVEN HIS SECURITY CODE AND ACCESSED THE DATABASE WITHOUT MURDER. I think it's easy to become inured to the level of violence Anakin executes, but it shouldn't. It's horrible. He is destroying people *on his own side*. I think it speaks to the level of anger and fury in him.
- Fascinating that Anakin chooses to use a green lightsaber and then just drop it. Almost like he's trying it on for size (does it still fit him?). Or like he's trying to *show* that he's no longer a Jedi (THESE WEAPONS WHICH ARE THEIR LIVES ARE NOTHING TO ME, JUST GARBAGE).
- Lol, how quickly he adopted his Vader persona. It's been, like, a week since he's become a Sith? And he's already I DO NOT EXPECT QUESTIONS, I EXPECT TO BE OBEYED. This was such a subtle, genius way to do exposition. The droid doesn't care if it gets more information or not! It can recite names for months on end! It's Vader's choice to talk or to listen! Vader's exasperation was a treat. :D
- THE CLONES. UGH. IT JUST GETS WORSE AND WORSE FOR THEM. They are relics delegated to collecting relics; a genocide in the making cleaning up the last genocide. THEY DON'T EVEN WANT TO RETIRE, THEY JUST WANT TO KEEP DOING THEIR JOBS ;A;!!! They're still fated to get mowed down.
On your post-- YES. SO MUCH OF THIS IS SOMEONE JUST FLINGING THEMSELVES INTO ANYTHING THAT'LL KILL THEM. Spacial combat! Clones that executed order 66! A BOMB. A FIGHT WITH A TRAINED JEDI. You've said this before but this comic really highlights it: Vader is "badass" because he's got nothing to lose. His life is meaningless to him and he has nothing but rage to fuel him. It's what makes him so terrifying and pathetic. ;___;
Re: why don't i have a star wars icon
Even the moments of silence, the death's head mask that hides everything we're so used to seeing written all over Anakin's face, are beautifully used. When he's silent, I feel it and everything that seethes and roils underneath it.
- I know Vader is meant to be badass, but mostly I just feel SAD for him.
I really think this is what we're meant to feel when we look at Vader. George Lucas has described him as a "pathetic old man" in the OT and I think so much of what we think we're supposed to feel (awe at how badass he is) comes down to that people want him to be this hypermasculine power fantasy, this badass that they fantasize about being, instead of how we should be looking at him and being so incredibly sad for all the potential that was there, the heights Anakin could have reached, instead of the lows he fell to.
He's terrifying because he has all this power and because he understands so little about himself, because he can lift a walker right up off himself, because he was strong enough that he could have stayed on Mortis and almost been a god, but then you get a glimpse of the wreckage behind the mask and, well. Nothing good would hide itself away like that.
I think it's easy to become inured to the level of violence Anakin executes, but it shouldn't. It's horrible. He is destroying people *on his own side*. I think it speaks to the level of anger and fury in him.
The hallway scene in Rogue One shows that his level of violence can still affect us, but it's so easy to slip from remembering how pathetic and awful this person is, to thinking HOLY SHIT THAT'S SO BADASS. Because it very much is Darth Vader just wrecking shit, terrifying because he's an unstoppable nightmare, and it's one of my favorite scenes for him! But it must come with scenes of the comic exploring how pathetic he is, how deluded he is, because this is a man who murders innocent children and no matter how badass he is, we should never forget that we do not want to be him.
- It's been, like, a week since he's become a Sith? And he's already I DO NOT EXPECT QUESTIONS, I EXPECT TO BE OBEYED. This was such a subtle, genius way to do exposition. The droid doesn't care if it gets more information or not! It can recite names for months on end! It's Vader's choice to talk or to listen! Vader's exasperation was a treat. :D
This is such a great observation! I have nothing to add, because it's perfect exactly as it is! It really is a perfect way to illustrate that he's trying so hard to be terrifying and commanding, but he wastes it on all the wrong moments. That's still Anakin in there, always trying to be a badass in moments when it doesn't actually do him any good, because he's never been great at reading a room.
You've said this before but this comic really highlights it: Vader is "badass" because he's got nothing to lose. His life is meaningless to him and he has nothing but rage to fuel him. It's what makes him so terrifying and pathetic. ;___;
And it's all the wors because he can't even admit it to himself, he can't even admit within his own head that he wants to die and that none of this was worth it. But he can still feel it and yet he can never just give up, he's too special, he's too destined for this, he's too angry to let go yet. All that fueling himself with rage just highlights that he used to be fueled with love and rage in equal measure, the absence of it here only brings home all the harder how there was good in him once upon a time, how he could be kind just as much as he could be monstrous, and it really aches for all of that.