The enemy of my enemy is my friend… or just not my enemy right now and maybe we’ll work together for a few minutes and try not to die? You know, I’m not entirely sure who the Rebels can rely on this issue except themselves because there are now a lot of interested, violent parties involved. Out today is Star Wars #14, the last contribution to Vader Down by Jason Aaron and Mike Deodato. This issue, more than the previous ones, is about the match ups: Chewbacca versus Krrsantan, Vader versus Commander Karbin, Luke versus a lot of stormtroopers.

The sentiment that the current Star Wars wants to brush the Prequels under the rug has been circulating through fandom lately and the current state of the comics couldn’t prove that feeling more wrong. Commander Karbin versus Darth Vader is the next generation version of General Grievous versus Obi-Wan Kenobi. It’s a What If? situation that not only makes perfect sense but gives us a little more insight into Palpatine. It shows that he’s willing to try a similar approach again and see if the results differ. Perhaps he’s the real mad scientist.

This is also the issue that made me realize that although Leia hasn’t had the biggest role in this crossover, this is certainly as much her story as it is anyone’s. Han may have the more flashy part and Vader may be in search of Luke but more than anything, this has felt like a faceoff between Vader and Leia and I can’t wait to see how this concludes.

Star Wars #14 is yet another strong part of the Vader Down story and gets a solid recommendation from me. Why aren’t you reading this yet?