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Kareem Ali 3

Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows #4

 

  • The good

    Hock's exchange with the separatist leadership. Kaddak, the Mandalorian Anomaly

  • The bad

    Feels like earlier issues with no character-defining actions and Hock placed in similar situation. Uneventful overall

  • The ugly

  • Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows #4 picks up with the story of Hock, the clone trooper who has distinguished himself and risen in the ranks, as he leads an invasion force alongside Darth Vader against a planet of separatists. Following the failed assault, one of the worst Empire’s worst defeats, an even larger force is dispatched against the separatists and this time Darth Vader is directly involved as commanded by the Emperor. And of course Darth Vader is the greatest pilot the Empire has at its disposal. However the separatists are more prepared and have set up their defenses, which won’t be so easy to overcome. But it’s not about brute force as the separatists have outwitted the Empire’s forces again and planned to take the battle to the unguarded cruiser with the Empire’s forces attacking the planet. With the invading force being required to split in half in order to return to defend the cruiser, Hock comes under attack from the separatists’ best pilot and is shot down before recognizing the name of the pilot. It’s a name he won’t ever forget because this person was once known as the Mandalorian Anomaly before adopting the name Kaddak. It appears as if the separatists will be defeating the Empire’s forces in this battle especially with Darth Vader temporarily returning to the cruiser and Hock being shot down. But what will become of Hock now that he’s fallen into enemy hands?

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    Every month I hope this series finds its stride and it seemed as if some life was breathed into this series last issue with Hock’s character-defining actions, which were a break from just his narration of events taking place.  However I wasn’t completely convinced that the story was worth being the sole story in a series but it felt like a step in the right direction. The start of this issue reaffirmed the former due to the Empire’s forces falling for the same exact tactic placing Hock in another situation on his own. The irony is that Hock has been driven by his desire to want to impress Darth Vader and his belief in Vader’s prowess as a warrior but these past 2 issues have portrayed Vader in a poor light in order to put Hock in specific situations. It was very intriguing that the Mandalorian Anomaly was brought back this issue and Hock would have to face him this issue because I felt that the Mandalorian Anomaly was a much more interesting character/clone than Hock. This issue did have its good moments with Hock coming face to face with the separatists leadership on the planet and the exchange with them about their fight against the Empire and the difference between the two sides. It highlighted how much Hock hasn’t been that much different from other clones in the Empire’s forces despite his narration, and that may have been intentional but it made Hock seem less interesting of a character. There was an extremely fascinating development with Kaddak and that aspect of the storyline as well as the inevitable confrontation between forces got more of a rise out of me. This series has suffered to me when compared to another Star Wars series, Dawn of the Jedi, and part of the reason is there’s more action and more character development in just a couple of pages in that series even though there are more characters than in an entire issue in this series with a less intriguing character. After 4 issues in there’s still no true grasp of Hock’s character and no memorable sequences. And now I wish this series was about the Mandalorian Anomaly, and that makes this disappointing.

     

    SUMMARY

    Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows #4 suffers from the same problems that plagued earlier issues and that’s Hock as a main character, and ironically, Darth Vader’s incompetence. There’s an interesting sequence when Hock meets the separatist leadership and the exchange with them but the Mandalorian Anomaly steals this issue and comes off as a much intriguing character in just a couple of panels. And instead of capitalizing on the character-defining actions from last issue, Hock’s character becomes an enigma again and so does the purpose of this series.

     

    Release Date: 3/19/14

    Writer: Tim Siedell

    Artist: Gabriel Guzman

  • Rating ( 5.5 )
  • Total score 5.5

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