Good evening, Princess.
It’s Aphra and her droids versus Luke and the gang for most of this issue. There are many memorable moments between the droids, whether against one another or different characters. The art continues to amaze, especially with the amount of detail that goes into the scenes. Another memorable moment is between Han Solo & Dr. Aphra, which needless to say, is quite entertaining, seeing that they’re somewhat opposites. Jason Aaron mixes a lot of seriousness and slight humor to keep things not so grim and horrible as it has been for the past 2 issues.
In here, it’s apparent that everybody’s fighting with everything they’ve got. Each person has their own reason for being in this fight. The droids Triple-Zero & BT-1 really shine in this issue, as Aaron and Deodato show their foes how much they lust for blood. Leia is shown on the other side of the fight as she and her troops go searching for Vader. Terror only continues to grow as they hear anguish and cries for help in the mists, and as the comic ends, they meet their fate.
Moments of hilarity and grim, scary tones fill Part III of Vader Down. The hilarity is the kind you’d expect from Star Wars: there’s not a lot of comedy, but the witty lines of Han or the antics of the droids keep the story refreshing. Things seem to go south at the end for one character of every issue so far but end up going up again for that same hero at the beginning, then turn south for another character. However, that doesn’t happen purely because of plot convenience; in fact, the plot only continues to thicken. It’s difficult for a series to continue its strength through every issue, and so far, Jason Aaron, Kieron Gillen, and the rest are able to do it.
Final Score: 8.9/10