Legacy of Vader: Reign of Kylo Ren: Part 2
What is it ? : Kylo and Vanee wander through the dusty streets of Tatooine, Kylo commenting that it's a nowhere planet, but Vanee tells him that it wasn't to Vader, it was where he met his wife, where he became a Jedi, where he lost his mother, and where he lived as a Slave.
Kylo asks how Vanee knows these things, and Vanee tells him that after Palpatine died he used Vaders security codes to access the extensive records that Palpatine kept.
Vanee shows Kylo the plaque where the winners of the Mos Espa Boonta Eve classic are recorded, telling him that even when a child Vader was the only human to win the race. He tells Kylo that the adversity that Vader went through forged him into the man he became, something he assumes has happened to Kylo as well.
Kylo remembers sitting with his parents marvelling at nature, being taught by Lando and Luke, riding Chewbacca's shoulders, being at gatherings of his family and their friends, graffitiing R2-D2 and C-3PO, and his father teaching him how to fly. Before awkwardly blurting out to Vanee that of course he suffered through adversity.
They are approached to 3 gang members who want to rob them and Kylo rapidly defeats them, before demanding of Vanee to know who owned his grandfather.
They visit Watto's shop, finding it in ruins, and Vanee tells Kylo that before Watoo owned Anakin, he was owned by Gardulla the Hutt who still lives in a fortress in the desert, so Kylo races off on a speeder bike, as Vanee warns someone that he's on his way, and he's angry.
At Gardulla's fortress guards meet Kylo with Rancors, but he rapidly defeats them before marching inside. Gardulla thinks he has been sent by someone to assassinate him, but Kylo explains he is there for revenge as Gardulla owned his grandfather. Gardulla sets guards on Kylo and he begins dispatching them, when Gardulla's bodyguard, a force sensitive individual disables Kylo's force powers and uses the force to take his lightsaber away from him, as Gardulla explains that after what happened to Jabba, they've been ready for Jedi.
One of the guards knocks Kylo unconscious, and he is chained up as Gardulla explains that he grandfathers story, is now his story as well. . . .
High Points : A number of things I liked about this issue, from the simple, when Kylo and Vanee arrive on Tatooine it looks dusty, ruined and abandoned, but as they walk they encounter more signs of life, as the planet becomes more important to Kylo through Vanee's instruction, it comes to life. A lovely touch.
I laughed out loud at the images Kylo sees when Vanee tells him he assumes Kylo went through adversity to become a Sith, just as Vader had. And instead we see the ideal childhood that Kylo had, loving parents and family friends, playing, learning, spending time with them.
And I like that Gardulla took Jabba's death sensibly and has prepared for Jedi (or other Force Users), so easily deals with Kylo.
I even like that Kylo's outfit is an all black version of Han's waistcoat outfit we first see him in on Tatooine. But were the colours of Han's outfit, teases light under the dark (a white undershirt under his black waistcoat) showing us he's the hero at the end of the day even if he does shoot first. Kylo's is trying to show us that he's dark all the way down, not even having the coloured piping on his trousers, Kylo is Dark Side all the way.
Low Points : It's a little strange that Kylo, just after taking over rule of The First Order can just wander off, and end up a prisoner. But the Vader series did this kind of thing too, so it's a very minor quibble. And while I would often complain that the fights are too easy for Kylo, it works in this issue as the final fight he loses demonstrates how he takes his force powers for granted, and he's not a great strategist or combatant without them.
So what do you really think ? : Once again I get the feeling the writers don't actually like Kylo Ren a lot, he gets the embarrassing flashback to his happy home life, and then he gets knocked unconscious and chained up. And I'm fully on board with this, I'm no big fan of Kylo so seeing him knocked down a peg or two is okay with me, and if they're using this for character growth, to turn him into a more interesting character by actually giving him some adversity in his life, I'm on board with that as well.
Final Words : This series is growing on me, because of the way it's treating it's main character. We're not seeing him as an all powerful character, we're seeing him as super flawed and fairly weak. Now as well as being quite funny to see him treated by the comic in this way, it's giving us something to work on, and may end up making him a far more interesting character to follow, something I personally don't think they did well with Maul, which has been a constant criticism of that particular character.
Score : 8.5/10
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