Marvel Comics Pits Han Solo Against Darth Vader

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Star Wars #51, by Kieron Gillen, Salvador Larocca, Guru-eFX and Clayton Cowles, on sale now.

Marvel's Star Wars has filled in the gaps between the films of the old trilogy pretty well. Now, readers are privy to what happened in between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, with the Rebel Alliance trying to rebuild after the war on Mon Cala. This led to them meeting at Mako-Ta, only for Queen Trios of Shu-Torun to betray Princess Leia and sell them out.

The trap the Empire laid then saw Darth Vader's forces arrive, boxing all the rebels in. Escape isn't even an option, as Trios disabled all rebel cruisers, grounding Luke Skywalker and the X-Wings. In short, hope seemed to be lost. That is, until Issue #51 here, which heralds the arrival of some of the rebels' biggest heroes: Han Solo and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon.

However, any sense of relief quickly disappears because just as Han thinks they're saving the day, the duo find themselves locked in a dogfight with the best pilot in the galaxy: Darth Vader.

The alliance needs a ship to fly past the docking doors of the cruisers, because the proximity settings of these doors will allow them to automatically open sensing a rebel signal, thus enabling the X-Wings to fly out. The only other option is blasting the doors open but that will more or less destroy the hangars inside the cruisers. As Leia and Co. try to send ships to get close to the doors, Vader's newly-formed Death Squadron picks them out with ease, toying with the rebels.

However, Han and Chewie, upon entering the fray from hyperspace, easily start dancing around the Death Squadron and the bevy of Tie Fighters chasing after them. They're bobbing and weaving around the Star Destroyers, out-maneuvering them, getting closer to the targets. At this point, Vader senses hope reigniting and quickly leaves his advisors behind, especially as Han's gloating how easy the job is.

As the Falcon approaches the cruisers though, one Tie Fighter emerges and shoots them, damaging the Falcon; it's Lord Vader, locked and loaded. Han tries to escape but not even his skills are good enough, thus confirming who's really the top pilot in the cosmos. The issue ends with Vader locking the heroes directly in his crosshairs, so unless they have some sort of trump card up their sleeves, it looks like the Falcon's a sitting duck, well, temporarily.

Of course, we know they'll escape and journey on towards Return of the Jedi and beyond, but this story finally gives us a spaceship battle we've wanted to see for years. Since the franchise dubbed Han the "best pilot in the galaxy" -- a tag we recently saw him earn in Solo: A Star Wars Story with his famous Kessel Run -- fans have always wanted to witness him going one-on-one with Vader.

Before he turned into a Sith, Vader (as Anakin Skywalker) was a pod racer and a Jedi who many touted as the best pilot around. We saw how good he was in the prequel trilogy, especially in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, and since then, in series like The Clone Wars and Rebels, he showed that he didn't lose a beat, even after turning to the Dark Side of the Force.

Even Obi-Wan Kenobi, as good a pilot as he was, touted up Anakin's skill. Luke, who grew up to become a fine pilot himself, has always been inspired by the stories he heard too, and aspired to be on his father's level.

Well, it seems that Han wrote a cheque with his mouth which the Falcon now has to cash. Our space rogue has talked the talk and now it's time to walk the walk because Vader is hot on the their tails, leaving us strapped excitedly to see how this showdown plays out.

CBR

Marvel Comics Finally Pits Han Solo Against The Galaxy's Best Pilot: Darth Vader