WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: Darth Vader #3, from Greg Pak, Raffaele Ienco, Neeraj Menon and VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
Marvel's Star Wars: Darth Vader has plunged the Sith Lord into emotional despair like never before. Tormented by Luke Skywalker running around the galaxy as a rebel and not as his apprentice, a frustrated Vader's trying to ascertain exactly how Padmé Amidala, his beloved wife, died after she spurned his offer to rule their own Empire decades before.
However, as he goes through the motions, issue #3 provides Vader with the ultimate brawl against a couple of the franchise's most dangerous Kaiju.
Vader's formed an uneasy alliance with Sabé, who doubled for Padmé during her reign as Queen of Naboo. She takes the desperate servant of Emperor Palpatine to that planet to find secret recordings which could reveal what happened to his wife, eventually linking up with Padmé's former bodyguards, Captain Typho and Tonra.
There's a lot of tension, but they have a common goal: Solving the former queen's death. The group pilots a bongo/aquatic vessel down to a hidden Gungan facility in the ocean -- where the footage is hidden and needs to be decrypted -- only to be attacked by a couple of Colo Claw Fishes.
The crocodile-esque leviathan was first revealed in The Phantom Menace when it tried to eat Obi-Wan, Qui-Gonna and Jar Jar Binks' ship under the sea. They avoided it and the Colo Claw Fish was then eaten by a Sando Aqua Monster, an even bigger dinosaur-esque creature. As Qui-Gonn joked, "there's always a bigger fish," but in this case, it's not about size, it's about numbers.
As the hull's breached in Star Wars: Darth Vader #3, the contingent ends up outside in the water -- and Vader shows just why he's the most feared killer in the galaxy.
Darth Vader lights up his red lightsaber and slashes one of the beasts down the jaw. Just as the second one speeds in to eat him, he avoids it as part of a trap he laid. Instead, it chomps down on its fellow species and heads off.
Vader's known for improvising in battle, but this goes beyond space ships shooting each other in the cosmos or battling a Jedi. This is legit monster versus man, titan versus an insect, yet Vader proves why he'll always be at an advantage in a David versus Goliath battle. Size doesn't matter and as they enter the Gungan facility, it's clear Sabé's team does have a sliver of respect for the Sith general.
However, it's a short-lived victory, because when the retinue gets in, Vader finds himself in a trap of his own: Sabé's crew are actually on a suicide mission. She orders Tonra to send a signal and a Sando Aqua Monster comes into play, ready to chomp down on the facility.
The creature saved Jar Jar and Co. by eating a "gooberfish" in The Phantom Menace, so it's ironic the aqua monster is now looking to devour Vader and get its fill of the Force. Vader's going to have to whip up some more of that Kaiju-killing magic to avoid being fish food.