The series finale to the latest Dark Times miniseries has Dass Jennir, the crew of the Uhumele, and a new ally in former Jedi Master Hudorra ready to face off against a very determined Darth Vader. But unlike the times before when they were being hunted, a trap has been set to try and end the Dark Lord’s reign once and for all.
Even the most casual of Star Wars fans know that won’t happen. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be spun into a great story. So is it good?
Star Wars Dark Times: A Spark Remains #5 (Dark Horse Comics)
The final chapter starts off where issue 1 started before it flashed back. We’re treated to some absolutely gorgeous art by Douglas Wheatley as Vader and a platoon of Storm Troopers march on Hudorra’s casino.
Unfortunately, things start to go down the pedestrian route from there. For those of you who were hoping for an epic showdown between Darth Vader and Dass Jennir to finally take place, you might want to prepare yourself to be sorely disappointed. We do get a pretty cool fight between Vader and Jedi Master Convenient Plot Device Hudorra. But the brief amount of time that we’ve spent with the character doesn’t it give the battle the same weight that writer Randy Stradley wants it to have for the reader.
“More than any Sith in the galaxy, I fear the hand of editorial.”
I’m also not sold on bounty hunter Falco Sang’s actions near the end of the issue, which show him being far too loyal and subservient than we’ve ever seen him in this or any other previous Dark Times series.
And speaking of the story’s end, we are basically shot right back to the status quo by the final page. The prior issues featured shocking betrayals and even the death of a recurring character (GASP!)
We do get to see a couple major deaths in the series finale, but neither is at all shocking. In fact, one was implied to have already happened only to be finished off for real a second time. It’s also a bit disturbing (and annoying, honestly) that Jennir makes the decision to completely betray his crew’s desire to go out in a blaze of glory fighting the empire. He manages to have has his own “last stand” decision overridden, as well. That might create better stories in the future, but it severely weakened what could have been a great ending to this one.
6.5
- Gorgeous art from Douglas Wheatley
- Lots of action.
- What started out as an intriguing story ends with a redundant, status quo embracing thud.
- Falco Sang acting a tad out of character from what we’ve seen before, even when taking into consideration the evolution he’s shown lately.
Is It Good?
Eh… kind of. As much as I love this time period in Star Wars lore, I imagine that it’s hard to consistently write stories which shake things up when future cannon has already been so well established. But Stradley proved with issues #2 and #3 of the series that surprises and great story telling can still occur.
That’s not to say that this one is all bad, though. It’s a fun little story and very pretty to look at. But what felt like a tale with the potential to be remembered as an expanded universe classic instead ended on a pretty average note.
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