Writer Alexander Freed sent us this wonderful piece to share some thoughts on his work on the new Star Wars Purge: Tyrant's Fist series. Issue #1 is available now at your local retailer as well as our digital store. Be sure to follow Mr. Freed on Twitter to know what else he's working on @AlexanderMFreed.
Why is writing Darth Vader different from writing any other character?
When editor Dave Marshall approached me about writing a new Purge miniseries, it was one of the first questions I had to grapple with. I’d worked with Star Wars before (in the Old Republic video game and comics); I was excited by the chance to work in the movie era, but I felt comfortable with the franchise as a whole. I’d written other people’s characters before, as well—so what made writing Darth Vader seem like an entirely new kind of challenge?
Darth Vader is one of the world’s most-recognized fictional characters. Everyone has an idea of who he is and what he’s like—and everyone has his or her unique idea of what makes the character tick. The middle-aged mother who saw the original Star Wars trilogy as a child knows a different Vader than the one loved by her six-year-old Clone Wars–watching son. Prequel fans, comics fans, novel fans…all of them have slightly different views of Vader. At the same time, there are certain points of reference that everyone is familiar with.
The Purge stories tell the tale of how Vader hunted down the last of the Jedi between the two movie trilogies. When we first saw Vader in A New Hope, Obi-Wan’s brief description of his pupil’s Jedi purge was one of the only things we knew of Vader’s past—one of the defining elements of an otherwise mysterious character. The Vader from A New Hope was a terrifying, enigmatic black knight who spoke infrequently. Any good in him was buried much too deep to see. He represented the relentless strength of the Empire, and his thoughts, like his face, were hidden by his mask.
When writing Star Wars: Purge—The Tyrant’s Fist, this was the Vader I embraced. I wanted a story of Vader’s early days that was true to the spirit of the character in his first appearances—the core that the rest of his story is built on. That’s not to say that The Tyrant’s Fist ignores Vader’s rich history and his change of heart from the films and the Expanded Universe—it certainly doesn’t—but I’d found my guiding principles.
After I knew who I was writing about, it was time to find a story to suit our cryptic antihero. In The Tyrant’s Fist, I wanted to explore another idea hinted at in A New Hope: Why doesn’t anyone remember the Jedi a generation after they were destroyed? How does an Empire—and more importantly, a warrior like Darth Vader—purge every trace of the Jedi from galactic history? In The Tyrant’s Fist, Vader faces a problem pure military might won’t solve, so he’ll need to use his cunning as well as his mettle.
On top of all that, of course, is plenty of lightsaber combat, stormtrooper battles, and displays of strength in the Force (by both Vader and his Jedi adversary). The violence is lovingly rendered by artists Marco Castiello and Andrea Chella, and should satisfy anyone who needs a reminder of just why Vader is the Emperor’s enforcer.
If we did our jobs right, you’ll have a story to think about the next time you see Vader. Something that feels just right for the character while bringing something new to the mix, as well.
If we failed? In that case, wish us luck. We all know how Darth Vader rewards failure…