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[katara]

Title: Darth Vader (2017-) #23 (Darth Vader (2017) (Single Issues) #23)
Author: Charles Soule, Giuseppe Camuncoli (Illustrator), Elia Bonetti (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.9/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: December 1st, 2018
Book Summary: “FORTRESS VADER” - PART 5 Darkness rises above MUSTAFAR as the brutal designs of LORD MOMIN begin to take shape. But the planet’s inhabitants cannot take this desecration lightly, and shape plans of their own.
Book Review: Darth Vader is on a mission and that mission is to bring back his beloved Padme to him. All this started when his master, Palpatine, gifted Vader with a ship that once belonged to his wife. Palpatine has also allowed Vader to build his own castle and Vader has chosen the place where not only he had been defeated by Obi-Wan so long ago but also the place where Darth Vader had been born.

While there, he found a strange helmet where he learned that it had once belonged to Lord Momin. At one time, Momin had been one of the most dangerous men in the galaxy. He was once strong with the Force but now he is a lost soul connected to a helmet waiting to do the bidding of his master.

But he has promised that he can bring back Padme to Vader.

Calling it his "Masterpiece", Momin has built a temple to bring back Padme. Vader uses the temple to open door into the Force. He nearly succeeds but in the end it is not enough and nearly destroys Mustarfar. For Vader, this is the fifth time that Momin has failed him.

Suddenly a giant monster comes out of the lava and attacks the stormtroopers. The indigenous people are pleased. They do not like the idea of their home world being used as they are doing so. They are easily taken care of.

As Vader watches his castle being built, he tells Momin that there will be no tenth chance to do it over again. Vader has pretty much lost his patience of gaining back Padme and Momin knows this. So Momin prays as Vader once more opens a door in the Force.

He is interrupted by the fleas of Mustarfar. The Stormtroopers engage in a fight with them as Momin walks off but not before telling them to get it done and he didn't care how they did it.

Once again Vader tries to open the door to the Force. And again Vader is interrupted by the arrival of more fleas. He leaves the chambers of the temple and goes out only to find that Momin has betrayed him. Vader is angry at this but before he can go confront Momin, an explosion throws him toward his death.

Inside the temple chamber, Momin is greeting his body and comes out wielding both lightsabers.



This series has been great. I absolutely love the idea that there is still a major part of Anakin that has not actually died. I mean if you consider it, Vader would have never bothered with toying the idea of bringing back Padme to him. In fact, I believe regardless of what Vader says and does that Anakin is still there but it would take a lot of effort to reach the former Jedi.

Unfortunately now Vader has other things that he will have to deal with and one of them is Momin. Momin was not actually building Vader anything. It was more for himself and trying to regain back his former self from deep within the force. Without a corporal body, Momin was stuck attached to the helmet. He knew that by giving Vader a false that he could bring back Padme through the force, he would have his chance when the time came to reclaim his body from the force as well. But the thing is Momin really had no intention of bringing back Padme for Vader.

So what does this mean? Vader is going to have himself a dogfight on his hands against Momin and I am seriously looking forward to seeing how exactly Vader comes out of this fight.

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[katara]

Title: Darth Vader (2017-) #24
Author: Charles Soule, Giuseppe Camuncoli (Illustrator), Elia Bonetti (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.9/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: December 1st, 2018
Book Summary: “FORTRESS VADER” - PART 6 The FORTRESS will stand, but at a terrible cost. The fire will come to MUSTAFAR, and all will burn. The final design is revealed, woven from war, treachery and pain.
Book Review: I must say for this issue to see this side of Vader - enemies at all side trying to take him out and him rally his troops even if it is to their deaths - was something I did not expect.

In our last issue we learned that Momin built the temple with the notion he was just using Vader to open a door to the Force. Completely unaware of this motive, Vader did open the portal into the Force only to be betrayed by Momin whom wanted to use the Force door to gain back his body.

Now in this issue, Vader is up against not only Momin but also those of the planetary inhabitants whom are none too thrilled by the prospect of their planet being used as it is. Vader may have his back to the wall but he is not about to go down without a fight. After all, that would not be Vader's cup of tea and we see this as he rallies his troops to take down the inhabitants whom have come to fight to protect their planet and possibily their way of life before Vader returned.

I must say this issue has it all and it continues to draw readers deeper into Vader's world. I was hoping a big fight between Momin and Vader but it was a bit short. Vader has made it quite clear that it is he that controls his own destiny but how much of that is true? I suppose all the questions that still linger within the readers will have to wait to see if some of them are even answered.

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Title: Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Under the Spell
Author: S.M. Vidaurri, Michael Dialynas, Sina Grace, Sarah Webb, Boya Sun, Rebekah Isaacs
Format: Epub
Rating: 4/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: December 1, 2018
Book Summary: An all new collection of never before seen stories from Jim Henson’s beloved fantasy classic Labyrinth, including the secret history of Sir Didymus and the vow he once made to guard the bridge over the Bog of Eternal Stench.
Book Review: I must say that when I saw this issue I was midly surprised that we are going to get a bigger look into the inhabitants of the Labyrinth. It has been great that we are getting things from one of my favorite movies. I had always wondered what life was like in the Underground and now I have my chance to explore it.

In this issue, we are getting three different stories. All dealing with people and the changes that came to their lives.

In our first tale called "The Eternal Tournament". Here we learn exactly how Sir Didymus and his faithful steed, Ambrosius, came into guarding the Bog of Eternal Stench as well as Jareth's service. A long time ago, one bloodline had been in charge of this bridge but the current generation of said bloodline longs to be free of this burden. So every year there has been a tournament in hopes of changing that. Mariell wants to be free and eventually she comes across Sir Didymus. After a friendly competition, Mariell is finally free and Sir Didymus becomes the guardians of the Bog.

In our second tale called "En Guard!". Ever wonder how Hoggle came to his current job before meeting Sarah? Well this will be the story for you. A long time ago, Hoggle used to be cleaning all the goblin's smelly armour. This is not the job Hoggle really wants but when he runs into a bird whom is the current groundskeeper and talks him into changing jobs. The Groundskeeper also offers some sage advice of places that offer shortcuts throughout the Labyrinth. This knowledge will eventually be brought in to some use especially when Sarah finally arrives.

In our third and final tale simply called "No", we meet a clumsy goblin named No. No has been kicked out of the goblin army after failing miserably at each task he has been given. The poor goblin is pushed away into the unknown edge of the Labyrinth. There he finds a book called "The Sneaky Pirate King", which offers him another job he just may be good at - thieving. No now begins to venture through the labyrinth collecting books. He goes from "No: The Clumsy Goblin" to "Know: the Almighty Moving Library."

These stories were great and it adds a really nice addition of learning more about the inhabitants of the labyrinth. I am glad I picked this one up and I quite enjoy these tales. I am hoping that this is not simply a one-shot and that we will get other stories to come.