Star Wars: Darth Vader Returns to Ruins of Iconic Rebel Base

The Star Wars comic series Star Wars: Darth Vader – Black White & Red has revealed a story that sees the dreaded Sith Lord return to an iconic place in the Star Wars Saga: the Rebel Alliance base on Planet Hoth. 

Darth Vader – Black White & Red #4 has a story called "Return to Hoth" that follows Darth Vader as he takes on a mysterious alert on Hoth: an imperial droid left there after the Battle of Hoth (seen in The Empire Strikes Back) has been destroyed. Vader goes to check if the Rebels (or Luke Skywalker and co.) are sneaking back into the base – only to find more than he ever bargained for. 

Star Wars fans know the iconic story of how Luke Skywalker went out into the tundra of Hoth and ended getting beat up and captured by the Yeti-like Wampa beast. Well, Luke's father doesn't fare much better: as soon as Vader steps onto the icy planes of Hoth he finds himself getting ambushed by an entire pack of Wampas. Like Luke, Vader gets a good blow in by severing one beast's arm; however, he's critically injured when the animals gang up on him, breaking the chest plate that regulates Vader's breathing. The Sith Lord has to go on the run, finding refuge in an abandoned AT-AT Walker leftover from the Battle of Hoth. 

The Wampas won't let their prey go, and start ripping into the AT-AT cabin where Vader is hiding, so the dark lord ends up having to make a stand. It's a brutal, bloody, fight for Vader to kill the entire pack of Wampas – but only moments before his air runs out and he passes out cold in the snow. When Vader wakes up, he's been saved by Imperial forces, led by the General who didn't want him to take on the mission alone. But gloating about being right proves to be fatal validation: Vader snaps the general's neck with a Force choke, rather than be humiliated for a second.

Seeing Vader have to experience the horrors of Hoth was a nice little adventure for longtime Star Wars fans. Writer Frank Tieri and artist Danny Earls use the "black, white, and red" format of the book to perfection for this nice succinct story of survival – one that paints Vader in the rare light of being vulnerable and in real danger.

Star Wars: Darth Vader – Black White & Red is on sale at Marvel Comics.