Darth Vader (2020) 40

Darth Vader 40 is the fortieth issue of the 2020 canon comic book series Star Wars: Darth Vader. The issue was written by Greg Pak, illustrated by Raffaele Ienco and Federico Blee, and published by Marvel Comics on November 8, 2023.

Publisher's summary[]

SCOURGE OF CORUSCANT! – A DARK DROIDS TIE-IN! What greater prize could the DROID SCOURGE imagine than CORUSCANT, an ecumenopolis filled with millions of droids? And what greater TERROR could the people of Coruscant imagine than a horde of scourged droids…led by LORD VADER himself?

Plot summary[]

THE MASTER'S TRIAL

In an attempt to end Darth Vader once and for
all, Mas Amedda ordered the ''Executor''
destroyed under the ruse of containing the
droid scourge overtaking the ship.

However, Vader and his droids escaped to the
planet Mustafar. Upon arriving on Mustafar,
ZED was overtaken by the scourge and led an
attack on Vader with a scourged octuptarra
droid.

Vader cut his way through the compromised
droids and is now ready to face down those
who tested and doubted him….

Development[]

Artist Raffaele Ienco shared line art for Vader 40 as a teaser for the issue.^[3] The way in which Vader blocks Sidious's Force lightning was speculated to be an example of the Tutaminis Force power by fans. Ienco confirmed this was not his intention, yet left the possibility open that it could be retconned into Tutaminis because he was not overly familiar with the subject.^[4]

Media[]

Cover gallery[]

Appearances[]

This in-universe list is incomplete. You can help Wookieepedia by expanding it.

By type

Characters	Organisms	Droid models	Events	Locations
Organizations and titles	Sentient species	Vehicles and vessels	Weapons and technology	Miscellanea

Characters

Mas Amedda
Arex (Indirectly mentioned only; in the opening crawl)
Beezee-Two (First appearance)
Gee-Ninety (Indirectly mentioned only; in the opening crawl)
Sly Moore
Scourge
Darth Sidious
Shmi Skywalker (Variant cover only)
Unidentified Imperial captain (First appearance)
Darth Vader
ZED-6-7 (Mentioned only; in the opening crawl)

Droid models

Assassin droid (Cover only)
- IG-series (Cover only)
  - IG-series assassin droid (Cover only)
Astromech droid
- R-series (Cover only)
Battle droid
- B-series battle droid
  - B1-series battle droid
  - B2-series super battle droid
- Octuptarra tri-droid (Mentioned only; in the opening crawl)
Medical droid (Cover only)
- 2-1B-series medical droid (Cover only)
Monster droid
- Unidentified monster droid model
Protocol droid (Cover only)
Security droid
- KX-series security droid
Service droid
- Unidentified service droid model
Spider-droid (First identified as disc droid)

Events

Imperial Era
- Scourge of the droids
  - Attack on Vader (Mentioned only) (First identified as attack on Vader)
  - Battle for the Executor (Indirect mention only)
  - Scourge of Coruscant (First appearance)

Locations

The galaxy
- Core Worlds
  - Corusca sector
    - Coruscant subsector
      - Coruscant system
        Coruscant
        Imperial City
        Federal District
        Imperial Palace
        Council Towers
        High Council Tower
        
        Reassignment Council Tower
        
        Tower of First Knowledge
        
        Tower of Reconciliation
        
        Palace spire
        Emperor's throne room
        
        Processional Way
        
        Sector 35 (First appearance)
        
        Sector 36 (First appearance)
        
        Coruscant Prime
- Mustafar (Mentioned only; in the opening crawl)

Organizations and titles

Sentient species

Vehicles and vessels

Repulsorcraft
- Speeder
  - Airspeeder
    - Koro-2 all-environment Exodrive airspeeder
Starship
- Dropship
  - TIE/rp Reaper attack lander
- Executor (Mentioned only; in the opening crawl)
- Freighter
  - Light freighter
    - ZH-40 Tribune-class light freighter
- Shuttle
  - Abecederian line
    - Lambda-class T-4a shuttle
- Starfighter
  - TIE fighter series
    - TIE Advanced x1
      - Darth Vader's TIE Advanced

Weapons and technology

Miscellanea

Capital
City
- Ecumenopolis
Clothing
- Cape
- Imperial military uniforms
  - Rank insignia plaque
- Zeyd cloth
Cyborg
Death
Entry ramp
Eradication strike (First mentioned)
The Force
- Dark side of the Force
- Force power
  - Force lightning
  - Telekinesis
- Force-sensitive
- Force Wave (Mentioned only)
Galaxy
Imperial crest
Language
- Galactic Basic Standard
Laser
Lethorn
Lightsaber combat
Near-human
Planet
Protocol 23 (First appearance)
Reflec
Skyscraper
Star
Time

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

↑ ^1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 ^1.10 ^1.11 Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #40 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)
↑ The events of Darth Vader (2020) 40 take place after the Escape from Cloud City and before the Rescue of Han Solo, which are dated to 3 ABY and 4 ABY, respectively, by Star Wars: Galactic Atlas.
↑ Raffaele Ienco (@Raffaele_Ienco) on Twitter: "Darth Vader #40, out today, Nov 8, 2023..." (backup link)
↑ Raffaele Ienco (@Raffaele_Ienco) on Twitter: "Maybe, I don't really know. I didn't have that intention when I drew it though. (In response to: "Thank you! So, there are two things, I'll split it up: 1). I've seen it claimed that in the following page, Vader was using the Force technique Tutaminis to absorb/block Sidious' blast of Force Lightning. Was it intended to be this way or it it just the art design/style?")" (backup link)

External links[]

Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #40 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)

Trade paperbacks
Dark Heart of the Sith:	1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5
Into the Fire:	6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11
War of the Bounty Hunters:	12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17
Crimson Reign:	18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24
The Shadow's Shadow:	25 · 26 · 27
Return of the Handmaidens:	28 · 29 · 30 · 31 · 32
Unbound Force:	33 · 34
Target Aphra:	35 · 36
Dark Droids:	37 · 38 · 39 · 40 · 41
Rise of the Schism Imperial:	42 · 43 · 44 · 45
The Razing of Exegol:	46 · 47
Phantoms:	48 · 49 · 50
1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10
Related media
Darth Vader (2015) · Darth Vader (2017) In Service to the Empire · Revelations (2022) · Revelations (2023) Free Comic Book Day 2023

[edit]

Dark Droids: D-Squad
1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5
1 · 2 · 3 · 4
Crossover
Star Wars: 37 · 38 · 39 · 40 · 41
Bounty Hunters: 37 · 38 · 39 · 40 · 41
Darth Vader: 37 · 38 · 39 · 40 · 41
Doctor Aphra: 35 · 36 · 37 · 38 · 39
Collections
Dark Droids · D-Squad
Crossover: Star Wars Vol. 7 · Bounty Hunters Vol. 7 Darth Vader Vol. 8 · Doctor Aphra Vol. 7
Related media
Han Solo & Chewbacca (9 · 10) Revelations (2022)

[edit]

In other languages

[Marvel-1] 1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 ^1.10 ^1.11 Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #40 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)

[Date-2] The events of Darth Vader (2020) 40 take place after the Escape from Cloud City and before the Rescue of Han Solo, which are dated to 3 ABY and 4 ABY, respectively, by Star Wars: Galactic Atlas.

[Raff_tweet_1-3] Raffaele Ienco (@Raffaele_Ienco) on Twitter: "Darth Vader #40, out today, Nov 8, 2023..." (backup link)

[Raff_tweet_2-4] Raffaele Ienco (@Raffaele_Ienco) on Twitter: "Maybe, I don't really know. I didn't have that intention when I drew it though. (In response to: "Thank you! So, there are two things, I'll split it up: 1). I've seen it claimed that in the following page, Vader was using the Force technique Tutaminis to absorb/block Sidious' blast of Force Lightning. Was it intended to be this way or it it just the art design/style?")" (backup link)

[1]

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