After nearly thirty years listening to Obi-Wan and Yoda warn against the Dark Side of the Force while Vader and Palpatine tout its quick-fix benefits and muscle power, and witnessing Luke teeter on the brink of succumbing to it, we finally get to see exactly what the Dark Side is in Revenge of the Sith. And it ain't pretty.

After being duped into slaughtering countless unarmed crooks, friends and defenseless tots, killing his one true love, getting dismembered, roasted alive, and sealed inside a mask and suit of armor for the rest of his life, there is no doubt in my mind that Anakin will spend the next 30 or so years of his life in a sheer, utter living Hell of agony, regret and self-hatred. Even worse, now his only friend is Palpatine. Whereas he once got to jaunt throughout the galaxy and hang out with with cool and interesting kids like Obi-Wan, Yoda and Padme, now he's stuck listening to Palp's interminably repetitive froggy-voiced boasting, fear-mongering, and cackling for 30 years. I mean I know he's the most powerful Sith Lord ever and everything, but the guy's about as likable as prostate cancer and I would've been hard-pressed to not chuck him down a reactor shaft after thirty minutes of listening to his crap, let alone thirty years. Even Luke could only stand being in a room with him for a few minutes before trying to take his head off. Pity Anakin. The Dark side, indeed.

As a related aside, I finally got to read Purge by John Ostrander and Doug Wheatley, and I thought it was most dope. It's a nice one-shot story about Vader's obsessive quest for Obi-Wan Kenobi bringing him in contact with a group of Jedi who have survived Order 66. Obviously Vader's having none of that. Ostrander manages to weave in a couple of slick plot twists as well as a subplot in which one Jedi dangerously decides that to destroy the Dark Side one must use the Dark Side (something Nietzche warns against when he wrote "when one fights monsters, one must be careful that he does not become a monster"). The comic showcases a choice fight between Vader and about a half-dozen Jedi, the highlight of which occurs when Vader uses his severed arm as a weapon using the Force. Very wicked.

Ostrander is a crackerjack storyteller and I can't tell you how stoked I am for his next big project (details of which will shortly be forthcoming). Wheatley's art, as always, is a visual treat: dig the shot of Vader, helmet smashed, a single, yellow Sith eye surrounded by charred flesh staring madly out...very chilling. I look forward to future comics depicting Vader's Sith tutelage and exploring the ways in which Palpatine subverts the ancient Jedi teachings to instruct his biomechanical hate machine.