10 Star Wars Comics Moments That Shocked The World

7. Why Vader Obeyed Tarkin - Dark Lord Of The Sith #18

Star Wars Darth Vader Tarkin
Marvel Comics

The dynamic shared between Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader in the original Star Wars was always a curious one. Vader, although clearly the most powerful person in the room and the Emperor's righthand man, answered to Tarkin throughout the film, obeying orders right up until Peter Cushing's character perished in the first Death Star's destruction.

Those familiar with The Clone Wars and some other Expanded Universe material will be aware of how Anakin Skywalker always harboured a respect for Tarkin, whose ruthless pragmatism during The Clone Wars made him an indispensable ally to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. That respect would carry over once Skywalker succumbed to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader, but that still doesn't explain their relationship in Episode IV. So, what happened?

In yet another Charles Soule comic (look, he gets around, okay?), we see how Tarkin orchestrated a test for Vader before the events of A New Hope to see whether or not the Dark Lord of the Sith could ever be bested in combat. Using all his cunning, Tarkin lures Vader into a false sense of security by Zap Brannigan-ing his men to be killed one after another, until eventually Vader wanders into a lightning field, and is struck down on the spot.

Tarkin declares victory, but not before Vader reaches out with the last of his energy and briefly Force-chokes the Moff. That stalemate is enough to earn the other's mutual respect, cementing the dynamic seen in Episode IV.

Advertisement
Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.