Marvel’s classic Vader tests the skill of his aspiring Jedi son while simultaneously removing a rival Imperial. This cruel scheme shows just how far Vader has fallen from his days of Jedi Knighthood and demonstrates the methods of a true Sith Lord.
Despite his lack of formal Jedi training, Luke Skywalker engages in several lightsaber duels in the classic Marvel Star Wars comics. One of his first duels is against Kharys, a Sith in all but name who trained under Darth Vader himself, learning powerful dark side techniques and nearly killing Luke, if not for his ability to resist her powers. Luke also fought against Orman Tagge, an Imperial nobleman who, despite his lack of Force powers, is a talented lightsaber duelist, who Luke only defeated by relying on his natural aptitude in the Force.
Issue 37 of Marvel’s Star Wars series, by Archie Goodwin and Carmine Infantino, seemingly had Luke face off against Darth Vader himself before the events of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye and The Empire Strikes Back, but it was ultimately a ruse. Using the dark side of the Force, Darth Vader projects his appearance onto Orman Tagge, forcing a rematch between him and Luke to goad him into using the dark side as well. Luke manages to strike down “Vader,” only for the illusion to dissipate, revealing a dying Orman Tagge. Vader harnessed Luke's desire to strike him down, using the young hero's hatred for the Sith Lord to suppress Luke's instincts that the situation wasn't what it seemed.
Orman Tagge, though hardly a footnote in Darth Vader’s story as far as the Dark Lord is concerned, considered himself a rival to the Sith, hoping to use his astounding lightsaber skills to best and usurp him. Darth Vader thought little of Tagge but found a use for him in the orchestrated rematch between him and Luke. This perfectly demonstrated a key difference between Jedi Knights and Sith Lords. While the former fight their battles directly, the latter are more inclined to manipulate beings and events from behind the scenes.
Lucasfilm requested that Marvel keep the direct confrontations between Darth Vader and the main heroes to a minimum, which greatly benefited the Sith Lord. Darth Vader is one of the most powerful Sith Lords in galactic history, but he relied on schemes and dark side sorcery far more than drawing his lightsaber and battling his enemies personally. This kept Vader consistent with his depictions in the original trilogy films and made the few times he entered a battle meaningful and threatening. Darth Vader’s manipulation of both Luke Skywalker and Orman Tagge was a perfectly sinister example of how well the Sith Lord was depicted in Marvel’s classic Star Wars comics.
