Darth Vader (2017) 22

Darth Vader 22 is the twenty-second issue of the canon comic book series Star Wars: Darth Vader (2017). It was written by Charles Soule, illustrated by Giuseppe Camuncoli, and published on October 17, 2018 by Marvel Comics.
==Publisher's summary==
"FORTRESS VADER" continues! The Tale of LORD MOMIN! Plans are drawn…a foundation is laid…and darkness rises on MUSTAFAR!
==Plot summary==
===An ancient evil===
Aboard the Naboo Royal Starship on Mustafar, Darth Vader levitates the mask of Darth Momin from the corpse of Lieutenant Roggo. He brings the helmet to the dark side shrine and demands to know who the entity in the mask is. The entity identifies himself as Darth Momin, causing the helmet to glow bright red. Vader dons the mask.
Lord Momin recounts his biography to Lord Vader, telling the Sith Lord that he was an artistic child who created gruesome works of arts from the flesh of living creatures. His first artwork was created from the corpse of his pet rada-cat Flitta, which horrified his mother. As a young adult, Momin continued his gruesome works of arts, enraging the public and leading to his incarceration. Momin believes that he was motivated by the dark side to create art.
In prison, Momin became a "sculptor of the mind" who enjoyed killing insects. His reputation drew the attention of a female Sith named Lady Shaa, who freed him and recruited him as her Sith apprentice. Though he learned much about the Force and the dark side, Momin never accepted the idea of apprenticing himself to anyone. At the opportune moment, Momin fought and killed Lady Shaa. Taking control of her acolytes, Momin never took an apprentice since he had no time to teach and there was too much to learn.
While studying dark side lore and visiting Sith sites, Momin came to believe that he had been wasting his time creating work for the masses and that his true audience was the Force itself. He also believed that by building something worth of the grandeur of the dark side, ,he himself might become worthy. Seeking to create a work of art that would be worth of the dark side, Momin built a great engine which he fitted aboard his starship. While destroying the city through orbital bombardment, he plan to to use the Force–powered engine to stop the flow of time, trapping the doomed population in a state of suspended animation as a shrine to the dark side.
However, the Jedi boarded his ship and fought his acolytes. The presence of the light side of the Force interfered with Momin's concentration, causing him to lose control of the massive energies he was wielding. This foiled Momin's plan and the Sith Lord was consumed by these energies. The Jedi then took his mask into custody. Through this experience, Momin learned that failure was an important teacher and that the dark side was hungry and needed to always be fed or else it would feed its user. To Momin's dismay, Lord Vader refuses to wear the mask and flings it away.
===A new ally===
Later, four Mustafarians including Bbbl and Sssp travel on two lava fleas on the lava plains of Mustafar. They are looking for the mysterious object which descended in the area. This object turned out to be Vader's Naboo Royal Starship. Sssp thinks that the object hit one of the lava flows and dissolved. Bbbl is curious about the lack of debris. He wants to return to Father Kkkt and allay his fears about the omen.
Just then, the Mustafarians spot the figure of Lord Vader and the Mask of Momin watching them from a cliff. The Sith Lord ambushes and attacks the Mustafarians with his Force powers and lightsaber, slaying two of them. Lord Vader then levitates Sssp , who tells the last remaining Mustafarian to flee with the two lava fleas. Lord Vader then forces the Mask of Darth Momin on the unwilling Sssp, giving him a new host.
Back at the dark side cave, Lord Momin in his Mustafarian host tells Vader that Mustafar did not used to be a lava world. However, Lord Vader is only interested in the Force locus nearby and asks about the structure he is working on. Momin explains that the structure is a fortress that will be the key to the dark side. Claiming that Lord Vader's late wife Padmé Amidala lies beyond the door of the dark side, Momin claims that his fortress will tune the energies of the locus so that he can pierce the veil of time to see Amidala again.
Vader is initially skeptical and warns Momin about the consequences of lying. Momin replies that he does not lie but only wants the chance to create and hopes that it could work this time. Vader agrees to use Momin's services as an architect but warns about the consequences of betrayal. Momin claims that he is already suffering since he is trapped in the limbo between life and death. He vows not to throw away the opportunity that Lord Vader has given him and vows that the fortress will be his masterpiece.
==Development==
According to writer Charles Soule, the story for Darth Vader 22 had been in his mind since 2015, when he wrote the comic book miniseries Star Wars: Lando, which first introduced the Mask of Lord Momin.Lando 3
==Continuity==
The cover by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Elia Bonetti is similar to Kilian Plunkett's cover to Star Wars Tales 6.Star Wars Tales 6
==Media==
===Editions===
*UPC 759606086665; October 17, 2018; Marvel Comics
**02211; Cover A; Elia Bonetti, Giuseppe Camuncoli
**02221; Cover B; Rod Reis
===Cover gallery===
File:DarthVader2017-22.jpg|Cover A
File:DarthVader22.jpg|Cover A, unlettered
File:DarthVader2017-22-B.jpg|Cover B
==Appearances==
==Collections==
*Vol. 4 — Fortress Vader
*Star Wars: Darth Vader - Dark Lord of the Sith Vol. 2
*Star Wars: Darth Vader by Charles Soule Omnibus
==Notes and references==
==External links==
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