| Title | : | Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 1: Vader |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0785192557 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780785192558 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 160 |
| Publication | : | First published February 11, 2015 |
Collecting DARTH VADER #1-6.
Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 1: Vader Reviews
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Darth Vader, right?!
Whoo-hoo!
Um. Soooo. I should probably go ahead and mention that I'm not a Star Wars junkie. While I loved the three original movies (whatever the #'s are), I'm sort of ambivalent about everything that came after them. I got really excited for the one that had Jar-Jar in it - as I think we all did!
But after sitting through whateverthehell that depressing, badly acted, CGI nonsense of a movie I watched in that dark, smelly theater back in 1999? With every retarded screen wipe a tiny part of my childhood died. And I've never really managed to regain my initial love for the franchise. Yeah, Force Awakes was kinda cool, but...eh. I'm good with pretending that Luke, Leia, and Han are all still hugging and waving goodbye from Midget Wookie Planet. <--or whateverthefuck it was called.
And now you know my secret shame.
Point is, if you're a HUGE Star Wars fan, the kind reads the books, the graphic novels, and maybe even defends Hayden Christensen's acting skills? Then I feel you have the right to know I don't have the foggiest fuck whether or not this was a good addition to the comics - much less to the canon of the series.
Anyway, this takes place after Luke and Vader have their first confrontation & Luke pulls off the Pew, Pew! thing that blows up the big planet killer weapon - it was the Death Star, right? Yeah. I'm like, 99% sure it was!
Wait.
Then what the hell was it that the Rebels trying to destroy in the last movie? Because I thought that was the Death Star, too. Was it a bigger Death Star? DS 2.0!?
I can't remember and, more importantly, it doesn't matter.
Real fans already know, and the rest of you don't give a shit.
So, this tells the story of all the behind the scenes tomfoolery happening with Darth Vader right before Palpatine zaps him and it's revealed that he was actually Humpty Dumpty posing as a Sith Lord.
I'm sure that this was peppered with characters and references that I missed, but even a lesser-geek such as myself recognized a few familiar faces.
Jabba!
That art was cool, right? I mean, really slick! The characters looked like the characters from the movies and everything was all nice and shiny. It was really the high point of the comic for me. And the low point? There really wasn't one. It was easy enough to read, I just...don't want to read about Star Wars, that's all. Which isn't the comic's fault!
Which bring us to why I was reading this.
See, I'm doing this Daisy Chain buddy read with a few Shallow friends, and
Sam Quixote - a godlike comic reviewer - handed me this particular daisy. Those of you who regularly read comic reviews on this site are certain to have come across his stuff and are well aware of his fantastic wit and humor.
Now, if y'all know Sam, then you probably know he's a big Star Wars fan. So I don't know whether he genuinely thought I'd like to read this and was attempting to be nice, if he knew this was the last comic in the world I'd like to read but thought I'd like it if I gave it a shot, or if he was just being the same squirrely dick that I've always known, who saw his golden opportunity to fuck me over and took it. And I'll probably never know.
But that's the story of how I ended up here today.
In case you can't tell by this rambling non-review review, I have no idea what to think of this comic.
It's, um, about Star Wars and the art is really nice.
Oh, and it didn't suck as badly as I thought it would.
GLORIOUS
VENGEANCE! <--ok, more like petty revenge, but it's one of those once in a lifetime, beautiful, perfect reprisals.
Twilight...ahahahahaha! -
There’s a reason you don’t see a lot of long-running comic series focused on diabolical evildoers. Writing a series with a bad guy—not an antihero, mind you, but a legit villain—as the main character involves a high degree of difficulty. As much as we love compelling foes for our heroes, ultimately, we want the heroes to win out because, let’s face it, you can only be so sympathetic toward a guy whose favorite hobbies include things like, in the case of Darth Vader, using the Force to crush people’s windpipes, generally oppressing lesser beings, and treating even the most mundane daily interactions (“Can I take your cape for you, Mr. Vader?” said the hostess at Darth’s favorite restaurant) as confrontations to be addressed with the lit end of a lightsaber.
Overexposure is a compelling villain’s worst nightmare (and ours, frankly, as I have no desire to see crusty old Anakin exposing himself) because he inevitably becomes less scary and interesting the more you see of him. Think about Vader: he’s spooky in the original trilogy because we don’t see him that much and, when we do, when he walks in a room, there is palpable fear. When that happens in every single scene in a comic, it starts to become less novel. And if you go too far overboard in chronicling your villain’s adventures, well…let’s just say that the intimidation factor goes down by at least an order of magnitude the first time you see the bad guy emerge from the executive washroom with toilet paper clinging to his boots or continually flubbing his attempt to record an out-of-office voicemail message on his work phone because he’s going to be away from the Death Star on a business trip for the next week and you should contact his secretary if you need immediate assistance in crushing any rebellions in his absence.
Fortunately, Messrs. Gillen and Larroca do a good job of staying away from giving Darth the mockumentary treatment and keeping him pretty scary, but, still—this is too much Darth for my taste. Seeing Darth belittled and disrespected by his fellow Empire cronies and essentially told he’s yesterday’s news is interesting, perhaps, but I prefer my Vader to remain scary and badass, thank you very much.
But, hey—what do I know? It usually takes me at least five attempts to record a new out-of-office message on my phone whenever I travel for work. Not sure I want to chat about that at the water cooler with Vader, though. -
The Dark Side of the Force is strong in this one!
I got this run on its single comic book issues but I am doing the review using this TPB edition to make a better general review about the whole story. The story is set after the events of “Star Wars IV: A New Hope” but before the events of “Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back”. This TPB edition contains from the title of “Star Wars: Darth Vader” #1-6 in its new Marvel Canonic run.
Creative Team:
Writer: Keiron Gillen
Illustrator: Salvador Larroca
YOU DON’T KNOW THE POWER OF THE DARK SIDE!
Keiron Gillen is doing a superb job bringing into the front, the side (The Dark Side!) of the story involving Darth Vader where you can get into his head and realizing the struggles in his conflictive mind. Salvador Larroca again prove that he is an artista of thousand styles, since unlike most of the comic book artists that they developed certain recognizale style, Salvador Larroca is in constant movement re-inventing his own style.
FALL FROM GRACE
Darth Vader has been the loyal apprentice of Darth Sidious (aka Emperor Palpatine) and he has proved to be an effective instrument to enforce the politics and strategies of the Galactic Empire.
However, The Death Star was blown to pieces in his watch...
...Bummer!
Now, the Emperor isn’t pleased (to say the least!) and he is putting Vader now under the command of Grand Admiral Tagge (Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Starfleet).
The worse is that Vader notices that Palpatine is developing some kind of operation without his knowledge.
GO VADER TEAM!
It’s evident to Vader that with Palpatine keeping secrets from him and Grand Admiral Tagge pulling his rank over him, that Vader needs his own private team.
Vader hires from Jabba the Hutt, two of his best bounty hunters, one that most of you are acquaintance with him and his vast supply of Mandalorian gadgets and one big hulky Wookie with dark hair. Two bounty hunters but two separate missions.
But those bounty hunters are hardly of trust. Vader needs a private team with unquestionable loyalty to him, therefore...
Enter: Dr. Aphra!
Dr. Aphra is a human female with a deep knowledge about droids...
Enter: 000 (Triple-Zero) and BT!
Now, Vader has his own protocol droid (with knowledge of six million of killing techniques!) and a blastodroid disguised as astromech (with a vast supply of weapons!).
And thanks to Dr. Aphra, now Vader also has his private team of battle droids loyal only to him.
Vader is still deep into the Dark Side of the Force...
...but is Palpatine too? Secrets and lies aren’t the issue, but heresy about following the path of the Dark Side of the Force? That’s something that Vader will have to meditate what must be the proper reaction... -
Now this was cool.
Vader comes across in all the necessary degrees of ruthless, angry and intense. The flash backs were also great; they helped to deliver the full nature of his personality in this new story.
The Sith Lord has been cast aside. He is no longer in favour with the Emperor after he let the Death Star be destroyed. The Emperor is angry at his apprentice’s lack of military tact; he respects Vader’s strength, but despises his lack of cunning. He assigns him an imperial officer to guide him, leaving him in the role of a simple solider. Vader, as ever, is angry at such treatment. He sacrificed everything when he embraced the dark side.
How could he be so easily cast aside? He who killed everything he once loved?
Vader endeavours to prove the Emperor wrong. He musters his own personal military might. He salvages an old droid tactical unit along with a small army of Geonosian droids. He strikes directly at the Emperor’s contingency plan: androids that resemble Jedi knights. They are to replace Vader should he prove too weak. The Emperor wants to see how Vader will respond to such a threat; he only wants the strongest enforcer to bend to his will. Naturally, Vader is pissed off. He thought he was secure in his position as the Emperor’s right hand. At the end of this comic, he comes to a monumental decision. He will try to turn his son, and together they will rule the galaxy! (evil laugh.) He will never look at his master the same way again.
This was great. The plot slotted perfectly in the time frame between a New Hope and the Empire Strikes back. It showed Vader’s off screen development, and his full realisation as to his vulnerable position as a Sith Lord. There is no sentiment between Master and Apprentice, something Vader was very slow to learn. This seemed like a massive smack in the mouth for the cold hearted traitor. As Anakin Skywalker, he was friends with Palpatine. Well, at least, he thought he was. I guess, from Vader’s point of view, there was more between the two of them.
The artwork was slick and fab, the story engrossing. I really like this comic, and I really like seeing this dynamic between Master and Apprentice explored. I’m looking forward to reading the next collection of issues!
Vader Comic Volumes
1. Vader- A dark four stars
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I freaking loved this graphic novel! I found it on Kindle Unlimited and the next two are as well. Um, and now the physical copy is on my Amazon wishlist. Hells yes!!
Anyway, I thought the story was awesome and the graphics were amaze balls!!
Like I said, I loved it and that's all that matters. If anyone has KU and wants to read it then there you go!!
I decided to add a few graphics from the book. I'm not going to go into what they are about, they are just for your viewing pleasure =) Also, they are not in any sort of order, just to keep you guessing!
Fin -
Even a Sith Lord like Darth Vader has a boss he has to answer to, and when he failed at his last assignment which resulted in a Death Star going KERBLOOEY then he sure wasn’t going to pass that next performance review.
So Vader is really in the Emperor’s dog house which results in him suffering a demotion and having to take orders from an Imperial officer who sees him as simply a weapon to be used. However, Vader also has his own agenda like finding out exactly who was that Force-strong pilot who blew up his shiny new Death Star.
This shares a story line with the main
Star Wars comic that Marvel has been doing, and I very much enjoyed the first half of this which brought up some plot points that I had never thought about like how the Emperor probably wouldn’t have been very happy with Vader after the events of A New Hope. The second half fades a bit because Vader uncovering a secret program that the Emperor has been hiding didn’t seem like anything special.
I also thought the new droids Vader acquires, Triple-Zero and Bee-Tee, were a nice touch since they’re essentially C-3PO and R2-D2 if they went bad and developed a taste for torture and murder.
It was entertaining and did find some new angles to probe with Vader as a character and his role as the Emperor’s enforcer, but it felt like maybe the highlights should have just been put in the main Star Wars book rather than being it’s own title because it did start to feel thin after a while. -
So I enjoyed this, the storyline was from "A New Hope" with some insights into Darth that I was unaware of and it also comprised some great graphics/drawing, but, and there is a but, it was just a bit bland, and despite being over a hundred pages it never really went anywhere.
So the question is do I bother going further, I think the answer is probably not. Don't get me wrong, I love Star Wars, I was there 2 days after Christmas 1977 in London as it opened, and I have seen every film since as soon as I possibly could (maybe sometimes with more trepidation than others), but I just don't think I have enough time left to read books that are only ok.
Sorry Darth !! -
A solid read. I like the introduction of Vader's rivals and Dr. Aphra and the murder droids. Salvador Larroca's art has really went downhill with his new style he's evolved to the last few years. The colorist saves the artwork in this book, hiding Larroca's weak line work. Edgar Delgado's color art is the star of the book. It makes me open the book and go, "Oh yeah this looks like Star Wars."
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Amazing. This is my favourite of the new Star Wars comicbooks by a long way.
Kieron Gillen has hit the right tone for this book perfectly. The interaction between Vader and Jabba is wonderful. Gillen has the relationship between Vader and the Emperor down. You can feel the Emperor's contempt oozing off the page and Vader's barely checked fury is palpable.
I love the new characters too; I wasn't sure about the evil versions of C-3PO and R2-D2 when they first appeared but they really grew on me. I'm also just geeky enough to love Vader having a female Indiana Jones as a sidekick.
Oh, and the final issue? Particularly the closing scene? It gave me chills.
Oh, and I don't want to finish my aimless ramblings without mentioning the artwork. Salvador Larocca must be absolutely stoked to be playing in the Star Wars sandpit because he has produced the best work of his career here by a country mile. When Larocca draws these characters I can hear them breathing.
I was initially a bit cynical about the new Star Wars comicbooks but this title in particular has really changed my mind and I can't wait for the next volume. -
The second title in the 2015 Marvel Star Wars relaunch is Darth Vader, the most iconic character in the series and one of the best villains of all time. And the book is… just ok.
Like Jason Aaron’s Star Wars series, Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca’s Darth Vader takes place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and even links in with Aaron’s book by showing what Vader got up to in between his appearances there.
The premise of this series makes sense but it’s also quite weak. The Emperor is displeased that Vader failed him by allowing the Rebels to blow up the Death Star; Vader must prove himself worthy by defeating the Emperor’s potential replacements for him.
It’s weak because we know Vader isn’t replaced - he’s in Empire and Return of the Jedi - so there’s no real tension over whether or not he’ll triumph.
Gillen introduces some new characters but they’re derivative of other, more well-known characters. Dr Aphra IS female Indiana Jones. Her introduction is exactly like the opening sequence to Raiders of the Lost Ark but Star Wars-ified, and she describes herself as a rogue archaeologist. There’s also 0-0-0 (Triple Zero) and BT-1, two droids who look exactly like Threepio and Artoo but with black plating because they’re EVIL. I’m not sure if they were meant as comic relief but they’re not funny and were distracting for being such unimaginative creations.
One of the things I was hoping these comics wouldn’t do was reference the heinous prequels. I really wanted them to be forgotten like the nightmares they were and Marvel would just focus on the original trilogy and beyond, like the forthcoming Force Awakens movie. Jason Aaron adopted this approach but Gillen disappoints by referencing the prequels throughout this book.
There are flashbacks to Vader as Anakin with Padme in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, references to Mustafar, Geonosis and Vader’s hatred of the Sandpeople; he even resurrects the tired old theme of building a secret army and we see the Nubian royal starship (the silver spaceship from Phantom Menarghhgh - couldn’t say it!) that Vader still uses as his own private ride (out of sentimentality?). A couple shots even looked like they were taken from the prequels, specifically those long, boring CGI shots of interiors on Coruscant - ugh!
Did any of that make the book better, or was any of it even necessary? Nope! Just stirred up bad memories once again. Up yours, Kieron Gillen!
Salvador Larroca’s art is gorgeous though, drawing the familiar characters beautifully, even presenting the comic like a movie with wide panels and splash pages. Adi Granov’s covers too were absolutely fantastic, as always.
But, like I said, this title merges with Jason Aaron’s so certain moments like Vader on Tatooine meeting Jabba, hiring Boba Fett to track down Luke, and that final shot, are repeated. That doesn’t mean you need to read this to appreciate the other though - in fact, given how ordinary this book is, you could skip this entirely and just read Aaron’s far better Star Wars book instead and not miss anything important!
I’m sure most people will read this book because who can resist a great villain, especially one as cool as Vader? But it’s not a great story, though it has fantastic art. Star Wars works as an ensemble piece - break that up and focus on just one element and even the strongest piece, like Vader, seems weak and unimpressive. Gillen proves that with this average book by not really knowing what to with the character alone.
The Force is mediocre with this one! -
Emperor Palpatine is angry with Darth Vader over the destruction of the Death Star.
Because of that Vader got a demotion to messenger/errand boy/whatever the Emperor says you better do.
I like Star Wars. The philosophy is intriguing in its simplicity and lightsabers are awesome. Galactic Politics are eh and trade routes are just...yuck. Delving into the minutiae between A New Hope and the Empire Strikes back is far from awesome. Perhaps it's knowing exactly what happens up to Vader's end that makes it less interesting, but it feels like watching Vader going grocery shopping in the evil galactic grocery store. "I need unquestioning henchmen, bounty hunters to seek out my enemies, and possibly a new job because my boss looks like he wants to fire me."
2.5 out of 5 stars -
My very first Star Wars comic and I LOVED it!
I've always been a fan of Darth Vader - yeah, I always had a thing for the bad guys since the good ones are usually generic and boring cardboard cut-outs. Sadly, his character remained relatively flat in the movies. One could see the potential, but it wasn't greatly explored. Therefore, I heeded the advice of some friends here and dipped my toes into the comics version of this great saga.
This first volume contains issues 1-6 and takes place shortly after the Death Star has been destroyed by the rebels. Emperor Palpatine is less than pleased and since he killed all others involved in the failure, Vader is the one to be on the receiving end of his wrath. Meaning that Vader gets demoted, has to report to a human general (who is annoyingly smug about it) and even needs to fear getting replaced (I use the term "fear" lightly here). Moreover, there is still the mystery of a certain young pilot responsible for the destruction of the Death Star and Vader is determined to find him.
The story is very intelligent, clearly structured, and compelling. Vader does not only get a bit of background through flashbacks but we also get to see some of his skill and power as well as his wit (no, he's not just a killing machine in a black outfit but a brilliant strategist). Moreover, the art is very nice and compliments the story perfectly.
My favourite character apart from Vader himself was Triple-Zero, the bloodthirsty android with perfect manners and awesome torture skills. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA. So much funnier than his golden quivalent from the movies. *evil grin*
I will definitely continue reading the Vader comics and am looking forward to more action combined with intelligence and great art! -
A solid start to a series that has great potential. The art style is pretty amazing, and the story so far has been intriguing (it's Darth Vader, so of course it is intriguing). Off to the second volume.
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I liked this, but only in a lukewarm (and not as in Skywalker - haha) way. I think I know why . . .
Darth Vader is a GREAT villain. But I think he works best as a cinematic incarnation - the menacing breath sounds courtesy of sound tech impresario Ben Burtt, the threatening dialogue recited in James Earl Jones' piercing voice, the special effects showing his powers of 'The Force,' etc. - so it's a shaky jump onto the written page, even in a graphic novel, for him to take the lead and carry a title.
That said, it was a good decision to team him with the feisty chatty-Cathy character Dr. Aphra (much more bearable here than she was in Star Wars, Vol. 3: Rebel Jail) and the darkly evil droid versions of C-3PO and R2-D2. Aphra and the one droid do enough talking - much of it kind of humorous - to make up for Vader's usual lack of speechifying. In fact, Aphra's fan-girling and attempting to hold a conversation with the reticent Vader were a couple of the highlights in this mostly good story. -
I will admit I’m only checking this out because of the new Obi-Wan Kenobi show, but this was an impressive start to this run. I haven’t read a ton of Star Wars comics in my time, but I have seen all the movies, grew up watching the 2D Clone Wars and some of the 3D stuff, and played a lot of the games, so I have interacted with this franchise pretty much everywhere except the comics. I don’t know why if I’m being honest, I guess I was always nervous the books wouldn’t be able to have that cinematic Star Wars feel that makes those other mediums work for me, but color me shocked when Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca managed to evoke that exact feeling with these books.
Starting with a classic Star Wars opening crawl, Vader Volume 1 collects the first 6 issues of Gillen & Larroca’s time on the book. It takes place right after ANH, and details what Gillen refers to as “The Fall & Rise of Darth Vader” arc. For those who have seen Star Wars, you know that ANH ends with Vader losing the Death Star, but by ESB, he is commanding the Executor Star Destroyer and hunting for Luke Skywalker specifically. Gillen has to show how Vader goes from his ANH self to the version of him we see by the time of ESB. Darth Vader is still himself here, but we see a version of him who has been dealt his biggest defeat since Mustafar and will do anything to bounce back stronger than ever from it.
We get some pretty fun new characters out of this volume too, with Doctor Aphra, BeeTee, and Triple-Zero all being amazing additions to the Star Wars cast. Doctor Aphra is a rogue archaeologist (think a gender-swapped Indiana Jones in the Star Wars Universe) who ends up doing some jobs for Vader. Her crew consists of two droids, BeeTee and Triple-Zero, who are psychopathic and murderous versions of R2-D2 and C3P0.
It’s also very interesting seeing how Doctor Aphra was created too. As those who read this may have noticed, Vader is quite chatty in issue 2 and this is because he doesn’t have anyone around him who can do all the exposition, hence why Aphra is brought in the next issue. It also kinda blew my mind that the two murder droids in the run were originally gonna be Triple Zero, the murderous droid protocol that Aphra loads into a C3PO-looking dude, and HK-47, Darth Revan’s assassin droid from the KOTOR game. Sadly this was vetoed, so BeeTee was created to replace Triple Zero waiting on board Aphra’s ship, while Triple Zero replaced HK-47 in the vault, but that would’ve been cool if they went with the original plans. I’m still fine with what we got in the end, but the prospect of that original pitch does interest me.
I’d recommend this to any Star Wars fans though, it’s a really solid start to the Darth Vader run and fits very nicely into the main Star Wars canon. If you want to see a run detailing “The Fall and Rise of Darth Vader”, well you really have no further to look. -
Reread: 20/10/2022
This was an interesting read 2nd time around and yeah 9 months later atm and I love how fast paced it is and giving Vader his own supporting casts and then evil droids look alike haha I love it, plus you get to see his relation with Palpatine and that was so brilliantly written, the conversations there are cold but that just shows the dark nature of the book, the fights with those fake apprentices/sith were great and Vader gets some cool moments. The art was the best part still and I loved every moment of reading it, next up: Shadows and secrets!
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This was a pretty interesting read.
Vader goes through the usual motions after episode 6 and well has to prove himself to the emperor once again after the destruction of death star and he is looking for replacements and so Vader has to against Tagge and also then get his own army of droids and so he gets Aphra to do the job for him and going against Cylo-V and meeting his artificial sith warriors there and battling them to prove his loyalty to the emperor or his superiority and what not.
Its an interesting read and does show Vader's dark side, metaphorically speaking and he does well showing his bad-assery and I love the way Gillen shows it and also showing Aphra as the POV character was smart and well new and evil versions of R2-D2, C3PO, Chewbacca and all was interestingly weird. A good start and the art still looks traced but okayish I guess. -
Perhaps this is blasphemy but in this comic book I kinda like the darker and more murderous versions of C-3P0 and R2D2, Triple Zero and BT-1 more than Darth Vader. They were so freakin’ awesome
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If you ever thought it might be fun to see Darth Vader with an (annoyingly quirky) Manic Pixie Dream Girl as a sidekick, this is the comic for you!
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There are parts of this book that are really solid. There really is a gap between A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, particularly where Vader is concerned. In A New Hope, he's kind of Tarkin's sidekick, enough so that Admiral Motti feels free to mouth off to him. But by Empire Strikes Back, he's feared and powerful in his own right. And he knows who Luke is. So what happens in between? In Gillen's version, Vader is out of favor with the Emperor, which does make a certain amount of sense. And he's driven to discover the identity of the pilot who destroyed the Death Star, because of course. So far, it makes sense. And so does the notion that the Emperor would be making plans to replace Vader, because of course he intends to outlive Vader. So far, so good. And Gillen can generally write Vader fairly well. I often got the sense of how genuinely frightening he would be, and Gillen doesn't make the mistake of giving him too much dialog or internal narration.
But the cast of supporting characters... Yikes. I didn't like the character of Aphra in this book. Don't get me wrong, I liked her. She's a really cool character, a little Indiana Jones, generally smart, daring, all that good stuff. But she just felt out of place here. If she had been added to, say, the main Star Wars book, or the Princess Leia book, or the upcoming Lando book, I wouldn't have minded. But even though she's a cool character, she just didn't feel like the right character for this book. And honestly, I just plain didn't like the two homicidal droids. They were just too obviously evil Threepio and Artoo for me, and I didn't feel like they added enough to overcome how derivative they were.
I wasn't a fan of the way Vader's search ended. It felt, to me, like Gillen just wanted to throw all of these ideas out there as quickly as possible in case he didn't get a chance to use them. Which is an approach I'm not a fan of. Some of these ideas may actually be good, but you don't really get time to appreciate them. Of course, I'm not actually sure how many of those last minute ideas were good.
There's also some overlap with the main Star Wars book, which means that you'd read the same scene twice if you were reading them both. In a way, it does make sense. I don't suppose you could really assume that everybody would read both, though I bet most readers would. But generally, I felt like the main book handled those moments better, though this book went into more detail. Do you need to read both? Well, there's no reason not to. The main book is better, verging on great, but this is pretty good, much better than I'd thought it would be. I'm now terribly worried that Princess Leia will disappoint. -
I'm reading this series and the Skywalker Strikes one in a sort of strange order. I'm going to be reading each book in the series as it comes out, meaning the two will overlap. I found that this worked very well when I read this after Skywalker Strikes, as this book referenced that one a great deal. Also, the final scene where you see the scene at the end of SS from Vader's perspective was AWESOME.
The plotline of this was a little strange. Palpatine basically demoting Vader and Vader relying on other people to help him felt a bit out of character from the movie Vader, but I did have some fun with this book. I absolutely adored all of the references - the scenes where Vader flashes back to when he was Anakin. They're amazing.
The panels were a little off because of their size - it's like five horizontal ones on a single page. It felt kind of crowded at times.
Aphra was an interesting character, but she's more or less space Indiana Jones. They even gave her a line that's a variation of Harrison Ford's in Raiders of the Lost Ark. It will be cool to see more of her. But again, Vader teaming up with other people is just weird.
4/5 stars. The references were what really sold this book for me. I am excited to continue this seres. -
Darth Vader is my favorite villain of all time. That fact alone made this a fun read for me. And there are some great moments in this collection. Some scenes where Vader is a damn badass. Some where the return to old settings and the many flashbacks are very poignant. Others where the true relationship between Vader and the Emperor is clearly shown. Plus the ending is a classic. And I loved all those moments, but . . . I really didn’t care for any of the new characters like Doctor Aphrodite or the death droids which meant the overall story fell a little flat for me. Still a good read though.
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This was pretty much OK.
Plenty of cameos from popular established characters throughout make it accessible to the everyday fan, and Salvador Larroca's art is beautiful as always.
I didn't really care for the "Replacement Vaders" story arc, but on the whole the idea of showing Vader trying to work outside the establishment to secure his own sources of intelligence and power post-Battle of Yavin is an interesting one. -
Is a fact that the rebels destroyed the Death Star, possibly the most expensive and longest-running project in the empire and all the responsibility falls on Vader's shoulders, Palpatine is not happy about it...
I find it very interesting to see in more depth the consequences that Vader had to face for the events that occurred at the end of Episode IV, he went from being the right hand of the emperor to a simple soldier and this book is motivated by Vader's seeks to return to the top of the food chain, even if that means having his own resources and lying to the emperor ...
I should add that seeing Vader in a “team” was awesome and the introduction of Doctor Aphra was great element for me, I previously had the opportunity to read the first volume of Aphra and was left with some doubts that were resolved in this book.
On the other hand, this book fits perfect with
Star Wars, Vol. 1: Skywalker Strikes, both go hand in hand in an incredible way, if you read one of the two it is almost necessary to read the other, Perfect symbiosis!
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Me while reading
After what Vader did to Palpatine, sacrificed a lot to be a Sith lord, Palpatine isn't treating him well, and is thinking of a replacement.
Vader is also looking for the pilot who blow up the Death Star! and he is having a sentimental flashbacks! :(
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I really loved those 6 issues ! -
SUPER FAST REVIEW:
Interesting story, quality art, bad-ass ending, well written dialogue. I didn’t particularly care about the characters and there was a disappointing I have mixed thoughts on the action scenes, sure they’re fun but they’re also obviously toned down which for a comic that is as obviously darker than most Star Wars as Vader... why? So yeah, good not great. Worth checking out if you’re a Star Wars fan.
4/5 -
I liked this enough to want to read the rest of the run, but not enough to where I need to read it RIGHT NOW! I like the references to the prequels, but some of the concepts in it ( I don’t want to spoil anything!) I did not like.
Vader is an interesting enough character with an incredibly interesting backstory and that’s what keeps me wanting to read more, but in the long run, it makes me want to read the old canon more, but that’s what I grew up on. -
Odlican artwork koji je nazalost bacen na relativno dosadnu pricu. Imazabavnih likova i dobijamo par vrlo lepih detalja ali sve ukupno je nekako dosadno sto bas i nisam ocekivao.
Ali prica obecava za dalje tako da se nadam boljem. -
Even Vader sometimes has the blues...
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A fine start. Nothing super special but a decent diversion.
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Darth Vader is the first volume in a relatively new series by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca. I read this a few years ago after a friend gave me a copy for Christmas and when one of my groups on GR picked it for a book of the month, decided to re-read it. In this first volume, Vader is taken to task for his failures, particularly the loss of the first Death Star. Palpatine is now starting to look to other sources to solve his problems and Vader has to fight for his place as right hand of the Emperor. Luckily, he's found a few new friends who might be willing to help him out and he's building his own plans for the future.
As before, I enjoyed this first volume in the series. I remember not being a very big fan of the volumes that followed but the dark humor and the strength of the secondary characters help to make volume one rather entertaining. In particular, Aphra and the droids provide a good contrast for the single-minded and otherwise rather boring Vader.
Overall, Darth Vader Vol. 1 is a fun, darkly humorous look at what Vader was up to in between the destruction of the two Death Stars. I'm not sure I'd recommend reading the whole series but I did like the start of this one.
