Star Wars: Vader Down

by Jason Aaron and Kieron Gillen

Salvador Larroca (Artist)

Facing the rebel fleet on his own Darth Vader is sent crashing onto a nearby planet, but the rebels opportunity to finally put an end to one of their greatest enemies may have them facing the full power of the dark side.

• ISBN10: 0785197893
• ISBN13: 9780785197898
• Publish Date: 19 April 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Marvel Comics
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 152
• Language: English

Reviews

[inlibrisveritas]

3.5 Stars

Vader Down is yet another fun read in the graphic novel series, and it’s a crossover between the Star Wars and Darth Vader comic runs.

I find myself kind of confused on how I feel about this graphic novels. I really enjoy them but at the same time, I feel like they spend a lot of time spinning their wheels and adding very little to the overall canon. I really enjoy the Vader comic because it has a focus away from the main three characters, though Vader’s hunt for Luke is still present, and with this, they try to pull his current storyline and his hunt for Luke into one. It works to an extent but there will always be that “nothing will come of this because of the movies” kind of thought process. That being said I still really enjoyed this and there was a whole lot going on.

We see more of Dr. Aphra and her psychopathic droids, we see Luke getting small glimpses of more Jedi truths, and Vader takes on his fair share of adversaries. That last point is the one that really made this one a complete win for me. Vader is one of my favorite characters and I live for the moments he does something so completely badass that I basically go all starry-eyed. This crossover has that in the spades.

I’m not big on the art in this one though, at times it had a ton of detail and others it seemed like they couldn’t get a bead on the faces. It also has a very thin but noticeable line around everything, which in areas made it look like a finished coloring book.

Overall it’s a satisfying crossover event, and definitely worth picking up if you want to see Vader do some crazy crap and walk away.

[Quirky Cat]

Vader Down is a cross over volume, mixing together Darth Vader and Star Wars into one short set of issues. If you’re reading Vader down through a subscription service (like me) instead of reading the printed volume, things can get a little tricky to track down. The order for reading goes like this: Vader Down, Darth Vader 13, Star Wars 13, Darth Vader 14, Star Wars 14, and finally Darth Vader 15.



So I’ll admit I don’t normally like tie-in novels/comics – it feels like they’re just trying to force you into getting hooked on other series. In this case though I’m willing to let it slide, as I was intending to read Star Wars next anyway. Thankfully the crossovers are contained to one volume worth, instead of having them hop in and out and all over the place (I’m looking at you, Spider-Man).
Thanks to the collision we get an interesting mash up of characters, including Darth Vader (duh), Aphra, Triple-Zero, BT-1, Luke, Leia, Han, Artoo, Threepio, and of course, the wookies Chewie and Black Krrsantan (and before you ask, yes there is in fact a fight between those two, so fear not!). The interactions themselves were pretty on par and at times pretty hilarious, so I don’t have many complaints about them.
Leia’s stubbornness really shown though in this volume – she was willing to sacrifice basically everything (including Luke and herself) for even a chance at taking Vader out. Now, admittedly I don’t really blame her for her logic there, but you should realize something is off when Han is chastising you for not caring enough.
Upon sitting down to write this review, I realize most (if not all) of the highlights for me involved one or more of the droids; which is pretty funny in itself. Seeing Bt-1 chase Artoo around with a whole arsenal of weapons was pretty funny (and I love Artoo, so you know it’s not that I was rooting for him to get hurt; the scene itself was just comical). Luke’s realization that he probably enjoyed stabbing Triple-Zero more than he should have (courtesy of being pestered all the time by Threepio) was absolutely hilarious (though I still maintain an apology is not necessary). And finally, Triple-Zero lecturing/screaming at BT-1 to stop being greedy and stop killing all of the humans around (as he wanted to get his fair share in, naturally).
More happens in Vader Down of course, but those were my favorite and most noteworthy highlights. This whole story is basically a side event between the movies, and it’s easy to see where and how they fit in. So the information provided isn’t technically needed…but it sure is fun.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks