Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 1

by Kieron Gillen

[Quirky Cat]

Summary:

Darth Vader is an impressive and oppressive force, yet even he has faced challenges over the years. For example, threats to power were made by those within the Empire. Careful planning and the use of resources can protect his position - and his plans.

One such resource is the young Doctor Aphra, a talented thief with extensive knowledge of both archeology and droids. He will use her and her knowledge to take out those in his way.

Review:

This week, I finally caved in and started reading through Darth Vader (courtesy of Marvel Unlimited, which is the biggest supporter of comic binge-reading). So I'm a little behind on the times, but I'm really glad I'm finally getting around to reading it because it has been fantastic! No additional reading is needed to understand what's happening here, as all the context is provided within the first couple of pages (I love it when that happens). This is especially true if you've seen all the movies (and if you haven't, you're probably not likely to want to read the comics anyway?).

So there's not a ton of comics out there where the perspective is, without a shadow of a doubt, the bad guy, but this is one of them. Despite that, I enjoyed the read, as I saw more of the conflict between him and Palpatine and all the efforts he made to get his hands on Skywalker (more on both of those later). So, if you're finding yourself resistant to trying this series for that reason, consider those little tidbits.

A surprising amount occurred in volume one, so I'll just focus on the highlights. For starters, Palpatine is a sneaky bastard. He's either openly considering replacing Darth Vader or (more likely, if you ask me) setting Darth Vader up to believe that's the cause, making it yet another test. Considering Vader's reaction, I'm more than willing to believe the latter. It's hard to believe anything other than that Palpatine is playing the long game (as he always does). Having read some of the novels, I know how fond he is of testing Vader (his loyalties, his abilities, you name it).

Young, quirky Aphra was introduced already, along with her murdering robot pals (whom I adore, fyi, as they're hilarious). I think Triple Zero got one of the best lines of the volume ("Oh! Well then, it's good news and good news!"). I'm still curious about Black Krrsantan, whom I know ends up running with Aphra at a later point in the series.

Even knowing how everything goes, I still find myself curious to see how we get from here to there. I think that's why I enjoy the series as much as I do (well, that's why I'm greedy for any Star Wars information). I'm looking forward to volume three, which, luckily for me, is also on Marvel Unlimited (yay for binge-reading without going broke!).

Highlights:
Star Wars
Doctor Aphra
Bot Chaos

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