Star Wars: Darth Vader Volume 1 - Vader

by Kieron Gillen

[Quirky Cat]

This week I finally caved and started reading through Darth Vader (courtesy of Marvel Unlimited: the biggest supporter for 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 going on 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 obviously 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 found myself really enjoying the read, as I got to see more of the conflict between him and Palpatine as well as 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 giving this series a try for that reason, maybe 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), plus 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 actually think that 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.
Other moments worth mentioning: Boba Fett cameo! Vader hires him to track down and catch Skywalker (before he knew the kid’s name, that is). Vader’s reaction to that bit of news was…interesting. I highly recommend looking into it yourself, as it’s worth seeing (even if you just google the images for those pages).


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