Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 1

Because COVID-19 has caused a major disruption in new comic books, for the next few weeks Scoop will reexamine issues, runs, trades, and titles that are already available. We’ll take a look at perennial classics, current titles we are enjoying, significant runs, and our overall favorite books to suggest some new reading material or inspire fellow comic fans to dust off the old favorites. And if you live near a comic shop that’s still open during this time, we hope our suggestions will prompt you to check out their back issue and collected edition inventory.

Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 1
Marvel; $19.99

Since Marvel reacquired the Star Wars comics in 2015, they have produced some very cool comics. The series have been spread out over a main title, miniseries focused on characters from the universe, and movie adaptations. In particular, over the course of the last five years, the Darth Vader series has been very good.

In the first volume, Darth Vader is on a mission of vengeance against the Rebels that goes far beyond their disobedience against the Empire. He is even bold enough to investigate what the Emperor is planning and fellow high status members of the Empire.

The comic introduces Doctor Aphra, a rather precocious young woman who has no qualms with carrying out Vader’s missions. She became a popular character in the book and gained her own title. It also introduces the droids Triple Zero (0-0-0) and Bee Tee (BT-1) who may look similar to our beloved C-3PO and R2-D2 but are actually, terrifyingly – and occasionally comically – homicidal.

In short, the Darth Vader series is great. It’s entertaining, it’s suspenseful, it’s interestingly complicated, and sometimes a bit funny. The established characters dominate, as they should, but the new characters hold their own in the best way.

–Amanda Sheriff