His offer has been rebuffed and Luke Skywalker is lost to the stars. Darth Vader now must search for everyone who led to Luke’s weakness. Spoilers for Darth Vader #1 follow.
We’re now on the third Darth Vader comic series since Marvel began publishing Star Wars again in 2015. Both of those series were great with the slight edge going to Dark Lord of the Sith, the second series. So, nevertheless, it’s exciting to get another Vader ongoing series, now set after The Empire Strikes Back, just like the rebooted Star Wars series. And, if this issue is any indication, this is going to be another great Darth Vader series.
Coming off his generally great run on Star Wars, it’s unsurprising that Greg Pak would be tasked with another Star Wars property. He wrote a great Darth Vader previously, so it’s smart to bring him on to the first ongoing in a year and a half. And, he does a great job with this first issue. There’s great set-up to the conflict that is going on within the story as well as character progression involving Vader. Well, as much character progression as there can be for Vader. Pak plays well with the idea that Anakin is still in Vader somewhere, but that Vader refuses to acknowledge that part. It’s something touched upon in other stories across varying mediums, but it’s a good well to go back to.
The story itself is also interesting from the get. Being able to see Vader immediately after Bespin is great and it’s awesome to see what he was up to in the aftermath of his fight with Luke. It also makes sense that his new mission would be a sort of revenge for those who made Luke “weak.” It’s a very specific mindset to put Vader into, but it’s one that fits very organically to the timeline at this point. But, with the final page, it’s revealed that there is so much more to this story than the issue was letting on. Not going to spoil this thing, but it made me triple take in shock. I think I know where this is headed, but it’s still very surprising.
The art in this issue by Raffaele Ienco also captures Darth Vader incredibly well. He’s a monster of man and the art does a great job of accentuating that. He’s terrifying and feels like a slasher villain at times, exactly how Vader should be. Some of the problems that arise in the art though come from organic faces. Vader’s helmet and droids look great, but at times the human faces in this issue can look quite ugly. It’s not even close to every panel, but there are some noticeable times when this is the case.