Comic Info
Comic Name: Star Wars: Vader Down/Star Wars (Volume 2)/Star Wars: Darth Vader
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Mike Deodato
# of Issues: 6
Release Date: 2016
Star Wars: Vader Down #15 Variant
Reprints Star Wars: Vader Down #1, Star Wars (2) #13-14, and Star Wars: Darth Vader #13-15 (January 2016-March 2016). Vader’s attempt to locate Luke Skywalker has led him to the planet of Vrogas Vas. When Vader finds himself in the middle of a Rebel fleet, the boy he is hunting takes out his ship leaving them both crashed on the planet. As the Rebels seek to take advantage of Vader’s crash, Luke seeks out information from Obi-Wan Kenobi’s journals that could help explain his past.
Written by Jason Aaron and Mike Deodato, Star Wars: Vader Down is the first big crossover even of the Marvel relaunch of Star Wars. The six part series began with the one-shot Star Wars: Vader Down #1 and then jumped back and forth between the continuing Star Wars and continuing Star Wars: Darth Vader titles. It was preceded by Star Wars 2: Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon and Star Wars: Darth Vader 2: Shadows and Secrets.
The Star Wars relaunch at Marvel has been pretty fun. I like the two core titles (Star Wars and Star Wars: Darth Vader) and looked forward to the crossover. Though I enjoyed Vader Down for the most part, I also felt it falls into the trap of modern comics.
Star Wars (2) #14
Star Wars: Vader Down doesn’t feel like it has much going on in the long run. You get Luke crashing Vader’s ship in the first issue and then a lot of walking around on the planet. Leia encounters Vader multiple times and runs off. It was a lot of lead-up to this story and then I felt that Aaron was forced to stretch it out to a six issue story when there was really on two or three issues.
I do like how Star Wars is unfolding however. Aaron has the tricky nature of trying to write in the canon of the films while telling original stories. It is rather vague how long of a period of time passes between Star Wars and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, but the comic seems to be covering a lot of time…leading you to wonder what will happen when they catch up to the first sequel.
I do recommend the main Star Wars titles to both comic book readers and fans of the film. The series is fun and does feel like a real extension of the movies. The problem I do have is though Darth Vader is scary, he always seemed somewhat lumbering to me even as a kid. It is interesting to see his character here portrayed as a traditional Jedi with not only Force powers but the skills of a Jedi (which couldn’t be aptly portrayed in the original trilogy). Vader Down does falter a little, but it never falls…down. Star Wars: Vader Down is followed by Star Wars 3: Rebel Jail and Star Wars: Darth Vader 3: The Shu-Torun War.
Related Links:
Star Wars 1: Skywalker Strikes
Star Wars 2: Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon
Star Wars: Darth Vader 1: Vader
Star Wars: Darth Vader 2: Shadows and Secrets
