Darth Vader (2020) #4 Review
Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Raffaele Ienco
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel
This week's Marvel Star Wars release was Darth Vader #4, the latest installment in Greg Pak's new ongoing run dedicated to the character. After a journey through relics of his past, Vader has finally found the people he deems responsible for his son's upbringing. Now, he must dole out the revenge he craves and seek further answers.
The series continues to surprise me with the places it pulls from, going further than I would have expected. This issue was the first time in the series' run so far that I think it started teetering on too much unearned fanservice. It didn't take me out of the story yet, but it was starting to get noticeable and I'm starting to be glad that this story arc is only really five issues long so it doesn't have the potential to go too much further.
The story keeps pushing Vader in interesting and poignant ways. This issue went by pretty quick and was largely action-based but it still got in a couple of very memorable character moments. The next issue seems like it's going to be the opposite and focus more on the character stuff, so I think I'll enjoy it even more than I enjoyed this one.
Ianco's art is as good as ever (I'm glad that he'll be staying on the series past this arc). I particularly like how flashbacks are interspersed with the action to emphasize what is going through Vader's head as it all happens and show how he might be a bit more off his game than usual. Film moments are recreated in striking and powerful ways to highlight the parallels with the events of this story.
I would never have expected to say this six months ago but it's very possible, depending on how the rest of this arc and future arcs go for all of the series, that this series is my favorite out of the current Marvel Star Wars lineup. I'm very happy to be back to a weekly schedule on Star Wars comics and I'm glad there are only a few weeks until the next installment in this series. I have no idea how this story will wrap up and I'm excited to find out.
Artist: Raffaele Ienco
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel
This week's Marvel Star Wars release was Darth Vader #4, the latest installment in Greg Pak's new ongoing run dedicated to the character. After a journey through relics of his past, Vader has finally found the people he deems responsible for his son's upbringing. Now, he must dole out the revenge he craves and seek further answers.
The series continues to surprise me with the places it pulls from, going further than I would have expected. This issue was the first time in the series' run so far that I think it started teetering on too much unearned fanservice. It didn't take me out of the story yet, but it was starting to get noticeable and I'm starting to be glad that this story arc is only really five issues long so it doesn't have the potential to go too much further.
The story keeps pushing Vader in interesting and poignant ways. This issue went by pretty quick and was largely action-based but it still got in a couple of very memorable character moments. The next issue seems like it's going to be the opposite and focus more on the character stuff, so I think I'll enjoy it even more than I enjoyed this one.
Ianco's art is as good as ever (I'm glad that he'll be staying on the series past this arc). I particularly like how flashbacks are interspersed with the action to emphasize what is going through Vader's head as it all happens and show how he might be a bit more off his game than usual. Film moments are recreated in striking and powerful ways to highlight the parallels with the events of this story.
I would never have expected to say this six months ago but it's very possible, depending on how the rest of this arc and future arcs go for all of the series, that this series is my favorite out of the current Marvel Star Wars lineup. I'm very happy to be back to a weekly schedule on Star Wars comics and I'm glad there are only a few weeks until the next installment in this series. I have no idea how this story will wrap up and I'm excited to find out.
A Look Inside
