Star Wars Darth Vader (2017) #9

Writer: Charles Soule
Pencils: Giuseppe Camuncoli
Inks: Daniele Orlandini
Colors: David Curiel
Publishers: Marvel

The new Star Wars Darth Vader series has continually been pretty good. This issue is another nice addition to what this series has done so far.

The issue continues to show a lot of action and is drawn in a way that compliments the action-packed story line. The series is a fun side story within the broad Star Wars universe and will satisfy Star Wars fans of all ages. Darth Vader is such a great character across all Star Wars media and this series is no different so it is nice being able to see another entire series dedicated to him moving through the Dark Side’s system.

To add to the intense character of Darth Vader, this series is also following the Jedi Jocasta Nu, who is definitely intense as well. This issue specifically reminded me that she is a bad-ass who can hold her own in a fight. This ninth issue of this series features two battles, the second being a major battle between Darth Vader and Jocasta Nu. The artwork is fantastic altogether but especially throughout any battle scenes. The details of the characters and surrounding area when fighting and getting hurt is exciting and makes the action feel like it belongs to Star Wars.

What makes the issue not amazing though is that it suffers from being so short. The length is the same as all issues, but what the writer and artist put together doesn’t fit in the limited pages they are given. The battle scenes were great, yes, but at the same time, I don’t feel like this issue carried much substance beyond those fights. Once I got to the last page, I felt like the issue was lacking so much needed story development. I’m sure once put together, I will enjoy it a lot more, but I don’t know that I feel this amount of substance in this issue is the worth the $3.99. People who are much bigger Star Wars fans may feel differently and feel that the artwork is more than enough, but I personally think the collections offer a much better reading experience and is a much better value.