Do you know what I love about this Darth Vader book? Kieron Gillen never fails to surprise me. He doesn’t surprise me with how Vader always survives no matter what anyone throws at him. Obviously that’s a given. No, how Gillen surprises me is with what he throws at Vader and that’s truly the joy of this book. (Okay, it’s the second biggest joy of the book. Obviously Aphra and the Murder Bots are the biggest joy.) What’s that saying? It’s not about the destination but rather the journey? It’s perhaps the most apt way I can think of to describe this current Darth Vader arc. We as readers know that Cylo’s attempts to stop Vader are going to fail no matter how many arrogant idiots he throws at him but the payoff… oh man the payoff.

If the ending of this issue doesn’t get people talking, I don’t know what will.

One of the things I’ll definitely miss about this book is when Gillen figuratively steps back and lets Larroca have at it for an entire page or, even better, a full spread. I could stare at the ships and beautifully colored space background pages for ages. Bonus points if the aforementioned page also includes Vader because daaaaaaang.

Aphra Watch 2016: Got to breath easy for one (1) issue

Do you really need to ask if this book gets a strong recommendation from me?

Darth Vader #23: Kieron Gillen/Writer, Salvador Larroca/Artist, Edgar Delgado/Colorist, Joe Caramagna/Letterer, Jordan White/Editor, Heather Antos/Assistant Editor