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Star Wars: Darth Vader (2015) (Single Issues)
Shadows and Secrets, Volume 2
Aphra teams up with some bounty hunters to steal from an Imperial shuttle, and Vader is tasked with finding the thieves.
24 pages, Library Binding
First published August 5, 2015
5 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
About the author
Kieron Gillen
1,456 books1,897 followersKieron Gillen is a comic book writer and former media journalist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 3, 2025
Been reading this even before I fell asleep.
As usual nailed it.
Something I don't like though, that investigator seems like an honorable man, and he will get killed or something because he is in the way of Vader's plans.
But is there honor serving under an evil empire?!
As usual nailed it.
Something I don't like though, that investigator seems like an honorable man, and he will get killed or something because he is in the way of Vader's plans.
But is there honor serving under an evil empire?!
July 23, 2017
Yes Aphra, you are cool as hell!
And I thought I lost my faith to Aphra (and the series as a whole), the archeaologist is cool again! Gillen sure does not leave us with bad feelings for a long time. In this issue, we see how Vader is hell-bent in pursuing his own agenda, even under the shadows of the Empire.
I always find it entertaining whenever Vader and Tagge have this word and wits war against each other. Just when you thought that the other one has outran the other, this other one cathches up to even the odds. Then there's this investigator Thanoth (haha, Thanoth!). I wonder how will Vader can move now under the eyes of his new adjutant.
And I thought I lost my faith to Aphra (and the series as a whole), the archeaologist is cool again! Gillen sure does not leave us with bad feelings for a long time. In this issue, we see how Vader is hell-bent in pursuing his own agenda, even under the shadows of the Empire.
I always find it entertaining whenever Vader and Tagge have this word and wits war against each other. Just when you thought that the other one has outran the other, this other one cathches up to even the odds. Then there's this investigator Thanoth (haha, Thanoth!). I wonder how will Vader can move now under the eyes of his new adjutant.
June 17, 2016
In this issue we find out just what Lord Vader had in mind for Aphra. The Dark Lord has managed to steal a great deal of money from an Imperial transport. The Empire assigns an ace investigator to accompany Vader to investigate this very crime.
As usual Vader is darkly funny without meaning to be. The ever looming constant threat of death when working with the man is palpable.
On top of this we see the Emperor's other "projects" looking for a suitable replacement for Lord Vader, in lieu of the failure at the Death Star. These genetically enhanced proto-Force operatives are deemed an abomination by Vader, but the time is not yet to show who the true apprentice is. This comic is a must read for any Vader fan.
As usual Vader is darkly funny without meaning to be. The ever looming constant threat of death when working with the man is palpable.
On top of this we see the Emperor's other "projects" looking for a suitable replacement for Lord Vader, in lieu of the failure at the Death Star. These genetically enhanced proto-Force operatives are deemed an abomination by Vader, but the time is not yet to show who the true apprentice is. This comic is a must read for any Vader fan.
August 30, 2015
Bounty hunters are a major love of mine within the Star Wars Universe, so I was happy to have an issue that focused primarily on them.
May 30, 2018
In the search for his son, Vader enlists the help of a droid archaeologist who happens to find side work with a band of bounty hunters to steal a bunch of credits from an Imperial ship Vader is ostensibly tagged to protect.
Hmmmm....
Hmmmm....
August 7, 2015
When we last saw Aphra and the bounty hunters, they were planning a Star Destroyer heist. At the beginning of this issue, they find it flying by Anthan Prime. After Aphra mentions an asteroid belt, she humorously requests that someone say something about it. 0-0-0 obliges, asking, "What asteroid belt?" In a really cool moment, Aphra detonates an explosive on an asteroid that breaks it up into a whole storm of asteroids crashing into the Star Destroyer. The bounty hunters successfully steal the fortune, and it is surprising that none of them die. The even bigger surprise is that Black Krrsantan has a larger share that has been hidden on Anthan 13 from the other bounty hunters so that he may have more and so that Aphra and Vader may use it as finances to hire the bounty hunters again in the future for further jobs that would advance Vader's agenda. Aphra also promises to help "Santy" find the people responsible for cutting him. Remarks such as this show readers that there is much more going on that has yet to be revealed. Only time will tell when the cards will be dealt. Though brief, one could argue that this heist is a more exciting Ocean's Eleven style Star Wars story than the novel Star Wars: Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn.
The page following this scene shows panels of dead imperial forces on Mygeeto, Son-Tuul, and Anthan 14. According to Grand General Tagge, this is the work of a resisting organization known as the Plasma Devils. In my mind, I imagine that they are more extreme and intimidating than the Rebel Alliance, so I cannot wait to see them. The Astarte twins are assigned to find the Plasma Devils, much to the chagrin of General Karbin, who is assigned to kill the pilot who destroyed the Death Star. (That is such a mouthful. It is Luke Skywalker, but only Vader knows his name, hence why I wrote that all out. Can't they give him a nickname in the meantime?) Vader is angered by this, and he retorts that he wants to deal with the pilot personally and deliver him to Emperor Palpatine alive. Tulon also wants to deal with the pilot, and it seems as if she wants to avenge casualties of the Death Star's destruction. It makes me wonder whether or not she had romantic feelings for one of those "brilliant minds." Perhaps Tarkin? Speaking of which, Tagge introduces introduces Vader to Inspector Thanoth, who seems to be as perceptive as Tarkin, Sherlock Holmes analog in a bit of the James Luceno novel. Unlike Tarkin, however, he does not seem to be completely on Vader's side. Vader has been assigned to punish whoever stole the fortune from the Star Destroyer, and Thanoth is there to assist him on Palpatine's command. Thanoth points out that he is not incompetent like other imperial forces, even deducing that Vader was on Anthan 13 the previous day since his armor has dust from there that would normally disappear in 24 hours. Not only that, but Thanoth has a really cool look, what with his facial hair style and monocle. I look forward to seeing more of these two characters butting heads.
Unlike Jason Aaron's Star Wars series, Kieron Gillen's Darth Vader series really goes out of its way introducing new characters. And it has to since this series has a smaller use of film characters at its disposal than Aaron's series. Some of these new characters have been remixes of templates for familiar characters. While copies such as Beebox (short Boba Fett), IG-90 (IG-88 with a different color and number) and General Karbin (Ackbar's head on Grievous' body) are questionable Black Krrsantan (bounty hunter Chewbacca), BT-1 (homicidal R2-D2), 0-0-0 (sadistic C-3PO), and Thanoth (new Sherlockian imperial) fare very well. This issue is a great setup for whatever else may be arriving in this arc, or even beyond.
The page following this scene shows panels of dead imperial forces on Mygeeto, Son-Tuul, and Anthan 14. According to Grand General Tagge, this is the work of a resisting organization known as the Plasma Devils. In my mind, I imagine that they are more extreme and intimidating than the Rebel Alliance, so I cannot wait to see them. The Astarte twins are assigned to find the Plasma Devils, much to the chagrin of General Karbin, who is assigned to kill the pilot who destroyed the Death Star. (That is such a mouthful. It is Luke Skywalker, but only Vader knows his name, hence why I wrote that all out. Can't they give him a nickname in the meantime?) Vader is angered by this, and he retorts that he wants to deal with the pilot personally and deliver him to Emperor Palpatine alive. Tulon also wants to deal with the pilot, and it seems as if she wants to avenge casualties of the Death Star's destruction. It makes me wonder whether or not she had romantic feelings for one of those "brilliant minds." Perhaps Tarkin? Speaking of which, Tagge introduces introduces Vader to Inspector Thanoth, who seems to be as perceptive as Tarkin, Sherlock Holmes analog in a bit of the James Luceno novel. Unlike Tarkin, however, he does not seem to be completely on Vader's side. Vader has been assigned to punish whoever stole the fortune from the Star Destroyer, and Thanoth is there to assist him on Palpatine's command. Thanoth points out that he is not incompetent like other imperial forces, even deducing that Vader was on Anthan 13 the previous day since his armor has dust from there that would normally disappear in 24 hours. Not only that, but Thanoth has a really cool look, what with his facial hair style and monocle. I look forward to seeing more of these two characters butting heads.
Unlike Jason Aaron's Star Wars series, Kieron Gillen's Darth Vader series really goes out of its way introducing new characters. And it has to since this series has a smaller use of film characters at its disposal than Aaron's series. Some of these new characters have been remixes of templates for familiar characters. While copies such as Beebox (short Boba Fett), IG-90 (IG-88 with a different color and number) and General Karbin (Ackbar's head on Grievous' body) are questionable Black Krrsantan (bounty hunter Chewbacca), BT-1 (homicidal R2-D2), 0-0-0 (sadistic C-3PO), and Thanoth (new Sherlockian imperial) fare very well. This issue is a great setup for whatever else may be arriving in this arc, or even beyond.
August 14, 2015
Ah. Darth Vader. Started off so good, but now it fails to entertain me. Main reason being, that Aphra character (or what's her name) as you can see I don't even pay attention anymore... nope. I just don't wanna read about a random boring character, give me Darth Vader, that's what the series' title is, right? Well then, tell me a story about Vader and not a random thief-hacker-whatever-her-deal-is.. I didn't like it. Especially when Vader appears like what? In 2 pages? Last pages? Nope. I don't want that. But.. will continue to read the series. Just hope it gets better.
August 16, 2015
Aphra continues to be an excellent addition to this series because she helps things move along so Darth Vader does not break character. He can be in the background, playing with his pawns, and instead we focus on her doing his work. Or whatever work she decides she is doing. The duplicitous nature of everyone goes hand-in-hand with the type of characters these all are, though I'm waiting for there to be more to this heist than we saw.
August 17, 2015
This continues to be good stuff.
November 4, 2020
La primera vez que leí este arco argumental quedé tan enamorado que le hubiera puesto siete estrellas, pero ahora que o he vuelto a leer, a pesar de la madurez de la historia, a pesar de contar con el mejor personaje del universo expandido, la Doctora Aphra, a pesar de contar con uno de los mejores tándems de la serie, Vader-Thanoth, al leerla ahora, no sé, es como si me faltara algo ya en ese inicio de trama. Veremos los siguientes números.
September 30, 2022
Bounty Hunter heist fun with Doctor Aphra and crew!
As for Lord Vader, he basically returns back to town in this issue to repair, sell items, turn-in/receive quests. Next episode, he'll get back to the grind I'm sure.
Really enjoying these comics. I am however looking forward to catching up here, so I can jump back over to the main 75-issue spread Star Wars main comic line. I believe issue #13 here is my target objective to achieve that, then I can head back over there.
As for Lord Vader, he basically returns back to town in this issue to repair, sell items, turn-in/receive quests. Next episode, he'll get back to the grind I'm sure.
Really enjoying these comics. I am however looking forward to catching up here, so I can jump back over to the main 75-issue spread Star Wars main comic line. I believe issue #13 here is my target objective to achieve that, then I can head back over there.
January 28, 2018
I'm enjoying the continuing work of Aphra and Vader. The heist was interesting and fun. Good to see Bossk still being used in the new canon. I'm still not really sold on Vader being an underling to Tagge like he was to Tarkin in ANH. Especially since Tagge seems so far beneath Tarkin even.
July 26, 2017
I'm totally hooked on this series. Must read
August 6, 2017
Cool heist
November 7, 2017
#8 - “We're in this together. Cross three bounty hunters? Sure. Four? Even I'm not that suicidal.” - Dr Aphra
January 5, 2019
Buen arco.
February 6, 2021
Inspector Thanoth dresses exactly like a stereotypical Sherlock Holmes, I love it 😂
July 19, 2023
Fun heist!
October 12, 2015
This was an amazing issue and if not for a lull towards the middle, might have been my favorite of the year.
We start with a really good heist story for the first half with the evil counterparts to R2-D2 and C-3PO, Bossk, IG-88, and a counterpart to Chewbacca.
That was allot of fun.
We have a dip in the middle where Vader's "boss" pisses him off once again.
Then, we have a really cool setup ending where Vader is given his new go between. A crafty old detective who could make his life extremely difficult as they investigate the theft orchestrated by the team that he hired.
Man, this book just keeps on coming and the art is good too.
I'm so excited to see where things go.
We start with a really good heist story for the first half with the evil counterparts to R2-D2 and C-3PO, Bossk, IG-88, and a counterpart to Chewbacca.
That was allot of fun.
We have a dip in the middle where Vader's "boss" pisses him off once again.
Then, we have a really cool setup ending where Vader is given his new go between. A crafty old detective who could make his life extremely difficult as they investigate the theft orchestrated by the team that he hired.
Man, this book just keeps on coming and the art is good too.
I'm so excited to see where things go.
April 5, 2016
Another brilliant heist pulled off by Dr. Aphra and her band of bounty hunters! I'm a sucker for a good heist, so this hit me in a good place. Love to see an intricate plan work out!
But is Tagge onto Vader and his side missions? Tagge shackles Vader with a new investigator attache that just might be everyone's undoing!
Lots of intriguing things going on in this book with many memoriable and fun characters!
But is Tagge onto Vader and his side missions? Tagge shackles Vader with a new investigator attache that just might be everyone's undoing!
Lots of intriguing things going on in this book with many memoriable and fun characters!
December 22, 2015
- I have major cover love for this issue!
- I'm still not positive on what is going on, but Vader is in BIG trouble!
- I thought this series would be about Vader trying to track down Luke and the other rebels, but it is more about the volatile relationship between Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. It is really interesting.
- I'm still not positive on what is going on, but Vader is in BIG trouble!
- I thought this series would be about Vader trying to track down Luke and the other rebels, but it is more about the volatile relationship between Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. It is really interesting.
August 6, 2015
Ok, I'm trying to keep up with all that's going on but the mounting duplicity among all of the characters is dizzying.
August 22, 2015
Another minimal action story building issue… I really hope this is going somewhere more interesting.
December 22, 2016
Es bastante chiva que pongan a Vader en situaciones adonde no pueda pelear para solucionar todo, sino que tenga que ser más sagaz que sus contendientes para ganar terreno en la política del imperio.
August 26, 2015
I don't know why, but I find this series to be the most boring of all the marvel comic books.
December 24, 2015
artwork 4
story 4
story 4
Read
March 22, 2016Another One.
April 18, 2017
Covering an interesting period of time for Darth Vader, this series is a great addition to the Star Wars universe. The art is beautifully drawn and the characters are authentic to their established personalities and to the Star Wars canon.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews