Review of Darth Vader #8 – Book II, Part II Shadows and Secrets

Darth Vader #8

Everyone knows the theme to the evil Sith Lord Darth Vader! Between my reviews of #4 and #5 of the Vader series, I nearly lost faith. Then issue #6 came, and renewed my faith. So we are now at Issue #8 and there seems to be a power struggle within the ranks of The Empire. Also Vader is tasked with figuring out who stole the fortune! Here’s my spoiler free review of Darth Vader #8!

I know my Darth Vader reviews have been sporadic at best recently. It hasn’t been because of a lack of interest in the series. It is moreso my lack of motivation to do much of anything. But I’m back and ready to give Lord Vader and his creative team the praise they deserve! First off look at that cover!!! The characters all look so damn impressive!!!! Gillen, Larroca, and Delgado are all really bringing their A-game as per usual.

Writing: 

Kieron Gillen is bringing it to a galaxy far far away as usual. The story here is two-fold. The first half is Aphra, the Droids, and others stealing a fortune. After that the story revolves around Vader and him looking into who stole the Empire’s money. OK Gold, but you get the point. Really enjoyed the way Gillen structured this issue’s story. The pacing is right on target. Between Aphra’s mission in the beginning, the politics of who will handle what mission later with Tagge and Vader… This issue really has it all. There’s so much going on! I love how Aphra gives out the orders, and how her teams react to them.

As we continue on through the issue, I was really hoping for a bit more than what we got. Don’t get me wrong I really dug the entire story, but I was hoping for more of Vader thinking about the rebel pilot that defeated him. however what we get here is just fine. What is interesting in this series is seeing how Vader will react to Grand General Tagge. Because in the beginning of the series Vader didn’t have good reactions to the “orders” he was being given. However now I always wonder when will the day come where Vader just doesn’t tolerate Tagge anymore. There is whole lot going with this story here, but I’m trying not to spoil it. Honestly though the art is really driving the story more so than the writing. I say that not to be negative towards Keiron Gillen’s writing, but I found myself looking at the art more, when I went back to re read this issue in order to write this review.

Art:

Larroca just keeps jumping over the bar he sets every issue. Even though back in issues 4-5 I had problems with the story. I have NEVER had an issue with the art on this series. Backgrounds, colors, action shots, character images, all are done with such attention and care. Larroca’s pencils have been sharp as nails since issue #1, and Delgado’s colors are brilliant. Look at the shots of Vader above and below. you cannot tell me that those images do not inspire your flee instinct! BeeTee’s flight was great as well, although I wanna see more of him and Triple Zero! We need an in between issue where they get an origin. I know that’s more of a story note, rather than art. However I just had to say it here. In previous issues we have seen Larroca and Delgado really shine the light on the darkness of the droids, but I want more!

Final Thoughts:

Overall issue #8 of Darth Vader has me constantly wondering when will they really do something to make me mad? I mean this creative team really is firing on all cylinders. Vader’s missions seem to be leading somewhere, and I can’t wait to see where they take us!  Looking forward to issue #9 and seeing where the story goes! You can get Darth Vader #7 from Comixology digitally or any of your local comic shops!