While we think of Star Wars mainly in its battles between Rebels and the Empire, it’s so much more. The world features so many genres within and some are used more than others. Star Wars: Target Vader #1 shifts from the space opera to more of a crime story focus.
Written by Robbie Thompson, Star Wars: Target Vader #1 has Vader and Palpatine attempting to stamp out a crime syndicate running guns for the Rebels. Business is good though, and the crime syndicate has a mission too. Hire bounty hunters to take out Vader first.
Thompson delivers the first issue as a complete set up of what’s to come. That includes a trope-filled part where we’re introduced to our bounty hunters. You can imagine the movie screen pausing as the bounty hunter’s name pops up and a voice, or lettering, takes you through what they’re known for. That all helps create a different pace than we’d normally expect for a Star Wars story. The beats feel more like a heist story than what we’ve seen in the past.
The personalities make the comic interesting. While the excitement is a bit muted, we get a taste of just how dysfunctional this group will be. It gets you interested in what’s to come.
The art by Marc Laming and Cris Bolson (and a load of colorists) is pretty solid. There’s a nice shift from the normal humans as far as characters and the bounty hunters are varied in style and look. It helps create a ragtag bunch. What’s also nice is there’s enough design at times that characters are familiar. An example is a Jedi hunting droid who will remind you of a past character. Even with similar attributes the character is unique. But, due to the familiarity there’s a built up expectation as far as what the character will be like.
While the issue doesn’t totally excite, it’s more than enough to get you to come back. There’s something fun about Target Vader. It has a style and voice that feels different than what we’ve seen so many times before. It delivers a new reading experience for an established franchise. This is one to check out for Star Wars fans or just comic readers.
Story: Robbie Thompson Art: Marc Laming, Cris Bolson
Color: Neeraj Menon, Jordan Boyd, Andres Mossa, Federico Blee, Erick Arciniega
Letters: Clayton Cowles
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
