4.9 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 27 May 2026
⏱️ 149 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Today we begin a journey into the Dark Side as we begin our reading of Marvel's 2015's Darth Vader comic, Written by Kieron Gillen with art by Salvador Larroca! It has a high reputation, not least of which is due to its introduction of the beloved character Doctor Aphra, but can it do what so few attempts to fill in the blank spaces of the films pull off and actually be good on its own merits Let's find out together!
Next Time: Book II: Shadows and Secrets (Vader (2015) issues 7-12)
Show Notes
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| 0:00.0 | Let us return once more to a more civilized age, a Star Wars podcast. I'm Rob Zakney, |
| 0:12.9 | joined by Ali Akampora, Austin Walker, and Natalie Watson. We are, as always, supported by you, |
| 0:18.4 | our listeners by patreon.com slash civilized. So head over there if you'd |
| 0:22.4 | like to support the show and get access to all our Q&A episodes and various other special editions. |
| 0:29.5 | Darth Vader is a tragic everyman. Never really bounced back from a failed relationship. |
| 0:36.3 | Childhood friends. |
| 0:39.8 | Dead or no longer speaking to him. |
| 0:45.4 | Never wants to revisit a shitty hometown, but damned if he doesn't keep ending up back there anyway. |
| 0:48.2 | Has an important job in a huge organization. |
| 0:50.1 | But his boss is an asshole. |
| 0:54.1 | He keeps blaming him for an expensive C-suite obsession that literally exploded. |
| 1:00.8 | Now he's on the outs, trying to find that most elusive thing in corporate life, a successful third act. |
| 1:08.5 | This is where Kieran Gillen's initial 2015 run of the Vader comic series picks up the action in the wake of the destruction of the first Death Star, |
| 1:14.5 | taking ample advantage of the gaps between the Vader we see in a new hope and the one we catch up with and Empire Strikes Back to invent a dramatic arc for the fallen Jedi and a more detailed sketch of imperial politics |
| 1:19.8 | than we ever receive following that first film. Today we're talking about the first six issues, |
| 1:25.6 | each telling a pretty straightforward chapter in the story. |
| 1:30.4 | We begin as we find Vader serving as the fall guy for the Death Star's destruction, treated with impatient contempt by a peevish Palpatine back on Coruscant, who is pointedly removing Vader from the loop on some of Palpatine's pet projects. |
| 1:44.3 | Intercut with this are scenes from Vader's bloody visit to Tatooine where he terrorizes Jabba |
| 1:48.6 | into providing help with Vader's quest to get off the book's intelligence service from |
| 1:53.5 | top bounty hunters. Next, we find Vader subordinated to General Tad. Tad. |
| 2:01.1 | Tad. I think it's Tad. |
| 2:02.0 | Is it Tash? |
... |
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