Star Wars: Legacy Of Vader #1 - Marvel Comics

STAR WARS: LEGACY OF VADER No. 1, February 2025

Set shortly after the events of Rian Johnson’s somewhat contentious 2017 science fiction flick “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”, Charles Soule’s narrative for this twenty-five page periodical probably struck many readers as a somewhat sedentary, surprisingly lack-lustre affair, which focuses far too much upon Kylon Ren’s inner demons and paranoia. Indeed, very little actually happens in this comic until Darth Vader’s grandson suddenly decides to pay an unexpected trip to Mustafar, and encounters the primitively armed Alazmec of Winsit; “There’s still more to do. More has to die. I’ll start with you.”

Unfortunately though, even this short-lived action sequence isn’t really all that dramatic, due to Ben Solo’s deeply dark-hearted alter-ego easily besting his much smaller opponents with a series of wild light-sabre swings. True, one of the Sith cultists does manage to get his spear-point under the over-confident warrior’s guard and cause the (newly-installed) Supreme Leader of the First Order a moment of discomfort. But apart from a single drop of blood, the wound debatably doesn’t appear to cause Ren much of a problem – at least not to the point where anyone in the audience would feel that the character was actually in any jeopardy.

In fact, for much of this book its American author repeatedly attempts to project the supposed “hereditary Prince of Alderaan” as being an all-powerful force-user, who gratuitously presents the disembowelled corpse of Snoke before his stormtroopers as if it were some sort of prize which he’d won in battle, as opposed to the body of an honoured mentor treacherously slain in his own throne room. This air of omnipotence may well successfully thicken the atmosphere in Kylo’s quarters when he repeatedly berates Hux for daring to think/act without his commander’s permission. However, it also means that Soule’s storyline needs to conjure up some pretty formidable foes for the Master of the Knights of Ren to face in close combat, and frankly a gaggle of diminutive aliens carrying medieval-looking weapons just doesn’t cut it.

Far more successful than this publication’s penmanship is Luke Ross’ layouts, which do a cracking job in imbuing Ren with all the insanely immature mannerisms actor Adam Driver demonstrated on the big screen. There is a genuinely palpable sense of dread emanating from anyone in close proximity to the former Jedi Padawan, and this helps enormously in selling a predominantly dialogue-driven script.

The regular cover art of "STAR WARS: LEGACY OF VADER" #1 by Derrick Chew