Star Wars: Darth Vader #15

Darth Vader #15 and the Vader Down event series overall stands tall as one of the best Star Wars stories ever told, especially if you only enjoyed Force Awakens rather than being blown away by it. The action is stunning with brilliant uses of the force and a true sense of dread and malice all informed by the kind of raw and honest emotions you find in life during war times. More than that, the small scale, character focus, and lack of continuity shake-ups makes this easily the best event comic Marvel has done since Siege. Its Star Wars done right and its comics done right. Read Full Review

Anyway, this comic has definitely been one of my favorites, and Im really enjoying it more as time goes on (though I sort of miss seeing the Grand Inquisitor, I hope he pops back up again). For anyone who hasnt read it, I definitely suggest you do. Read Full Review

A strong finale to the "Vader Down" arc, Darth Vader #15 not only wraps things up nicely, but sews the seeds for some compelling stories moving forward within this series as well as the main Star Wars series. Also, could there be a subtle tie to the events of The Force Awakens and beyond? Read Full Review

A good conclusion to the first Star Wars crossover series from Marvel. This issue wraps things up nicely, with strong visuals. Worth adding to your collection if you're a fan. Read Full Review

Problematic as elements of this installment are, and especially as a closing chapter to the arc, the Darth Vader series still manages to perform strongly. Gillen's script works the events as best as he can to get to the desired if lackluster goals that set up for what's next. I definitely enjoyed seeing Larroca getting time to work with more of the core cast in bringing them to life and it seemed like he had fun really working their designs. But I'm also eager to see him getting back to new creations and explorations within this series. I have no idea where the book is intending to go next – even though we know the main beats of the larger story of the character – and that's exciting because it's a wide open galaxy of material. Hopefully the next Star Wars event will have a little more meat to its meaning. Read Full Review

This issue has some awesome moments. There's two pages in particular that reiterate how much of a bad-ass Darth Vader is, which seems to be the point of the series. A fitting ending, though it doesn't look like a lot has changed from it. Read Full Review

Instead, while individual moments from the story, like Vader single-handedly dispatching wave after wave of Rebel troops, or Triple Zero cosplaying as Threepio, or Chewbacca living up to his hype by ripping off Triple Zero's arms, or even Leia quietly accepting that her friends mean more to her than killing Vader, will long be remembered, “Vader Down” as a whole seems more likely to fade away. Read Full Review

All of the factors contributing to the popularity of Boba Fett, Captain Phasma, and Darth Maul, Vader has in equal measure. Hes got the masked man of mystery vibe of the former two, mixed with the ebon-clad warrior motif of the latter. Even were he as inactive and ineffectual as they, hed still hail among the most icon villains of popular culture. But Vader is ruthless and relentless, the intimidation he exudes punctuated by definitive displays of death and destruction, more so than ever here in Vader Down. Every bit as much as the movies themselves, Vader Down stands as a testament to the characters well justified popularity with fans and film-goers alike. Read Full Review

'Vader Down' ends in a satisfying way with most of the conflicts. I can't say Leia's actions or how our heroes make it out is very interesting though. Read Full Review

Darth Vader #15 brings the explosive Vader Down crossover to a fitting conclusion, with the creative team giving us plenty of enticing developments along the way. This is however hindered slightly by a slow ending, that seems more focused on tying up loose ends than giving us something dramatic. Read Full Review

The problem is, the story is all tease and no please. There's no payoff to any of the storylines at play here, and the writers are forced to play around anything really interesting in order to preserve stories that must play out and resolve elsewhere. It's frustrating and not remotely satisfying. Hopefully Marvel learns their lessons with VADER DOWN and goes in a different direction with the (inevitable) next STAR WARS event. In comics, there's always another. Read Full Review

Marvel's "Vader Down" crossover ends with more of a thud than a bang. The problem with this storyline all along is that the fun character confrontations and general spectacle haven't entirely made up for the lack of a deeper plot. Read Full Review

With the arc being at only the halfway point, the journey might end up being satisfying, though this issue left us with a bad taste in our mouths. Read Full Review

Zeitgeist

Jul 13, 2017

Really loved the issue. Great fights and nice art!

The Villain

Sep 28, 2016

Weakest issue of the crossover which also happens to be the last one. It seems like they could've used another issue to wrap this up a little nicer. I still really enjoy it. I felt like Vader's foe didn't really need to be involved in this story and Luke's capture just didn't feel necessary. Its still a very great story. I just wish it could've resolved itself on a higher note.

Storm Winterfyre

Mar 21, 2020

Writing-C+ Art-A Story-C- Verdict-B-

samizrozami

Apr 18, 2025

Okayish arc

JBL Reviews

Jan 09, 2016

Part 6 of 6, but not a great ending