#Greg Pak Story

[keycomicbooks]

Fallen #1 (2016) Leinil Francis Yu Cover, Mark Bagley Art, Greg Pak Story, 1st Appearance of Skaar as Santos

#TheFallen #1 (2016) #LeinilFrancisYu Cover, #MarkBagley Art, #GregPak Story, 1st Appearance of #Skaar as Santos As a giant falls, friends and enemies alike gather to mourn his passing. #AmadeusCho, #RickJones, #BettyRoss, #ThunderboltRoss, the Warbound and more. Can they all keep a level head - or will some of them get ANGRY? Plus, what secrets lie in the Last Will and Testament of #BruceBanner? https://www.rarecomicbooks.fashionablewebs.com/Fallen.html#1 @rarecomicbooks Website Link In Bio Page If Applicable. SAVE ON SHIPPING COST - NOW AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL PICK UP IN DELTONA, FLORIDA #RareComicBooks #KeyComicBooks #MCU #MarvelComics #MarvelUniverse #KeyComic #ComicBooks

[jewishcissiekj]

Sabé in Darth Vader (2020) #50 - "Destroyer" | Written by Greg Pak with art by Raffaele Ienco and colors by Federico Blee (Cover art by Leinil Francis Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr.)

[karaspal]

so i was js scrolling thru ur page and i wanted to know if you have any good starter comics abt the superfam ?

oh do i have some recs for you, my friend.

i’ve already answered for kara here and made a jon reading guide here.

now onto my boy clark:

superman: birthright - it’s an origin story. great way to get introduced to the superman universe;

superman: the secret years - it’s a more old comics, but still great. revolves around clark’s college years;

superman: kryptonite - clark’s first encounter with kryptonite;

action comics by greg pak - it’s during the new 52 era. you can skip the unnecessary crossovers and just read his individual arcs - “action comics (2011) #25 - 29, 35 - 40”);

superman: man of tomorrow - hero of metropolis - low stakes. slice of life. great vibes. great way to get introduced to a few superman villains;

superman by kurt busiek and geoff johns. reading guide here;

the warworld saga by phillip kennedy johnson. my favourite superman story ever;

superman smashes the klan. it’s a great story.

if you want to read superman comics chronologically, here you can find great starting points.

it’s a bit more complicated with lois because she is a second main character for a lot of clark’s stories, but doesn’t have her own titles very often (which is a shame because she’s great!). you’d get a pretty good idea of who she is from the superman recs, but during 2019, greg rucka wrote a comic with her as the main character - “lois lane (2019)” so i’d recommend checking that out. you can also check “supermans’s pal jimmy olsen (2019)” as well. it doesn’t have lois, but it has jimmy and he’s pretty cool.

note: both kon-el and john henry irons debuted during “reign of the superman” storyline.

as for kon, i haven’t read much of his comics, but he had a solo in the 90s and he’s a prominent member of the young justice comics so i’d recommend checking “superboy (1994)” and “young justice (1998)”. he also had a mini recently - “superboy: the man of tomorrow”.

as for john and nat, john also had an ongoing in the 90s - “steel (1994)”. nat was a main character during “52”. not sure if i’d recommend her story in that one though. but you can check it out and see if you like it. after that, she was in “infinity inc. (2007)” which is a follow up to her 52 storyline and again, not sure how much i recommend it. as far as i know, nat was also in the titans for a bit - “titans (2016) #23 - 36”. i’m yet to read it though so i’m not sure if it’s good. recently, there was a miniseries called “steelworks (2023)” and it was really good. both john and nat are main characters.

lana, same as lois, unfortunately doesn’t have that many solos. she was great during greg pak’s action comics run. and she had a solo during rebirth - “superwoman (2016)” that heavily featured john henry as well.

kenan debuted during the rebirth era and had a solo - “new super-man (2016)” and that’s pretty much it. he also had a two-part back up story in action comics #1058 - 1059 that explained how he joined the family.

as for lois and clark’s kids (that aren’t jon), you’ll find out more about chris during kurt busiek and geoff johns’ era and more about otho and osul during the warworld saga.

that’s all i’ve got. there are more superfamily members, but those are the once i feel confident giving recs for.

[feathered-mushrooms]

Can we talk about the X-men comic “Magneto Testament”?

I had read this early on in my comic journey and I remembered my love and adoration for the story. I decided to pick it up again and I hits just as hard as when I first read it. 

The story itself is Magneto’s origin story, and you can tell the writers took care and did research, both within comics and the real world history of the holocaust to weave together this backstory. In fact the comic does not just end with the story being rapped up, but is followed up with additional comics about real people, specifically the story of Dina Gottliebova, as well as the in-depth page by page breakdown of the authors choices and links/book list of everything they researched for the story and everything they think we should read as well. 

You can tell that Greg Pak, the writer, and Carmine Di Giandomenico, the artist, truly care for the story they are telling and truly care for the recognition and remembrance of these events. And they do it with some of the most haunting  visuals and situations. At multiple points while reading I had to take a break and return to the story due to just how heavy it could be. 

Additionally they made the amazing choice to actually have Erik be virtually powerless during the story. They hint to his mutation multiple times but he has not fully manifested. Leading to another layer of tragedy regarding the fact that a lot of the situations he gets into, could have ended a lot better if he was aware of his mutation. 

They also make the choice to show the evolution of the nazi power in Germany and the story often takes breaks to show time has passed, while filling in the reader in on the historical events that happen during the time switch. It really doesn’t feel like a superhero comic book but more of an educational graphic novel. 

Lastly while the story obviously focuses on Erik, who’s birth name is Max, we learn more about his family and Magda, characters that are often glanced over in comics. And Pak does a really good job with this. While Max’s mom Edie, and sister, Ruth, get little time on the page, we learn of the interesting dynamic between Jackob, Max’s dad, and Erich, Max’s uncle(heavily implied to be Max’s inspiration for his later name). Jackob fought in World War 1 and believes in the good in the world, he believes things can’t truly get bad and that people will listen to the good in their hearts, best seen when he expects a man he saved in the war to help him out. Erich on the other hand can see that Germany is crumbling. It doesn’t help that he is public humiliated and beaten after sleeping with a German woman, but throughout the book he is seen to be the most likely to bend the rules, he becomes a smuggler and does other such things to keep his family alive. 

Sitting here and writing this it almost feels like an early version of Erik and Charles, but nonetheless it becomes evident where Erik got his inspiration from.

On the topic of Magda, I just want to know more about her now. She’s introduced as this girl who Erik has a crush on, and that’s that. But she becomes his reason to live, and proves herself to be capable of doing what she needs to to survive, including laying among dead bodies. Honestly I know we are a Cherik nation but it makes sense why she was his first love and mother to their children. 

Overall it is an amazing comic and I believe some of the most important and stunning stuff that Marvel has made. Please check it out if you can.

[gregpak]

Friends, I’m absolutely thrilled to share an exclusive preview of the first five pages of LAWFUL #1, the first issue of a brand new comic book series written by Greg Pak (hey, that’s me!), drawn by Diego Galindo, colored by Irma Kniivila, and lettered by Simon Bowland - with covers by Qistina Khalidah, Miguel Mercado, and Erica Henderson! LAWFUL #1 hits stores on June 12 — but May 20 is the final order cutoff date for comic shops to order the book from the publisher, BOOM! Studios. So please ask your local comic book shop to preorder the book for you TODAY! LAWFUL tells the story of two young heroes coming of age in a world in which any time you break the rules, you turn a little more into a monster. Check out the FreakSugar interview for more about the series — and feast your eyes on the gorgeous pages below and the covers from Qistina Khalidah, Miguel Mercado, and Erica Henderson! I’ll say it once again — PLEASE do preorder the book with your local comic book shop! An indie book like this depends hugely on preorders, and you can make a huge difference with just one call. Thank you so much!

[keepsmagnetoaway]

X-Men: Magneto Testament 5 (March 2009)

Greg Pak/Carmine Di Giandomenico

The last issue. I honestly don't even know if I recommend this series or not. It's outstandingly good, incredibly accurate and faithful, but it's also a horrible experience, by design.

In this issue, the Sinti/Roma part of the camp is liquidated, though Magda survives: she does this not through Magneto's actions or through some story contrivance but through an extremely specific, true incident of a train being sent to Buchenwald and then back for complicated reasons. The details aren't worth going into here but the point is that once again Greg Pak has rooted this story very deeply in historical fact, and made young Magneto into a powerless bystander, disarming him and us.

There is, then, a sudden and desperate escape at the end, and Max and Magda get away, to live and to fight.

But this, again, is nothing but the pure historical fact. There was a Sonderkommando uprising in the camp, and the comic gives us the details. It is true - we think - that a handful of inmates really did escape this way, though many more died.

And so...yeah. The end.

This really is a comic unlike anything I've read before. I mean, I've read Maus, obviously, and you should too, and this isn't in Maus' league, but to do this in the context of an X-Men comic is stunning. This issue has an epilogue that tells the entirely true story of an artist who was an inmate in Auschwitz, Dina Babbitt, a story I won't go in to here but which is deeply important, and its inclusion here along with a reading list - an actual reading list! - is a further hallmark of how seriously this project was taken.

There is a lot else that could be said about this comic and how it fits into other comics, but it honestly feels absurd to look at this and go "hmmmm, how does Magneto's work in an Auschwitz crematorium inform his decision to work with the Blob?", because that's a question of a totally different moral and narrative universe. In that sense this arguably fails, strictly speaking, as an X-Men comic, but I'm deeply glad to have read it. Then again, I'm also pretty glad to be getting away from it and back to the stupid stuff next.

[stormandforge]

"We had our time. I loved her. I always will. But that's the past."

In X-Force issue #6, Forge finally relegated his relationship with Storm to the past. He'd never done it explicitly before.

It might sound surprising coming from me, but this line made me very, very happy. Specifically because it's Forge who's speaking.

Over the years, many writers have tried to give the Storm/Forge relationship proper closure (after the initial Scott Lobdell fiasco in 1992, I mean. Don't get me started). The last few times this happened, the conclusion was more or less the same: Ororo saying or implying that they'd had their time, but it was over, while Forge reluctantly acquiesced with with his bottom lip quivering. Ororo got to move on; Forge didn't.

[From Uncanny X-Men Annual #1, 2006, written by Chris Claremont. Ororo leaves her relationship with Forge behind in the build-up to her wedding. Forge doesn't stop her, but he clearly isn't ready to let her go either.]

Because he's a much less popular character, no writer cared enough to let him move on. Sure, he had a fling with Mystique immediately after he and Storm broke up, but that was over 20 years ago, and it was never presented as a solid relationship. After that, writers returned to having him pine over Storm again and again.

[Greg Pak's Storm #3, 2015. He tries to get in her pants. She's dating Wolverine.]

[X-Force #9, 2020, by Benjamin Percy and Joshua Cassara. This is in the background of a big panel of the Green Lagoon full of customers, but there's still an effort to make the dynamic very clear in the body language. Forge= still trying and Storm=still not interested.]

You could even argue they used him as a prop for Ororo's other romantic relationships by presenting him as the creepy ex.

[Astonishing X-Men #30, 2009, by Warren Ellis. This arc juxtaposes Storm's marriage to Black Panther with her past relationship with Forge, and considering that he's gone insane at that point, he suffers from the comparison. And he's obviously still obsessed with her.]

[Extraordinary X-Men #6, 2016. In this run Jeff Lemire created a love triangle made up of Storm, Forge and Old Man Logan. Although this takes place 20 years after their breakup, Forge is presented as clingy for some reason, thus making RoLo look like the better option.]

So loving Storm became one of Forge's defining characteristics, like his power or his headband. It also meant he was kept in stasis: a character can't evolve if they're always bound to another.

But now we have the new X-Force, which was pitched as a Forge book from the start, and a writer, Geoff Thorne, who's actually interested in writing Forge. And the best way to make Forge evolve as a character, it pains me to say, is to loosen, if not sever, his ties with Ororo.

By finally saying these words, Forge doesn't just decide to move on from his ex: he breaks free. He becomes his own character. He reclaims power. This is huge.

Does this mean Storm/Forge is over for good? Well, no. He does say he still loves her. His love might just be different from now on, is all. Less all-consuming. Also, it's comics. Nothing is forever and anything can happen.

What it means is that we might get new stories for Forge, instead of constantly going back to Ororo and everything connected to her (like the guilt around the power neutraliser, which he also lets go of in this same issue). That's exciting if you ask me. Ororo herself would be proud. And an independent Forge is so much more worthy of her anyway.

"I always loved you far too much to ever cage you." Forge said this to Ororo in a dreamscape once. It definitely works the other way around, too.

[gffa]

STAR WARS: PHANTOM MENACE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1

GREG PAK (W) • WILL SLINEY (A) • COVER BY PHIL NOTO VARIANT COVER BY MIKE MCKONE • VARIANT COVER BY MATEUS MANHANINI THE PHANTOM MENACE 25TH ANNIVERSARY VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS SPROUSE PLO KOON & BULTAR SWAN MASTER & APPRENTICE VARIANT COVER BY PHIL NOTO

CELEBRATING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PHANTOM MENACE WITH AN ALL-NEW STORY!

Explore the earliest days and secret inner life of ANAKIN SKYWALKER with never-before-seen, revelatory stories set before, after and between the scenes of the classic movie! Featuring the dream of a JEDI, the gift of a TUSKEN RAIDER, the heart of a GUNGAN, the ache of a mother and the horror of a hero! #A NEW SET OF TPM-RELATED STORIES, TOO??? #DANG IT'S GOING TO BE A GOOD MONTH FOR PREQUEL STANS #GIVE ME THE PLO & BULTAR VARIANT COVER ALREADY!!!!

[avengerphobic]

i do love that amadeus shows up in one single little story by greg pak and we really are so back

[misscammiedawn]

okay i need to ask cause im curious, what are your top 5 bruce banner/hulk stories? i have such a hole in my marvel knowledge about them aside from like. cartoons or w/e of him

Oh, this is a pleasant surprise. Thank you for asking.

We'll be quite happy to hear your favorite DC comics in return sometime, so do hit us up.

So, to answer the question. It's on a sliding scale. Hulk is an interesting character because he's the ultimate incarnation of a typical miscommunication fight-to-friends superhero scuffle. His one against Wolverine was the introduction of that character and both Avengers AND Defenders had elements of that in their origins.

Hulk makes for a glue to the Marvel universe because he is always a hero and yet he can always be fighting against other heroes. More often than not he is.

Assume you've checked out our Essay Posts but for us we want to see a story about Hulk explore different aspects of the character. Our favorite authors for him are Peter David, Greg Pak and Al Ewing. We also prefer stories that deal with Bruce's DID.

#1 is and always will be Immortal Hulk. This 50 issue run is so good it briefly outsold Batman. It's horror themed, references the entire lore of the character and is an anti-capitalism anthem. I once saw a shitpost that said that Immortal Hulk is what Mr. Robot would be if the Alderson System decided to just punch capitalism until it stopped. But sincerely it's introspective, it's respectful of DID in a way I've not really seen many other comics get right and Joe says "Trans Rights" (there's also a prominent trans character who resists propaganda/nostalgia based mind control because she's fucking sick of the world telling her what she is supposed to be and she does not look at her childhood as a safe place to retreat to).

#2 Ground Zero by Peter David. This was about the time that PAD was gearing Hulk from the Mantlo era into his soap opera era and in this era he's writing a Gray Hulk who speaks more than the green guy and isn't the hero that everyone would associate with the character. The best part of this arc by far is the depiction of Sam Sterns, The Leader, and why he is a fun and perfect foil for Hulk/Banner. Just a damn good comic. As its its spiritual follow-up a few years later, Countdown.

#3 Joe Fixit/Vegas Arc by Peter David. Right after Ground Zero. Pretty much anything between Joe's introduction in Vegas as an enforcer up until Samson forces the system to merge into a new alter called The Professor. It's soap opera action but it's fun seeing the Hulk/Banner divide from the perspective of Hulk. Usually Banner is the one trying to prevent the transformations and feeling Hulk is ruining his stability and life but here you have Joe living a happy life and Banner being the thing ruining it for him. Made for some interesting stories for a few years. The scene with Betty and Joe laughing together is one of my favorite moments in comic history.

#4 Planet Hulk. Honestly anything in Pak's run is good (I especially liked the Amadeus Cho stuff with Hercules) but Planet Hulk is rightfully held up as the best of the era and gets consistent adaptations (Thor Ragnarok is pretty much Planet Hulk). Hulk being imprisoned by a barbarian race is actually a fairly common story. I can think of 3 times it has happened off the top of my head. He even gets a love interest in 2 of them. But this one is the perfection of that oddly specific formula.

#5 Crossroads. The Bill Mantlo series which pretty much all modern Hulk takes inspiration from knowingly or otherwise. 80s Hulk was a weird time because of the TV show bringing a lot of interest to the character which couldn't translate into the Marvel universe as it stood at the time and that series was able to isolate him out into his little adventures which were fairly isolated and got to be experimental. Also includes the Banner family backstory as well as a symbiotic alien parasite a short while before Spidey had his black suit stuff happen. It's a classic.

Thank you for asking and sincerely ignore everything and just read Immortal Hulk because it's the correct answer.

[docgold13]

Hey me and my friend were talking about Magneto, as we are wont to do. He was saying that the X-Men movie first revealed him to be Jewish. I thought he was a Jewish holocaust survivor since the 80s. I think since God Loves, Man Kills. I already knew that Magneto started out as a generic villain. They added his backstory later. My friend was saying Magneto was revealed to have survived the Holocaust as a Romani person before it was then revealed he was Jewish. I think Claremont wanted to make him Jewish for a while but was worried making a villain Jewish was offensive. I'm so confused about this. Also I've never understood if his name is Max or Erik. Do you know how to navigate these X-Men retcons?

You are correct.  Magneto was first revealed as a Holocaust survivor in the pages of 1981’s Uncanny X-Men No. 150.  Although it was implied that Magneto is Jewish in the issue, the matter was made clear in the subsequent story in Uncanny X-Men no. 161.  

These matters were further explored to in the 1982 Marvel Graphic Novel, X-Men: God Loves Man Kills.

Chris Claremont, who wrote these stories and much of the X-Men tales of the 80’s and 90’s based Magneto on a combination of three figures, Israeli opposition leader Menachem Begin, the Jewish Defense League founder Meir Kahane, and the American civil rights leader Malcolm X.  

Magneto has always been Jewish, although his former wife Magda, was Romani.  Back when Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were Magneto's children (prior to the terrible retconning of this away) their mother was Magda... meaning that the twins were both Romani and Jewish.

Anyways, Magneto's birth name was name Max Eisenhardt and he took on the alias of Erik Lehnsherr to hide aspects of his identity following the second world war.  He referred to himself sometimes as ‘Magnus’ kind of like a ‘mutant name’ (kind of similar to how Malcolm Little changed his name to ‘Malcolm X’ as a means of shedding a surname that was originally that of the white slave-owner).  

While there have been various retcons and variations here and there, The 2014 miniseries, X-Men: Magneto Testament by Greg Pak and Carmine Di Giandomenico serves as the primary basis of Magneto’s backstory as it exists in canon today.  

[keycomicbooks]

Generations Banner Hulk & Totally Awesome Hulk #1 (2017) Jorge Molina Cover, Greg Pak Story, Matteo Buffagni Pencils

#Generations #Banner #Hulk & #TotallyAwesomeHulk #1 (2017) #JorgeMolina Cover, #GregPak Story, #MatteoBuffagni Pencils "The Strongest" #BRUCEBANNER. #AMADEUSCHO. Both have carried the curse of the Hulk. Now they come face-to-face at last - but will they meet as friends or foes? https://www.rarecomicbooks.fashionablewebs.com/Generations%20Banner%20Hulk%20&%20Totally%20Awesome%20Hulk.html#1 @rarecomicbooks Website Link In Bio Page If Applicable. SAVE ON SHIPPING COST - NOW AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL PICK UP IN DELTONA, FLORIDA #RareComicBooks #KeyComicBooks #MCU #MarvelComics #MarvelUniverse #KeyComic #ComicBooks

[smthfunnyidk]

It pisses me whenever anyone who isn’t Greg Pak (looking directly at mark wain fuck you mark) don’t understand the character of Amadeus cho, like just because he is not the molded “shy smart Asian guy” stereotype he suddenly has to be a complete dick who disregards other people

. Like not only are you ignoring actual aspects of his character (this isn’t like a fanon understanding of him he canonically cares so much and values autonomy and fights for the underdog that’s literally. His. Whole. Story.!!) but you’re butchering him bc complex character with annoying traits = worlds biggest douchebag???

Like I love pak in general but esp for creating Amadeus, a character that feels real yk?? It’s so fucking hard to find a character that just has an annoying flaw not some “selflessness will be the end of me” bs like okay he’s annoying so what!! He’s still caring!! He uses his bad parts to do good things!! He’s just a confused kid!!

[the-gershomite]

Star Wars Age of Rebellion: Boba Fett -2019- Marvel Comics

story by Greg Pak

art by Marc Laming

colors by Neeraj Menon

lettering by Travis Lanham

cover artists: Terry & Rachel Dodson

[artbyblastweave]

There were three runs of Darth Vader comics released under the Disney continuity, with the unified concept that each would bridge the uncharted space between two movies, fleshing out how the character development Vader exhibits in each subsequent movie occurred. What I remember happening was that the Kieron Gillen run set between 4 and 5 was great, and the Charles Soule run set between 3 and 4 was great. But the Greg Pak run, set between 5 and 6, was somewhat less compelling to me, because it got drafted into the unenviable project of trying to lay down some groundwork on all the ass-pulled concepts that appeared in episode 9. Ochi the Sith assassin as a major supporting character, Exegol, and so on and so forth. And all of this felt pretty obtrusive, made the run worse at being about Darth Vader's emotional arc (although it was still pretty good at that in the end.) All Disney-canon material released in the episode-6-and-onward time period feels at least a little doomed to become subordinated to the ST sense-making project- IIRC the parts of The Mandalorian which I watched got gnawed upon a little in this way as well, with the references to imperial cloning projects. The prequels had a lot of issues but where they were good it was because they had the exact inverse of this dynamic- a strong-but-underutilized underlying framework for what the setting looked like which was basically plug-and-play for writers to work with, rather than forcing those writers to backfill the basic dynamics at the same time they were trying to tell stories with them. And I also think an awareness of this problem is what fueled the very concept of The High Republic- an editorial exodus to unbroken ground.

[thezeltronboys]

Darth Vader (2020) by Greg Pak

Background

The three main writers of the Darth Vader ongoing comics (ie not a miniseries) at Marvel were Kieron Gillen (2015, 25 issues), Charles Soule (2017, 25 issues), and Greg Pak (2020, 50 issues). Each writer covered a different milieu of genre trappings, time periods, supporting casts, and writing styles.

Gillen's run is about Vader following the events of Episode IV: A New Hope, where he's been knocked down a peg after losing the Battle of Yavin IV and the Death Star. In his pursuit of the X-Wing pilot who destroyed the battle station he uncovers new things about his past, changing the narrative that he tells himself. There's a bit of Imperial military intrigue with Tagge, Inspector Thanoth, and Dr Cylo IV, and a little bit of crossover with the flagship Star Wars comic title written by Jason Aaron. It also got a Gillen-written spin off with the character Doctor Aphra, who continued to support her own solo titles from 2016-2024.

Soule's run was set immediately after the events of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and was a very introspective story where Vader learned to connect his past as Anakin Skywalker with his future as Vader. Flashbacks to scenes from the prequels were cut in, alongside red-colored narration boxes with dramatic prose and darkly re-contextualized quotes from the films. It's a story largely about Anakin building himself up through self-narration.

Greg Pak's Darth Vader

Greg Pak's 2020-2024 run of Darth Vader, set after Episode V: The Empire Strikes back, used double the issues of each individual previous series to cover similar content in wholly different, re-inventive, and additive ways. The Imperial Court element is more present than ever with Sly Moore, Sabe, Mas Amedda, Qi'ra, Palpatine, various Imperial governors, administrators, and military officers double and triple-crossing one another. This run had even more crossover than Gillen/Aaron, with substantial storylines tying into the War of the Bounty Hunters, Crimson Reign, Hidden Empire, and Dark Droids. This is perhaps the closest thing to a book about political intrigue that Marvel Star Wars has had, each event incorporating existing supporting characters in with the line-wide events. "Let the past die, kill it if you have to": Darth Vader and Nostalgia

Where the book really shines is when it plays in a similar space to Charles Soule's run. Much like Soule frequently flashbacked to iconic prequel scenes, Pak has 5 movies' worth of scenes to pull from, and is not shy with reusing the trope-- red-colored narration boxes and all. How Darth Vader structures his own narrative is something this book is extremely concerned with. Nearly every dramatic and/or violent action Vader takes is intercut with a parallel action or quote. Throughout this run, Darth Vader is a perennial loser, regularly getting blasted, dismembered, knocked out, captured, controlled, or outwitted. When he succeeds, the book is unafraid to make him an absolute badass, immediately turning to classic Anakin cockiness and braggadocio. He fails because he is unable to do anything without lingering on a very narrow set of moments in his life. The 5 movies' worth of events are so pivotal to him, that he is unable to do anything but call back to them.

The trajectory of Darth Vader from III->IV is simultaneously a fall from grace and the shaping of grim tyranny: a space Charles Soule effectively plays in. IV->V is about rising from defeat and coming back triumphantly. Kieron Gillen covers that quite clearly. V->VI demonstrates a Vader who goes from victorious to submissive and meek by the time of the latter film. His ascendance only comes when he is willing to move forward and change who he is, rather than wallowing in his misery, rather than letting himself be poisoned by toxic nostalgia.

Greg Pak's run on Darth Vader is simultaneously a thrilling tale of political intrigue, as well as a roadmap for the franchise itself. The past matters, but it cannot be the only foundation upon which future stories are built upon.