#them in the Darth Vader 2020 comics

[mayxthexforce]

@corruptedforce

Ok listen we NEED to talk about your girlfriend. I know you’re doomed by the narrative and all, but she keeps defying the will of fate with her vain and ever more desperate attempts to save you. It’s SERIOUSLY going to rend the fabric of space-time if she keeps this up. I’m not even joking. We’re all going to end up in a closed loop of decaying reality if—it’s not cute, stop laughing!!

[comebackali]

Darth Vader (2020) Issue #15

i love him sm he's so blob shaped and ominous and cryptic and creepy. he makes me *gulp* too ❤️

[jewishcissiekj]

wondered why my Star Wars file was 50 FUCKING GIGABYTES and then 25 gigabytes of Star Wars comics, 10 gigabytes of Star Wars books/pdfs and 10 gigabytes of Star Wars Insider scans stared at me like this

[intermundia]

Hey Will!

You seem to be very well-versed in the Star Wars books, and I was wondering if you could recommend essential reading as regards Obi-Wan and Anakin’s relationship (or character studies of them in general)? We all know about the ROTS novelization, but I was wondering what else you would recommend?

Any other prequel era book recs would be welcomed as well!

Apologies if you’ve already posted about this!

Obi-Wan and/or Anakin:

Legacy of the Jedi 📖🔰📙

Jedi Apprentice series 📖🔰📙

The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi 📖🔰📙

Padawan 📖🔰📗💙

Star Wars: Republic: The Stark Hyperspace War 💥📙

Master & Apprentice 📖📗

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan: The Aurorient Express 💥📙

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan: Last Stand on Ord Mantell 💥📙

Cloak of Deception 📖📙

Star Wars: Obi-Wan 💥📗

Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace novelization 📖📕

Rogue Planet 📖📙💙

Jedi Quest series 📖🔰📙

Star Wars: Obi-Wan and Anakin 💥📗💙

The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader 📖🔰📙

Age of Republic - Obi-Wan Kenobi 1 💥📗

The Approaching Storm 📖📙

Star Wars (2020) #25: "the Lesson (Obi-Wan & Anakin)*"💥📗

Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones novelization 📖📕

Star Wars: Republic: The Battle of Jabiim 💥📙💙

Brotherhood 📖📗

Age of Republic - Anakin Skywalker 1 💥📗

Star Wars: The Clone Wars novelization 📖📙

The Clone Wars: Wild Space 📖📙💙

Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth 📖📙

Clone Wars Gambit: Siege 📖📙

Star Wars: Republic: Dreadnaughts of Rendili 💥📙

Secrets of the Jedi 📖🔰📙

Jedi Trial 📖📙

Labyrinth of Evil 📖📙

Dark Disciple 📖📗

Star Wars: Obsession💥📙💙

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith novelization 📖📕💙

Star Wars: Darth Vader (2017) 💥📗💙

Kenobi 📖📙

Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader 📖📙

Lords of the Sith 📖📗

Thrawn: Alliances 📖📗

Star Wars: A New Hope novelization 📖📕

Star Wars (2015) 💥📗

Star Wars: Darth Vader (2015) 💥📗💙

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novelization 📖📕

Star Wars (2020) 💥📗

Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) 💥📗

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novelization 📖📕

📖 = book 💥 = comic 🔰 = YA 📙 = legends 📕 = quasi-canon (novelizations only canon when they line up with the films) 📗 = canon 💙 = favorite or essential imho

this list is not at all comprehensive, but merely the ones that i have found to be good sources for both/either characters as i've explored the lore over time!! they are not all of equal credibility, with legends and YA novels being less vivid in the mind than the canon ones. i'm listing so many because i like so many, but this is hopefully not intimidating as much as it is a full buffet for you to choose from!!!

also: 💙 Darth Plagueis 💙 it's not about the Team, but it is a phenomenal worldbuilding book for the prequels in general

<!--also also: the tv shows and movies are the most important sources for the characters, more important than the written word: the prequel films and the original trilogy, the clone wars movie, the kenobi show, the 2008 clone wars tv show, some rebels, (and then the legends 2003 clone wars tv show) are best sources for them. it’s a lot to watch but it's the most accurate representation of who they are!--->

[armoralor]

Ah yes my favorite Star Wars lesbians

[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.

[tranakin-skywalker]

20, 21, 22 for anakin for the ask game?

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

I feel like Obi-Wan is the easy answer here (doesn't mean it's not true though, two halves of a whole warrior- yadayada. They are so mentally ill about each other but separate them and everything breaks)

Goddamn this is a lot harder to answer than I thought it would be. The problem with Anakin is he doesn't really have friends. He'd got people he's friendly with, certainly, but those seem more like familiar acquaintances than real friendships. Anakin jumps straight over the friendship stage and right into insane codependent batshittery. There is no in-between. If you're going to be buds with Anakin Skywalker you have to be chill with him dropping the fact that he will gladly burn down the entire galaxy for you into casual conversation. That's not a thing for the faint of heart.

Now that I think about it though, Anakin and Sabe as BBFs would be really fun (I am maybe feeling shrimp emotions over the 2020 Darth Vader comics. Just a bit.) Canon gave them a rocky reintroduction but I think if Sabe had been brought in on the whole secret marriage thing, she and Anakin could have really hit it off.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

I don't think this is something that's really shown up in anything I've published yet, but I think it's really really fun to make Anakin do domestic stuff, because there is something just so off about it. He is entirely incapable of doing Normal People things because of his general Everything. Like, I don't think this is a guy capable of doing normal housecleaning. Instead, he is going on a 3 am spiral deep cleaning the bathroom floor with an old toothbrush because he did something that his poor hell brain interprets as some great moral failure (broke Obi-Wan's mug on accident) and this is the only way to make it right. Trauma of being a child slave, you know?

Like holy shit, the neurosis of this guy make is so that every little thing he does has this extra layer of 'what the shit??' intensity behind it. I think that's fun.

Something I dislike having to do (at least 4/5 times) is figure out how to write his dialogue. Sometimes it comes pretty easy but half the time I'm wondering if I'm writing his lines in character. His dialogue is just all over the place, so it's hard to know. Guy says "You are in my very soul, tormenting me," full pussy. Which is, ya know, something I have to keep in mind.

Honestly my quick cheat is to come up with the most autistic delivery of what I want him to say and I'm usually golden lmao

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

When people write him smart. Like, holy shit, I don't think there's a bigger turn off for me when reading a fic as when the author makes Anakin an idiot. This is a character who is scary smart both in a traditional sense, but also tactically. Child fucking prodigy material. I really appreciate it when a fic acknowledges his intelligence.

And (maybe controversial take??) I think he's actually very emotionally aware, both of his own emotions and of the people around him. He just has a hard time translating that awareness into appropriate action. I think he's deeply in tune with what other people are thinking and feeling (maybe too much), it's just when it comes to actually doing something about that where he fumbles hard.

Fics that treat Anakin like he's completely oblivious to the emotions of other people just rub me the wrong way.

[sethnakht]

Darth Vader (2020-) #30, Pak/Ross/et al

I've written before about how often vader's armor is sliced in his own comic and how this underscores that nothing belongs to him, that he is considered property of the government. scrutinized from afar by his near-omniscient master, who slips into his mind with the casual disregard of the schoolmaster that filches and idly flips through the diary of a troublesome student, savoring the mortification of reading the maudlin passages to the rest of the class; surrounded by servant-spies who rat him out for sparing the lives of queen amidala's ex-handmaidens, by guards who attack him in one moment and keep him under surveillance while he rests in the next; caught on tape so often and predictably, his moves and strategies can be programmed into droids -- vader can seemingly make no changes to his life support suit without creating an exposed trail.

at heart is the premise that darth vader can be read. it's a meta question as much as a narrative one; comics are read and therefore so too must darth vader, chimera of the cinema, be accessible in two-dimensions. absent the eerie breathing and disembodied voice and shuddering cape and gleaming lights playing havoc, telling stories on the mask, there must be a reader to set his static images into motion, to imagine the unseen and unheard. on the narrative level, vader's story also depends on readers (who scour his two-dimensional blueprints and command codes) and viewers (who analyze recordings taken of him when they aren't observing him directly). they study records and traces to learn how to kill him. though motivations differ, there's consensus about the undertaking. for most of his slicers and analysts, vader is not just an object to be read, he's also contained in what is read. what can be seen is what matters. in the disenchanted world he has helped create, the fact that vader is a wizard -- controlling powers unseen -- scarcely registers.

the paper trail is vast; witnesses are everywhere. vader is always watched, constantly being discussed, never alone (except in his hyperbaric chamber, where we know however from esb that he can be recorded, observed maskless, and interrupted). the emperor personally oversees vader's suit repairs -- a process involving circular saws, no painkillers, and a horizontal operating table -- while flanked by members of the imperial court. (the patient has no doctor; the doctor is his master and gleefully indiscrete.) the court members can access the blueprints and repair logs for vader's armor. one of them builds a kill-switch, passing it through dozens of hands to a bounty hunter. as it happens, a kill switch was part of the original suit design. vader has built preventions against a kill switch before. because his armor is a matter of government record, however, he can never be sure someone won't find a new weakness and build another (with his master's silent blessing). nor is it clear that he can adequately prepare, since his repairs are overseen by his master. whatever the case -- whether it's because he's restored to factory settings or because new weaknesses are installed with each official repair or because he's not been paying attention or some other diabolical reason (it's a metaphor) -- vader is vulnerable. the new kill switch works, if only briefly; trapped in a body that won't obey him, vader taps into the force to free himself, then is forced to put out a remedial patch for his own armor.

but the ease with which others can access what should be confidential medical records and spaces is just one expression of the problem. the suit is exposed by design. anyone who jabs the control panel with a sharp instrument -- who conducts a basic visual scan -- can download its specs and analyze its components. all who do so, moreover, agree -- the parts consist largely of "old tech from the republic days", or more saltily put, "junk":

Darth Vader (2020-) #9, Pak/Ienco/et al. - after getting close enough to scan the suit, a droid scavenger on the lookout for top-of-the-line parts concludes that vader's core armor is "junk" and "garbage".

tapped by padmé's ex-handmaidens before his second kill switch experience, then sliced again with a quick jab at his control panel -- even though he's since built protections against the kill switches specifically -- vader's suit is embarrassingly talkative. from the first tap, the handmaidens manage to tease out nearly half of its command codes, simply by cross-checking them with old republic data, which tells you just how few updates have been performed on the suit since its construction but is also a telling metaphor. from the second tap, they obtain the activation code for his flagship's self-destruct mechanisms. vader's suit is not just government property, not just old, not just a symbol for continuities between regimes and imperial hubris and the surveillance state: it's a liability.

to dwell on indignities just a bit longer: even the reader participates in the comic's central sport, violating what little remains of vader's personal space, making him spill secrets. we are given access to vader's most powerful thoughts, the ones that frame his values and express his commitment to the dark side. (fittingly, they appear in red captions coffined into all-black panels of variable size; the size of the black panel depends, seemingly, on how persuasive the thought is, or how much vader is feeling the power of the dark.) these framing thoughts are as harrowingly banal as you might expect of a value system built around the fear and glorification of death, hollow to boot -- what vader says about strength and weakness and power and fear and what he remembers and does are often at terrific odds -- but in reading those private thoughts, in judging them, the reader also becomes complicit in the voyeurism. everyone who thinks they know vader because they can intricately describe each part of the suit that keeps him alive, each studied flourish of his lightsaber, each plodding move of his mechanical legs, each predictable because painfully limited pose, contributes to his objectification, his transformation into dully legible surface. despite and because of the mask, he seems an open book. we know his entire history, we know his stupidest, most intimate thoughts, we even know how he dies; he belongs to us. how can he possibly still surprise us?

the force, some might say, you haven't mentioned his superpowers. calculated as it is to produce shame and humiliation, warm food for a sith, vader's situation can be made legitimate, even desirable with his religion; if he resents being so easily read, so susceptible to unwanted external control, and by his own master's design, then he also possesses overflowing stores of devotional pain and anger. vader's most uncurious readers, those who only stop to consider the machine and dismiss the rest, are also quickly cut down to size -- he sacrifices them, even digests them (incorporating the parts of droids he demolishes into his own suit repairs, for example) with knowing inevitability.

Darth Vader (2020-) #9, Pak/Ienco/et al. - after Vader defeats them, members of the Droid Crush pictured here struggle to fathom how, as there is "nothing more special [in his mechanical parts]" than in their own.

the force helps explain why vader would not only tolerate this life, but also infuse it with flattering meaning: he's shown to covet the constant scanning, slicing, downloading, and otherwise hostile scrutiny. if it implies he is slipping, it also points to the threat he still represents. when random imperial officers openly discuss vader's recent brutal punishment by the emperor while he's in earshot and speak wonderingly of his survival, considering the "junk" he used to rebuild himself, you certainly don't get the sense that vader is ashamed to be gossiped about in the same context as "this junk"; on the contrary, he seems to relish the image boost:

Darth Vader (2020-) #14, Pak/Ienco/et al - not even the abject conditions of vader's dismantling punishment remain secret, becoming fuel for the rumor mill; so far as the gossip contributes to his fearsome reputation, however, vader tolerates, even glories in it.

if vader will accept any regard that amplifies his powers (all attention being good attention), no matter how mortifying, he's also shown to be jealous of the spotlight. realizing that obi-wan, the emperor, and even the imperial court have transferred their hopes from him to his son, vader's thoughts take a sharply jealous turn: "all your eyes turn from me ... to him ... you think you see my end" (#13). incensed as he is that his enemies and master are focusing on how they can use luke to replace him, however, vader seems to resent luke's friends for taking luke's attention away from him even more.

Darth Vader (2020-) #16, Pak/Ienco/et al - as he addresses his son in his mind, Vader goes from picturing Luke amongst his friends to zooming in on Luke alone. This focus in on Luke's face, on his hands -- holding Vader's old lightsaber -- contrasts with his thoughts, where he claims that Luke seems to "want to disappear" in the company of his friends. The red caption for this line about disappearing pushes outside of the black panel, as though the darkness cannot fully contain it -- the red boundaries of the caption expand into the white space bordering the images of Luke, almost touching them. Vader next speaks of how Luke seems to want to "snuff out the Force within", his "fear", and yet all this talk of snuffing out, of going dark, is accompanied by visions of Luke holding a lit saber, coruscating with light, looking ahead with calm determination.

vader is self-aware enough to privately acknowledge that he personally will "never know peace again" (#6) and that, should his son replace him at the emperor's side, "you [luke] will end up more lost than you can ever imagine" (#16). caught between possessiveness over what little he does have (what remains of the emperor's attention, the empire's attention), anger over what he does not have (obi-wan's attention, luke's attention), and fear that luke will end up just as lost as he is, vader considers crossing a line and killing luke himself. should luke refuse his offer to combine forces and destroy the emperor, vader seems to conclude, it would be better that he kill luke himself than for luke to end up as caged, as snuffed out, as he is. when given the chance to pursue luke, who again refuses to acknowledge his offer and flees, vader doesn't hesitate -- he shoots to kill. whether he'd actually go so far as to kill luke is irrelevant: his intent is alarming enough. attention snapping back to vader, the emperor orders him to let luke go and murder some hutts instead. we see, then, what vader gains from drawing attention, from letting himself by read -- by appearing ready to kill luke, vader has provoked the emperor into saving him. the emperor "has shown his hand", provided vader with a way to "measure his [fear]"; he too has become readable.

vader is constantly being read, then, but it's not all embarrassment and rejection and exchanges of power. luke may not accept vader's offer, but the ex-handmaiden sabé does, specifically because she can read vader better than anyone left alive, save his master. observing his conspicuous obsession with padmé and recognizing his vague way of equating good government with order, sabé figures out it's anakin in the suit, then appeals to what she knows anakin cared about (padmé, order, his mother) to try and maneuver vader to kill the emperor (whom she paints as an enemy, a representative of chaos). vader doesn't precisely comply, but he does arrange a meeting with the emperor that gets him permission to keep sabé at his side -- a major win for him given that his master nearly killed him for leaving her alive before. with sabé, vader gets to live out the fantasy that padmé "believed in order" and would have joined him. (in a galaxy of warring factions, vader defines "order" as having "someone to make them agree ... or deal with them all" -- essentially, this meme. chaos, on the other hand, probably encompasses this meme and resembles a sandstorm, the rough metaphor used by crimson dawn agents (vader's main target of ire in the comic) to describe their swarm approach to power: "a million stronger than one".) sabé claims to join vader because she wants "order" too. to say he's ecstatic is an interpretation, so let's just quote him saying that "sabé understands".

Darth Vader (2020-) #30, Pak/Ross/et al - confronted by Dormé and her fellow ex-handmaidens, Vader extends them the same offer he made to both Luke and Sabé: to join him in the name of order and unite or deal with the warring factions in the galaxy.

after being read and misread for so much of the comic, this isn't a small thing for him to say (even if his intentions in this scene are to manipulate) -- there's a difference between constantly being seen and feeling seen. that holds even if vader is not being totally honest (with himself and others) about the reason, even if vader is substituting the truth with a fantasy, and regardless of how good vader himself happens to be at making others feel seen (as he puts it himself, he doesn't care what other people think, just that they suit his own desires). sabé is reading vader correctly when she presents the emperor to him as a representative of things he doesn't want. while vader publicly invokes "order" to justify hunting down political dissidents like crimson dawn, in the relative privacy of his thoughts and hyperbaric chamber, he too contrasts his vision of order with the "chaos" he feels the emperor has brought. beyond the black-and-white of his political frame, vader also invokes "order" like a magical cure word, like a banishing spell against the internal disarray of his own thoughts in the wake of being punished by his own master and losing luke.

Darth Vader (2020-) #18, Pak/Kirk/et al - as Vader insists that order means uniting under one banner to force agreement, his thoughts dwell on his own failure to unite and agree with his own son. Repeating the word "order" like a banishment spell, alone in his hyperbaric chamber, he masks his face with his hand as though briefly giving in to despair.

sabé seems to understand this self-defensive shade of "order" as well. vader privately admits to himself that she's "faced the wall". we see this wall in one of vader's mental breakdown sequences, symbolically represented by the black toothed shell of the very hyperbaric chamber in which vader has allowed himself both the treasonous thought that his master sows "chaos" and the unusually emotional gesture of covering his face with his hand (while remembering luke's rejection and dismemberment at vader's own hand). in sabé's case, the wall has come down to keep vader from her and from padmé, who still insists there is good in him; but vader is fully aware the wall is fragile, and that sabé isn't daunted. addressing sabé in his mind, a crack running down from where she touches the barrier between them, vader acknowledges what she's really understood about him: "you think you're turning me back to the light" (#24). however, unwilling to admit that she's right -- though we know that she turns out to be, because luke "was right about me" -- he claims that what she's really done is the opposite. as the emperor explains it to sabé, she's merely reminded vader of what is was like to feel weak, grief, and fear by challenging his sense of power; as vader puts it to himself, "never challenge my power" (#28), or "none should forget, ever again, that I am a sith" (#29). the emperor and his former naboo mentee sabé each pick up on something real, if conflicting, about vader's internal disorder; if vader happens to prefer the emperor's read, even as he privately descries his master's "chaos", it's not because sabé has read him wrong.

padmé's remaining handmaidens add a new spin to this dynamic -- they've shown up to save sabé from vader's corrupting influence, and claim they don't care about vader at all, and yet to access her they've had to insert themselves as readers into vader's plot. like other slicers in the comic, the handmaidens have gone for vader's armor; unlike other slicers, they don't want (or know better than) to puppet the armor itself. slicing into vader's control panel, gathering the codes to destroy his flagship, they create a set up where no one has to die: vader can simply give sabé up to save his flagship, to save face. what they handmaidens have failed to take into account is that vader has been faceplanting his entire life.

Darth Vader (2020-) #30, Pak/Ross/et al - Having accessed the codes to destroy the Executor by slicing Vader's suit, the handmaidens try to pressure him into giving up Sabé. Vader's response gives them a glimpse into the abyss.

far from reacting negatively to the security breach caused by his own armor, vader eats up the threat to his flagship with hungry approval. he has already made them an offer to join him and sabé, framing it as the only way to honor padmé's legacy; if dormé and the other padmé doubles would "kill thousands for her [sabé]", then they're "ready". on one level, vader is calling a bluff here -- dormé and the others are unlikely to suddenly condone the deaths of thousands. vader may struggle to tell the handmaidens apart visually, even from padmé, but he has a sixth sense for ruthlessness. sabé has already passed the test of two sith lords: not only has she gotten vader to kill her own enemies, she has also goaded the emperor into making destructively self-defensive choices. attacked by the emperor's guards on his orders, sabé outmaneuvers both the guards and palpatine, getting the guards to shoot at him instead of her. the emperor is provoked into killing them, letting slip that he too has supernatural abilities.

Darth Vader (2020-) #28, Pak/Ienco/et al - while it's the Emperor's lightning that wraps around his guards, the puppet lines might well be coming from Sabé from behind the throne.

with dormé, who infiltrates the executor pretending to be sabé, vader sets up a telling trial: dormé as sabé is given a chance to confront two stormtroopers who have been openly discussing her "classified" mission in "public". putting a gun in her reach, then provoking the troopers into attacking her by asking if they're just going to wait for her to kill them, vader forces dormé to pick up the gun and shoot in self-defense. dormé proves she isn't sabé, vader claims, because she ends up leaving the troopers alive.

impressive as the threat of blowing up the executor may sound, in other words, dormé's response to the test indicates that the likelihood of followthrough from these handmaidens is low. and yet, vader isn't dismissing the threat -- he's encouraging it, using the very order palpatine gave anakin to kill count dooku ("do it") to frame the stakes. he doesn't want a bloodless exchange; he wants destructively self-defensive bloodshed. calling on the same enabling permission structure that led him to listen to one sith lord and murder another, vader calmly reveals that the only self-destruction mechanisms he cares about are for the handmaidens' moral qualms. (unfazed as he appears, one can imagine there's more going on beyond the mask; he's not just replaying his own induction into the ranks of the sith, he's gotten padmé doubles to threaten him with a version of his own "it's worth killing thousands to save padmé" reasoning.) dormé looks back at him in uncomprehending horror; though no lives end up being lost, vader has won the round. learning that sabé has been taken hostage by the grandson of a former separatist leader, the handmaidens ultimately see no choice but to join him in rescuing her. as he struts out ahead of them back on the executor, it's easy to imagine how this result underscores his notion of himself as a representative of unifying "order".

aided by his anonymous mask, vader emerges from the standoff as the victor simply because he could not be read (his motivations seem too insane for the handmaidens to comprehend at this point), even as he reveals to the reader a desire to turn the handmaidens into versions of padmé (or maybe at this point just sabé -- in any case, he claims they should join him to complete padmé's legacy) who can understand him (by making anakin's choice to sacrifice thousands for one: "do it"). as sabé is right in so much of her understanding of vader, vader is not wrong to understand sabé as someone who has already made that choice (beyond how she's dealt with the emperor and vader, she effectively sent a hundred naboo fighters to their deaths by trying to kill vader for padmé). what vader doesn't yet know, however, is that sabé has only been captured because she tried to prevent one person from taking actions that might seal hundreds of deaths ("you cannot do this", she says, in contrast to vader's "do it"). moved by regrets, sabé can read herself well enough to try and use the powers vader has given her to save others from making the same mistakes. and that's where this boils down. vader wants his mistakes repeated (with exceptions -- luke is better off dead than palpatine's slave, he seems to think), sabé wants them prevented. vader wants the world to read like a justification of his mistake, sabé wants him to acknowledge other readings and free himself and others in the world. we know where this is going; until then, anakin remains his own worst reader.

[themyscirah]

3, 8, and 25 for the locg ask game!

He's just so slay what can I say. Anyways Emerald Twilight is my all time fave for him, and also GL/GA is amazing and I love it (though it is dated). But no I do love him. He's SUCH a bitch sometimes though and I find it so fun most of the time (and others kind of frustrating. Harold, please why must we do this rn).

The moment that really got me interested in him as a character (and not just background to other GLs) was definitely Green Lantern (1990) #1, when he swan dives off a cliff in front of some campers, only using the ring to save himself and fly away at the very last second. It immediately made me realize something was incredibly wrong with him and it has captivated me ever since

Of my top 10, he's definitely the one I feel I know the least about, as I've always seen him more on team books (which is generally his forte but still). Something I really love about J'onn though is that he'd SUCH a great friend. Like in the Suicide Squad/JLI crossover when he sees Mari McCabe hanging out with C list villains and being suspicious breaking into the prison (bc the Squad was NOT known abt at this time) his first instinct isn't to be confrontational or fight like everyone else is doing, but instead to reach out and ask if she was okay and how he could help her.

Or like in nu52 JLA during the mind prison arc when he's helping and kind of mentoring Stargirl during their "escape" of the mind prison like <3333 he's just so good. Or in New Frontier when he befriends the government boss who spent the whole comic trying to hunt him down and experiment on him after he saves the govt guy's life at the expense of his own goals?

I just love how he's a hero character that isn't just like nebulously good and cares about all people, but specifically cares about the people in his life and shows that care in his relationships with them <3. Anyways I should read more Martian Manhunter. Especially bc Ostrander is one of my top writers on locg and I've been meaning to read more of his stuff

APHRA LETS GOO!!!! Another Star Wars character but she's the queen of my heart for real. Did a campaign to try and get her in my top 20 a few months back but her ongoing ended and I've read more since then so now she's no. 25.

Fave runs for her are ofc Darth Vader (2015) [which I need to finish] and also Doctor Aphra (2020) by Alyssa Wong. There's also her 2016 run (which I think was written by Sí Spurrier?) but I haven't read that one yet so idk.

As a concept Aphra is just SO inspired and I rlly do hope we get EVEN more comics with her and that she makes the jump to other media bc I NEED star wars fans to get me when I rant about my favorite morally bankrupt asian lesbian archeologist fuckboy. She's also polyam but that's not compatible w the fuckboy bit bc that's her committed relationship later on (character development!)

I also love that she essentially bullied Luke Skywalker into being reluctant friends with her despite kidnapping him multiple times and also working for Darth Vader

[tganalostarosciak]

Other artists with unusual style. Part 2

Kei Zama:

Kei Zama (座間 慧 Zama Kei) is a Japanese comic artist and metalhead. After discovering Last Stand of the Wreckers, they fell hard for Transformers and started hunting down every Western comic they could, with Geoff Senior and Derek Yaniger being faves and influences for their "powerful and aggressive" styles.

Starting as a regular cover artist for IDW Publishing, they became the regular artist on Optimus Prime in late 2016.

As well as Transformers, they've drawn for their fan-fave 2000 AD: starting with those other war robots, ABC Warriors, for a 2017 Free Comic Book Day special. They were unsure about doing it at the same time as starting their ongoing Optimus Prime gig but John Barber, their co-creator, talked them into it.

Kei Zama is a Japanese comic book artist who has worked on several Star Wars projects for Marvel Comics as an illustrator and cover artist, including War of the Bounty Hunters – 4-LOM & Zuckuss 1, Life Day 1, and Doctor Aphra (2020) 21. They enjoy the prequel trilogy films and appreciated the experience of drawing characters from the 1999 prequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace for the Pride Month variant cover of Darth Vader (2020) 24.

My opinions for this artist, they have made lot of details when they are making transformers comics as which they've drawn for their fan-fave 2000 AD which is starting with those other war robots aka Cybertrons and Decepticons.

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅──╯

Ben Templesmith:

Ben Templesmith is an Australian comic book artist best known for his work in the American comic book industry, most notably the Image Comics series Fell, with writer Warren Ellis, and IDW's 30 Days of Night with writer Steve Niles, which was adapted into a motion picture of the same name.

Templesmith produced his first commercial American comics work in 2001, providing the art for Todd McFarlane Productions' Hellspawn, which was published by Image Comics. He has gone on to create his own original works as well as contribute to many licensed properties at various publishers, most notably IDW Publishing, with which he had an exclusive agreement through most of 2008 and part of 2009 before returning to being a freelancer.

Original works Templesmith has produced include the miniseries Welcome to Hoxford, the New York Times best-selling Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse Tommyrot: The Art of Ben Templesmith, Conluvio and Choker at Image Comics with writer Ben McCool. He also provided a number of covers for the Oni Press series Wasteland.

In April 2012, DC Entertainment announced that Templesmith would be one of the artists illustrating a new digital Batman series with stories set outside regular DC continuity.

My opinions for this artist, that his art works have like different emotions but he want it to be in the dark theme scene on the comic as it very unusual for it in the comic itself as it is like explaining the emotions with colours but in dark theme style.

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Joëlle Jones:

Joëlle Jones is an American comic book artist and writer, best known for her work on Lady Killer, a series published in 2015–2017 by Dark Horse Comics, for her cover work on various Marvel Comics series, and for her work writing and illustrating DC Comics series including Batman and Catwoman.

Joëlle Jones is an Eisner nominated artist currently living and working in Los Angeles, CA. Since attending PNCA in Portland, OR, she has contributed to a wide range of projects and has most recently has worked on Batman for DC comics. She also wrote and drew the series, Lady Killer, published by Dark Horse comics. Jones has also provided the art for fashion designer Prada, and various projects for Marvel, Boom, Vertigo, Oni Press and The New York Times.  Joëlle currently has projects with DC comics as well as continuing her Series Lady Killer.

My opinions for this artist, that her art works has very complexing colours on her work as she works on the details little by little as she had made positive spaces and aswell negative spaces to show what specific parts that our attention should be.

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[marunalu]

Hola Maru!! Quería preguntarte si podrías recomendarme páginas o blogs como este que hablan de teorías, solo que de Star wars, tus blogs favoritos de star wars, sobre todo los que enfocan a relación de Vader y Luke. Recién ví las pelis y me encantaron, pero a diferencia de bnha no se buscar muy bien los blogs de Star wars, y me gustaría encontrar blogs como este que me divierten con sus teorías, pero más enfocados a Star Wars. Muchas gracias, espero no molestarte!!

Oh dont worry, you dont bother me at all. Honestly I dont follow any star wars blogs myself, I just visit certain star wars tags from time to time. I think if you want to find specific stuff that focuses on luke and vader, you need to search in the darth vader or luke skywalker tag and if you like a post just check out the blog and look if its what your looking for. I also post vader and luke centric stuff from time to time. Actually I plan to focus on lukes and vaders relationship in the comics very soon. I would actually recommend the star wars and darth vader comics from 2015 and 2020 to you, they are for the most time pretty good only the art sucks quite often. The star wars and darth vader comics 2015 happen before "the empire strikes back". The 2015 star wars comics focus for the most part on lukes journey to become a jedi and while vader doesnt show up all the time, he still plays a big part in them and is trying to find luke. Its also in these comics that he finds out that luke is his son and becomes obssessed with him. The darth vader 2015 comics focus completly on vader and his journey how he became supreme commander of the imperial navy between "a new hope" and "the empire strikes back". The events in these comics happen at the same time then the star wars comics. We see the moment how vader finds out about luke from his pov and how he tries to find out more about him and catch him. So while luke himself doesnt really show up in the darth vader comics, he is still constantly on vaders mind and his main focus/motivation. The star wars 2020 and darth vader 2020 comics are still going on and happen AFTER "the empire strikes back". You can read all of them online.

I will include your other ask if I now any good vader/luke fanfictions. There are TONS of very good fanfictions who focus on these two on "archive on our own", just google for "vader luke fanfictions" and it should be the first thing that shows up. I espicially like DragonflyonBreak, SilverDaye and Sparklight works, but believe me there are so much more really great fanfictions who focus on father and son. Just start at the last page and work yourself to the first one 😉

I dont know if you have watched them yet, but I also recommend to you to watch the prequel trilogy, espicially if you want to understand anakins journey how and WHY he bacame darth vader, because thats really important and since lukes and leias mother padme is mentioned in most vader and luke fanfictions and also the darth vader comics its important to know her character. A lot of people say the prequels are terrible, but personally I really like them. They are not perfect and there are a few things I think were stupid, but for the most part I really enjoyed them. If you liked yoda and obiwan in the original trilogy too, you will get tons of them in the prequels.

[karlyanalora]

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

💖 What made you start writing?

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

Well, this got long. The really long spiel is under the cut.

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

Probably not as much as I should tbh. But I do a fair bit of googling. Too much research sucks the fun out of it for me and leaves me paralyzed.

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

Both. Sometimes I go by the seat of my pants for a long while and then write an outline for the rest. Others have outlines ready to go before I start typing. Some just have random things I know I want to happen at some point. Most of my one-shots are spur-of-the-moment things.

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

Redemption. I’m a sucker for it and I feel fiction is a great place to explore it at its extremes. No one irl has blown up a planet, but what would redemption for Darth Vader look like if he lived? What should his punishment be? What is the balance between mercy and justice? Who will find it within themselves to forgive him? Starscream, Megatron, Loki, so many Decepticons, what would that journey look like?

Of course, this has to be balanced with narrative sense. I might redeem one character in one story but leave them evil in another. That’s just what fit the themes and message of the story. Also, some characters will just always be plain bad in my books: Overlord, Palpatine, Ra’s al Ghul, etc. That doesn’t mean they can’t have moral complexity like Ra’s! But I don’t see them reformed.

It probably goes without saying that the theme of forgiveness shows up a lot. Also what I think true love is: a verb before it is a noun. No one and onlys here folks.

💖 What made you start writing?

This is a fun journey. I can remember my first attempt at fanfic was a fairly dark self-insert involving Robin. I was no older than nine in the back of the car and I can still remember the plot though I maybe got down two pages. Didn’t even know fanfic was a thing but I’d just found a single issue of a comic based on the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon and I was hooked.

I’ve always had a very active imagination. I tried creating original works for NaNoWriMo but I kept writing in loopholes so I could fit in my favorite fandoms.

In 2019 some family friends tried to get us into the YouTuber business. It didn’t last but I wanted to make a crossover cartoon and actually emailed Star Wars, Marvel, and DC for permission. Only Star Wars replied and told me no since I was planning to monetize it. I was going to do it anyway and started writing the scripts.

Sometime before this, my best friend introduced me to fanfiction along with the guidelines for browsing it that I still live by. She sent me “Though She Be But Little” by @theredscreech. Amazing fic. Finished it and didn’t think about fanfiction again.

Until the Winter of 2020 lying in my bed as a college freshman craving Transformers content. All I’d seen was Transformers Animated at this point I think. I’m not sure if I’d even seen Prime yet. But I remembered fanfic was a thing and in a fit of madness hopped on fanfiction.net. I stayed up until 4 am binge-reading “Redeem the Stars” by @megadoomingir. That was the moment I realized I didn’t want to make a cartoon; I wanted to write fanfiction.

The basic storyline and premise of that cartoon has remained the same but has also undergone major changes so it would now be completely unrecognizable. Published works have been scrapped and rewritten. It originally, back when it was going to be a cartoon, had a shameless self-insert and featured my heroic origins as the Foosa and my family too. No first name changes either. My editor and sister @anileahvictoria convinced me to scrap that and eventually also the leftovers from my “original” NaNoWriMo story of which a changed Fiera Adele is the only survivor.

I had and still have big plans for my “Ultimate Universe” series. I sent some messages and ff.net to some lovely Transformers authors for permission to incorporate their stories or versions of those stories into my future writing because they permanently shifted how I viewed Transformers. I got some very lovely responses. I’m honestly not sure if I will end up working with that version of Transformers that continues to live in my head because it feels kind of weird to ask your readers to read homework fics, ya know? But I’m not sure how to separate those stories from the Ultimate Universe if I do include Transformers. Hence why I have started a different au to get the robot feels out. Anyway, it’s probably all a moot point because my editor will quit if I work Transformers into the current version of the Ultimate Universe (which is a pity because how I got it to fit with DC and Star Wars was genius.)

As it stands now, the Ultimate Universe will only eventually include in order, DC, Marvel, and Star Wars and I shall probably never finish writing the adventures that happen therein. Probably more than you ever wanted to know, hehe.

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

The grand spiel above was in part to set the stage for this piece of advice: Nothing is written in stone.

It’s partly why I love writing fanfic. I can change my mind at any time. I have rewritten everything I have published in a story. I have completely changed a story. I have deleted stories and written a new story that resembles it with some very big changes. You learn and grow and change as a writer and so can a story. Warn your readers that major rewrites are coming and go for it. If you feel it will create a better end result, don’t be afraid to start over.

[jewishcissiekj]

For anyone looking to read/watch/listen to everything Asajj, I wanted to post my checklist for both Legends and Canon Asajj and tag them properly for convenience

Canon Asajj checklist -Dooku: Jedi Lost (Audio Drama) -Jedi of the Republic – Mace Windu #5 (Comic) -Brotherhood (Novel) -Hyperspace Stories #5 -Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars – Battle Tales #2 (Comic) -The Clone Wars S1 E16 (TV) -The Clone Wars (Movie, Novel) -The Clone Wars S1 E1 (TV) -Sharing the Same Face (short story, The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark) -The Clone Wars S1 E5 (TV) -The Clone Wars S1 E9 (TV) -Worthless (short story, Stories of Jedi and Sith) -The Clone Wars S3 E2 (TV) -Tales of Villainy: Give & Take (short comic story, Star Wars Adventures (2020) #12) -The Clone Wars S3 E12-14 (TV) -The Clone Wars S4 E19-20 (TV) -The Lost Nightsister (short story, The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark) -The Clone Wars S4 E21-22 (TV) -Dark Vengeance: The True Story of Darth Maul and His Revenge Against the Jedi Known as Obi-Wan Kenobi (short story, The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark) -Sisters (short comic story, Age of Republic Special #1) -The Clone Wars S5 E19-20 (TV) -Kindred Spirits (short story, Star Wars Insider #159) -Dark Disciple (Novel) -The Bad Batch S3 E 9 (TV) -Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle #1 (Comic) -Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle #3 (Comic) -Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle #5 (Comic) -Obi-Wan #4 (Comic) -Star Wars (2015) #47 (Comic, only depicted on playing card) -Star Wars Adventures Ashcan (Comic) -Halcyon Legacy #1 (Comic) -Halcyon Legacy #3 (Comic)

Legends Asajj Checklist -Restraint (short story) -Star Wars: Clone Wars chapters 6-7 (TV) -Star Wars: Republic #51-52 (Comic) -Jedi: Mace Windu #1 (Comic) -Star Wars: Republic #53 (Comic) -Rogue's Gallery (short comic story, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Volume 3) -Dark Heart (short story) -Star Wars: Clone Wars chapters 11-19 (TV) -The Cestus Deception (Novel) -Star Wars: Republic #58-60 (Comic) -Star Wars: Republic #64 (Comic) -Jedi Trial (Novel) -Yoda: Dark Rendezvous (Novel) -Star Wars: Republic #69-71 (Comic) -The Clone Wars: Shadowed (Webcomic) -The Clone Wars S1 E16 (TV) -The Clone Wars (Movie, Novel) -The Clone Wars: Prelude (Webcomic) -The Clone Wars S1 E1 (TV) -The Clone Wars: Shipyards of Doom (Graphic Novel) -The Clone Wars: Secret Missions 2: Curse of the Black Hole Pirates (Junior Novel) -The Clone Wars: Secret Missions 3: Duel at Shattered Rock (Junior Novel) -The Clone Wars: Secret Missions 4: Guardians of the Chiss Key (Junior Novel) -The Clone Wars: The Fall of Falleen (Webcomic) -The Clone Wars S1 E5 (TV) -The Clone Wars: Crash Course (Graphic Novel) -The Clone Wars #7-9 (Comic) -The Clone Wars S1 E9 (TV) -The Clone Wars: The Valsedian Operation (Webcomic) -The Clone Wars #11-12 (Comic) -Keep the Faith (short comic story) -In the Air (short comic story) -The Clone Wars S3 E2 (TV) -Hunted (short comic story) -Fashion (short comic story) -The Only Good Clanker (short comic story) -Under The Hammer (short comic story) -The Clone Wars S3 E12-14 (TV) -The Clone Wars #5-6 (Comic, retconned) -The Clone Wars S4 E19-22 (TV) -The Clone Wars: The Sith Hunters (Graphic Novel) -The Clone Wars S5 E19-20 (TV) -Star Wars: Obsession #1-5 (Comic)

And a guide: -In no way these are my recommendations, I actually unrecommend a certain book here, my recommendations list can be found here. this one is the Wookiepedia list just less confusing (I hope) -She isn't a main character in all of these. At all. And some are just cameos, I didn't get into specifics about that. -Most of the canon books & short stories can be found in e-book/digital form, or in physical copies pretty easily, just look them up. -The same thing that goes for the canon books goes for the canon comics, although most of the issues listed are part of a series (as might be evident by their numbers). That doesn't mean you need to read the rest, because they're pretty stand-alone and usually just reference the other issues of the series/have a framing story related to that. -I'm not sure where you can find the Star Wars Insider issue or the Adventures Ashcan, sorry about that. -The Legends list is much more complicated than canon, since anything related to The Clone Wars series may contradict the prior Legends media. That's why I marked those in bold, as they are only officially part of that timeline, and don't make much sense with the rest of it (most of it, other than the actual episodes, were mostly de-canonized when Disney bought Star Wars with the rest of Legends). -There are ofc the original printings of those, but I also I believe most of the Legends books listed were reprinted as a part of the Legends brand, but if they weren't then idk what to tell you. -The Legends comics were also reprinted, mostly in big, pretty expensive collections. So it might be harder to buy those. I think there are digital copies of those collections, though, so you can buy them for cheaper that way. -The Clone Wars webcomics can be found here , through @clonewarsarchives (a great resource overall) -The short TCW stories (in bold under short comic story) can all be found here (once again through clone wars archives) -The Restraint short story can't be found anywhere I looked, only in the 2nd printing of Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. One of 2 things on the Legends list I've yet to read. -The Dark Heart short story was originally published online, so it's here legally (link straight from Wookiepedia I sure hope it's legal). -I have no idea how to get to the Graphic Novels normally but I trust they're on eBay and co. -I've only talked about legal options but obviously, there's more. Act with discretion and I'm not posting links like that here. I might be able to help more through DMs but you know.

[readingtoinfinity]

Star Wars roundup: Star Wars (2020) and Darth Vader (2020)

The original trilogy era of Star Wars comics has ended. Now we go to the era between the original trilogy and the sequels. I'm sure this won't be controversial.

Regardless, we have ended. I read the last two oversized issues this month, and I have a couple thoughts.

Star Wars (2020): pretty good. If you like Star Wars in general I get the feeling you'd enjoy this series. Oddly enough, Luke has a yellow lightsaber most of the run, and I thought for certain there would be an issue explaining why he made the green one, but no; he ends the series with the yellow lightsaber. I don't really have any thoughts beyond that, there's very little about the book that is superb as opposed to merely good.

Darth Vader (2020): I coasted through this one mostly on the goodwill of the 2017 series, which was excellent. This series is mostly okay. The characters here have a bad habit of stating the themes out loud rather than letting them go unsaid, and the stories often felt undercooked. I can't really recommend this series to any but the more hardcore Star Wars fans.

One thing I'll note for both series is that they're stuck with established canon, so rather than retcon anything they're working to enhance the effects of canon. This includes conversations in the prequels being given greater emotional weight with more context to instilling seeds of Luke's flaws from The Last Jedi into several key scenes.

I am interested in the stories they're going to tell, the stories they should've told were Disney not cowards with the franchise. But that, as Maz Kanata says, is a story for another day.

[intermundia]

what order is best for the books/movies of star wars? should i watch the movies first? is it needed to read all the books, not skipping any?

so here is my extremely biased personal opinion the order of priority for diving deep into star wars!!

important to note first: i'm not making this long list to be intimidating or prohibitive, but to show how far it's possible to dive in and some promising directions if you choose to do so. you do NOT have to read and watch everything, the movies are the most important part of star wars, everything else is footnotes to them and of lesser importance!

the movies first (originals, prequels, clone wars, rogue one, solo and sequels after if you want)

the tv shows (2008 clone wars, rebels, kenobi show, andor, 2003 clone wars, other disney+ shows like the mandalorian)

revenge of the sith novelization my beloved

some comics (esp. the marvel darth vader comics (2015, 2017, 2020), star wars (2015 and 2020), obi-wan and anakin, dark horse star wars: republic (jabiim arc esp), star wars from the journals of obi-wan kenobi, age of republic heroes and villains, dr aphra)

more favorite novels: darth plagueis, rogue planet, master and apprentice, thrawn trilogies, shatterpoint, wild space, dark lord: rise of the sith, lords of the sith

the other movie novelizations

the YA jedi apprentice and jedi quest series, the rise and fall of darth vader, the life and legend of obi-wan kenobi

other books like kenobi, padawan, dark disciple, approaching storm, ahsoka, brotherhood, the audio drama dooku: jedi lost, tarkin, clone wars gambit, etc.

the shakespeare versions of the movies, the odyssey of star wars

then nonfiction books like the star wars archives if you can get them, the essential reader's guide (very helpful), propaganda, essential guide to warfare, etc.

fans of the original trilogy, the sequel trilogy, and the high republic, the video games.. they will all have different lists, but those are my favorites. and again to stress: the movies (and tv shows to a lesser extent) are the only ones that set up the knowledge base and larger story structure, and the comics and novels play around in that space! have fun and go nuts (i certainly have lol)

[thesummerstorms]

So I didn't start reading comics as a kid.

(lots of rambling beneath the cut, though having just finished after writing, maybe the take away is 'N52 was not actually inviting as someone trying to get into comics for the first time'.)

At one point in high school I had some Green Arrow/Black Canary back issues my former step dad bought me when we went into a comic book store at complete random (he bought my then 9 year old brother Simpsons comics and then we never went back) but I was broke teen with no job who did not live in that area and did not pursue much further.

I didn't consider picking up comics until I was in college, and then I mostly started with Marvel because it was early days of the MCU and I saw a lot of the movies with friends. Other than Winter Soldier, I wouldn't say most of them stuck with me or were the best movies ever, but it did get me interested.

The DC movies on the other hand did not get me interested. The DC live action movies mostly sucked.

DC got my money, however, due to my childhood obsession with Dinah, specifically, from Justice League/Justice League Unlimited. (And her relationship with Ollie, I guess, but I wasn't super interested in him without Dinah.) PLUS my preteen fascination with the 2003 Teen Titans.

(That one was harder to carry over because as fun as the 2003 series was the characters were very different lol. They do NOT go into "Robin" and "Starfire's" full traumatic back stories or more adult characteristics in the 2003 stuff.)

So I just looked to see what my first DC purchases on Amazon + Comixology even ended up being and...

I clearly made my first attempts pretty soon after New 52? There is a New52 Batgirl book in the list right above Birds of Prey.... And then nothing DC for literal years.

So much Marvel and Star Wars, even a few non Big 2 things. No DC except rentals for the animated movies and shows.

I bought one digital issue of Green Arrow/Black Canary in 2014, and then DCdoesn't show up on my Comixology account until 2016 with Wonder Woman Rebirth.

Even though that whole time from 2014 on I was still buying the main SW comic, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Wicked + Divine. I was buying anything I could with Black Widow (the Rucka book was a favorite, and I also read whatever the series was called with Bucky as Cap, dating Natasha. I kept that trade for a while, too.)

Apparently I didn't even pick up RHATO (which I mainly read bc a) sale and b) bulk purchase until then c) what the fuck is happening to Starfire morbid curiosity means I need to see it end) until 2018.

But you could not like at any point call me serious about the actual DC comics (again, I watched ALL the animation) until I apparently bought every single volume or issue of the 2016-2019 Green Arrow run (I cannot REMEMBER any of the plot, but I definitely READ all of it) , which finally lead somehow to the 2009 Batman and Robin run (which I bought and read all of in the span of a few days in 2020), then DCeased and Justice League Odyssey.

And now I'm actively trying to go back to some of the older stuff + looking for current publications to read. (I want to like Titans but it's very very hit and miss for me. I read one volume of TT's Nightwing and gave up.)

But like, I just feel like I could have very easily been an "easy" new fan for DC to grab since I had literally never heard of Marvel before the MCU but grew up with all the DC characters. My Uncle is STILL Superman's number one fan, my ex-uncle (? Aunt's ex husband) would throw any DC with Batman at us that he could when we were kids.

But I bounced SO HARD off on New 52 that they literally could not get me actually hooked until 2020, even though I started buying comic stuff in 2014.