Darth Vader (2020) #18 - Comic Review

Crimson Dawn has announced their return to the underworld of the galaxy. They have placed moles not only within countless different crime syndicates, but also within the Empire itself! Darth Vader has made a declaration of war upon the newly rising Crimson Dawn and its leader Qi’ra. Utilizing his power within the galaxy, Vader starts forming groups of various people and creatures with the sole purpose of taking down Crimson Dawn. Following this mission, we find that it’s not just the underworld and the Empire that’s been affected by Crimson Dawn’s revival, but pretty much everyone in the galaxy!

The Dark Lord really tends to take the back seat in Darth Vader (2020) #18, but that’s not exactly a bad thing. The story and focus of this issue feel reminiscent of Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath novel as, like the aforementioned novel, it focuses mostly on the changes and effects throughout various regions of the galaxy following the massive shift in the status quo. Crimson Dawn’s resurgence isn’t just an issue for the Empire, but really an issue for everyone within the known regions of space. Vader is still part of this issue as he makes his personal declarations against the remade crime syndicate, but he’s far from the core story seen on these pages. While that is a bummer at times, it’s still a very thought provoking and fascinating study on the power struggle currently going on within the galaxy.

Artist Leonard Kirk, colorist Alex Sinclair, and letterer VC’s Joe Caramagna have come together as the visual arts team behind Darth Vader (2020) #18 with exceptional work on the newest chapter of the Dark Lord’s reign. This issue contains a massive number of new characters, from bounty hunters, to royalty, to freedom fighters and more and Kirk’s artwork sets them all up as incredibly unique and distinct players in Vader’s plan of action. Sinclair’s coloring is also very important here as with a multitude of characters also comes a multitude of designs as well as locations and planets, all which have distinct and wonderful colors to make every part really stand on their own. Caramagna’s lettering is also great, as always, throughout the various conversations and speech bubbles, location tags, and the many sound effects throughout the action sequences that fill this story.

Darth Vader (2020) #18‘s main cover art is by artists Aaron Kuder and Richard Isanove and is an awesome work of art depicting Vader himself standing at the ready, arms behind his back, with TIE Fighters flying in formation behind him with a trail of energy from each fighter setting up a gorgeous design. The Ken Lashley and Juan Fernandez variant cover is a brutal and action-packed piece showing Vader and Ochi of Bestoon defending themselves from a myriad of unseen assailants. Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, and Neeraj Menon are also back once again with another Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary cover. This week’s cover depicts Poe Dameron, in his Resistance fighter suit, and BB-8 sitting outside of an X-wing fighter from The Force Awakens.

While Darth Vader (2020) #18 has the titular character take a back seat for a chunk of this issue, it’s still a fantastic comic that details the fallout of Crimson Dawn’s resurgence and some of the effects it has on many different citizens of the galaxy. Vader is still there, however, pulling the strings as only he can. So, jump in your Imperial AT-ST and lumber on down to your local comic shop to pick up the issue today!