There are times when you'll feel inclined to root for the rebels. There are times when you'll feel inclined to root for Darth Vader. But it never feels conflicted or forced. This isn't a matter of rooting for Jason Vorhees or against a virgin teenage girl. This is just a different kind of epic Star Wars battle. It might not involve a Death Star, but it feels every bit as epic and won't be decided by some obscure design flaw. Read Full Review

After all the set up between various Star Wars titles, this book finally gives the reader endless action, and compelling story. Add to that the flawless artistic team of Mike Deodato and Frank Martin Jr. and you have a winning book in the eyes of Star Wars fans, and comic book fans as well. Read Full Review

Darth Vader has never been this badass as he is clearly an unstoppable force here. You'll root for the heroes but strangely delight in Vader smashing everyone. Read Full Review

Marvel smartly capitalizes on STAR WARS mania with its first STAR WARS comic book event. Thankfully, VADER DOWN isn't just a cheap cash in product; it's a well crafted book with an incredibly creative team behind it. So long as everyone involved can keep this a high quality affair, VADER DOWN should prove to be one of Marvel's best events in recent memory. Read Full Review

"Vader Down" is a great comic book that sets the stage for the six-part crossover. Vader is on his own looking for Luke when he comes across a nest of Rebels. Vader becomes stranded but he is still the favorite to come out on top it seems. The book throws in all the major players as the book provides something for fans of Luke, Han and Leia as well. The comic is a fast-paced, action-packed, thrill ride that delivers on the inflated $5 cover charge. This is a classic in the making and I urge old and new fans to take a look at. Read Full Review

Considering how difficult it is to make event books truly soar, let alone a tightly controlled licensed property like Star Wars, it's difficult to call Star Wars: Vader Down anything other than an unqualified success. Aaron gives us a quickly paced, action-packed introduction to this Skywalker vs. Skywalker rematch, and the sheer scale and stakes of this audacious book make it one that feels instantly compelling. Darth Vader may be a force of nature in his own right, but can even he stand before the rage of the Rebel Alliance? Perhaps that's Aaron, Gillen and Deodato's finest success - no matter who loses, we win. Read Full Review

The story setup here is spot on as it serves both as a strong launching point for people new to the books but familiar with the characters while also serving as a strong bit of story progression from both ongoings, though heavily towards the Vader series. Jason Aaron has found his groove recently in the main book and that shows here. The real "surprise" for me here is seeing Mike Deodato's artwork on the book. I've enjoyed his artwork before, but man, this just feels like he's put absolutely everything into it as a kind of culminating point to show how big he can go. It's the kind of book where I'm glad I'm reading digitally so I can pinch and zoom to really look at the details up close. This is a strikingly beautiful work with great captures of the actors blended in while still being its own thing. Forget Secret Wars, this is the event of 2015 to be reading. Read Full Review

Even without Deodatos gorgeous visuals, I cant wait to continue the Vader Down crossover in the pages of Darth Vader and Star Wars. In a month when every human on the planet will be talking about Kylo Ren, Captain Phasma, and whomever else may crop up in The Force Awakens, the most compelling villain in a galaxy far, far away may just prove to be Vader. Read Full Review

The beauty of Aaron's narrative lies in his portrayal of Vader. His elegant ease in dismantling the Rebel forces makes one feel as if he's a force of nature himself. Read Full Review

Vader Down #1 ultimately did what it needed to, setting up what is sure to be an amazing crossover arc. That said I did feel that it could've been merged with Darth Vader #13, acting as a prologue for the main narrative. Read Full Review

In conclusion,Vader Down#1 is a great issue, and a great way to start the first Marvel comics Star Wars event. It seems, to me at least, that the story can only get better from here, and this issue has done a lot to get me really excited for the next five issues in the story, and I would highly recommend this issue. Read Full Review

If you've enjoyed Marvel's Star Wars comics, or want to see what the fuss is about, this is a comic to absolutely check out. It kicks off with tons of entertaining action and shows why Vader is one of the biggest badasses in the galaxy. Read Full Review

Vader Down #1 is a strong start to this crossover event and fans of the iconic character will appreciate the gravity with which the creative team approached this issue. Much respect is paid to the Dark Lord and I'm excited to see where they take this story. Aaron is locked in as a Star Wars writer right now and Deodato and Martin capture the power of Lord Vader well. Fans of the Darth Vader series will certainly dig this comic. Read Full Review

I can't ding a book too much for poor lettering, but it does hinder my enjoyment of this issue. This is a good beginning with good art and promises much to come. Read Full Review

If you're a Star Wars fan, pick this book up and if you're a Darth Vader fan there's no reason you shouldn't already be reading this. Vader Down #1 is an intense story with great action, artwork and character moments. Don't miss out on this exciting adventure. Read Full Review

Even if Mike Deodato's art doesn't fit the space battle portion of the comic, Vader Down #1 is an explosive start to Marvel's first Star Wars crossover and will give Jason Aaron and Kieron Gillen the once in a lifetime opportunity to show what Darth Vader would do once the chips are down. It's best read while playing "Imperial March" on an endless loop. Read Full Review

Jason Aaron's simple premise, that Vader has crash-landed on a remote planet and every Rebel is scrambling to take the opportunity to end him, is a clever move. Mike Deodato's art is nothing short of epic, especially given that much of the second act is a thrilling dogfight between Vader's TIE fighter and several squadrons of X-Wings. Read Full Review

Deodato more than delivers here with rich, densely detailed and vibrantly colored scenes of chaos, death and destructionthatbalances stylish details and photorealism better than most of Marvel's Star Wars books have. Better, it's nice to see a Star Wars book where every character is mercilessly competent and willing to fight to the death for what they think needs done. It's a great, exciting book, as good of a summation of the Star Wars line over the last year as an opening book for someone who wants to hop into Marvel's take on the license. Read Full Review

Aaron's cliffhanger ending again presents another formidable challenge for Vader, putting the Dark Lord in a position he rarely finds himself in, and one that is again captured convincingly by Deodato. Mark Brooks' standard cover is a beautifully faithful and imposing image of Vader that's both iconic yet representative of the happenings inside the issue. For all its bumps and blemishes, "Star Wars: Vader Down" #1 still comes across as remarkably strong, as both writer and artist demonstrate their aptitude for all things "Star Wars." Read Full Review

VADER DOWN remains an impressive event for the STAR WARS universe, at least from a story standpoint. While the art may falter in this issue, Kieron Gillen delivers a superb script that gives each character (except Luke") moments in the spotlight and leaves things in an interesting place for Jason Aaron to take over from next week. Read Full Review

High octane and awesome action as only Star Wars can do, mired slightly by some rough art. Read Full Review

The fact that Marvel keeps making genuine magic out of this franchise while continuing to test the boundaries of what could be done with the material is frankly staggering. Darth Vader has already secured its place on the best of the year list and Star Wars is the most exciting and vibrant look at the mythos since Knights of the Old Republic,but Vader Down proves that theyre capable of not just telling great Star Wars stories but making Star Wars work to tell great comic stories. The interconnected formation of this story and the building structure of stranded character and ticking clocks is something that needed a comic book to tell the story. In a world of bloated events like Secret Wars or clunky franchise management like Original Sin, its great to see there are people at Marvel who know how to make great event comics, even if theyre set in a galaxy far, far away. Read Full Review

The presentation of Vader Down #1 is unfortunate because it undermines a concept and plot packed with potential. As the start of a larger crossover, this issue shows how much fun can be had in the Star Wars universe between films. The drama and, more importantly, action are all there. Hopefully, future issues will better depict the promise of this premise. Read Full Review

But this is still an entertaining comic, well written and well drawn by the creative team. Darth Vader has been the star of Marvel's Star Wars comics, and he's truly a larger than life menace to the galaxy. I hope Aaron hobbles him in some way going forward, because even Darth Vader has flaws, right? Read Full Review

In terms of story, Vader Down #1 offers a solid start to Marvel's first Star Wars crossover. It's exciting and crammed full of scenes of Vader laying wastes to his puny foes, while also hinting at bigger things to come for both Skywalkers. Unfortunately, the visuals in this issue generally don't do justice to the script, suffering from stiff figure work, too much reliance on photo-reference and battle scenes that look cramped rather than epic. In that sense, hopefully things can get back to normal as the crossover extends into the ongoing Star Wars and Darth Vader comics. Read Full Review

Amazeballs

A fun story with beautiful artwork, and no mention of prequel shiz

Wow, great start to this miniseries. The full page artwork is flat out gorgeous (as well as the rest).

It was just a matter of time before Marvel would start making cross-over events for his Star Wars comics, too. Fortunately, judging from this starting point, they're doing it right just like every other SW comic so far. "Vader Down #1" is an excellent read, with a perfectly written Lord of the Sith, an exciting battle and some of the most gorgeous art since "Star Wars #1". I personally dislike cross-overs because they force me to read stuff I'm not following as of now, but maybe this could be one of those times it's actually worth it.

It's always awesome to see badass Darth Vader.

Cover-3.5/5
Writing-3/5
Art-5/5
Story-4.5/5

Would have liked to see Vader struggle a bit more. It's too easy for him given the size of the opposition.

Just kinda going through the motions. If you're a Star Wars fan, this certainly isn't something you haven't seen before. Funny how folks complain about the redundancy of the prequels, but gobble up these weightless comics whose stories are locked between movies.