I'm hopeful for the Dark Droids storyline because I do enjoy my murderbots and have since they were first introduced, but, well, Star Wars and droids is what it is. I did enjoy aspects of this issue as seeing how Aphra navigates being around Vader again and the way Ochi recognizes it and uses it to his advantage and all, and Vader himself is kind of minimal when you get down to it because it's focused more on the action than anything else. The droid material takes up the bulk of it and it's fun to see all the designs and different types which lets Ienco really cut loose and have fun, especially when we get to draw on some that haven't appeared in quite some time. It's not a bad issue but my general wariness of this setup for what's to come is just leaving me feeling a bit cringey about it all. Read Full Review

Vader has begun creating a new army of his own, complete with henchmen generals. But where will this battalion be deployed? Only Vader knows, and he his playing his sabacc cards close to his chest plate too well to predict. Read Full Review

:Star Wars: Darth Vader #36 brings this part of the journey between Darth Vader and Doctor Aphra to a close. The whole issue is Vader testing out his new Force Shield on the attacking droids and while he looks cool, mileage will vary if what he does with it is actually exciting. Nothing big really happens in this issue, it feels more like a callback to Kieron Gillen's Darth Vader run than anything else, especially with the return of Aphra, Triple-0 and Beetee-1 for good measure. But nothing significant is done with either of them, they have no interesting interactions with Vader, and by the end it felt like the comic was reusing old ideas instead of exploring new ones for Darth Vader in his current condition. Read Full Review

The majority of the issue involves the droids getting together and hatching their plan. Although not a bad plan, underestimating Darth Vader doesn't serve them well especially when he has a ringer on their team. The issue ends with Vader victorious and the droid army in ruins to be rebuilt for his own purposes. It's unclear his plans for the droids (especially after immediately demonstrating Vader doesn't need a droid army to stand up to his enemies), but I guess we'll see where this goes. Read Full Review

This issue was garbage. WTF. A droid uprisinga against Vader using a staff and shield. This has just gone off the rails. Sorry, Greg, but you need to go. I think he's run out Vader stories and this title is dropping off a cliff quickly. The Sabe stuff was good, but ever since the Faraday Cage thing, this book simply makes no sense and doesn't feel like Star Wars.