Comic Review: Legacy of Vader #1 – The Reign of Kylo Ren!

Charles Soule brings Star Wars comics into a new era with the first new series fully set during the Sequel Trilogy!

Marvel Comics

Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Luke Ross
Colors: Nolan Woodard

Publisher summary:
DARTH VADER’S shadow extends into … the rise of the FIRST ORDER! The reign of SUPREME LEADER KYLO REN begins! Kylo’s dark obsession leads him to MUSTAFAR! What secrets does FORTRESS VADER hold for the young tyrant? And what face from the past will guide him on his quest?

Why it matters: More than seven years after The Last Jedi’s release, we finally have an ongoing story set in between Episodes VIII and IX. At last, Kylo Ren’s Supreme Leader era gets the focus we’ve been longing for.

Key moments:

• The King is Dead: The opening pages, showing Kylo Ren motivating the First Order troops with the bisected corpse of Snoke, serve as an amazing hook into this new status quo. Soule immediately lets us know exactly what the tone of this book will be and establishes that he’s not scared to go big.

• Long Live the King: We’ve learned far too little of Kylo Ren’s time as Supreme Leader, but that finally changes here. However, we see that underneath the boisterous, authoritarian commander he likes to portray, Kylo is still scared, broken, and lost. Between his self-doubt and his contentious relationship with General Hux, expect to see the First Order fight internal battles as much as they fight the Resistance.

• Memory Lane: Tying into his 2017 run on Darth Vader, Soule takes us back to Mustafar as Kylo retraces his grandfather’s journeys. This look at Vader’s Castle is a fun twist on an established setting, and the story will certainly keep giving readers new looks at familiar lore as the new Supreme Leader goes searching for his purpose.

Marvel Comics

The big picture: Outside of the High Republic, Star Wars comics have mostly lived in familiar territory for the past ten years. It’s no small task for Charles Soule and Luke Ross to jump forward to the Sequels and tell one of the first major stories set in that era, but they rise to the challenge right away. Legacy of Vader swings big and nails it with a fantastic debut issue. While the emphasis on splash pages and big moments creates a comic that is a bit light on plot, the style also gives the story a cinematic feel, turning it into an extension of the trilogy. It’s a fantastic prologue to this new era, and the only real problem is that we have to wait a month to get more.

Our rating: Incredible

What’s next: Legacy of Vader continues with issue #2 due on March 12, 2025.

For a deeper discussion of this issue, be sure to check out this week’s episode of The Cosmic Force podcast!