10 Star Wars Comics Moments That Shocked The World
3. Everything That Happened To Vader Between Episodes III & V - Various
Marvel Comics
Yes, this is definitely a cop-out. And yes, that is absolutely fine. You know why? Because Darth Vader got up to an OBSCENE amount of stuff in the decades between Episodes III and IV, so much so that I'd be surprised if the expanded universe hadn't chronicled every day of the Sith Lord's life in that period.
The aforementioned Gillen-Larroca run showed how Vader recovered after presiding over the biggest disaster in the Empire's history - that obviously being the destruction of the first Death Star. We see the Emperor attempt to replace his apprentice, Vader's own power-hungry schemes, and even how he's still battling with the light within. Seeing Vader react to the discovery of Luke's true identity is a particular highlight.
The other Vader run by Charles Soule, entitled Dark Lord of the Sith, takes place in the wake of Revenge of the Sith, and pretty much devotes its entire time to showing how Vader became the most terrifying figure in the galaxy.
AND THEN there's Dennis Hopeless' Dark Visions series, which sees Vader flood entire cities and, in one occasion, even kill a gigantic fire-breathing shark-like creature called the Ender.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
