Then we looked at the time after Episode III, when Vader was still getting used to being a gimp suit robot wizard. The first volume of “Vader” took place right after Episode IV, when Vader had just figured out his relationship with Luke. I assume I don’t need to introduce Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith, who once was named Anakin Skywalker and now terrorizes the galaxy in the name of order? It’s that Darth Vader. But Pak is a pro collaborator, and each issue is built around a showcase drawing of a Weird Star Wars Thing. As such, “Darth Vader” is a writer forward book. That rotating bullpen prevents one artist from establishing a dominant style, but that works just fine for “Star Wars” which tends to go more realistic than other comics. More recently, it’s been Ibraim Roberson, and a few notable issues with art from Guiu Vilanova.

The series premiered with Raffaele Ienco drawing. He’s joined by a rotating team of artists. When I tell you that the man is a Rhodes scholar, know that I am being literal.

His work on “Hercules” is some of my all-time favorite Marvel stuff. He’s also done a lot of good work with “X-Men” characters, especially Magneto. Heard of a little story called ‘Planet Hulk’? They made a famous movie out of that one. Greg Pak isn’t just an influential writer, he’s achieved legend status. This week we are considering the staying power of Marvel’s “Darth Vader” series! With “Don’t Miss This,” we try to spotlight series we think need to be on your pull list. In recent years, the series has even woven together parts of the “Star Wars” mythology in ways that feel sensible and right. Whether in its original incarnation by Gillen and Larroca, the next volume by Soule and Camuncoli, or the current Greg Pak run, the “Darth Vader” comics have found surprising nuance in an otherwise one-note character.

Whether you think there is too much Star Wars or not enough, “Star Wars: Darth Vader” has been a strong comic book.

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