Darth Vader (2020) 36

Darth Vader 36 is the thirty-sixth issue of the 2020 canon comic book series Star Wars: Darth Vader. The issue was written by Greg Pak, illustrated by Raffaele Ienco and Federico Blee, and published by Marvel Comics on July 12, 2023.

Publisher's summary[]

DEATH BY DROID! With his Force powers still out of control, Darth Vader's more powerful and vulnerable than ever before… Which makes this the perfect time for him to be BETRAYED by one of his most trusted associates (and astoundingly, it's not APHRA or OCHI)! Featuring the return of TRIPLE-ZERO and BEE TEE – and the deadliest team up of droids Vader has ever faced!

Plot summary[]

TARGET APHRA
PART II

After the Fermata Cage caused Darth
Vader's control of the Force to waver, he
tracked down Doctor Aphra to help him
retrieve the ancient Zaly Shield: a weapon
made of kyberite that can help Force users
focus their energies.

Meanwhile, a gathering of droids who have
been wronged by Darth Vader in the past
have gathered and are prepared to take
him on….

Development[]

On February 4, 2023, writer Greg Pak tweeted that he had just turned in the script for the issue.^[3] Raffaele Ienco stated he finished inking the comic on March 17, 2023.^[4]

Continuity[]

One of the B1-series battle droids featured within Darth Vader 36 resembles the engineer battle droids of Star Wars Legends due to its orange coloration. When asked if this was an intentional pull, thereby recanonizing the droid variant, Ienco confirmed it was not but fans were welcome to view it as such.^[5]

Media[]

Cover gallery[]

Appearances[]

This in-universe list is incomplete. You can help Wookieepedia by expanding it.

By type

Characters	Organisms	Droid models	Events	Locations
Organizations and titles	Sentient species	Vehicles and vessels	Weapons and technology	Miscellanea

Characters

0-0-0
Gial Ackbar (Variant cover only)
Chelli Lona Aphra
Arex
BT-1
Dormé (Indirect mention only)
Eirtaé (Indirect mention only)
Gee-Ninety
Kirak Infil'a (Indirect mention only) (In flashback(s))
Ochi
Ought-Six (First identified as Ought-Six)
Sabé (Mentioned only)
Saché (Indirect mention only)
Darth Sidious (Mentioned only)
Luke Skywalker (Indirect mention only)
Jul Tambor (In flashback(s))
Rabé Tonsort (Indirect mention only)
Darth Vader
Istan Zaly (Mentioned only)
ZED-6-7

Droid models

Events

Imperial Era
- Battle of Yavin (Indirect mention only)
- Battle with the droid uprising
- Mission to Al'doleem (Indirect mention only) (In flashback(s))
- Plot to assassinate Darth Vader (Indirect mention only)
- Uprising on Skako Minor (In flashback(s))
  - Destruction of Jul's droid army (Mentioned only)

Locations

Al'doleem (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
Bestoon (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
Hutt Space (In flashback(s))
- Zee-Nine City Seven (In flashback(s))
Mid Rim Territories
- Ringo Vinda
  - Istan Zaly's headquarters
Mount Pasvaal (Indirect mention only) (In flashback(s))
Polis Massa (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
Tython (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
- Meridional Ice Cap (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
  - Jedi Temple (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
    - Martyrium of Frozen Tears (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))

Organizations and titles

Aphra family
Archaeologist
Assassin
- Master Assassin
Captain
Confederacy of Independent Systems (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
Doctor
Droid uprising
- Droid Crush Pirates of Bestoon
Galactic Empire
- Galactic Emperor (Mentioned only)
- Imperial Military (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
  - Imperial Navy (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
Handmaiden (Mentioned only)
Jedi (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
- Jedi Master (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
Jul Tambor's forces (In flashback(s))
- Jul's droid army (In flashback(s))
Librarian (Mentioned only)
Lieutenant Commander (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
Lord
Naboo Royal Handmaidens (Mentioned only)
Pilot
Pirate
Sith
- Dark Lord of the Sith
- Darth
- Sith apprentice
- Sith assassin
- Sith Lord
- Vader's crew (Indirect mention only) (In flashback(s))
Skywalker family
Tambors (In flashback(s))

Sentient species

Human
Skakoan (In flashback(s))

Vehicles and vessels

Death Star (Mentioned only)
- DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station (Mentioned only)
Starship
- Capital ship (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
  - Dreadnought (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
    - Star Dreadnought (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
      - Executor-class Star Dreadnought (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
        Executor (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))

Weapons and technology

Armor
Blaster
Cannon (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
Cybernetics
- Mechno-arm
Databank (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
Droid
Fermata Cage (Mentioned only; in the opening crawl)
Hologram (In flashback(s))
Lightsaber (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
- Dual-phase lightsaber (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
- Sith lightsaber (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
  - Darth Vader's lightsaber (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
Melee weapon
- Knife
- Staff
  - Darth Vader's staff
Photoreceptor
Saw blade (In flashback(s))

Miscellanea

City (In flashback(s))
Clothing
- Battle dress (Variant cover only)
- Cape
- Goggles
- Pressure suit (In flashback(s))
Confessional (In flashback(s))
Cyborg
Death
Dismemberment (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
Fire
Flagship (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
The Force
- Force power
  - Telekinesis (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
- Force-sensitive
- Force Wave (Indirectly mentioned only; in the opening crawl)
Imperial crest (In flashback(s))
Jedi temple (Appears in hologram) (In flashback(s))
Language
- Galactic Basic Standard
Mineral
- Kyberite
Moon (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
Planet
Scar of remembrance (Variant cover only)
Tattoo
- Electro-tattoo
Time
- Standard day
- Standard week

Collections[]

Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 7 – Unbound Force

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

↑ ^1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 ^1.10 Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #36 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)
↑ The events of Darth Vader (2020) 36 take place after the Escape from Cloud City and before the Rescue of Han Solo, which are dated to 3 ABY and 4 ABY, respectively, by Star Wars: Galactic Atlas.
↑ Greg Pak (@gregpak) on Twitter: "Just turned in my script for DARTH VADER #36, which now ties my run on FIREFLY for the most consecutive issues of a single series I've written in my career. Gonna pass that record with VADER this month. Hugely grateful to everyone who's supporting it so passionately. Means a ton." (backup link)
↑ Raffaele Ienco (@Raffaele_Ienco) on Twitter: "Something very rare in the life of a comic book artist has happened-- on Friday I finished inking page 20 of Darth Vader #36 and I have not received the script for issue #37 yet which means--- I HAVE THE WEEKEND OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (backup link)
↑ Raffaele Ienco (@Raffaele_Ienco) on Twitter: "Uhh, yeahhh... sure! Nothing but the best for ya! (In response to: "In fact, do my eyes deceive me, @gregpak or @Raffaele_Ienco , might this be an engineer battle droid, as seen in the original battlefront games 👀👀)" (backup link)

External links[]

Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #36 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)

Trade paperbacks
Dark Heart of the Sith:	1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5
Into the Fire:	6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11
War of the Bounty Hunters:	12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17
Crimson Reign:	18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24
The Shadow's Shadow:	25 · 26 · 27
Return of the Handmaidens:	28 · 29 · 30 · 31 · 32
Unbound Force:	33 · 34
Target Aphra:	35 · 36
Dark Droids:	37 · 38 · 39 · 40 · 41
Rise of the Schism Imperial:	42 · 43 · 44 · 45
The Razing of Exegol:	46 · 47
Phantoms:	48 · 49 · 50
1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10
Related media
Darth Vader (2015) · Darth Vader (2017) In Service to the Empire · Revelations (2022) · Revelations (2023) Free Comic Book Day 2023

[edit]

In other languages

[Marvel-1] 1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 ^1.10 Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #36 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)

[Date_note-2] The events of Darth Vader (2020) 36 take place after the Escape from Cloud City and before the Rescue of Han Solo, which are dated to 3 ABY and 4 ABY, respectively, by Star Wars: Galactic Atlas.

[Tweet-3] Greg Pak (@gregpak) on Twitter: "Just turned in my script for DARTH VADER #36, which now ties my run on FIREFLY for the most consecutive issues of a single series I've written in my career. Gonna pass that record with VADER this month. Hugely grateful to everyone who's supporting it so passionately. Means a ton." (backup link)

[Inking_tweet-4] Raffaele Ienco (@Raffaele_Ienco) on Twitter: "Something very rare in the life of a comic book artist has happened-- on Friday I finished inking page 20 of Darth Vader #36 and I have not received the script for issue #37 yet which means--- I HAVE THE WEEKEND OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (backup link)

[Nothing_but_the_best-5] Raffaele Ienco (@Raffaele_Ienco) on Twitter: "Uhh, yeahhh... sure! Nothing but the best for ya! (In response to: "In fact, do my eyes deceive me, @gregpak or @Raffaele_Ienco , might this be an engineer battle droid, as seen in the original battlefront games 👀👀)" (backup link)

[1]

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