Had its moments

3.5 starsI actually liked this one quite a bit. Great art, fun story. I felt we didnt get to know the characters that well though and the story felt like it was missing a few panels before the finale. That aside, fun old school inspired adventures with bounty hunters.

The Good:Vader was suitably menacing.He WAS a pretty good combat General once upon a time, it must be admitted.The Bad:Try as I may I can't get into "Man-Machine" Beilert Valance as a protagonist.Yeeeeeah...good luck with that one, buddy.The Ugly:Too. Much. Jumping Back and Forth in Numerous Different Timeframes.My reaction, also.(view spoiler)[The Amusing: Yeah, Dengar always a reliable dirtbag. (hide spoiler)]["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>[...

*3.75I will admit, part of me genuinely thought when I saw this cover that this would be some kind of Terminator-Vader crossover - although Vader could definitely beat the Terminator. But no, this wasn't that, despite my interest.The premise of this comic was about this cyborg man who is hired with this bounty hunter crew to kill Darth Vader. Now, when I first heard that, I was... not very interested. I mean, really, if that's the main crux of the story... I think I know how it'll end. If it was...

2.5 stars"All right - enough talk, then. Let's go kill Darth Vader." -- bounty hunter Beilert ValanceAction-oriented but otherwise sort of unremarkable 'SW' story, which features a small squad of diverse bounty hunters (including Dengar - he of the bandaged head - and best known as one of Boba Fett's contemporaries in the cinematic The Empire Strikes Back) working together to hunt down possibly the most dangerous target in their careers: Darth Vader. Though he is featured front and center on the...

One of my favorite things that Marvel has done in their handling of the “Star Wars” franchise has been the way they’ve intentionally interweaved narratives across titles, telling ongoing stories and developing distinct character arcs between multiple series. With no title is this method more apparent in than with “Star Wars: Target Vader” and its wayward protagonist, Beilert Valance. First introduced in the (criminally underrated) “Han Solo: Imperial Cadet,” the Valance we see here is a few year...

Sincerely don't understand why this comic exists. Like, you know that Vader survives because it takes place before he dies in the movies and, I mean, that could work if the story was good enough. But here's the thing. It wasn't. It wasn't good enough. Sure, Valance is a compelling enough character (I guess), but the double crossing double crossing double crossing double crosser bullshit was waaaaaaaaaay convoluted and tried waaaaaaaay too hard to be clever. It wasn't. Also, I hate that "characte...

Target Vader is another one of those comic books I checked out of my local library in search of a topic to write about as part of this weekly column. I love Darth Vader (who doesn’t?) and the premise of him being hunted, while a fixed conclusion, can provide for plenty of entertainment, if done right.If you want that, you should look to Soule’s Darth Vader #18, which does a far, far, far better job of it than this six-issue limited run by Robbie Thompson. What Thompson offers is an underwhelming...

meh Vader vs bounty hunters isn’t really my jam

This graphic novel is the collected miniseries of Target Vader parts 1-6, each part collectively having its own subtitle. This series takes place priot to the Battle of Hoth. Valance and Dengar band together with a few other bounty hunters to take on one of the highest-paying bounties yet: Darth Vader. Of course any true lover of Star Wars would immidiately conclude that Vader cannot be hunted down as such, which makes the level of the story a bit anti-climactic and somewhat pointless. But it is...

Not great, not bad.This is a very lackluster bounty hunter team up story. It introduces us to Valence, who I feel is a pretty generic rogue type character. I didn’t hate it, but wasn’t excited or enthused at any point.

Honestly, I won't remember this story in a week. It's not bad, but there is absolutely nothing remarkable about bounty hunters joining up to hunt Vader. Too many twists and turns prevent the reader from empathizing with any of the characters; the action is never impressive; and Valance is a really dull protagonist. Yes he's a deep dive from the old Marvel series (and I may have actually read those back in the day), but that doesn't make him notable. Besides a somewhat striking physical appearanc...

Meh. The only good thing is Beilert Valance. But overall, it's just another unnecessary Vader story. Also, the art changed a few times and it was distracting.

I used to follow Star Wars comics while these were published by Dark Horse and had a break after Marvel took over again. Reason was very simple - stories I liked were moved to non-canon and there was a rewrite of entire history (I still cannot understand why but ..... OK I guess).Being one that read Timothy Zahn's novels, X-Wing books, Jedi Academy novels (I know, but hey I liked them), Yuuzhang Vong stories, Chis Ascendancy, Dark Empire and especially Clone Wars, Legacy and Old Republic era nov...

A fast paced bounty hunter tale. Despite the confusion and often messy continuity of the current Star Wars franchise Robbie Thompson has told an okay story in my opinion. For me the Star Wars universe is a hit or miss right now. I have found the Disney era film trilogy wonky and ultimately disappointing. But the Mandalorian tv series was actually pretty fun. For those who really enjoy the seedy criminal underworld of the Star Wars galaxy this is a not to be missed comic book miniseries. The prem...

A pack of bounty hunters are hired to kill Darth Vader. Anyone with even the most cursory knowledge of Star Wars is going to know they don't succeed. So how does Robbie Thompson make Target Vader even remotely interesting?Well, he doesn't really. The action is fine and the art - even with a dozen artists - is pretty good. The bounty hunters are forgettable, except for Dengar and the main dude, Valance. He keeps popping up in these non-primary Star Wars series and is, unfortunately, a little more...

A nice little addition to my Star Wars collection:Darth vader is hunting down a criminal syndicate known as the Hidden Hand, which is supplying the Rebels with arms. At the same time, a group of lower-end bounty hunters led by a former Stormtrooper named Valance decided to try to take down Vader.That's the gist. A well done story and one with an interesting ending. The art was good and the story was a fun read. I'm always down to read a good vader story and this one did not disappoint.

Action packed but ultimately pointless.

Valance is stupid... looks like he was designed in the dark ages of comics and they should have left him there.