Star Wars 21: Shadow of a Dark Lord

Star Wars 21: Shadow of a Dark Lord is the twenty-first issue in the Marvel Star Wars series of comics.

Plot
Princess Leia escapes from Simon Greyshade's suite, where she was held captive, and finds Luke Skywalker, who has now recovered from his trance-like state. Luke reveals that his trance was caused by touching someone else's mind through the Force for a moment, someone strong with the Force who he suspects to be Darth Vader. At the same time Greyshade is meeting with his new partner Commander Strom, The Wheel administrator has secretly sent his Wheel Security Force to subdue Strom's troops and recover the money that they had stolen from The Wheel. And now that Han Solo is getting ready to enter the main event of The Big Game he realizes that Chewbacca is also entered in the contest, and according to the rules there can be only one survivor. Meanwhile on the planet Ultaar, Darth Vader finds the remains of a Rebel information retrieval team which has already been wiped out by the bounty hunter Beilert Valance. Vader now realizes that Valance is searching for the same thing that Vader is, the boy who destroyed the Death Star I, and the race is on to see who finds him first.

Behind the scenes
This issue marks the first appearance of Darth Vader in the series since the adaptation of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. It also foreshadows the telepathic bond between Luke and Vader, which will be greatly expanded upon in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

Collections

 * Classic Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... Volume 2: Dark Encounters
 * Omnibus: A Long Time Ago... Volume 1