I'm opening this post by saying that I like both Marvel's Star Wars books and Dark Horse's stuff as well. This post is not intended as a comparison of either, but will be discussing both.
So, the ongoing Star Wars books (adjectiveless and Darth Vader): what's the long-term plan with these books? Right now they both have two big-name writers who know how to write a long-term plot from beginning to end. The trend in comics these days tends to be to have a writer have a long-term goal so they're telling a larger narrative over the life of the story. Writer's don't tend to tell issue after issue until they get reassigned elsewhere, like they did in issues past. Now it seems to be more a matter of having a large-scope story with an endgame in mind, right?
The dilemma with the two ongoing Star Wars books is that they, in theory, have some natural points that they need to reach. I suppose they can tell stories about Luke and Leia and company in the "Episode IV" era in perpetuity...though that could get old after some time. About a decade ago, Dark Horse did decide to cater to fan demand and launched an ongoing book in this era. It was initially called Star Wars: Empire (so named because it was set in the imperial era, unlike its other book, Star Wars: Republic, which was still in the Episode II era). The problem with that book is that it seemed to perpetually take place around Episode IV. The first few issues were set in the months before that movie, and later issues took place during or immediately after the movie. I think the book had to get well out of its first year before it started moving into the months after Yavin...and even then, readers got annoyed wondering when the book was finally going to reach Hoth.
In contrast, Marvel's original comic series and Dark Horse's Republic title both ran concurrent with the movies as they were being released. Marvel's original series was being published to satisfy the need for more Star Wars until Episodes V and VI were released, and when the new movies came out, the books transitioned into that time period. Dark Horse did the same thing. Its own Star Wars title tended to be set in the months after Episode I, until around 2002 when it shifted into the Clone Wars period. I remember the Dark Horse books particularly well between 2002 and 2005, since they worked with Lucas' story group to transition the book into the Episode III era. The Clones changed their helmets, General Greivous was introduced, Anakin got his scar...you could tell that the comic was moving towards the Episode III period, so when the movie came out, the comic wasn't tracking too far behind it.
But, the current batch of Star Wars comics...I like them, but part of me wonders what the long-term plan is, if any. Is it going to chronicle everything between Yavin and Hoth? Is there some eventual plan to get the heroes to Hoth (keeping in mind that it was traditionally considered three years between Episodes IV and VI, and less than a year between V and VI)? Will it keep telling low-risk stories, to the extent that we know what Luke and Vader's final fates will be? Luke ends up a Jedi. Vader ends up redeemed, but also dead. Knowing that, what's the long-term goal here?