– Spoiler Review –
In a better world, we actually wouldn’t be reading Vader – Dark Visions, but rather Shadow of Vader by Chuck Wendig. But we don’t live in that world, instead we live in a world where a compromise to Neo-Nazis by Comicsgate friending Editor Mark Paniccia has cancelled Wendig’s series and replaced it with one of similar design, but different stories. Unfortunately, this controversy hangs a shroud over this series longer than its titular character’s imposing frame ( Shadow of Vader lives on, from a certain point of view), but it’s not Dark Visions‘ creative team’s fault, so as much as I’ve really not wanted to cover this series, out of respect for the team who had nothing to do with it, I’ll be giving their replacement series a chance (much like I discussed regarding my continued coverage of Marvel in my year-in-review). Issue #1 of Vader – Dark Visions doesn’t impress however, even when factoring out the controversy, as it comes off as nothing more than a show of Vader’s force.
Crash landing on a planet below his latest battle against the Rebellion, Darth Vader finds himself in the sights of a kaiju (aka Godzilla and his ilk), which has been ravaging the planet for so long that those still living there don’t know much about what’s happening beyond the sky of their planet. The story focuses on a native child’s point-of-view of Vader’s actions, as he sees the Dark Lord as a Black Knight (no flesh wounds here!) and their savior considering he manages to win in the battle against the “Ender” kaiju. Most of the story is focused on big, bombastic action as Vader and kaiju rumble across the ruins of the planet, with the kid reveling in the gore and destruction, something the art hopes to make us cheer along with as well. While that’s all fine and good, it doesn’t do much for Vader as a character, instead the whole issue ends up feeling like it’s meant to make him look “cool”/propaganda for Dark Lord devotees, focusing more on a Rogue One hallway scene mentality than the nuanced, now classic approaches to the character from the last two Vader series. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if this was simply for the sake of reaffirming Vader’s badassery, then this series already feels like more what the general public expects from comics and less of how varied and complex a medium it can be, which the two previous Vader series took advantage of instead. The art by Paolo Villanelli and colors from Arif Prianto, while expansive with an epic look, only feed into this focus on Vader being “cool,” as he takes bombastic postures several times, like chest puffed out and ready to strike. Sure, it might be meant to let us see Vader from the kid’s point of view, both via the art and story, but it doesn’t come off as much different than tales of Vader’s strength we’ve seen before, kid’s POV or not.
I can understand a lot of people’s excitement and love for this issue, instead of my less positive take, but after we’ve been spoiled with nuanced, character-driven, rich portrayals of Vader, it’s hard for me to get excited for “Vader Smash,” but there’s nothing wrong if you do. Knowing the Shadow of Vader series was going to deal more with the fallout to people’s lives due to the shadow of his actions, with stories about Wilrow Hood (yes, the ice-cream maker guy in ESB) and the Acolytes of the Beyond (from Wendig’s Aftermath Trilogy), it felt like a great continuation of the direction comics had been taking with the character. So for me, this is a bit of a step back with Dark Visions‘ first issue, but there are 4 more left and plenty of opportunities for writer Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum to take the miniseries in other directions. I did like a few things in this issue, though! For starters, that the cover by Greg Smallwood came to life in the issue, with Vader riding an alien steed into battle, really helping to fit the kid’s description of Vader as a Black Knight; and Vader hopping on his broken TIE and using the Force to lift it up into the belly of the Star Destroyer, the inverse of his grand, dramatic Skywalker-like entrance in Star Wars Rebels S2 finale, “Twilight of the Apprentice.”
Here are a few other things:
- Bleeding Cool claims Greg Smallwood’s cover is an homage to a 1973 painting.
- The race the kid belongs to looks suspiciously like the Petrusians from Villanelli’s work in Lando – Double or Nothing, except blue instead of pink.
Vader – Dark Visions #1 doesn’t come off as the strongest of starts due to its simplistic “Vader Smash” mentality.
+ Dramatic exit/Vader riding an alien horse
– Feels too focused on making him cool, and that’s it
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
VADER – DARK VISIONS
Miniseries Review
CURRENT SERIES COMIC REVIEWS:
Age of Republic (miniseries)
Doctor Aphra
Aphra (#1-6) | And the Enormous Profit (#9-13) | Remastered (#14-19) | The Catastrophe Con (#20-25) | Worst Among Equals (#26-31) | Annual: #2
Star Wars
Ashes of Jedha (#38-43) | Mutiny at Mon Cala (#44-49) | Hope Dies (#50-55) | The Escape (#56-61) | The Scourging of Shu-Torun (#62-67) | Annual: #4