The expansive War of the Bounty Hunters has 4 one-shot issues seemingly unconnected until now, as new character and bounty hunter from the High Republic-era Deva Lompop will star in them all! More frightening than a long-lived bounty hunter is the confirmed return of IDW’s annual Star Wars comics Vader’s Castle spook-fest, Ghost of Vader’s Castle, starting this September! Check out all the frightening details below, including a bone-chilling cover starring a young Anakin Skywalker.
From the concept art above alone, Deva Lompop is an eye-catching new bounty hunter and full of deadly surprises in her punk-rock inspired armor and I’m already in love. Co-created by Justina Ireland, War of the Bounty Hunters – Jabba the Hutt #1 and The High Republic scribe, and artist Iban Coello, Deva’s got a striking and unforgettable look whose story screams to be told. That she stars in all 4 one-shots is intriguing and I look forward to how she connects across all of them and where she might go next in the Original Trilogy era after this crossover ends, though Ireland promises we’ll see more of her in High Republic tales. When one of the covers below appeared before the announcement, I was curious if she was related to someone from the High Republic era, but it’s been revealed she’s part of a long-living species, the Shani, so she’s actually been around since then; did she ever work with the Nihil, who have a somewhat similar esthetic? Either way, Deva Lompop is a character I’m so excited to meet in the stories ahead, no matter the era! Find her first in the Jabba one-shot, out July 21.
Then there’s some spooky good though sad news: the Vader’s Castle series from IDW returns in this fall’s five-issue Ghost of Vader’s Castle, as teased in last year’s entry, though from verbiage in the announcement it might be the final one. Writer Cavan Scott will return to frighten us once again, bringing back Tales from Vader’s Castle characters like Lina Graf, Lt. Hudd, Skritt, and CR-8R to offer us new and scary stories:
“We will see Anakin, Jar Jar, and Padmé tussling with undead droids, Luke facing the spirit of the swamp on Dagobah, and Han having a huge problem with Chewbacca. Oh, and we also throw in the biggest terror of the Star Wars galaxy: a certain green-haired, long-eared smuggler by the name of Jaxxon! All this, and the return of Darth Vader from beyond the grave!”
At this point, it’s almost only the High Republic content Scott writes that hasn’t featured Jaxxon somehow, which is an impressive feat; I can’t wait to see how Jaxxon responds to a scary, spooky situation and how he’ll manage to hop (not sorry) his way out of it! Otherwise, the story of Luke and the swamp spirit sounds very intriguing while the whole ‘Vader from beyond the grave’ thing is something I’ve been eager to see the series explore since its tease at the end of last year’s Shadow of Vader’s Castle. Many of the previous artists will return alongside Scott: Francesco Francavilla, who will once again illustrate the framing story and the covers; Megan Levens; Robert Hack; Chris Fenoglio; and Derek Charm, providing variant covers alongside interior art.
Check out the covers below, but be extra wary of that horribly spooky young Anakin Skywalker one from Charm, because I’m sure I’m having nightmares after seeing it myself. As Michael Siglain, creative director of Lucasfilm Publishing, says in a Goosebumps-like manner: “Prepare yourselves, foolish mortals, for Ghosts of Vader’s Castle.” I imagined ghoulish cackling and thunder erupting shortly after he said it.
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.