Vader – Dark Visions #5 ends the series much like it started it, as it offers up a story rather similar to one it has already told that lacks the nuance the series promised, while its visuals remain the sole bright spot of tuning in.
In Dark Visions #2, an Imperial officer fears Vader’s wrath and meets a demise of his own making, while issue #5 follows a similar trajectory: fearing the wrath of Vader, a barkeep holding onto stolen files meets an end of his own making. Both stories tell us the same thing, as do most of the tales in this replacement series: Vader is someone to fear! But several movies you might have heard of and two on-going comics have already made this abundantly clear, with the comics offering plenty of nuance and variety, but issue #5 doesn’t add anything new or exciting to the character’s legacy.
There have been some truly trippy and amazing visuals in the series, and issue #5 doesn’t skimp on them in slightest. Geraldo Borges’ art, with Marcio Menyz on colors, is full of nightmares, as the barkeep being chased gets poisoned by hallucinogenic thorns and starts seeing some truly crazy things: Vader’s lightsaber extending as a dragon, Vader’s helmet as a spooky home deep in the woods, and an absolutely terrifying visage of Vader that looks almost like an unmasked Predator. It’s about as trippy as Greg Smallwood’s cover suggests.
I’ll have a miniseries review shortly to better unpack what went wrong with this series, but for now just know Vader – Dark Visions #5 once again proves it was never going to escape the Shadow of Vader, both literally and figuratively.
– Gorgeous art can’t save this series’ finale
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
VADER – DARK VISIONS
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