As part of the Galaxy’s Edge publishing tie-in program, Myths & Fables told Star Wars stories those within the universe would share with one another. Dark Legends, once again written by George Mann with ghoulish art by Grant Griffin, is the next entry in the series, this time focusing exclusively on spookier and frightening fables for excellent, chilling effect.
Myths & Fables wasn’t all tales of heroes and happy endings, as it had its fair share of the scarier tales, but Dark Legends is all about the horror and it’s that consistency which gives focus and strength to its tone. George Mann pulls from all sorts of haunting tales and mixes them into Star Wars to spine-chilling effect, from werewolves to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, similar to the annual spookfest fun from IDW comics with their Vader’s Castle series. In a way, Dark Legends gave me a bit of a Goosebumps vibe, as people doing terrible things frequently got their comeuppance, forever caught in the hubris of their plans. It’s not all doom and gloom, as several stories have positive endings, while there are some potential connections to The High Republic, and the continuation of Darth Caldoth’s tales, an intriguing ancient Sith Lord introduced in the previous book. These new, scarier tales are so good, it’s a little jarring it’s all over just as it gets started. Dark Legends has three less tales than Myths & Fables and it’s very apparent, between how much physically smaller this book is to the first one and how short the experience feels overall.* For what tales we did get though, all 6 are delightful reads so there’s nothing to complain about with regards to the quality.
Illustrator Grant Griffin returns for more astounding pieces of artwork to accompany each new tale. In fact, sticking to the horror vibe for Griffin results in nearly all the pieces here somehow outclassing the first’s, which I guess shouldn’t have been such a surprise considering the original quality he displayed in M&F. Since there are only 6 tales, each piece really is fantastic and it’s virtually impossible to pick any favorites, but if I’d have to choose, I’d vote for “The Orphanage” for how the Grand Inquisitor looks like Dracula unexpectedly exposed, “The Dark Mirror” for how it should’ve given away the story but I didn’t quite put it together and it only gets better after reading it, like the creeping shadows behind the Jedi character, and of course “The Gilded Cage” for really adding to the mystical, strange, and unique world of the Nightsisters.
And now a few sentences worth of review for each of the 6 dark legends!
“The Orphanage”
A pitch perfect opening salvo for Dark Legends! The description of the Grand Inquisitor, visiting the eponymous orphanage and taking Force-sensitive children, is worth the price of admission alone, framing him in vampyric fashion, as is fitting with the Utapaun design. The ending leaves one curious for more about the Purge survivor and the young girl she helps, so hopefully we get more about them at one point!
“Buyer Beware”
Galaxy’s Edge gets a little shout-out as the main character of this tale buys an item from Dok-Ondar’s shop and pays the price for not listening to the warning that comes with it. It wasn’t totally clear if he was First Order or not, but it did seem to imply he worked for them. I liked the idea of the mask revealing its previous owner’s luck, leading to a great lesson on how not to act/beware warnings.
“The Predecessor”
Fear is a dangerous emotion, especially when it seeps into your every pore, as one Imperial office does in this tale. How things get increasingly worse and worse, even more than I imagined, is really excellent.
“Blood Moon”
This is my third favorite tale in the group, as the setting really sets it apart in memorable and intriguing ways: the heart of a star is really made of kyber and this one is bleeding out, in sympathy for all the wars ravaging the galaxy and how the people it watches over do nothing about them, and now its influence slowly drives those insane. It leads to a Shistavanen reverting to a primal state, howling at the blood moon, much like our own werewolf stories. But the setting is the real draw and the ominous red glow covering the planet the treasure seekers attempt to plunder is all the right types of spooky.
“The Dark Mirror”
My favorite tale within Dark Legends and M&F! Even though this story’s inspiration was right before my eyes (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde anyone?), this story still took me by surprise for several reasons and I enjoyed every single once of it, from how Mann sets it all up, unravels it, and brings it to a wonderfully unique ending.
“The Gilded Cage”
The return of Darth Caldoth in my second favorite tale! Ancient Nightsisters against an ancient Sith Lord is already a fantastic idea for a story and how this one unfolds is even better than you’d imagine. It even reframes, to some extent, Caldoth’s first appearance in M&F‘s “Gaze of Stone” thanks to its fun premise and the Nightsisters’ style of revenge. The final sentence will forever haunt my nightmares…
“A Life Immortal”
I really enjoyed this for a finale, as it’s one last cautious tale about hubris while tying Exegol into the larger ethos a bit more.
Here are a few other things:
- *It feels even shorter when you factor in the news Galaxy’s Edge, the Star Wars parks, will get a special edition of Myths & Fables packed with 6 exclusive tales. Hopefully this becomes available elsewhere, considering the current worldwide pandemic means many people who even could afford the trip to the park might not be willing too, let alone those who can’t go or don’t feel comfortable asking someone else to go for them and risk it as well. These two books have been fantastic already and while I appreciate the in-universe appearance for the GE edition, making more fun stories so difficult to acquire isn’t the greatest decision.
- However, I’d love to see this concept applied to The High Republic era! Cool way to expand on our understanding of the new era and potentially seed some events/characters…
Dark Legends might be shorter than its predecessor, but its consistent horror-centric tone makes it a stronger outing. George Mann and Grant Griffin can keep making these until the end of days!
+ Consistency of horror makes for strong tone
+ Stunning, gorgeous art
+ “The Dark Mirror” plus the return of Darth Caldoth
– Feels and looks too short
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.
RELATED REVIEW:
Myths & Fables (novel)