– Spoiler Review –
The nightmares continue in Ghosts of Vader’s Castle #2, though this time things go big, literally, for some kaiju fun with Wookiees and rabbits, highlighting the series’ change offers exciting new life to the series.
Last issues’ zombie droids story and its spooky unresolved ending ushered in a new era for the Vader’s Castle series, as the nightmare format for the scary tales allows for the endings to be left open or without the need for a happy ending/return to normal, ramping up the scale and frights for each tale because you don’t truly know what will come next. When Lina Graf finds Jaxxon, whose location she receives from Princess Leia, of all people, he’s in the middle of a few drinks at a bar, about to launch into a recurring nightmare. Turns out Lina’s having nightmares too and it’s what initially leads her to asking Mon Mothma and Senator Organa for resources to go to Mustafar, as her dreams hint that’s where her brother is after he went mysteriously silent. Mothma is a hard no, but Leia offers her the next best thing to a no: Jaxxon, the rascally Lepi. The framing story feels more fleshed out this time around and this issue helps a lot, especially as we pick up with the surprise of the Graf family droid Crater turning on Milo on behalf of Vaneé, Darth Vader’s loyal servant who’s hatching a plan to return the Dark Lord to life. These nightmares are all part of the plan, as he’s hoping to lure them all to Mustafar for the dark ritual. It’s an intriguing and exciting story by itself this time around, rather than the first two framing stories, and I’m genuinely interested where it’ll all go. And having Francesco Francavilla as artist for the framing story helps ground it compared to the nightmare stories, and it’s scarier, darker, and moodier look make the sense all the more palpable. Even the scene in the beginning, set on Chandrila, is at sunset, the light going down on the characters, darkness coming, while I loved the dripping neon area Lina finds Jaxxon. He doesn’t get to go as big as Charm does for his story, but the little snippet of Lina’s dream is a cool way to anthropomorphize Vader’s Castle.
Whereas the framing story has a chance to shine, the best part of the issue is Jaxxon’s nightmare, written by Derek Charm! In it, Jaxxon’s trying to deliver berries from Kashyyyk to a Hutt, but the Wookiees won’t let him go because leaving with exports like that during their current festival is some sort of curse. Han and Chewie are there, naturally, and Han undercuts the Wookiees’ warnings because he’s not superstitious, so Jaxxon decides to sneak the cargo away anyways. Chaos ensues, as this wouldn’t be Ghosts of Vader’s Castle if it didn’t, and Chewie transformers into a raging, 50 ft tall Wookiee!! Artist Derek Charm envisions the enlarged Wookiee in several excellent panels, especially the first big reveal of the giant Chewie as he grasps Jaxxon’s fleeing ship, or when he’s using the big trees of Kashyyyk to attack Jaxxon! As Chewie rampages, the elder Wookiee who once warned Jaxxon now throws some strange goop into his mouth, turning Jaxxon into a giant rabbit! The big panel of the two giants squared off against one another almost puts some of the recent Godzilla-verse films to shame, as the stylized Jaxxon, looks both threatening yet so very Jaxxon. In the past I’ve sometimes felt Charm’s art was too charming for these spookier tales, but it was perfect for this one, providing menacing images but retaining his signature lighthearted, digital look. Letterer Shawn Lee suitably sizes up his SFX for the growls and grunts of the giant versions of these characters, breaking the page in the case of Chewie’s big reveal, which only brought the scale to life more.
Here are a few other things:
- There’s more Jaxxon content this year, like the upcoming Star Wars Adventures Annual 2021 of course! Check out its cover and solicit then make sure to return November 24 for our review!
- I laughed far longer than I expected this issue with a joke by Jaxxon/Cavan Scott about Lando’s Calrissian Chronicles.
Ghosts of Vader’s Castle #2 expands the framing story and has one giant, fun spooky tail with Jaxxon and Chewie going Kaiju!
+ Kaiju Battle: Chewie v Jaxxon!
+ Art in both matches the moods
+ Framing story expansion
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.
GHOSTS OF VADER’S CASTLE REVIEWS:
#1
VADER’S CASTLE SERIES:
Shadow of Vader’s Castle (one-shot) | Return to Vader’s Castle (miniseries) | Tales from Vader’s Castle (miniseries)