– Spoiler Review –
With Ghosts of Vader’s Castle #5, an annual tradition of fun scares and horror invading the galaxy far, far away comes to a close. As far as finale’s go, especially for the entire Vader’s Castle series, issue #5 delivers with some fun references to the past and an ending you don’t want to miss!
The stage is set, our nightmare having team on Mustafar ready to save Milo Graf and confront whatever horrors lurk inside Vader’s Castle. Cavan Scott and Francesco Francavilla spare no expense for this final issue, with haunting visions, panels that’ll make your skin crawl, and some humor relief thanks to Jaxxon’s inclusion. It doesn’t waste much time either, diving right into the confrontation with Vaneé and just what he’s up to by luring them all to Mustafar, wrapping up all the loose ends for an ending with finality to the entire story, and while someone could continue it if they wanted, it doesn’t get more fitting than this. Time to find a new place to set more scary tales for the next Halloween-minded special!
Lina Graf, Jaxxon, Thom Hudd, and Skritt quickly find themselves facing their first specter before stumbling into Vaneé’s latest trap, leaving them to the mad man’s whims. Referencing the reveal of Vaneé’s origins, the servant of Vader unleashes the smoke which drove him mad in the first place, mad and complacent to Vader’s will, and our heroes face their greatest fears. There are truly ghostly panels from Francavilla here, the swirling green mist hauntingly reminding each character of their nightmares. It’s a fun moment, especially as it grows clearer and clearer Vaneé isn’t just mad, he’s like mad mad, inhaling the fumes for far too long, answering a question lingering since last year’s cliffhanger ending: who was speaking to Vaneé about Vader’s return? Turns out, just a voice in his head, and his own fears are the very thing he’s trying to bring back, Vader himself. Lina finds a way to take advantage of his fear, like how he took advantage of all their fears, and breaks loose, using the Crater-as-Vader’s lightsaber to free her friends. They lock him away and subject him to a fate far worse than death: living with his nightmares for the rest of his now hopefully short life, in one of Francavilla’s most spine-tingling panels ever for the series. The team loses one another in the fumes but follows the blue blade out of the smoky Castle and back to Jaxxon’s Rabbit Foot, Crater and Milo and everyone else intact, finally ready to put Mustafar and Vader’s Castle behind them for good.
It’s then Lina reveals her lightsaber ran out and that’s why they lost each other in the fumes, so the question becomes: who held the lightsaber that helped them out of the Castle? The final page provides the answer and it’s an exciting reveal: the Force Ghost of Anakin Skywalker! I did NOT see this moment coming, but in a sense it’s been in the cards since the finale of Shadows of Vader’s Castle, as in a way Vader is immortal now and did return, just not the way Vaneé hoped and feared he would. Anakin’s first Ghost appearance since Endor to his son and daughter is as Jedi as it gets, guiding lost souls out of the darkness and into the light. It’s such a fun way to end not only this miniseries, but the entirety of Vader’s Castle, showing the hope and goodness that still came from such a horrible place. A big congrats on pulling off such a memorable and fitting ending for this loosely connected yearly horror delight.
Having Francesco Francavilla’s art throughout really added to the mood of the issue, with the dark shadow and subdued colors, making the halls of the Castle feel oppressive and expansive, as if there’s truly no end or beginning to them; a labyrinth, if you will. As I mentioned before, there are stellar usages of the fumes to bring to life Jaxxon’s fear of a giant Wookiee or Thom’s monster, but as I mentioned before, the final panel with Vaneé, showing him locked in with his greatest fear, was easily the best panel he’s drawn for this entire series, even beyond all his stunning covers throughout the years. Vader looms over a screeching Vaneé, hands stretched back in horror locked into his chair, Shawn Lee’s screaming SFX blasting across the page, matching Francavilla’s colors for the red tinted fumes through which Vader appears. The Vader before Vaneé, with its large red eyes and giant, dripping and wavy mask, send a shiver right down my spine even thinking and typing about it now. And then the final page, of the Force Ghost Anakin, the hopeful blue and heroic pose, are a truly delightful last image after such a scary one of Anakin’s former life. Stellar final appearance from Francavilla!
Here are a few other things:
- This is one of THREE comics written by Scott releasing on 10/20/21: there’s also the start to his Rogue Squadron story in Star Wars Adventures #11 (Vol. 2) and the latest The High Republic issue!
- I love how it’s never explained, but Vaneé doesn’t even know why Jaxxon is there but just rolls with it. Feels like a fun tongue-in-cheek way to reference Scott’s habit of writing the rabbit (yes, I did that rhyme totally on purpose).
Ghosts of Vader’s Castle #5 is delightfully spooky and fitting ending for not only this part of the miniseries, but for the entirety of the series as well.
+ Fitting frightening finale
+ Force Ghost Anakin!!
+ Spine-tingling Art
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 | #2 | #3 | #4
VADER’S CASTLE SERIES:
Shadow of Vader’s Castle (one-shot) | Return to Vader’s Castle (miniseries) | Tales from Vader’s Castle (miniseries)