Tales from Vader’s Castle Review

Halloween was just around the corner when the creatures of the night came out to feed on delicious Star Wars content. That’s right! The horror genre and Star Wars mash up with the new comic book series Tales from Vader’s Castle. Author Cavan Scott takes us on a creepy adventure to discover never before heard tales from a galaxy far, far away while following the journey of a new Rebel crew to the scariest castle in the Outer Rim. There they face the ultimate evil: the Sith Lord Darth Vader.

This ghoulish series is comprised of 5 issues with a main story line and 4 spooky tales: The Haunting of the Ghost, Count Dooku Prince of Darkness, an untitled witch story with Han and Chewie, and Night of the Gorax.

I recently had the pleasure to do a Twitter Q&A with Cavan Scott, the author behind Tales from Vader’s Castle. I wanted to know what his initial thought process of creating the series was and if he started by identifying potential elements and characters in the Star Wars Universe that would fit the genre and then build around a unique story. He replied with this tweet:

Dooku was the starting point. We knew from the off we wanted Christopher Lee in there. From there, @msiglain and I pulled together a wish-list. We wanted a ghost story, a witch-story and a monster story for example…

— Cavan Scott (@cavanscott) October 25, 2018

For those of you who don’t know, in the early days of his career, Christopher Lee (who plays Count Dooku) was among the legends of the horror genre, playing iconic characters like the Frankenstein monster (Curse of Frankenstein, 1957), the Mummy (The Mummy, 1959), and Count Dracula! It was logical then to have a story featuring Dooku, which is by far my favorite one of the series. I also wanted to know when the story team decided that they needed a new crew to drive the main story line.

Right from the off, so you don’t know who will survive….

— Cavan Scott (@cavanscott) October 25, 2018

This “who will survive” story structure is a classic one that is present in many horror movies. The journey introduces the reader to an interesting bunch. We have the heroic (Gee-Three), the skittish (Skritt), the logical (Crater), the commonsensical (Hudd), and the determined one (Lina). Their unique and often incompatible personalities create hilarious dynamics which add a good dose of comedy to the story.

The main story starts with an Imperial space chase which forces our newly acquainted Rebel crew to land on Mustafar, a volcanic planet heavily guarded by Imperial guards. Little did they know, the planet and precisely the landing area was home of the most feared being in the Galaxy: Darth Vader. While in the midst of danger, the crew shares scary tales which often parallel with the current danger.

I really like how the main story and each tale is beautifully composed by different artists and colorists. This diversity of visual styles help the reader separate and identify the different timelines. I particularly loved Derek Charm’s style with bold lines and colors; each element has enough detail to make iconic characters, ships, and environments recognizable despite the simplistic nature.

The Haunting of the Ghost

The first tale is a mission on board the Ghost, where Chopper, Hera, and Kanan are looking for Graysom who’s supposed to possess important Imperial data for the Rebel Alliance. They finally find his ship crashed on an asteroid and despite Chopper’s attempts to persuade them not to go outside Hera and Kanan board the stricken craft. Will our heroes find what they’re looking for? Or will they discover the unexpected and put themselves in danger? If so, remember that in space no one can hear you scream (you’re welcome Alien fans), so we can only hope that Hera, Kanan, and even Chopper make it out alive!

Count Dooku Prince of Darkness

The second tale is set in Bray, the planet of eternal night during the Clone Wars. Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Adi Gallia have been called by the Brayans to investigate the mysterious loss of light caused by malfunctioning technology which is leaving the citadel shrouded in darkness. Behind all this is the so called “Dark Lord” and his creatures of the night which look like Mynocks (first seen in Empire Strikes Back) but more muscular and part humanoid. After several encounters with the monstrous creatures, the Jedi decide to go to the Dark Lord’s liar to find the person responsible for all this and stop the curse once and for all. That’s when they meet Count Dooku once again!

This story is full of nods from the classic Hammer horror era. Artist Kelley Jones and colorist Michelle Madsen do an incredible job at visually setting the right atmosphere and utilizing familiar elements from that movie era while adding some unique and more modern ones to connect it with Star Wars. I particularly loved the final act when we finally enter the Dark Lord’s castle. The encounter with Count Dooku often visually mirrors some of the most iconic shots from Christopher Lee’s performance as Dracula!

The Emerald Witch

The third tale is about a young woman who needed a pilot to deliver a rare piece of artwork on Rendel, a planet in the Kiva system. No one would take the job because there was a belief that the moon was cursed. No one except a fool, and that fool is young Han Solo! And so Han and Chewie took the job totally ignoring the superstition around Rendel.

After landing the Falcon on Rendel they find the planet smothered in huge thorns, quickly realizing this is no routine job. Chewie had a bad feeling about this from the get go, and Han just would not listen his copilot’s constant complaints. The two finally split up when they find an abandoned Cranan star-hopper which belonged to an old acquaintance. The only survivor of the ship’s crash warns them of the presence of the Emerald Witch. That’s when Han decides to leave Chewie and head into the forest to deliver the package himself. What will await in the shadows? Who is this mysterious Emerald Witch?

Night of the Gorax

The fourth and last tale has everything. Plucky warriors, daring escapes, and it all starts on a forest moon. Yes! The Ewoks are, believe or not, back to the spooky genre (remember Ewok Hunt in Star Wars Battlefront II?) with a new, haunting story. It all starts with a group of young Ewoks hunting a giant boar-wolf. After successfully catching their prize, the young hunters come home expecting to be welcomed as heroes and champions. But when they arrived to the village the place was deserted. Our heroes soon find out from the village chief that some woklings have disappeared, taken from their baskets as they slept (creepy huh?) apparently by the Duloks. The Ewoks finally decide to head to the Dulok camp to find the woklings and have their revenge. And that’s when the nightmare begins.

I believe this tale is probably the creepiest so far. The story has an old spooky fairy tale style, and it is visually haunting. Robert Hack’s detailed and realistic penciling paired with Charlie Kirchoff’s striking colors create a very effective atmosphere. In particular, the transition of colors from the Ewoks camp to the Dulok’s adds emotion to the scene.

The Fearful Finale

The series ends with an epic finale in issue #5. We are back to the main story line, where the Rebel crew fight their way out Vader’s castle. The end of this amazing series is full of action and cliffhangers. Darth Vader finally decides to take care of these Rebel intruders himself going full slash mode Rogue One style. You can really feel his power, the dark side comes out of each panel. Luckily, all those scary tales gave courage to our heroes which finally managed to escape this nightmare.

If you haven’t checked out Tales from Vader’s Castle, then what are you waiting for? Grab your flash light, go under the blanket and read away!