Welcome to Family Comic Friday. Here we explore kid friendly titles that the whole family can enjoy. This week we look at IDW’s 5-issue miniseries Star Wars Adventures: Tales From Vader’s Castle. This weekly mini is a month-long countdown to Halloween with spooky tales from all realms of the Star Wars franchise.
Then we continue our month-long look at the Halloween Comicfest mini comics that will be given away for free on October 27th in a comic book store near you. This week we will preview a few pages from Rocky and Bullwinkle Adventures. But first…
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
Star Wars Adventures: Tales From Vader’s Castle #2
Written by Cavan Scott
Art by Derek Charm with Kelley Jones
Published by IDW Publishing
When a Rebellion ship crash lands on the lava planet of Mustafar, the crew must decide whether to venture to the nearest Imperial outpost for help or burn alive inside the wreckage. As the ship’s crew debates their actions, survivors recount spooky tales from their travels across the war torn galaxy. In this week’s issue, a battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi, Count Dooku and what can only be described as a were-mynock.
I started on this series too late last week to cover it for that edition of Family Comic Friday. (For that issue’s review, click here.) But since Tales From Vader’s Castle is a 5-week long miniseries, I had a second chance to feature this horror-themed title. Several publishers are taking advantage of the fact that Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year. DC is doing a crossover with Wonder Woman and Justice League Dark. Marvel is doing another series of What If…
However, with both of those titles, the ratings are listed for teens and older readers. Tales From Vader’s Castle is all-ages fun. Last week was an old fashioned ghost story. This week it’s a monster mash. Next week promises to have Han and Chewie running afoul of a witch.
I love that Disney and Lucasfilm have found a way to tie in Halloween with Star Wars thanks to this clever miniseries. This isn’t the first time Star Wars delved into all-ages scares. In the late 90s, a number of chapter books were published under the series title ‘Galaxy of Fear.’ But the series was not published as a Halloween miniseries.
I also like how IDW is covering all of the realms of the Star Wars franchise. For example, next week’s issue features the Solo Story version of Chewbacca and Han Solo. All of the stories are written by Cavan Scott (Doctor Who and the Supremacy of the Cybermen) and framing artwork by regular Star Wars Adventures series artist Derek Charm. The featured stories are pencilled by some of the best horror-masters in the industry such as Robert Hack and Charles Paul Wilson, III.
This week’s featured artist is Kelley Scott. Scott has done a number of horror-themed works such as the Invisible Man miniseries Batman: Unseen and a scraped Len Wein opener published in the Swamp Thing Winter Special. Kelley Scott has a kind of style that is like looking in a funhouse mirror. The features are slightly distorted and it makes for creepier looking characters.
Using Count Dooku for a monster tale was brilliant. Count Dooku was portrayed by the late Christopher Lee. Many don’t realize that next to Bela Lugosi, Lee was considered the definitive actor to play Count Dracula. Kelley Jones does an amazing job rendering the late actor as Dooku in this tale that was surely inspired by Dracula and Wolfman films from the past century.
Some scenes in this issue may be too intense for young readers. But if your household is already watching Star Wars, Tales From Vader’s Castle is a great way to countdown to All Hallow’s Eve. I would have liked for this series to have been hosted by the Dark Lord himself, Darth Vader. This series is named after him after all. But otherwise, this has been a series fun of seasonally fun scares.
Issue #2 debuted in stores and digital platforms on Wednesday, October 10, 2018. Issue #3 drops on October 17th.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.
Rocky and Bullwinkle Adventures #1 (Halloween ComicFest 2018 mini comic)
Publisher: American Mythology
Rated: All Ages
Price: Free and comes in 25-issue mini packs for $4.99 each
Date: October 27, 2018
Code: JUL180055
Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit outta my hat. Presto! This Halloween we are celebrating the return of Rocky & Bullwinkle to cartoons in the new Amazon Prime animated series. To help introduce new generations of fans and readers to everyone's favorite Wossamotta U graduate, we're giving you the Halloween treats with a fantastic mini comic featuring classic adventures of the whole R&B gang - Rocky, Boris, Natacha, Dudley Do-Right, Peabody & Sherman, and moose-about-town, Bullwinkle!
This review was concurrently posted on Outrightgeekery.com.
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