Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle #1 (Family Comic Friday)

After a terrifying trip through the Dark Side of the Force, Family Comic Friday is daring to Return to Vader’s Castle for more chills set in a galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle #1
Written by Cavan Scott
Art by Francesco Francavilla and Megan Levins
Published by IDW Publishing
Retail: $3.99

Last year, IDW Publishing took Star Wars fans on a frightening 5-week long countdown to Halloween in the pages of Tales From Vader’s Castle. When I reviewed that book, I predicted that we would see another round of scares this Halloween- and I was right!

Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle #1 kicks off a 4-week miniseries that is already slaying it’s predecessor in terms of quality. My big issue with last year’s event was that Vader’s Castle was lacking a proper horror host to tie in the ominous presence of the Sith Lord’s inner sanctum with the spooky stories being recalled.

In this series we finally have a host in the form of Darth Vader’s personal caretaker, Vanee. This character has all of the make-up of a great host of a horror comic. He is really  eerie; possibly deranged. Vanee is also quite ghoulish, and most importantly, he’s a good storyteller!

Of course, the story is actually crafted by Cavan Scott. The main writer from Star Wars Adventures, Cavan Scott really seems to live and breathe Star Wars. That makes him the perfect choice to craft these legends of Lucasfilm!

Once again, the stories aren’t terrifying to the point that young readers can’t enjoy them. The first story, which guest stars Darth Maul, is about as chilling as that scene in Empire where Luke must go into that tree on Dagobah to face the Dark Side of the Force. If your child can tolerate that segment, they’ll get a thrill out of this series.

If you have a young reader who loves to be a little scared during Halloween and loves Star Wars, then Return to Vader’s Castle is the perfect start to get them in the All Hallow’s Eve spirit! Thanks to writer Cavan Scott and Jughead: The Hunger’s Francesco Francavilla and Megan Levens (Spider-Gwen), Star Wars fans of all ages will be in for a treat!

Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle #1 is currently available in print and digital formats. Issues #2 debuts on Wednesday, October 9th.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

This review was originally published on October 4, 2019 via Outrightgeekery.com.