Review: 'Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts Of Vader's Castle #2'

Kismet on a recent outing brought me into contact with an issue of this Star Wars offshoot, published by IDW Comics, which advertises itself in that usual, effective way.

Ghosts Of Vader's Castle #2, which offers a choice of subtitles between "Attack Of The 50-Foot Wookie" and "The Wicked Wookie", is a diversion of a diversion that hit distribution in September. It comes from regular writer Cavan Scott and is illustrated by mainstays Francesco Francavilla and Derek Charm. Permit me to guess your thoughts; no, Disney has NOT purchased Bucky O' Hare.

The framework of the Return Of The Jedi era story has at its center the struggle of Rebel Captain Lina Graf, who is possibly Force-sensitive, and is thus plagued by visions of her brother Milo trapped in the titular structure. While the Rebellion officially turns down her request for transport to volatile Mustafar to investigate the visions, Senator Leia Organa offers Lina a tip, noting that she will not only need a ship but a pilot crazy enough to make the trip. With Han Solo unavailable, she must settle for the services of the lagomorph on the covers, Jaxxon T. Tumperakki. The bulk of the issue involves this smuggler/scoundrel relating the tall tale (pun intended, of course) of his encountering Han and Chewie on Kashyyyk, the Wookie home world, and all of them falling victim to a particularly dangerous contraband item.

I resist the temptation to show any shots of pages, since these covers illustrate the main gimmick of the story pretty well. Francavilla, who illustrated the first cover, renders the "real world" events, while Charm, the second cover, shows the flashback sequence. Consistent color style ties the book together; a method that comes off rather cleverly. Though it's a preliminary entry in a longer adventure, it asserts well as a stand-alone piece, making it worthy for specific collections. Content could be rated as a hard G, for edgy, cartoon violence. A third cover with Francavilla's sketch is also available.

Although it displays the start of something big, I'd say it gives a hint that, with the raconteur ability on display, and properties like Star Wars: Visions gaining interest, we've not seen the last of Jaxxon T. Tumperakki.