Vader: Dark Visions #1 by Dennis "Hopeless" Hallum
"Vader: Dark Visions #1" written by Dennis "Hopeless" Hallum, illustrated by Paolo Villanelli and Arif Prianto
This was an exciting story with some deep and interesting world building. And while, yes, Vader does end up being the savior of the planet Cianap, it's not out of any love or caring, it's simply out of necessity and survival. When the little boy who narrates the story thanks Vader for saving his people, Vader's response is, "You should not thank me, child." It almost even seems like Vader's about to kill the boy but a Star Destroyer shows up to whisk him away just before he can.
So let me set the stage here, on Cianap there is a great beast called the Ender who appears to go into a hibernation of sorts for a few days out of every year. This period of time is called "the Slumber" and the people of Cianap are able to come above ground, frolic, play, collect tasty fresh foods, and generally enjoy the sunshine. But when he wakes up and "the Awakening" starts, they must all go back below ground to safety where they live for the majority of the year. And this thing is freaking huge!! It's eyeballs are each full-Vader-sized. See below to get an overall idea of this big beastie that the people of Cianap call a god--that's Vader in his left hand for comparison.
So it's Slumber and this boy and his droid Raz (a flying probe droidish looking guy) are high up on what looks like a stone column when Vader's ship comes hurtling down out of the sky in flames and straight into the Ender. All the people flee as quickly as possible to below ground, but the boy is intrigued and wants to know what will become of the flaming fireball and the angry god below.
On the first appearance of Vader, the boy writes, "Out of those heavenly flames steps the Black Knight. Cloak blowing in the breeze. Firelight dancing across his armor." And he remains enamored with the villain for the rest of the story which is basically a long, drawn-out fight between Vader and the Ender that a couple of times looks to be going against Vader, but...he's Vader...so what do you expect ends up happening? See him below in his full glory, stampeding toward the Ender on one of the native fauna.
While the story was ultimately predictable, I thought the world-building was wonderful! We get a dystopian horror world complete with some fascinating visuals. See the "underground" below--looks like part of an Earth shopping mall. And it was definitely intriguing to see someone look on Vader so fondly...I mean I totally get it, he did save Cianap from living a life of darkness, but I wonder what the boy and his people would think if they knew the truth about Vader's proclivities...
All in all, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how this series proceeds. It should be a very interesting ride!
So let me set the stage here, on Cianap there is a great beast called the Ender who appears to go into a hibernation of sorts for a few days out of every year. This period of time is called "the Slumber" and the people of Cianap are able to come above ground, frolic, play, collect tasty fresh foods, and generally enjoy the sunshine. But when he wakes up and "the Awakening" starts, they must all go back below ground to safety where they live for the majority of the year. And this thing is freaking huge!! It's eyeballs are each full-Vader-sized. See below to get an overall idea of this big beastie that the people of Cianap call a god--that's Vader in his left hand for comparison.
On the first appearance of Vader, the boy writes, "Out of those heavenly flames steps the Black Knight. Cloak blowing in the breeze. Firelight dancing across his armor." And he remains enamored with the villain for the rest of the story which is basically a long, drawn-out fight between Vader and the Ender that a couple of times looks to be going against Vader, but...he's Vader...so what do you expect ends up happening? See him below in his full glory, stampeding toward the Ender on one of the native fauna.
Comments
Post a Comment