Star Wars: Vader - Dark Visions #2 Review
Writer: Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum
Artist: Brian Level
Colorist: Jordan Boyd
Publisher: Marvel
Star Wars: Vader - Dark Visions #2 continues the limited series that reexamines the Sith Lord through the eyes of those outside the saga's central conflicts. This second issue centers on a Commander in the Empire who has just lost a Rebel spy. He knows all too well how Darth Vader deals with failure and now faces a decision...
Following the debut issue’s creature-feature spectacle, Dark Visions #2 attempts to rein things in for a more character-driven tale. It makes sense because Issue #1 was strongest when it stuck with its narrator. Unfortunately, this setting and character have none of the charms of their predecessor — and I think it ultimately fails the series’ goal: to show Vader from perspectives we haven’t seen before.
We’re introduced to Commander Tylux delivering this line while punching his palms for emphasis:
“Failure! Is! Un-Acceptable!”
On the same page he’s persuaded to just let it go and with a sigh, Tylux agrees.
A rebel spy has escaped with some military schematics on the Commander’s watch and he’s persuaded to call it good enough and turn in for the night when an alert comes through that Vader is coming to deal with the spy personally. Of course, Tylux doesn’t have the spy... and after a quick flashback of Vader strangling a roomful of Imperial Officers until the blood flows freely from their mouths and noses, we see that the Commander is fully aware of what may await him when Vader uncovers the truth.
I’m not sure what the point of this comic was. Was it supposed to be that Vader’s tactics became a net-positive for the rebels? That he turned his commanding officers into blubbering fools or, worse, suicidal maniacs? Was this the story of one particularly cowardly Imperial who would sacrifice his entire command to save his skin? Or would most Imperials do the same in his shoes? About halfway through, I thought this story might be ballsy enough to go the other direction — to show us that without the luck of a character like Han Solo, most rebel pilots met their end due to the unyielding vigilance of the Empire — driven by their fear of Darth Vader’s wrath. This is not that kind of story and it ends up feeling like a weak Rebels episode where the Empire’s incompetence is played for laughs. But no one’s laughing here; I think this issue was actually going for horror based on the incredible number of close-ups of bulging eyes.
The art style matches the semi-absurdist tone with a campy late-night cartoon feel. There’s more detail given to beads of sweat on a terrified character’s face than to any particularly Star Wars-y touches. I have to mention the page layout: every page has a theme, maybe on one the panels are laid out in the silhouette of a Star Destroyer or maybe a TIE in the next… It feels like they're covering for the lack of content. Some pages are almost half unused and the tiny panels are dwarfed by the swaths of blank page surrounding them.
Dark Visions #2 really falls short on the promise of the debut issue. The camp is still here (and lots of it) but there isn’t much purpose or style to go along. It’s short on charm and — for a series with the goal of showing us new perspectives on Lord Vader — it comes up short by showing us the very familiar perspective of Imperial Officers within choking range.
Artist: Brian Level
Colorist: Jordan Boyd
Publisher: Marvel
Star Wars: Vader - Dark Visions #2 continues the limited series that reexamines the Sith Lord through the eyes of those outside the saga's central conflicts. This second issue centers on a Commander in the Empire who has just lost a Rebel spy. He knows all too well how Darth Vader deals with failure and now faces a decision...
Following the debut issue’s creature-feature spectacle, Dark Visions #2 attempts to rein things in for a more character-driven tale. It makes sense because Issue #1 was strongest when it stuck with its narrator. Unfortunately, this setting and character have none of the charms of their predecessor — and I think it ultimately fails the series’ goal: to show Vader from perspectives we haven’t seen before.
We’re introduced to Commander Tylux delivering this line while punching his palms for emphasis:
“Failure! Is! Un-Acceptable!”
On the same page he’s persuaded to just let it go and with a sigh, Tylux agrees.
A rebel spy has escaped with some military schematics on the Commander’s watch and he’s persuaded to call it good enough and turn in for the night when an alert comes through that Vader is coming to deal with the spy personally. Of course, Tylux doesn’t have the spy... and after a quick flashback of Vader strangling a roomful of Imperial Officers until the blood flows freely from their mouths and noses, we see that the Commander is fully aware of what may await him when Vader uncovers the truth.
I’m not sure what the point of this comic was. Was it supposed to be that Vader’s tactics became a net-positive for the rebels? That he turned his commanding officers into blubbering fools or, worse, suicidal maniacs? Was this the story of one particularly cowardly Imperial who would sacrifice his entire command to save his skin? Or would most Imperials do the same in his shoes? About halfway through, I thought this story might be ballsy enough to go the other direction — to show us that without the luck of a character like Han Solo, most rebel pilots met their end due to the unyielding vigilance of the Empire — driven by their fear of Darth Vader’s wrath. This is not that kind of story and it ends up feeling like a weak Rebels episode where the Empire’s incompetence is played for laughs. But no one’s laughing here; I think this issue was actually going for horror based on the incredible number of close-ups of bulging eyes.
The art style matches the semi-absurdist tone with a campy late-night cartoon feel. There’s more detail given to beads of sweat on a terrified character’s face than to any particularly Star Wars-y touches. I have to mention the page layout: every page has a theme, maybe on one the panels are laid out in the silhouette of a Star Destroyer or maybe a TIE in the next… It feels like they're covering for the lack of content. Some pages are almost half unused and the tiny panels are dwarfed by the swaths of blank page surrounding them.
Dark Visions #2 really falls short on the promise of the debut issue. The camp is still here (and lots of it) but there isn’t much purpose or style to go along. It’s short on charm and — for a series with the goal of showing us new perspectives on Lord Vader — it comes up short by showing us the very familiar perspective of Imperial Officers within choking range.
A Look Inside
