Star Wars Adventures – Ghosts of Vader’s Castle #3: Creature from the Dark Lagoon

Cavan Scott is a busy guy. He’s writing “Star Wars: High Republic” books for Lucasfilm Press and multiple comic series for both Marvel and IDW, yet still has time to return to Vader’s Castle for five issues in one month. And because he is so tied to “Star Wars Adventures” comics and the “Adventures in Wild Space” junior book series, he puts in some of his all time favorite original character as well as some old favorites like Jaxxon the green rabbit-looking Lepis Carnivorous from the original Marvel series from the ’70s. The Graf kids were the characters that got him into writing Star wars books with their “Adventures in Wild Space.” They both play a big part in this series with Lina seeking the missing Milo. This issue focuses on Rebel soldier Thom Hudd, not only an original character for Scott, but and original character to the entire “Vader’s Castle” series. Hudd was part of a group of survivors of a horrific trip to Mustafar. Hudd was even imprisoned there and tortured for months, so he is not exactly eager to return any time in the near future.

The timing of these issues in the weeks running up to Halloween is of course completely deliberate. It a fun way to celebrate Halloween in Star Wars fashion each year. There has been Star Wars horror junior novels in “Galaxy of Fear.” Similarly, the more adult super violent Star Wars zombie novels “Death Troopers” and “Red Harvest” scratch that spooky season itch too. There are even a few Clone Wars episodes that border on traditional horror. But nothing puts it all together like “Vader’s Castle.” Its just pulpy, creepy, colorful, and simply fun. About five days before this issue was released, Disney+ streaming service put out an animated holiday special Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales. This special was completely based on the “Vader’s Castle” series. It takes place on Mustafar. It involves various unique scary stories being told. It even featured Vader’s former attendant Vanee, who has been front and center in this series from the beginning. It was nice to see this story form evolve out of the comic series into something inspired by it, even if it is told with small interlocking plastic bricks.

The dream sequence in this chapter it focuses on an older character in a familiar setting, just like the first two issues did. This issue places Hudd with Luke Skywalker around the time of Return of the Jedi on a trip to look for Jedi artifacts on Dagobah. “Star Wars Adventures” comics have always done a fantastic job bring all elements of the Skywalker Saga together, and this issue is no different. Adding arguably the most popular version of Luke on the most mysterious planet in the original trilogy makes for a creepy atmosphere. However each issue of this overall series is trying to spoof some famous horror genre as well. This issue draws from Swamp Thing or Creature From the Black Lagoon, having the rebels run into a bog monster. Classic horror film formula in a creepy well known swamp would be enough to accomplish what the issue is setting out to do well enough, but this chapter takes it a step further. Hudd freaks out. He’s seen the horrors of war as well as the terrors of The Dark Side. He must undergo hallucinations and still manage to fight of a monster and rescue a trapped Luke and Artoo. The result is a trippy almost flashback kind of scene which was done quite well. Once his tale is done, he is confronted by Lina who wants him to go right back to where his terror begins.

The timing of these issues in the weeks running up to Halloween is of course completely deliberate. It a fun way to celebrate Halloween in Star Wars fashion each year. There has been Star Wars horror junior novels in “Galaxy of Fear.” Similarly, the more adult super violent Star Wars zombie novels “Death Troopers” and “Red Harvest” scratch that spooky season itch too. There are even a few Clone Wars episodes that border on traditional horror. But nothing puts it all together like “Vader’s Castle.” Its just pulpy, creepy, colorful, and simply fun. About five days before this issue was released, Disney+ streaming service put out an animated holiday special Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales. This special was completely based on the “Vader’s Castle” series. It takes place on Mustafar. It involves various unique scary stories being told. It even featured Vader’s former attendant Vanee, who has been front and center in this series from the beginning. It was nice to see this story form evolve out of the comic series into something inspired by it, even if it is told with small interlocking plastic bricks.