Review: Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader’s Castle #1

With Ghosts of Vader’s Castle we get a layered, interesting horror story in the mold of the best Goosebumps. Cavan Scott is a masterful story-teller who takes massive swings and still hits a home run every time. Dawn of the Droids is a classic horror tale made even more horrifying by the larger frame surrounding it.

The framing art by Francesco Francavilla perfectly sets the tone of the tale. We begin with a sith ritual of revenge at Fortess Vader. The targets of that revenge are Lina and Milo. Milo is searching through the Jedi archives. Milo has had a vision of the days of the old republic as he searches the archives with the droid Crater.

We flashback to Milo’s vision which is an adventure with Anakin and Padme journey to Rubinero. C3PO, R2D2 and Jar Jar Binks join them as they come to this world rarely traveled to since the times of the High Republic. The art in this portion is by Megan Levens and is a bit more of the traditional animated style to start with. This is quickly upended by great horror elements as something takes over the droids and we are treated to zombie-like possessed droids attacking the others. Anakin tries to fight back the zombie 3PO, R2 and others but the group is soon overwhelmed and eventually even Jar Jar becomes possessed and zombified.

We flash forward to Milo only to find that Crater has picked up the deadly artifact from Rubinero and is now possessed by the biddings of the Sith. The story mixes amazing horror elements with classic Star Wars characters and adventures. It balances things well to make this great horror not only for children, but for all Star Wars fans. The art, the writing, the colors and the great cliffhanger combine into a grand adventure worth coming back for. It’s a true tribute to what stylistic and artistic risks can be taken at IDW under their Star Wars books.

Writing: 4.9 of 5 stars
Art: 4.7 of 5 stars
Colors; 4.8 of 5 stars

Overall: 4.8 of 5 stars

Writing: Cavan Scott
Art: Francesco Francavilla and Megan Levens
Colors: Francesco Francavilla and Charlie Kirchoff
Publisher: IDW Publishing

Author Profile

M.R. Jafri

M.R. Jafri was born and raised in Niagara Falls New York and now lives with his family in Detroit Michigan. He's a talkative introvert and argumentative geek. His loves include Star Wars, Star Trek, Superheroes, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Transformers, GI Joe, Films, Comics, TV Shows, Action Figures and Twizzlers.