Two acclaimed Japanese creators reveal their incredible Visions of the galaxy far, far away!
Manga legend Takashi Okazaki continues his storytelling from the acclaimed Star Wars: Visions “The Duel,” featuring the Ronin – fusing the mythology of Star Wars with elements of Feudal Japan! We know the Ronin as a fearsome Sith slayer, but who was he before? Discover the early days of the fan-favorite character! Then, acclaimed creator Peach Momoko unleashes her own visionary storytelling! Centuries after the death of a great Sith Lord, a cult has grown worshipping them…and the Dark Side. Ankok believes she is the successor to this deadly legacy! But is she truly in tune with the Force? Or is she just exploiting the people in her village? Kako and Gel are about to come face-to-face with the truth – even if it kills them!
Collecting STAR WARS: VISIONS, STAR WARS: VISIONS – PEACH MOMOKO, STAR WARS: VISIONS – TAKESHI OKAZAKI and material from STAR WARS: DARTH VADER – BLACK, WHITE & RED #1.
Takashi Okazaki (岡崎 能士), born in the Kanagawa Prefecture in 1974, is a Japanese comic book artist, animation concept artist and graphic designer. Okazaki is most notably known for writing and illustrating the manga Afro Samurai (1998-2002), also adapted into an anime series. Okazaki has been a character designer for animation and video games, most notably the movies Summer Wars (2009), Garo: Vanishing Line (2017) and Batman Ninja (2018). Since 2020, Takashi Okazaki has worked on a number of Marvel comic book series, as both writer and artist.
Based on the same concept of the animated anthology television series of the same name, these are conceptual Star Wars stories that utilize unfamiliar characters and settings to really deliver something more fresh and innovative to the franchise. Okazaki's two issues are based on "The Duel" episode (the debut episode of the television series) that he himself wrote, and utilizes an art style familiar to the episode itself. Featuring the same lone ronin who wields a red lightsaber and hunts Sith lords and dark side practitioners in the far reaches of the galaxy, working only alongside a scruffy and beaten down astromech droid. The first issue feels very much in tone with the original episode - a personal favorite of mine in the clutch of episodes we have had so far. The second a little less able to capture the Kurosawa-esqe stillness of the original, but still an entertaining and exceedingly well drawn affair.
The two Peach Momoko stories here are effectively wordless pieces, meant to pretty much highlight the strength of her watercolor based artwork. The shorter story, as collected in the Darth Vader: Black, White & Red anthology series, features a girl living on a remote planet and haunted by dreaded visions of Lord Vader. It's a showcase of Momoko's art, since the concept itself is too thin to derive much plot. The longer piece was released as its own Star Wars: Visions one-shot and has a more discernable plot surrounding a Dark Side cult and another young girl in a remote planet in the galaxy. The lack of dialogue keeps things cryptic which works well enough as a standalone piece, but when both stories from Momoko lack any kind of prominently distinguishable plot, it does feel a little too light for a collected edition.
Really, you're getting this for the artwork if you are interested in the works of Okazaki and Momoko. The standalone issues are enjoyable enough on their own, but together there isn't much weight to the 3-4 stories here to justify the price tag of the collection.
"Que legal! Star Wars com samurais! Deve ser muito bom!", me disse o atendente do caixa da banca em que comprei essa revista. Para os mais desavisados, sim, seria Star Wars com samurais, mas também uma extensão da animação realizada no Japão principalmente produzida e executada por Takashi Okazaki. Ele foi criador do Afro Samurai que também é um mangá e um animê. Aqui ele traz alguns dos personagens que criou em aventuras no universo dessa animação de Star Wars. Eu li Afro Samurai e, sinceramente, não me encantou, assim como as histórias em quadrinhos que Okazaki bolou para Star Wars passaram incólumes por mim. O que eu gostei mesmo foi da história sem palavras de Peach Momoko, usando todo o seu lado gore e visceral oscilando entre criaturas humanas e órgãos animais, trazendo criaturas indefiníveis em sua arte. Mas ainda assim, a história nem sempre é inteligível. Uma HQ que tinha tanto potencial, tão desperdiçada.
This might be the best art in any Star Wars comic. Its cool how huge the format is though it doesn't fit on the shelf. The two ronin stories were good, better expansions of the original episode then Payback, which I thought was disappointing. I do feel like this is only scratching the surface of this world and character. It feels like set up to a longer series. The two wordless comics were really cool and genuinely disturbing. The super short vader story was bonkers I could've read a whole book of just that. I want more of all this, this is amazing, I really hope we get more. Only four stars because its way too short. We need more.
I just knocked this out this morning. I don't have this edition yet, I just read the individual 1-shots. Probably my favorite here is the third installment: "The Ronin and the Droid." The storytelling is somewhat hard to follow, especially in Peach Momoko's offering, as there is no dialogue in that one. Still, all three of these books are visually stunning. Fans of the animated Star Wars Visions shorts will need this in their collection.
A must-read for samurai action fans. The art is breathtaking with familiar stories from this genre adapted with Star Wars x Samurai sensibilities. My only complaint is that it's just too short. Peach Momoko continues her wordless stories in the Star Wars Universe which are psychological-body horror in nature, pretty esoteric and creepy yet beautifully rendered.
In a not unpleasant surprise, the art tends to be better than the script...except for the one story with out words, where the art someone still manages to be worse.