Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle

Star Wars Adventures: Vader's Castle #2

by Cavan Scott

Return to Vader's Castle for a spooky spin on your favorite villains from a galaxy far, far away....This exciting graphic novel explores the hidden corners of the Star Wars universe and features a wretched hive of scum and villainy including Darth Maul, Jabba the Hutt, Grand Moff Tarkin, Asaji Ventress–all under the shadow of Darth Vader!

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction, Space

123 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 7, 2020

About the author

is a freelance comic writer and author. He is best known for his work on a variety of spin-offs from both Doctor Who and Star Wars, as well as comics and novels for Vikings, Pacific Rim, Sherlock Holmes, and Penguins of Madagascar.

Cavan Scott, along with Justina Ireland, Claudia Gray, Daniel Jose Older, and Charles Soule are crafting a new era in the Star Wars publishing world called Star Wars: The High Republic. Cavan's contribution to the era is a comic book series released through Marvel Comics titled Star Wars: The High Republic.

Reviews

[Jim C]

This is the second collection of our return to Vader's castle on Mustafar. In this one, a rebel from the first collection is being held prisoner. While being tortured him and his torturer exchange short stories to further their cause. These stories include a wide variety of characters and species from this universe.

I did like the first collection better than this one and the reason for that might have been the novelty of the concept. I did think there were two standout stories that was worth just the read as these stories were nods to classic stories of Frankenstein and zombies. I have always been a sucker for stories that nod to other works. Another story had Ventriss and I liked this story as she is one of my favorites. The other two did nothing for me and that is why I settled on the three star rating. One of the stories I was not impressed with the artwork as I didn't think the style fit with the story.

These collections don't tie into the overall arc at all and are not aimed for the serious reader. They are meant to entertain and be fun and they accomplish that. I don't need all seriousness from this universe all the time and I do enjoy a parody or a fun quest every now and then. These collections provide that.

[Scott Rhee]

I have always enjoyed the child-like sense of wonder of Star Wars, and please don't read into that an insult. Part of the popularity of Star Wars has always been its appeal to the young, and Cavan Scott has tuned into that extremely well in "Return to Vader's Castle", a graphic novel targeted specifically to middle readers (and older).

A sequel to "Tales From Vader's Castle", "RTVC" follows where the story left off: Lina and her Rebel friends managed to escape Mustafar, but poor Lieutenant Thom Hudd got left behind. Now he's being tortured by one of Vader's former servants, Venee, having to endure an onslaught of horrible tales of woe and misery. Thankfully, Hudd has a few tricks left up his sleeve, but he just needs to stay alive until his friends return.

Think "Tales From the Crypt" meets "Goosebumps" in the Star Wars universe, and you'll get a good sense of what Scott was aiming for. Fun and spooky (but not too spooky) stories that kids between 8 and 98 will enjoy.

[Khurram]

A good book. I did wonder at the end if the last book what happened to one of the Rebles left behind. Now at the mercy of the sadistic Vanee (servant of Lord Vader). During these physical torture sessions Vanee likes to tell stories of betrayal, greed and revenge.

4 stories of darkness and one of redemption, this is my favorite of the bunch, it us very obvious who the monster of that story is.

Not quite as dark and horror orientated as the first book but a good book. Like the last book Vade dies not zpoear till the last story. The book finishes with a cover gallery of the varient covers.

[Quentin Wallace]

More horror stories set in the younger reader's Star Wars Universe. As with the first volume, older readers can enjoy these stories too. I enjoy these stories and hope they continue. I also wouldn't mind seeing a more mature Star Wars horror anthology. Fun Stuff.

[nobody]

3.5

[Robert]

Better than the first collection- a bit more frightening and less wasted time with the set-up.

[Jeff Morgan]

(Review is largely adapted from my review of Vol. 1)

I stumbled upon a deluxe edition of Vader’s Castle at my local library: hardback, glossy colorful pages, black-edged pages, a black ribbon book mark, and overly large. It’s the beginning of this teacher’s summer break. How could I resist?

I’m clearly not the target audience for these comics. They’re definitely intended for younger readers (my guess is middle grade readers). But that’s okay! Star Wars has been forced to mature over the past decade or so. This collection takes Star Wars back to its family friendly, pulpy style.

In Vol. 1 a group of rebels have to make an emergency landing on Mustafar, where Vader’s castle is located. One of the rebels, Hudd, is captured by Vader. Vader’s lackey, Vanee, tells Hudd horror stories while torturing him (not the most convincing narrative move). Each of these stories features some kind of horror element and a Star Wars fan favorite: Darth Maul, Grand Moff Tarkin, Asajj Ventress, Jabba the Hutt, Rersey. Since this is for kids, none of the stories are particularly scary.

I wasn’t really a fan of the flashback storytelling style. In Vol. 1 the rebels tell the stories to pass the time. In Vol. 2 Vader’s henchman tells stories while torturing. Not exactly believable. I get Cavan Scott was attempting to tell several Star Wars horror stories in a short go, but it just didn’t work for me. By the time you got your head into one story, it abruptly ends with little or no resolution before heading onto the next one.

The art was fun: bright, colorful, pulpy. The horror elements were aptly scary looking. Some of the “normal” characters are a bit on the cartoony side, but again, this is for kids. The lettering often looks like vintage horror movie poster lettering.

Combining vintage horror with Star Wars is a great idea, but the execution is not great.

[Erick M.]

Me gustó mucho esta antología. Similar al cómic anterior, se mantienen las mismas fortalezas en el desarrollo a cada historia, agregando además el escenario único de tener a Vaneé como verdugo de Hudd, el rebelde capturado anteriormente, infundiendole pánico con cada relato, mientras lentamente lo acerca a su muerte. Con excepción de la primera, todas logran su cometido de ser inquietantes o turbias en la justa medida, al mismo tiempo que te atraen con lo ingenioso de sus conceptos. Me encantaría que Cavan Scott escribiera alguna vez una colección similar en un tono más oscuro, porque si hay algo que lo sobran son ideas.

En conclusión, pasé un muy buen rato con este comic. Creo que próximamente leeré Mask of Fear, porque me encanta la manera de narrar de Vaneé.

Finalmente, algunos pensamientos de cada historia:
- The Horned Devil. Empezó bien, pero se desinfló en cuanto mostraron a Maul sin algún tipo de sombra para hacerle más amenazante.
- The Curse of Tarkin. Tarkin es un tonto, mató bastantes oficiales leales a lo wey y radicalizó a los que sobrevivieron. Al menos la creatura fue mejor que su padre.
- Bop Sh-Bop, Little Sarlacc Horror. Que buena historia Ventress. Curioso que Vaneé la considere Sith, cuando era más bien neutral en ese momento.
- Vault of the Living Brains. Sorprendentemente turbio, considerando el estilo caricaturesco. Al menos ahora sé que son las arañas con el cerebro.
- Night of the Lava Zombies. Creo que está es la quinta vez en el canon que se han visto zombies (de orígenes diferentes). Ya se tardaron en hacer una película de terror con eso.

[M.L.D.]

*read as single issue floppies

[Cale]

AKA Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark... of Space

I liked this volume a little better than the first - the stories make use of an impressive array of Star Wars species and characters (are Defels canon again?) to tell stories that are 'scary' without ever actually being scary. There's more humor than scares, although there are a few thrills thrown in (and it's definitely aimed at a YA audience). We get insane spider Maul, Ventress vs a surprise tentacle creature, and my favorite story, Jabba and his B'Omarr Monks, which are one of those weird corners of Star Wars canon that actually do make me a little unnerved (although the Tales from Jabba's Palace story that really focused on them is still the high bar of their existence). The art is good enough for most of the stories, although a little overly cartoonish. The wraparound story edges toward EC-era Tales from the Crypt in style, which is a nice change. All told it's a decent diversion that does justice to Star Wars and 'Scary' Stories for a YA audience. And older readers might get some enjoyment out of it too.

[Shaun Stanley]

After enjoying the first volume, I had to get the second volume. While the stories are geared to a younger audience, old Star Wars and comics fans can still find a lot to enjoy with this series. Francesco Francavilla continues to produce some of the most beautiful and striking Star Wars art.

[Ian]

The sequel to 'Tales from Vader's Castle', this book sees Rebel agent Thom Hudd as a prisoner on Mustafar, being tortured by Darth Vader's deranged servant Vanee.
Vanee and Hudd exchange stories whilst the latter tries to escape his captivity; tales featuring the likes of Darth Maul, Jabba the Hutt and Asajj Ventress.

This book feels a bit like all of the best ideas got used up in book one, as all the stories here are less engaging and not as atmospheric, with the framing story in particular falling into that category.

The highlight here was definitely the tale featuring Darth Maul (or just 'Maul' by this point, I suppose) during his time as an insane half-spider castaway on Lotho Minor. I enjoyed seeing a crew of salvagers falling afoul of the former Sith's descent into madness, not to mention a nice nod to the EU history of Dathomir in the form of 'Mount Gethzerion'.

Overall, a somewhat disappointing follow-up which feels like a B-list spin-off to the A-list original. It's not bad, just not really good either.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *

[Mark]

I was pretty disappointed in the first trip to Vader's Castle, but in retrospect I was reading as an adult what is meant for children. While the auspices under which the tales are told is fairly ridiculous, the bookends do have a nice tie-in to the first volume. And the spooky stories themselves are interesting for what they reveal about little corners of the Star Wars world, even if they are kind of silly as stories themselves. We get to see Tarkin being very Tarkin, fan favorite anti-hero Ventress shows up, and we learn something new about the original in habitants of Jabba's palace--so that's something.

I noticed that both this volume and the first one are made by IDW, not Marvel like all the other SW graphic novels. This may have to do with the intended target audience, but it might also explain why BOTH Tales from Vader's Castle and Return to Vader's Castle fell completely apart after a single reading: it's pretty crappy to sell known-garbage to kids, IDW. Get a better binding.

[Rob]

This is the sequel to Tales from Vader’s Castle, which is a collection of horror stories set in the Star Wars universe. As before, it is written for middle schoolers but still entertaining for adults. I particularly liked the tale of the B’omarr Monks, who were the robotic spider-like creatures seen briefly in Jabba’s palace in Return of the Jedi. Fun reading.

[Greg Kerestan]

The horror homage meets sci-fi mashup of "Vader's Castle" returns for a second helping. The frame story this time is a little weaker than last, but the stories themselves are just as good. The Jabba story, in particular, is one of the darkest things I've seen in Star Wars so far... let alone in their all-ages imprint. Can't wait for the next installment this October!

[Kaleb Krumtum]

There are interesting lore introductions in this story, like the monks, but otherwise it’s an average story in a very annoying way to be told. You know it’s bad when you get stories within stories. Maybe the series would be better if they just dispensed with the prisoner and prisonee being the mediums for the storytelling.

[Chad]

More spooky stories for kids set in the Star Wars universe. The main story is a continuation of volume 1. One of the crew from the first story got left behind and is being tortured by the Sith. Stories come out more or less naturally as the story progresses. Not bad, and certainly something the kids can read without having nightmares.

[Jackson]

A fun series return in this collection. Overall I don't think these stories were as strong as the ones collected in the original Tales from Vader's Castle. That being said, they were still enjoyable. I really like that they put out these spooky anthologies every year now.

[Derek Hutchins]

Fun premise. I’ve always wanted Star Wars to explore the darker side of the universe, and although these tales are more aimed at a YA audience, I love the vibe and just the fact that Vader has a creepy castle.

[Christy]

I liked these even better than the first set, especially the Hutt story (SO DARK lol).

[Britney Dillon]

Great art, compelling stories.

[Chris]

A fun little collection of "horror" stories in SW. Fun read and the art was nice even though there were several different artists involved.

[Patrick Williams]

Enjoyed the first collection, and was disappointed with this volume.

[Raymond]

I liked this collection of stories a bit better than the first. They were darker and the illustrations were a bit less polished adding to the atmosphere of the stories.

[hyperspace]

Clever writing from Scott, but the art really needed improvement, particularly the maul and jabba stories.

[Brannigan]

I love creepy Star Wars.

[Julie]

The stories were pretty decent. The artwork wasn't as appealing or well-suited as it's been in some other volumes. Ventress almost looked... cute.

[Brendan]

The stories and art were kind of hit or miss in this one.

[Raul Fernandez]

Actually liked this one a bit more than the first volume. Again, excellent fun for younger readers.

[Lauren]

Very cute Hallowe'eny stories. Bonus points for an Asajj Ventress story.