Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Star Wars: Dark Times – Out of the Wilderness #1 of 5
Dark Horse Comics
Harrison (Stradley), Wheatley & Jackson
The next arc of Dark Times launches as the previous have in that Hellboy mini-series style. This mini-series contains multiple threads as the primary character, Dass Jennir, takes a bit of a secondary role in this opening issue. Instead, the issue focuses on those that are pursuing him which makes the story fairly accessible to new readers. The art helps to give the story the classic Star Wars look to it. Overall, I found this issue to be a very good opener to one of my favorite Star Wars series.
The issue excels when it showcases Darth Vader. Vader is in pursuit of Dass Jennir and is apparently stopping at nothing to find him. This is classic Darth Vader. He's ruthless, powerful and determined. While Vader only appears on a few pages an awful lot occurs. Vader learns that someone else is after Jennir. This angers Vader. Vader shows no soul in this issue which exactly how I remember watching the original Star Wars movie decades ago. This is how I like my Darth Vader.
It helps that the artwork is vintage Star Wars. It's realistic, and yet, grimy. Star Wars has always looked old and beat up and that is how it appears here. The illustrations of Vader are near perfect. I can't recall the last time I felt Vader looked as menacing as he did in the first two films. The creativity in the other creatures shouldn't be discounted as this may be the widest breadth of characters since the Cantina scene. Overall, this is an excellent visual comic book.
The bulk of the book follows the crew of the Uhumele as they follow Jennir's trail. This leads them to the planet that Jennir occupied in the previous arc so they are getting closer to finding him. However, Jennir runs into the Empire in his travels. He also has picked up a new companion. The characters show a wide range of depth and help to make this book extremely comprehensive and complex.
Dark Times makes good use of unfamiliar characters in a time that is very bleak in the galaxy. There are heroes that want to hide and others that become heroes in spite of themselves. All the while, the Empire grows more and more powerful with Darth Vader as its symbol. This book covers all of those themes and presents the story with a cast of interesting characters. I definitely recommend picking this up.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
