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[Advance Comic Review] “Darth Vader” #1 Proves A Little Too Familiar

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Marvel’s second Star Wars series “Darth Vader” #1 proves the eponymous villain is worth the wait as his commanding presence can be felt on every page, and while the debut issue isn’t as exciting as it could be, it still stands strong on the merits of the character.

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WRITTEN BY: Kieron Gillen

ART BY: Salvador Larocca

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

PRICE: $4.99

RELEASE: February 11, 2015

Knowing what we know now, there is nothing quite like seeing Darth Vader return to Tatooine to take care of business. His disdain for the planet can be felt with every panel. And throughout the entire first issue Kieron Gillen playfully reminds the reader of the character’s past. He roots the motivation of the story in something we already know but will now play out a different way.

Through the previews at the back of “Star Wars” #1 we already know that Vader comes face to face with Jabba The Hutt in this issue, and their showdown is a welcome one. I couldn’t think of two better characters to go head to head, and no one has proved a more formidable force against the gigantic Hutt.

Salvador Larocca’s art is impeccable at every single turn. His work is cinematic and detailed. Every character has layers to their appearance that speak volumes of the worth they live in. His framing choices make Vader look imposing and without question put the character in control. He compliments John Cassaday’s super realistic style and helps build out Marvel’s Star Wars universe in a unique and bold way.

The storytelling on display here is admirable, because it shows that everyone who was given a chance to play in this galaxy were at the same meetings. It’s a tightly crafted tale that had me pretty giddy in the first ten pages.

Only to stumble a little toward the back half thanks to some truly confusing jumps in time that don’t really add to the story but instead pull us out of what is going on only to remind the reader of what they already knew. Laying the groundwork of the original trilogy is something anyone picking up this comic should be spared of.

Consequently Vader’s plan is a little interesting knowing where the story is supposed to go. It’s interesting to see the character play against The Emperor for his own means and push his own agenda so hard. But, again, Vader is so unquestionably evil by this point that its hard not to have a one-dimensional character. Many stories have handled this well in the past, but here Gillen reduces himself down to retreading old ground.

For a first issue it’s a understandable but ultimately problematic choice. We’re treated to a whole assortment of things we already know, and are forced to see the character exactly as we have in the past. I learned nothing knew about Darth Vader through these pages, and I can’t help but long for something else more compelling to get me to return to issue #2.

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[Review] Graphic Novel ‘Tender’ Is Brilliant Feminist Body Horror That Will Make You Squirm & Scream

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Tender Beth Hetland Graphic Novel

Beth Hetland’s debut graphic novel, ‘Tender,’ is a modern tale of love, validation, and self-destruction by way of brutal body horror with a feminist edge.

“I’ve wanted this more than anything.”

Men so often dominate the body horror subgenre, which makes it so rare and insightful whenever women tackle this space. This makes Beth Hetland’s Tender such a refreshing change of pace. It’s earnest, honest, and impossibly exposed. Tender takes the body horror subgenre and brilliantly and subversively mixes it together with a narrative that’s steeped in the societal expectations that women face on a daily basis, whether it comes to empowerment, family, or sexuality. It single-handedly beats other 2023 and ‘24 feminine horror texts like American Horror Story: Delicate, Sick, Lisa Frankenstein, and Immaculate at their own game.

Hetland’s Tender is American Psycho meets Rosemary’s Baby meets Swallow. It’s also absolutely not for the faint of heart.

Right from the jump, Tender grabs hold of its audience and doesn’t let go. Carolanne’s quest for romantic fulfillment, validation, and a grander purpose is easy to empathize with and an effective framework for this woeful saga. Carolanne’s wounds cut so deep simply because they’re so incredibly commonplace. Everybody wants to feel wanted.

Tender is full of beautiful, gross, expressive artwork that makes the reader squirm in their seat and itch. Hetland’s drawings are simultaneously minimalist and comprehensively layered. They’re  reminiscent of Charles Burns’ Black Hole, in the best way possible. There’s consistently inspired and striking use of spot coloring that elevates Hetland’s story whenever it’s incorporated, invading Tender’s muted world.

Hetland employs effective, economical storytelling that makes clever use of panels and scene construction so that Tender can breeze through exposition and get to the story’s gooey, aching heart. There’s an excellent page that depicts Carolanne’s menial domestic tasks where the repetitive panels grow increasingly smaller to illustrate the formulaic rut that her life has become. It’s magical. Tender is full of creative devices like this that further let the reader into Carolanne’s mind without ever getting clunky or explicit on the matter. The graphic novel is bookended with a simple moment that shifts from sweet to suffocating.

Tender gives the audience a proper sense of who Carolanne is right away. Hetland adeptly defines her protagonist so that readers are immediately on her side, praying that she gets her “happily ever after,” and makes it out of this sick story alive…And then they’re rapidly wishing for the opposite and utterly aghast over this chameleon. There’s also some creative experimentation with non-linear storytelling that gets to the root of Carolanne and continually recontextualizes who she is and what she wants out of life so that the audience is kept on guard.

Tender casually transforms from a picture-perfect rom-com, right down to the visual style, into a haunting horror story. There’s such a natural quality to how Tender presents the melancholy manner in which a relationship — and life — can decay. Once the horror elements hit, they hit hard, like a jackhammer, and don’t relent. It’s hard not to wince and grimace through Tender’s terrifying images. They’re reminiscent of the nightmarish dadaist visuals from The Ring’s cursed videotape, distilled to blunt comic panels that the reader is forced to confront and digest, rather than something that simply flickers through their mind and is gone a moment later. Tender makes its audience marinate in its mania and incubates its horror as if it’s a gestating fetus in their womb.

Tender tells a powerful, emotional, disturbing story, but its secret weapon may be its sublime pacing. Hetland paces Tender in such an exceptional manner, so that it takes its time, sneaks up on the reader, and gets under their skin until they’re dreading where the story will go next. Tender pushes the audience right up to the edge so that they’re practically begging that Carolanne won’t do the things that she does, yet the other shoe always drops in the most devastating manner. Audiences will read Tender with clenched fists that make it a struggle to turn each page, although they won’t be able to stop. Tender isn’t a short story, at more than 160 pages, but readers will want to take their time and relish each page so that this macabre story lasts for as long as possible before it cascades to its tragic conclusion. 

Tender is an accomplished and uncomfortable debut graphic novel from Hetland that reveals a strong, unflinching voice that’s the perfect fit for horror. Tender indulges in heightened flights of fancy and toes the line with the supernatural. However, Tender is so successful at what it does because it’s so grounded in reality and presents a horror story that’s all too common in society. It’s a heartbreaking meditation on loneliness and codependency that’s one of 2024’s must-read horror graphic novels.

‘Tender,’ by Beth Hetland and published by Fantagraphics, is now available.

4 out of 5 skulls

Tender graphic novel review

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