Star Wars Visions (2022) #1
Star Wars Visions
Before THE RONIN and his droid encounter the Sith in a small village,
the two wanderers had a different type of encounter in the snowy mountains….
Writer: Takashi Okazaki
Artist: Takashi Okazaki
English Translation: Aki Yanagi
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Takashi Okazaki
Cover artist: Takashi Okazaki
Editor: Daniel Khazem
Release Date: 12th October 2022
Unlike the ongoing, 8 issue adaptation of The Mandalorian, Star Wars Visions #1 takes that original first episode from the highly regarded anime series of 2021 and gives us something fresh, a prequel to that opening episode that compliments and enhances what we saw a year ago. Paying homage to the same influences that helped craft the story of Star Wars in the mind of George Lucas in the first place, Visions is imbued with that same soul and delivery, giving us unfiltered blasts of Japanese style that is yet to be whittled away and blended in with the other influences that make up the Star Wars concoction. Because of that, it’s both very like and very unlike the Star Wars we know, but is nonetheless intriguing and captivating to read and wash over your eyes. From the pen of artist Takashi Okazaki this really is a treat; swathing the page in luminous whites, subtle greys and blues and dashes of vivid red he creates a landscape rich for visual storytelling.
The story itself, like the series it’s inspired by, is pleasingly simple. Ronin crosses a bridge entering a new territory, he is attacked by bandits who plan on taking his droid, which gives B5-56 the chance to unleash hell on them after Ronin makes short work of their ranks and encounters a blind Jedi as he relaxes in a hot spring. We learn of Ronin’s motivations (atonement for his actions) and the blind mans (a former Jedi searching for the truth) and through the story we see paths untaken, a glimpse of the Visions world that certainly would stand up to further investigation.
Oh, and there are Ewoks.
This really is impressive, a prequel that teases what’s to come while leaving us hungry for more. While it’s widely understood that expanding the world of The Mandalorian beyond what we’ve seen on screen is largely off the table right now, other areas of the saga are hopefully not so constricted. Visions may be an Elseworlds / What If / Infinities view of the galaxy, but with Tales of the Jedi on the way and The Bad Batch with us soon, hopefully there’s opportunities to look at the galaxy before each of these stories. On this evidence, there’s plenty of scope and enough talented creators around to make that a very tantalising thought.
Top quality work from Okazaki that confidently stands apart from and a part of the series it emerged from, and fingers crossed we get to dip into this and other Visions stories somewhere down the line.
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