Review: ‘Star Wars: Visions – Peach Momoko’ Gives Full Creative Freedom to One of Comics’ Best Artists
Star Wars: Visions has become an excellent platform for creators and artists to simply experiment. No concept is too outlandish, too over the top, or too risky. Outside of the confines of canon, it’s a place where people can come up with whatever version of the Star Wars universe they’d like.
The notion of Star Wars: Visions making its way to comics is incredibly exciting. And there’s no better way to kick it off than to invite an experimental and abstract artist like Peach Momoko. Her work is absolutely jaw-dropping. For her comic, Star Wars: Visions – Peach Momoko, she does everything. The story, art, and cover all come from her. Like any experimental artwork, not everyone will connect with it. And it’s the same here. But for those who are up for it, it is a wild and beautiful interpretation of Star Wars.
Spoilers below …
I say there are spoilers, but I say that mostly in case of anyone who wants to be completely surprised. In actuality, there isn’t much to spoil because it’s a completely wordless comic. The mention of that will get a lot of people on board, and some to stay away.
For people who love Peach Momoko’s art (including myself), it’s a joy to behold. It’s gross and grotesque. You’d be forgiven if you thought this wasn’t Star Wars and more closely akin to something like Akira. It’s one of those comics you can spend a full hour on just admiring the art.
But even for me, I found the comic to be a little too abstract at times. It’s easy to get lost in the artwork, but have little to no idea about what’s going on. Having a few words or pieces of dialogue would’ve been appreciated — fleshing out a few ideas — so that I could better understand the world and the plot. But Momoko’s dedication to her craft and to her mission of crafting a wordless comic is commended. While I would’ve liked some explanations, I appreciate the comic and the artist for sticking to its guns and not including any.
Because it’s a wordless comic, the story is entirely up for interpretation. The base foundation is that the plot revolves around a Sith cult, a young girl, and her droid companion investigating the cult and its members. Beyond that, it’s hard to say. But again, that’s what makes it wild and exciting.
On one hand, I wish there was some explanation for what I was looking at. But on the other, I appreciate the comic for what it is. It’s a crazy and beautiful depiction of Star Wars that could only come from an artist like Peach Momoko. There not being any words helps consumers be entirely engrossed in Peach Momoko’s art, storytelling, and vision of Star Wars. It perfectly encapsulates and fulfills Star Wars: Visions’ goal of a place for creators to share their unique voices. I’ll definitely be coming back to this again and again just to appreciate this for what it is.
Score: 9.5/10
Born and raised in Hawaii, Jay Goodearl runs the YouTube Gaming channel “Good Games, Dude” His channel aims to open up video games to beginners and immediate players and help them understand what makes games the art form that it is.
