Hello out there in Shipyard land!
Hope everyone is doing well!
I’ve got a couple of new covers to reveal tonight, and a few old ones that have the comic cover treatment now. I’m supplying story text with each one, so some of it will be a repeat, but I’ve also revamped one or two so if you feel like reading it may be worth it. It’s time again for the DARK LORDS to come out to play.
We’ll start at the beginning.
100 years after the “Battle Of Endor” the Galactic Republic has risen from the ashes and the Jedi have been reborn…
As the natural order of the Galaxy unfolds balance is a rule. With good there must be evil as an offset.
This is the unfortunate side effect of the sentient condition that continues to repeat itself, forever through space and time.
The SITH have begun to reform in the most horrifying way. They have found strength in numbers and a dangerous balance of power. A leader has risen and in order to avoid detection by the Jedi has led his faction to the most remote of places to grow and prosper with revenge at heart.
At the edge of the galaxy where starry tentacles reach into the void is a place where no spacers will travel. A place steeped in lore and legend, of tales of mystery and ghosts and nightmares. This area has been dubbed the MOBUS CRESCENT, named by ancient pilots from days long forgotten. The name stems from the rough shape of the area, one tip beginning in space near the Mobus system the other ending light years away at the edge of a dangerous asteroid field forming the inside shape of a crescent.
Within the crescent no known ship to enter has ever returned. It is said that there, lives strange anomalies that warp time and matter and millions of small but dense black holes… small… but large enough to swallow whole a small moon. It is speculated that this strange accumulation blocks passage to one of the Galaxy’s several tendrils but none know for sure…
or do they.
Using the Dark Side of the Force the SITH have navigated the dangerous space and emerged from the nebulous gas clouds on the other side to find a vast void sparsely peppered with pins of light. Flickering stars, most dying and lifeless, all void of any intelligent life, but life exists none the less. Life so ancient it has never been seen by reasoning eyes. Obsolete life dating back to the birth of the Galaxy. Some would say, monsters. Here the SITH have found a sanctuary to build their machine of war on a planet no longer accompanied by its brothers and sisters. A ROGUE WORLD orbiting a super hot, life sustaining gas giant that roams slowly and aimlessly through the blackness.
This dark volatile world now hides a dangerous secret. This is EREBUS. This is where the HIDDEN SITH reside.
EREBUS (?r'?-b?s)
n. Greek Mythology
The dark region of the underworld through which the dead must pass before they reach Hades.
As a young man, NAGA RAJA, studied the ways of the Dark Side of the Force. Through the years his power grew and he trained an apprentice. His choice of apprentice proved to be a wise one, as the man was a scientist and a doctor and his agenda for power was quite different than that of RAJA.
Many years later RAJA encountered another SITH Master who was almost as powerful as he. The two became caught in a power struggle, but RAJA being the wise and more powerful eventually won out and with great influence persuaded the dark Master to join him and his cause.
RAJA used his wisdom, patience and great power and went against traditional SITH teachings and formed a society of evil agents to do his bidding. When his group became too large to conceal from the growing number of Jedi Knights in the Galaxy, RAJA, decided to move his people as far out of the central core as he could. This is how he eventually led the faction of SITH to the dark world of Erebus. Here he began to build a machine of war. He proclaimed himself KING and sent out his evil minions to recruit new soldiers for his cause.
The planet he chose proved to be another great success as it was rich with raw material for industrialization. RAJA had felt the world called to him through the Force. He soon discovered evidence of a long past civilization and by way of hieroglyphics and artifacts was able to discern that the ancient people were in fact children of the Force and had a vast knowledge of forgotten power. The planet also revealed a unique black crystal that was incredibly powerful when used for Lightsabers and an indigenous life form, easily influenced by the Force, and when implanted in humanoids made them ripe for mind control.
Now with great patience NAGA RAJA watches his forces grow and waits for the right time to reveal the HIDDEN SITH.
NAGA is Indonesian and through certain dialects can refer to many things. In this case it is definitely evil and refers to the serpent or Dark Serpent.
RAJA from Sanskrit is the term for Monarch or King.
The late great Boris Karloff is NAGA RAJA.
When recruiting soldiers for his Dark Side Army, Naga Raga found a lack-luster result. Willing volunteers were extremely scarce and any recruits who did join soon sought personal power of their own disrupting the delicate balance that Raja had worked so hard to achieve.
Raja soon turned to his most trusted friend, a scientist he had chosen as his first apprentice. Using an indigenous life form of Erebus the scientist devised a way of controlling humanoids with a horrifying mix of surgical techniques and technology. The first of these experimental drones was a Brute referred to as KASAR.
The giant worked so well Raja took him as a body guard and ordered raids on unsuspecting vessels that ran a shipping lane in close proximity of the Mobus Crescent. The SITH raided all sorts of vessels from civilian to military, abducting all passengers aboard including women and children for use in experimentation. In some cases they would even seize the ship, but some useless civilian starships were left derelict later to be found. This ramped up the mysterious tales of the Mobus Crescent in the galactic circle.
KASAR was feared by anyone who would be so bold as to conspire against Naga Raja. The brute man was directly controlled by Raja through the Force and always carried a securis made on the same principal as a lightsaber for chopping any wary opponent. KASAR was also mirrored by several droids, one usually floating above his head. These droids were the eyes and ears of Naga Raja.
KASAR (Indonesian: Brutish)
The unique face of KASAR is Rondo Hatton. He began his career in 1930 and was best known for his portrayal of the homicidal "Creeper" and his legacy lives on through the the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.
A clash between two Masters of the Sith would normally end in the death of the weaker. This was not the case when Naga Raja and DARTH VEREOR met in battle. Naga Raja did defeat VEREOR but using his vast wisdom and unmoving patience, Raja, recruited the Sith Master instead of killing him. The two made a pact and joined for their common cause, conquering the Republic and eradication of the Jedi.
DARTH VEREOR may have lost his skirmish against Raja, but the Dark Lord was extremely powerful all the same. He was a frightening incarnation and his brutality earned him the nickname "The Impaler". His maddened quest for ultimate rule over the galaxy became watered down as he aged and through the Dark Side of the Force he began to search for immortality. This search distracted the Dark Lord from his ultimate goal and caused him to become reckless.
After a botched raid on an outpost in Republic space, almost revealing the HIDDEN SITH, Naga Raja was forced to confront VEREOR.
VEREOR Latin word meaning: to respect, fear, be in dread of, to be afraid.
Of coarse, a tribute to BELA LUGOSI. DARTH VEREOR's pet Nexu is named Blasko' which is the real sir name of Lugosi.
Darth Vereor’s apprentice, DARTH VERNULA, was trained in the brutal ways of his master. This Defel Dark Lord was known for his vicious fighting style and equally vicious weapon. The version of a LightSaber was clasped together for a broad sword effect but could be detached for a double weapon fighting style. The weapon also had shorter energy blades that could be separately activated, surprising many doomed Jedi in close combat.
Following the orders of his Master, who was obsessed with eternal life, VERNULA raided an outpost in the Spar Sector. The mission was to find a fabled artifact that was able to extend the possessor’s life indefinitely. The artifact was never found and the mission nearly went very bad when a group of Jedi at the outpost intervened. VERNULA’s vicious training prevailed and all were killed.
VERNULA Latin word meaning: servant.
The bat-like Defel was used to compliment Darth Vereor’s Dracula-like character.
NAGA ZOMB was the original apprentice and right hand of Naga Raja and helped the Dark Lord to literally "raise" an army. Using hired hands from mercenaries to bounty hunters the Sith abducted their army from anywhere they could and in some cases used the hired scum as well. Through the Dark Side of the Force NAGA ZOMB focused his experimental and surgical prowess to create a mindless, obedient and very dangerous soldier for Raja's army.
After discovering the zbârnâi, a creature indigenous to Erebus that fed off of the sentient mind and allowed total control of it's victim through the Force, ZOMB was able to find a balance of parasitic, Force control and technology to create his monsters. Naga Raja’s zombie army proved to perform well and NAGA ZOMB basked in the praise of his King.
ZOMB is a derivative from the word zombie, of coarse.
Zbârnâi- Romanian buzz, whirr, tingle. As in the Price movie “The Tingler”.
This is a tribute to one of my favorite horror masters, the late great Vincent Price
Naga Zomb’s apprentice NAGA XENO often assisted in the process by bringing unwilling test subjects to his Master. XENO was a vicious protector to his Master and also controlled the guardians, the Ophion, in the caverns Avernus that led to the Hidden Sith Temple on Erebus.
NAGA XENO was often charged to bring in important Republic citizens for his masters chamber of horrors. XENO had a great talent of stealth and was even able to infiltrate the Senate on Coruscant on several occasions. XENO was also known to travel one or several “guardians” with him on missions. He had an uncanny control over the subterranean monsters. The creatures were of all sizes depending on their age and had a highly venomous bite from either head. XENO sometimes used them as assassination tools.
XENO meaning alien or stranger.
Ophion (?f?'?n), in Greek mythology, a huge serpent. An orphic god who ruled the world with his mother, Eurynome, before the reign of Kronos. When he became unruly, Eurynome banished him to the underworld.
A•ver•nus -a lake near Naples, Italy, looked upon in ancient times as an entrance to hell, from whose waters vile-smelling vapors arose, supposedly killing birds flying over it.
DARTH LUPUS was strong in the Dark Side of the Force and along with his apprentice DARTH WARG led a great deal of the Hidden Sith fighting force created by Naga Zomb. DARTH WARG, a Shistavanen Darksider, was solely loyal to his master and Naga Raja kept a watchful eye on the two knowing that there combined ambition was a dangerous asset.
LUPUS is Latin for wolf.
From Norse mythology WARG is a certain wolf.
These two are a tribute to Lon Chaney Jr. and the wolfman character he made his own!
DARTH PLAGA was one of a hand full of ruthless Sith Lords who formed a group called the 'Hidden Sith'. Together these Dark Lords built an army from unsuspecting abductees, silently and hidden in a part of the Outer Rim that remained unexplored.
DARTH PLAGA had practiced a forgotten Dark Side power that enabled him to render his opponents violently ill, incapacitating them for an easy kill. He taught this technique to his apprentice who in time perfected the power to a greater degree than his own master. Soon the apprentice became the master and used the Dark Side technique against PLAGA and killed him to further his own career.
PLAGA Spanish word meaning: plague.
Here we have two silver screen gems separated by different eras, one from the 1970's the other silent from the 1920's. From the 1970's we have William Marshall for his portrayal of Prince Mamuwalde or Blackula in the campy horror movie of the same name which won "Best Horror Film" award at the 1972 Saturn Awards. Also Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlok in the 1922 film Nosferatu which was ahead of it's time and to me came off as very spooky even for a silent film.
DARTH VILE was a frightening presence, an alien of unknown origin he was taken in by Darth Plaga after the Dark Lord recognized the creatures prowess in the Force. Plaga recklessly taught Vile everything he knew and in turn Vile used it against him and took his place as one of several ruling Lords in the 'Hidden Sith'.
VILE Middle English meaning: Loathsome; disgusting.
I hope all of you classic horror buffs out there really enjoy this! It’s for you!
