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February 2, 2008
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 The current issue of Dark Times is something of an oddity, feeling rushed and incomplete, while simultaneously delivering an entertaining read. The eighth installment of the series, and part three of the five part 'Parallels' story arc, finds the crew of the Uhumele cornered in a firefight and impossibly outgunned. Looming over the proceedings is their mysterious cargo, as yet unnamed and reportedly primed to tie in with a larger story arc when the newly released Vector crosses over into Dark Times.
Scripter Mick Harrison flexes the series' trademark gloomy muscle by killing off a major crew member during the battle, adding a sense of foreboding and consequence to what could have been a fairly pedestrian action scene. While the somber tone of the series has turned off some readers (as evidenced by the letters printed at the end of the issues), Dark Times doesn't shy away from presenting a pretty brutal view of the galaxy far, far away, and issue eight is no exception.
Less effective, this time around, are Dave Ross' pencils. The contrast between issues seven and eight are distracting, particularly the background detail (or lack thereof) during the Uhumele narrative thread. While the characters are fully realized, many of the backdrops are composed entirely of blank purple sky, lending a cheap feel to what has otherwise been an exemplary series.
This is remedied when the parallel narrative switches to the Jedi Master K'kruhk, marooned on a backwater jungle planet with a host of young Order 66 survivors. The jungle backgrounds are lush and detailed, in stark contrast to the first half of the comic. Whether or not this was intentional (to serve as a visual separator between the two stories), or a result of a rushed production schedule is a matter of speculation, but the ultimate effect is that something seems to be missing from half of the issue, even if its only on a semi-conscious level.
That said, the issue, like the rest of the series, is worth your time, providing a satisfying story populated with carefully conceived characters that tug at your heartstrings and involve you in the proceedings like few comics can. My only hopes for the future of Dark Times are a return to a consistent artistic style and a break for poor Bomo Greenbark. He deserves it.
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