So you all know it's the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, the most culturally significant film since...well, ever really. To mark the date there are all sorts of show going on including "The Vader Show" where leading artists are given the opportunity to put their own spin on the Dark Lord of the Sith (yes, I know the Emperor is, stictly speaking, the lord...).

Only some of them don't look like they could be bothered.

I bet the majority of those involved would claim they love Star Wars and cite it as an important influence in their life. And this is the best they could come up? Maybe they were busy being 'edgy', queing for a limited edition pair of SB Dunks, or painting a Dunny. I dunno but if you aren't going to put all your effort in, why even agree to do it? Okay, its Star Wars and you were invited to take part....all the more reason to go all out to create something killer.

With any show you'd expect some outstanding pieces that inevitably overshadow the others. But I can't help but feel totally underwhelmed by a lot of the Vader efforts. I'm not going to name artists because it's a personal opinion - one man's poison n' all that - but it's a general trend i've noticed at a few custom shows that I don't think is particualrly healthy or points to a great future for these types of events. Perhaps there are simply too many that invite the same few people who then don't want to let the organisers down?

Compare the Vader Show to the work produced at the Zarjaz show for 2000AD. It says it all.

Show pics are up on Vinyl Pulse: http://www.vinylpulse.com/2007/05/seen_the_vader_.html