Dune: House Corrino #8 - BOOM! Studios

DUNE: HOUSE CORRINO No. 8, November 2024

Considering the sheer speed with which events are concluded inside this final issue of “Dune: House Corrino”, many a fan of Frank Herbert’s “feudal interstellar society” must have felt its Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon probably regretted the decision to cram this comic book adaptation into just eight instalments. Indeed, by the time the thirty-three page periodical draws to an end after a cataclysmic carousel of captures, treacherous murders and nuclear-powered stand-offs, a good percentage of the audience will have already forgotten poor C’Tair Pilru’s noble sacrifice during this publication’s blood-drenched opening; “You served Ix valiantly… I only pray that the Guild heard you.”

Perhaps this tome’s biggest achievement however, is not in how tightly its collaborative writing team close their fists around all the numerous plot threads they previously had dangling throughout this mini-series. But that they still somehow manage to also include an impressive surprise concerning Piter De Vries, following the dastardly Mentat’s ill-fated brush with the formidable Bene Gesserit, Gaius Helen Mohiam. Those bibliophiles familiar with Baron Vladimir Harkonnen’s servant, will know well the part he has to play in this science fiction franchise’s future narrative. So for the likes of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to unexpectedly pull the rug out from under their feet is tremendously well done.

Likewise, the way the authors manage to imbue the Padishah Emperor will much of the impotence later seen in the “Analog” magazine serials is impressive. Shaddam IV has appeared throughout this title as a vindictive power-seeker, who despite being “the hereditary ruler of the Imperium” continues to crave more control over his subject’s affairs and wealth. In this comic, all that momentum is skilfully stripped away from him with a single misstep, and arguably leaves the conceited ruler semi-broken, as well as in the debt of the truly all-powerful Spacing Guild.

Sadly, what doesn’t really ring true for this book are some of the pencilled panels by Andrea Scalmazzi, whose rather wooden, stiff-looking figures occasionally detract from what should be a mesmerising battle scene or incredibly tense moment of high drama. This lack of dynamic drawing is particularly noticeable when the Emperor angrily confronts the Spacing Guild over their refusal to allow him to attack the Harkonnen Headquarters on Carthag, and wipe it from the face of Arrakis. Apart from Shaddam IV’s face contorting with visible anger, there’s no atmosphere to the deadly confrontation, and in fact the penciller repeatedly pulls any onlooker away from the grim stand-off by simply sketching exterior shots of the spaceships within which the main players reside.

Written by: Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson, and Illustrated by Andrea Scalmazzi