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Recommended
By: Christopher Butcher
"A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…" or "Whaddaya mean Star Wars is ‘Episode 4’?"
S
o there’s a new Star Wars movie out. You’ve probably noticed the plethora of toys, licensed food products, video games, sundry merchandise, and – oh yeah, that movie thing, that have dominated radio, TV, and store shelves in the past few weeks. While critical opinion of the movie tends to be pretty pessimistic, fans of the films have flocked to theatres. That’s the most important thing to come out of all the hype though, fans of the original three Star Wars films get to carry on enjoying them, perhaps even with their own kids. The movie exists for it’s fans, despite opinions to the contrary stating it exists for the toys, licensed food products, video games and sundry merchandise. It’s the fans that will appreciate this column.T
here hasn’t been a void of stories in between Return of the Jedi (the last of the original Star Wars films), and the new movie, Episode One: The Phantom Menace. In fact, those long 16 years have produced some great stories set in the Star Wars universe. They’ve taken the form of novels, animated television shows, video games, and comic books. My favorite adaptations of the Star Wars universe have been the comic books, which is why we’re even talking about this in a comics column :). There’s something about the comics, they combine the imagination of the novels with the visceral enjoyment that visuals can provide. Now, while they aren’t the strict personal vision of Star Wars’s own Emperor, George Lucas, they are all approved by Lucasfilm, and can add a lot to your enjoyment of the original series. To the right, you can see a list of all of the Comic books that take place in the Star Wars Universe.I
n 1978, a year after Star Wars: A New Hope debuted in theatres Marvel Comics (publishers of Spiderman, and X-Men) began to publish comics based in the Star Wars universe, taking place just after the end of the first movie. At the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back, we see "The war has been going badly for the rebels.." in that trademark Star Wars scroll at the beginning of the movie. Well, these are basically the battles that make up the war going badly for the Rebellion. These are also more than likely the Star Wars comics that you might remember from your youth. Now, in all honesty, they weren’t terribly good, falling into a very similar formula of Luke and Leia landing on a planet trying to get the natives to join the Rebellion, Darth Vader showing up, and having a bunch of bad things happen before narrowly escaping.I
n 1991, Dark Horse Comics won the publishing rights for the Star Wars franchise away from Marvel, and this included ownership off all of the previously published Star Wars books (over 100 of them in all), as well as the newspaper strips from the same era. The first thing Dark Horse did with their license is publish Dark Empire, a six issue limited series that dealt with what happened to Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo after the deaths of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine at the end of Return of the Jedi. The series was an instant success, and paved the way for even more adventures after the end of Jedi, featuring fan favorite characters like Boba Fett and the Crimson Guard, and characters we all loved to hate like Jabba the Hutt. They also fleshed out the far past of Star Wars, telling us of the majestic Sith, who play a large part in the new movie. In short, the Dark Horse Comics series’ let us explore a much larger and stranger universe than the original three movies. With the premiere of the new Star Wars movie looming, I thought it would be more than appropriate to explore the Star Wars universe laid before us in comics.W
elcome to the world of Star Wars!(Click on the review name below to skip directly to that review.)
Star Wars: "Tales of the Jedi – The Sith War
Star Wars: A New Hope – Manga #1-4
Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind’s Eye
Star Wars: Dark Empire
Star Wars: Crimson Empire
Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace
Timeline Borrowed from Dark Horse Comics. Book names highlighted in that ugly yellow colour are reviewed in this article.
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi – The Sith War (Trade Paperback)Written by Kevin J. Anderson, with art by Dario Carassco Jr.
152 Pages, Colour. $17.95 U.S., $25.95 Can.
ISBN 1-56971-173-9
Set nearly 4000 years before the events taking place in Star Wars: A New Hope, "The Sith War" is the pen-ultimate chapter in the Tales of the Jedi series. As such, it feels incomplete on it’s own, which tends to be a bit of a kiss-of death for individually collected trade paperbacks. No one likes to shell out twenty dollars to find out that they’ve got to shell out more money to get the end to the story. Still, It’s important to review the work on it’s own merits as well as in the context of the larger series.
On it’s own merits, The Sith War is a story that was obviously told in sequential installments, and then collected. Events are recapped within the story that happened only 15 pages ago, and it’s distracting not simply because it exists, but because it happens so frequently. Considering The Sith War was published in 1995, well after Dark Horse had begun to collect various Star Wars Miniseries’ into trade paperbacks as a matter of course, the writers should have understood that read as a collected story their method of re-capping previous events would detract from the flow of the story.
When it comes to the actual story however, The Sith War offers up a host of characters that add to the rich tapestry of the Star Wars universe. We get to witness a time when lots of Jedi Knights from various races act as a sort of Zen police force for the galaxy. That’s probably the best part of the story, which focuses on one of these Jedi succumbing to the Dark Side of the Force. Exar Kun finds secret forbidden objects of the Sith, dark and corrupt users of the force thought to have become extinct a thousand years ago. The more he surrounds himself with this dark, forbidden knowledge, the more evil he becomes. His plans are to destroy the Jedi Masters that act as a governing body for the Galactic Republic, and replace them with himself, as he brings about a new Golden Age for the Sith.
An ambitious tale, and an unsuccessful one. The Jedi from all races and sexes, which add promise to the story, are cycled in and out at an amazing rate. Characters are introduced, then killed with alarming frequency so that as readers we’re not sure what, if any, emotional impact we’re supposed to feel from their deaths. Grand events like the destruction of an entire solar system fall entirely flat because the characters dying have been in maybe 10 panels of the story previously, and had no discernable personalities in those appearances. Perhaps it’s a lack of perspective on my part for not having read the whole series, but if they were all written in the same vein as this story I’d have to say my criticism holds up.
Another thing that doesn’t help the confusing story is the equally confusing art. The penciler, Dario Carassco Jr is given four different inkers in this six issue story, which pretty much destroys any consistency in the appearances of the characters. Considering that Carassco isn’t a terribly good penciller to begin with, with confusing panel layouts, sketchy anatomy and a poor sense of perspective, the dramatically different inkers don’t really help matters. On top of all that, everything looks like it’s dirty. In this prosperous, bright society why does everything look like it’s coated in grime…? Anyhow.
Tales of the Jedi – The Sith War, isn’t a terribly good trade paperback, either on it’s own merits or given some leniency for it being part of a larger series. While it is fun to see some of the origins of the Star Wars universe, that bit of enjoyment doesn’t really make up for the rest of the confusing, poorly crafted story. Especially not at twenty dollars a pop!
Written by George Lucas, with art by Hisao Tamaki
4 issues, 96 pages each in Black & White. $9.95 U.S. $14.95 Can.
The overwhelming failing that most comic book adaptations of films have is that they have to take 2 hours of film and put that into just over a hundred pages of story. You end up losing an awful lot of the story that way, and events can seem rushed or are sometimes excised all together. It doesn’t capture the spirit of the movie, and it doesn’t really stand well on it’s own.
That’s why Star Wars: A New Hope – Manga works so well. It ads up to over 350 pages of adaptation, which uses the dialogue from the original movie word for word, with almost nothing lost between the movie and the comic. It is probably the most perfect movie adaptation ever.
Drawn by popular Japanese Comics (manga) artist Hisao Tamaki in a very authentic manga style, it really is a different look at a classic film. Now, if you’re actively turned off by anything drawn in a "Japanese" style, you’re not gonna be able to stomach these books. However, if you want probably the most dynamic and interesting look at Star Wars – ever, then you definitely want to shell out the money for these books.
These are probably my favorite Star Wars comics of all, and with Empire Strikes Back #1-4 recently completed, and Return of the Jedi’s serialization beginning in July, the complete trilogy in manga version is an essential purchase for any real fan.
Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind’s EyeBy Terry Austin and Chris Sprouse, based on the novel by Alan Dean Foster
112 Pages, Colour. $14.95 U.S., $20.95 Can.
ISBN 1-56971-223-9
From the Introduction by Novelist Alan Foster:
"But no one knew what kind of success Star Wars would achieve, and so George [Lucas], thinking ahead, wanted to be able to utilize props and backgrounds and the detritus of filmmaking in a second film, thereby reducing it’s cost if necessary. So in writing the sequel, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, I was asked to come up with a story that could be filmed on a low budget. Which is why, for example, the story takes place on a fog-shrouded planet (really cuts down on the need for expensive backgrounds). For the same reason, the modestly expensive space battle I had written was cut from the story. It was, to say the least, an interesting way for a writer to approach a new novel.
I’m quite proud of Splinter. Time, and Star Wars’ unimaginable success, conspired to keep it from being filmed, but I think it holds up well within the Star Wars universe, and as a forethought, it fits very comfortable between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back."
So there you have it. The lost sequel to Star Wars. Now, from the introduction either your curiosity will be piqued for an engaging "lost" piece of Star Wars history, or you’ll just think of Splinter as an "also-ran" that doesn’t sound half as good as The Empire Strikes Back. I’d like to inform you that Splinter is definitely the former.
Splinter of the Mind’s eye really would be a low budget movie. However, what it lacks in special effects it more than makes up for in the atmosphere found on each and every page. Just as you could "feel" the dry and oppressive heat of Tattooine in every frame of "A New Hope", you can feel the damp, misty heat in every panel of Splinter. It’s a real credit to the talents of Austin and Sprouse, as their writing and art mesh seamlessly to bring the dark jungle planet of Mimban.
The story itself really hearkens back to adventure serials of the past, with all of the standards permeating the genre. Hostile savages, quicksand, fantastic ape-like beasts, the whole nine yards. It’s an interesting contrast to the heavily futuristic looking designs of Star Wars, but not so far removed as to be unrecognizable either.
The story centers around our dashing hero, Luke Skywalker, and his lovely assistant Princess Leia crash-landing on a small planet which has recently had a large imperial detachment located there to work the mines. Our heroes come across a wise old woman with the story of mystical gemstone with strange magical powers. However, the evil Darth Vader wants to swoop in and steal it first!
Sound familiar? I wouldn’t let that bother you, if you can avoid it. Splinter has a very strong story even if it doesn’t have a terribly original plot. The dialogue flows smoothly, with a lot of solid personality and warmth showing through. A lot of critics have complained that despite it’s technical wizardry, the Phantom Menace feels a little bit "soulless". Well, for a planned low-budget feature, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye has all the heart and feeling that the best of the larger budget movies have to offer.
I want to make a special mention of the artwork. Chris Sprouse is one of my favorite artists. I don’t really know why, I think it has something to do with page composition and the way he draws his figures. At any rate, I totally love his work and that makes Splinter a particular joy to read.
So in short? Get this book. Get it. :)
Star Wars: Dark Empire
Written by Tom Veitch, with art by Cam Kennedy
184 Pages, Colour. $17.95 U.S. $26.95 Can.
ISBN 1-56971-073-2
Star Wars: Dark Empire II
Written by Tom Veitch, with art by Cam Kennedy
168 Pages, Colour. $17.95 U.S. $26.95 Can.
ISBN 1-56971-119-4
Star Wars: Empire’s End
Written by Tom Veitch, with art by Jim Baikie
56 Pages, Colour. $5.95 U.S. $8.95 Can.
ISBN 1-56971-306-5
The Emperor has been destroyed and Darth Vader’s reign of tyranny has ended in his death and redemption. So does peace and happiness spread itself throughout the galaxy?
Not bloody likely.
The Dark Empire trilogy tells the story of what happens to Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and the rebellion after the effective collapse of the Empire. The whole thing is told in a heavily stylized, high-contrast art style as unique as the look of the original films themselves. Just as A New Hope was the first part of a trilogy of films, Dark Empire is a trilogy of comic stories. Dark Empire, Dark Empire 2, and Empire’s End make up the future of the Star Wars universe.
The Dark Empire trilogy follows the same thematic setup that the original movies did. Dark Empire a resounding victory, filled with hope and celebration. Dark Empire 2 an emotional roller-coaster, ending up badly for the rebels. Empire’s End neatly ties everything together, ending on a much happier note than the previous story. For this alone the Dark Empire trilogy will be the favorite of many readers, as it resonates very clearly with the movies they already know and love.
Dark Empire and Dark Empire two feature the artwork of Cam Kennedy, a very stylized artist that really brings something different to the art from the Star Wars universe. It might take a little bit of getting used to, but once you do you’ll really appreciate the stylized and even faithful art. The likenesses, how close the drawn images look to the faces of the actors, are very very good.
Dark Empire details the corruption, and salvation, of Luke Skywalker as he attempts to discover the secrets of the Dark Side of the force. The emperor’s dark soul finds a home in a new cloned body, and Luke thinks that he must use the light and dark sides of the force in unison to defeat him. With only his pregnant sister Princess Leia’s faith in him to keep from slipping over the edge, Luke must cast off the dark side.
Dark Empire 2 has Luke trying to rebuild the Jedi Knights as peace keepers for the Galaxy. Leia is pregnant with her third child, and Luke is sure that he will be the greatest of all Jedi’s. Unfortunately, so is the emperor who desperately wants Leia’s child as a repository for his dark soul. So with Leia in hiding and the Emperor destroying planets to find her, things look ever grimmer for the rebellion.
Both Dark Empire and Dark Empire 2 are fantastic books, and ones I unflinchingly recommend to anyone who enjoys Star Wars. In fact, before the manga adaptations of the Star Wars movies hit the market, these were my favorite Star Wars comics.
Unfortunately, Empire’s End, the finale to the trilogy isn’t nearly as good as it’s predecessors. Coming in at a whopping 56 pages (2 issues, as compared to 6 in each of the first two series’) the story is practically over before it begins, and is a huge let-down compared to the very excellent Dark Empire books. The story seems to be extremely cramped, giving very little room to be much of anything but a blow-by-blow telling of events. The artist is also very assuredly NOT Cam Kennedy either, offering a more traditional, and not nearly as interesting view of the Star Wars universe. The likenesses also suffered quite a bit. It really is too bad that this book is such a let down, considering the high quality of the first two stories.
In closing, while I do recommend the Dark Empire trilogy as a whole, it is marred by a rather weak and rushed ending. But if you’re the type of person that enjoyed The Empire Strikes Back just because it was good, then you’ll definitely like at least the first two books in the Dark Empire series.
Crimson Empire
Written by Randy Stradley & Mike Richardson, with art by Paul Gulacy and P. Craig Russel.
160 Pages, Colour. $17.95 U.S. $26.95 Can.
ISBN 1-56971-355-3
Flash back to Return of the Jedi. The throne room of Emperor Palpatine. Standing guard were these cool Storm-Trooper looking guys in red outfits. These are the Emperor’s Imperial Guard. So, with no Emperor left, no Imperial Guard, right? Wrong.
After the events of the Dark Empire Trilogy and the death of the Emperor, one of the Imperial guard betrays the rest to take control of the remnants of the Empire. However, one Crimson Guardsman lives on and following his sworn duty to the Empire makes it his quest to destroy the traitor.
Crimson Empire is a competently written book, but your enjoyment of it will be magnified immensely depending on how cool you think the Crimson Guardsmen are. A bunch of the customers at the store think the Crimson Guard are unbelievably cool, so basically they loved the series to death. There is plenty of action, fighting, adventure, and intrigue, so if that’s your thing you’ll really like the book.
The artwork is by Paul Gulacy, and as you can tell from my review of Dark Empire 1 & 2 I really appreciate stylized, unique artwork. Maybe that’s why I didn’t really like art. I mean, again, it was competent, but nothing special or unique. It communicated the story adequately, and the action scenes were always clear, but again it was almost workman-like, as opposed to the work of Kennedy or Sprouse, which actually added to the story as opposed to just conveying it.
All in all, Crimson Empire is a new-generation Star Wars story that perhaps tends to cater to hardcore fans of the series, as opposed to the general audience that the original movies reached. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is something to keep in mind when you’re deciding whether or not to purchase Crimson Empire.
Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace
Written by Henry Gilroy, with art by Rodolfo Damaggio and Al Wiliamson
112 Pages, Colour. $12.95 U.S. $19.95 Can
ISBN 1-56971-359-6
Just so you know, I’m not going to give away anything about the movie that isn’t revealed in the trailers. I’m just going to review the comic.
The comic book adaptation of The Phantom Menace showed up in stores a full week before the movie opened. Being of weak will, I read it, and enjoyed it immensely. It was new Star Wars, and better than that, it was going to be a movie. And it had everything. Action, humor, romance, adventure, the whole nine yards. The artwork was crisp and clear, and the colour was outstanding, matching the warmth and feeling of the bits of movie I had seen.
Then I saw the movie. Then I saw the movie again. Then I read the book again, and my opinion of the book has dropped quite a bit.
It’s not that it’s particularly bad. I mean, the art is actually quite good in places, and the likenesses are nearly perfect. It’s just that… well, it isn’t the same! I mean, I mentioned that adaptations usually fall flat because you only have a hundred pages to capture 2 hours. The same reasons the Star Wars Manga works so well are the same reasons that the Phantom Menace adaptation doesn’t – there’s too much happening to fit into 96 pages. Scene’s are truncated or dropped, dialogue is chopped, dramatic battles last for only panels… It’s just. Well, it’s just not the same.
The artwork is really nice, but even that can’t save the movie. The colouring seems a little over-saturated in retrospect, even though it does capture some of the unique colour design of the movie, it isn’t appropriate on every page (especially images that should be of a muted colour palette).
It’s an adequate attempt that just doesn’t do justice to the movie. It really is unfortunate because of how many people will pick up the trade paperback because of it’s relationship to the movie. They’ll probably think that comics are pale imitations of other art forms because of the Phantom Menace tpb, as opposed to medium that can enhance and improve upon other mediums like Splinter of the Mind’s Eye and the Star Wars manga adaptations do.
It’s not that I didn’t like the book, it’s just that it couldn’t capture the magic in Phantom Menace, and I believe given more time and more pages it could have.
For More on Star Wars, try visiting these sites:
Dark Horse Comics
http://www.darkhorse.com
These are the publishers of the Star Wars comic book adaptations. They've got tons of info on all of the different Star Wars comics out there, as well as bunches of other stuff. Check them out.
The Official Star Wars Homepage
http://www.starwars.com
The nexus of all things Star Wars. Go here, they got too many cool things to even list.
That concludes our lesson for today kids. I’ve fallen far behind in my updating, and I’m sorry about that. I’ve gotta get things back on track and quickly, so expect frequent updates. In the mean time, may the force be with you.
Christopher Butcher
Post-Ironic
All images on this page trademarked (® or TM) and copyrighted (©) 1999 by Dark Horse Comics, Inc. and its respective Licensors. Reviews Copyright Christopher Butcher, 1999. Christopher Butcher and 212.net make no claim of ownership on any of the images or properties discussed in these review. All images used in the context of a review, as is provided for under the fair use statutes of United States Copyright Law. So please don't sue me. The timeline up top is trademarked (® or TM) and copyrighted (©) 1999 by Dark Horse Comics, Inc.