"The Star Wars" Comic Official Discussion Thread

[Tulin]

Just read the first issue - interesting.

Having read "Skywalking" back in the mid 80's, I knew a lot of these names and concepts but it was pretty cool to see images to match the names and places. I really like that this feels like the SW universe we all know, just shifted slightly to the left.

It was weird seeing the stardestroyers(one word as they say at the end), flying between buildings - I assumed the buildings must be MASSIVE until I read at the back it's the ships that are so SMALL, just two man fighters.


Enjoying it so far - what does everybody else think?

 

[Turtletrekker]

I'm actually waiting for the trade on this one.

 

[Kirby]

^^ Me too.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Intense and disorienting are my first impressions.

The intense part comes from a tragic death almost from the very start and then the immediate jump into the politics of the New Empire and the rebellion against it.

The disorientation comes from seeing so many familiar elements--the aforementioned Star Destroyers, Darth Vader, and Luke Skywalker--turned on their heads (looking forward to see the green-skinned alien Han Solo and what he'll be like).

It's a fascinating read on its own, IMO, but I think the biggest thrill is seeing what original ideas and concepts were left relatively intact and which ones were totally altered or ditched altogether.

 

[Tulin]

Agreed.

It's very interesting to even hear the words "trade", "guild" and so on, along with the heavy emphasis on politics; something that we tend to now associate with the much maligned PT. It's as if Lucas completely ditched all of that and just went straight for an action story through line for ANH, with the political baggage sidelined.

Also knowing WHEN the first draft was written, along with the fact that Tatooine is a desert planet makes you see the MAJOR influence "Dune" also had on the young Lucas. Both very political with great old families plotting and scheming along with guilds and associations.

Very interesting.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

Agreed.

It's very interesting to even hear the words "trade", "guild" and so on, along with the heavy emphasis on politics; something that we tend to now associate with the much maligned PT. It's as if Lucas completely ditched all of that and just went straight for an action story through line for ANH, with the political baggage sidelined.

Also knowing WHEN the first draft was written, along with the fact that Tatooine is a desert planet makes you see the MAJOR influence "Dune" also had on the young Lucas. Both very political with great old families plotting and scheming along with guilds and associations.

Very interesting.

The influence of Dune on this draft of the story is remarkable, as is the very Ming-like Emperor. The Flash Gordon influence is much more pronounced in this version.

This should be a fun series.

 

[theenglish]

Agreed.

It's very interesting to even hear the words "trade", "guild" and so on, along with the heavy emphasis on politics; something that we tend to now associate with the much maligned PT. It's as if Lucas completely ditched all of that and just went straight for an action story through line for ANH, with the political baggage sidelined.

Also knowing WHEN the first draft was written, along with the fact that Tatooine is a desert planet makes you see the MAJOR influence "Dune" also had on the young Lucas. Both very political with great old families plotting and scheming along with guilds and associations.

Very interesting.

The influence of Dune on this draft of the story is remarkable, as is the very Ming-like Emperor. The Flash Gordon influence is much more pronounced in this version.

This should be a fun series.

Why doesn't Dark Horse sell through comixology? I know they have their own app but so do DC and Marvel. When I buy their comics they are available on both apps. Dark Horse? What's the problem?

 

[JD]

That's been bugging me forever too. At least they do sell digital versions of their trades for both Kindle & Nook, so I figure I'll go that route, at least for starters.

 

[PsychoPere]

The DC and Marvel apps were built for those companies by comiXology. Dark Horse designed its own app, which moves through a comic differently than the comiXology app (as well as organizes your collection differently, and so on).

As for the comic, I've been looking forward to this for quite a while. Several years back, I read the draft that this miniseries is based on, though I don't remember it very well at this point. I thought this first issue was a lot of fun, and didn't at all mind the political angles that so far seem to be better handled than the Prequel Trilogy handled similar ideas (though perhaps it's too early to compare). It's just really neat to see Lucas's early ideas fleshed out beyond a script, and to see the similar-but-just-a-little-off implementation of certain characters, vehicles (stardestroyers as two-man fighters!), and situations.

 

[Mike Farley]

Why doesn't Dark Horse sell through comixology? I know they have their own app but so do DC and Marvel. When I buy their comics they are available on both apps. Dark Horse? What's the problem?

Dark Horse sells through its own app in order to keep a bigger chunk of the "cover" price. Buying through Comixology is a three way split between Comixology, Apple (or Google), and the comic company (Marvel and DC's app are just stripped down Comixology). By selling through the Dark Horse app they only have a two way slit.

 

[Mr Light]

Very interesting retro take... the art was really excellent. I did find it confusing a little since it reuses so many canon names but in different meanings.

 

[JRoss]

THE STAR WARS comic review

I have posted a review of the new eight-part miniseries that Dark Horse is publishing. You can read the review here at lifetintedblue.com. Thanks a bunch.

 

[Tulin]

Bump

 

[Tulin]

Re: THE STAR WARS comic review

There's already a review thread here,

http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=224869

 

[Janus VI]

Issue #2 of The Star Wars is available through the Dark Horse app now.

The teaser tag from the store app reads:
The Empire is poised for an attack on the peaceful world of Aquilae, and only Jedi General Luke Skywalker seems concerned. When King Kayos is killed, Jedi in training Annikin Starkiller is ordered to find Princess Leia, while Skywalker sends his only squadron against the Empire's powerful new battle station!

The action picks up more so in this issue but there are still a few panels of clunky dialogue.

I really want to pick up my old copy of the Annotated Screenplays and compare it to the comics but so far I've held off doing that as I think its been more thrilling reading this fresh.

 

[Toxteth O´Grady]

I really want to pick up my old copy of the Annotated Screenplays and compare it to the comics but so far I've held off doing that as I think its been more thrilling reading this fresh.

I LOVE that book! I've always been fascinated with early drafts of movies, books, etc so that was a good read.

This was a really unique idea for a comic book. Aside from familiar names here and there it almost feels like a different universe. So far I like it. The art is fantastic. The story is good, too. So far it's nothing like what the original Star Wars ended up being. What I loved about Episode IV is how small the Star Wars universe was back then. This comic has that feel since it's a brand new universe we're exploring.

 

[J.T.B.]

I finally got a copy of the first issue last week, my local shop had been stocked out when I tried before. I was pretty familiar with the draft it was based on, so it was interesting to see where they took it. The threads carried through to the PT were pretty apparent, I thought. I liked most of the design elements, a blend of new with some familiar touches. I thought a giant-scale 1930s-style ring microphone was an odd choice, though. Scaling the familiar star destroyer wedge down to a two-man craft worked OK, though personally I would have ditched the "tower" piece. It will be interesting to see the "rebel" starfighters, which were originally supposed to have WW2-style ball turrets.

BTW what's with the "official" in thread subjects? Is there some thread sanctioning body I don't know about?

 

[Turtletrekker]

BTW what's with the "official" in thread subjects? Is there some thread sanctioning body I don't know about?

At the moderator's request, we tend to keep threads on a topic consolidated, rather than having multiple threads on the same subject.

 

[J.T.B.]

At the moderator's request, we tend to keep threads on a topic consolidated, rather than having multiple threads on the same subject.

Sure, I know that, but "official" just sounds funny to me.

 

[J.T.B.]

Issue #2. What a difference it makes to not have a familiar character involved in the Death Star battle, while the characters you know are watch everything from the base. The character focus seems too wide; is Annakin supposed to be the protagonist or a sidekick? Whitsun's arrival seemed anticlimactic after the way he was introduced.

Still some Dambusters touches apparent, not so much 633 Squadron. I thought the star fighters would be more like the Colin Cantwell prototype Y-wing. The plough-shaped design they used were kind of ugly, with a "navigator" in an off-center bubble for some reason.