The Star Wars #8 (Dark Horse)

writer: J. W. Rinzler

artist: Mike Mayhew

via First Comics News

"Love?! Now I remember why our clans have fought for a thousand years!"

That's Prince Valorum speaking to Annikin Starkiller.  It's the greatest deviation, perhaps of the whole original draft now concluded in comics adaptation with this issue.  And I love it.

The ending has a lot of famous New Hope moments, from a character struggling to find Storm Trooper armor comfortable to rescuing Princess Leia from prison to getting trapped in a garbage shoot to the destruction of a giant space station...

And sneering at the concept of adhering to the ways of the Force (of Others).

Like the whole project, it's strange and wonderful to see so much that's otherwise familiar presented in slightly (though in fact, significantly) altered context.  That being said, I have to spend the bulk of this final review talking about the most interesting moment of the issue, which is a Sith choosing to side with a Jedi.

Really???  That happened???

It happened.  Valorum is stuck in the Vader position under a Tarkin-like figure (or rather, that one Imperial goon who ended up getting Force-choked for his efforts).  And again, mind, Vader himself (or his equivalent) is there, too, and is right along with this belittling of what amounts to the "ancient religion" that seemingly has no bearing in the present.  Starkiller ends up prisoner, and is bound for a bad end when Valorum switches sides (maybe that explains the vote of no confidence!).

The whole thing even makes one reconsider the prequels in a way (from a certain point of view).  By the time Starkiller, Valorum, and Leia end up in the garbage shoot, Valorum has become a Han Solo figure.  Starkiller, despite his first name being Annikin, is another would-be Han Solo.  (A lot of Han Solos running around!  Including the Swamp Thing version!)

Anyway, Valorum and Starkiller evoke Anakin and Obi-Wan in the prequels.  One of the things fans unconsciously missed the most in those films was the lack of a Han Solo.  In a way, Anakin was that figure.  I always thought so.  I always figured George Lucas thought so, too, and here's a kind of proof.

Disentangle and that's what's in this issue.

Of course, it also features a dynamic between the Jedi and Sith that's completely different.  That's what's so fun about this whole thing.  

The last interesting note is that the issue ends with a closing scroll (which actually references a sequel, entitled Saga of the Ophuchi, which Dark Horse will never have a chance to make; Marvel's acquisition of the property has recently been expounded on with three titles set after the events, naturally, of New Hope).

It'll be great fun reading the whole thing back.  (It's, ah, worth noting you can read the whole thing in a collected edition as of last week.)

May the Force of Others be with you!

The Star Wars #6 (Dark Horse)

writer: J.W. Rinzler

artist: Mike Mayhew

via TM Stash

Annikin - Got one!

Captain Whitsun: You were lucky!

That's from the first page, but clearly evokes an exchange between Luke Skywalker and Han Solo from A New Hope.  And just like that, you have one look at some of the classic material you'll find rediscovered in this particular issue of The Star Wars, adapted from the original draft of George Lucas's epic sci-fi vision...and from the fever dreams of fans everywhere.

And actually, this moment from the movie calls to mind not only the Millennium Falcon's escape from the Death Star (ah, with a tracking device) but also its breathtaking flight from pursuing Star Destroyers through an asteroid field in Empire Strikes Back.

And as you'll recall from my review for #7 (consider this review a prequel!), you'll recall that there be Wookiees, and so here is how we meet them, so that's another callback, for Return of the Jedi.  So there's a lot of material that will be familiar...from a certain point of view.

Is that not enough?  There's another very subtle callback to Empire Strikes Back after our heroes have crash-landed and are on their way to meet the Wookiees (which of course evokes the Ewoks but is also similar to Phantom Menace).  There be bounty hunters!  One looks like Boba Fett, but Mike Mayhew isn't too obvious about it.  This is a pretty neat moment, as Princess Leia has been separated from the rest of the group, and instead of being met by the furry natives is taken captive in advance of where we meet up with her again, in the clutches of the Empire.

Someone else we meet in the issue is Owen Lars, no real connection his counterpart, just someone who's living among the Wookiees, doing what he can to exploit them (perhaps some allusions to what his father was doing in Attack of the Clones).

The Captain Whitsun from the quote nobly sacrifices himself during that breathless opening sequence that also sees Annikin temporarily jettisoned into space (also breathless!).  Upon his retrieval and in delirium while the erstwhile Luke recovers he keeps repeating Leia's name.  Again, sound familiar?

This whole issue, and the ones that follow that wrap up the story, so clearly echo what we'd later see in the movies, it's appropriate that Lucas chose to use so much of that material directly, the stuff that most resembles the serialized sci-fi adventures frequently referred to as the inspiration for Star Wars.  Scrambled as it is, it's still fascinating, the most brilliant thing Dark Horse could have done to round out its relationship with the saga, even if at the time it had no idea it was losing it to Disney.

The Star Wars #5 (Dark Horse)

via Comic Book DB

writer: J.W. Rinzler

artist: Mike Mayhew

Every time I read a new issue of The Star Wars, adapted from George Lucas's original vision for his saga, I think I'm going to finally be disappointed.  Maybe it won't be as fun as I remember from the last one.  Maybe this will be the one that finally breaks the spell.

And every time, every time, I'm proven wrong, all over again.

I haven't had this much fun reading a comic book since 52, DC's first year-long weekly series from 2006-2007 (which topped both years' QB50s).  I've always been a big fan of Star Wars, but I haven't always loved everything I've encountered based on it.  Yes, I'm one of the crazy people who love the prequels.  The thing that Star Wars always needs, for me, is a real connection to the original inspiration Lucas had.

And apparently, the original inspiration was not too bad, either.  As you may or may not be aware, The Star Wars is nearly exactly like the Star Wars you know.  Lucas scrambled a lot of the details when he went back to the drawing board and came up with the version of events and characters you know from the movies, but his first ideas weren't so drastically different.  And that's what's so fascinating to read in this adaptation from those ideas.

Today's the release of the final issue, so for me that's kind of a holiday.  Couldn't be more excited.  I've been catching each issue almost by accident sometimes.  This particular one (#5) was one I had to catch after its release, while #6 I had to miraculously snatch on Free Comic Book Day (meaning my reviews for that one and #7 will be out of order because I review in reading order...and you now have an idea of how long after the fact I get around to writing about comics these days).

Much of The Star Wars features material that best resonates with New Hope material, naturally, though there are elements that also resonate with Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace.  This is an issue that revolves on New Hope.  The action is like a mash-up of the escapes from Mos Eisley and the Death Star.  There's a moment that calls to mind "You don't need to see his identification."  Good stuff.  

If you randomly pick this one up, you may need to be reminded that Han Solo in this version looks like Swamp Thing rather than Harrison Ford.  And the Millennium Falcon looks like the ship Leia was captured in at the start of New Hope.

Two of the things pesky fans sometimes criticize Lucas for are his dialogue and the decision to reveal Luke and Leia as siblings after some in-hindsight-awkward moments of attraction.  This is maybe an issue where if you have problems with that you may either want to study or avoid.  Again, characters and situations are not completely comparable.  Anakin, here known as Annikin Starkiller and clearly not Darth Vader, is running around in an outfit that looks exactly like Luke's ceremonial garb at the end of New Hope, has realized he and Leia are probably in love.  The dialogue is so to-the-point (I'm not clear if Rinzler keeps all of that as he found it, if his role is more shaping the script into this particular format), it reminds me all over again that I've always been a fan of even that aspect of Star Wars.  Han's bantering is really no different from Anakin and Padme's heart-to-hearts.  Always direct.  "What is this silly talk of love?  Stop acting like a child and start behaving like a queen!"

Also, it's weird that R2 (here Artwo) has actual dialogue.  I suspect if that had always been the case, there would have been much less difference between him and Threepio.  Although as they stand in the movies, they really aren't that different from, say, Jar Jar Binks.  That would be as clear in words as it is in beeps and boops.

Just to make this clear, too: Mike Mayhew is an absolute godsend to this project.  

The Star Wars #0 (Dark Horse)

(via CBDB)

writer: n/a

artist: Mike Mayhew

I'm kind of a sucker for Star Wars.  I say "kind of" because like every other fan, I have my limits.  Most fans seem to have had their limits right around 1999, when the prequels began to be released.  Me, most of my limits come from the Expanded Universe material.  It's just not for me.

So that includes, as a rule, Dark Horse comics.  But rules are made to be broken.  The Star Wars breaks all of them.

The Star Wars, as you may or may not know, is based on George Lucas's original draft for the saga.  Most of the names are the same.  Virtually nothing else is.  In his original vision, Lucas kept things in an incredibly mutable state.  This is true for any creator.  It's just, when something becomes truly iconic, it can become an exercise in the bizarre to see it in any other form.

This comic has made that seem like an entirely moot point.  It's been fascinating to read.  

This particular issue is a behind-the-scenes look.  Most of the early issues already took peaks behind the curtain.  This one just happens to delve more deeply.  The whole thing's laid out: characters, designs, even a look at the demo reel that was presented to Lucas to gain his approval.

I love it.  The version of the saga as presented in this project is fascinating not just because of its quasi-familiarity, the associations that naturally spring forth while reading it, but because it really does take on a life of its own.  It follows its own logic.  

Granted, in addition to Star Wars, I'm also kind of a sucker for background information.  I like to see the nuts and bolts.  I'm one of those people who enjoys the bonus material in home video releases.  So all around, this project has been right up my wheelhouse.

Definitely including this issue.