The Star Wars #8

The Dark Horse Comics adaptation of the original George Lucas rough draft of Star Wars does indeed come to an end in this issue. Issue #8 doesn't appear to have an expanded page count. So either Dark Horse made an error in planning for how many issues this miniseries should run or Lucas had so many different ideas in how to wrap his story up that he failed to pace things out properly. It's got to be George Lucas' fault. I say this because so much happens in the finale compared to some parts of act one and two that drag out to a snail's pace. Star Wars was such a lucrative property for Dark Horse, if the publisher felt like a 9th or 10th issue was warranted, they would have approved an extension as this sort of thing happens all the time in order to boost sales. 

So what does happen in this closer:

* Annikin Starkiller infiltrates the Empire's Space Fortress in hopes of rescuing Princess Leia who's being interrogated under threat of torture.

*General Luke Skywalker and Han Solo somehow manages to teach a bunch of primitive Wookiees to fly Imperial fighters and organizes an assault on the gigantic space station.

* A new ally emerges.

* Lots of people die on both sides of the conflict.

*Lastly, we get an ending satisfying enough that should ticket sales be dismal, you feel like there was a happy ending. But you don't close things out too perfectly less the studios decide to green-light a sequel.

For those who finish this miniseries, you'll have to settle for option A. This was Dark Horse's swan song with the Star Wars franchise. With Disney buying Lucasfilm in 2012, the House of Mouse had plans for a new series of films as well as giving Marvel, which was also owned by Disney, carte blanche on publishing the further adventures of Luke Skywalker and company. In other words, Disney had no intention of looking backwards; nor were they willing to share a piece of the lucrative Star Wars pie.

Ironically, thanks mostly to the pandemic's crippling effect on the comic book market, Marvel had to source out some of its Star Wars catalog back to Dark Horse. Another irony, instead of giving them any of the established trilogies or the new generation series that was coming to movie screens, Dark Horse was given free reign to establish history of the Old Republic. While in 2014 it didn't look like 'The Saga of The Ophuchi', the proposed next chapter in The Star Wars, perhaps with multiverses being the main focus of the big 2 publishers and their visual arts media, maybe the time is right to continue the adventures of Annikin Starkiller...

I know I'd buy it.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

   It was with great sadness and irony that the day my wife and I choose to see the new Star Wars film, it was the day Carrie Fisher died. Work and holiday emergencies postponed our seeing the movie earlier. It's just how it worked out.
   Even 2 weeks after the movie debuted and on a middle of the afternoon workday, our showing was still packed. Critics have called this the best Star Wars film since either Empire Strikes Back or A New Hope. So, let's dig into the specifics of the movie and find out if the critics were right or just caught up in the hype.
    Rogue One has the unique distinction of being both a prequel and a sequel. The film tells the untold story of the construction of the Death Star, which had begun at the end of Episode III, along with how the Rebellion obtained the schematics to the Empire's super weapon just prior to Episode IV. The film also answers a lot of burning questions that fans of A New Hope have been asking for years, such as:

• Why would the Empire allow for a simple design flaw of a 2 meters exhaust port to potentially destroy their super expensive mega-weapon?
• Why does the Rebellion only have a small handful of ships to go against the Death Star at the Battle of Yavin?
• and there's several other questions I could post, but that would spoil many of the surprises built into the film.

   

    Speaking of surprises, there are references, Easter eggs, and cameos galore in the film. One that I will spoil involves on of the main characters- Grand Moff Tarkin! The actor who portrayed Tarkin, Peter Cushing, died almost 30 years ago. Yet, through the magic of CGI, the veteran actor lives again in a pretty convincing yet subtly creepy fashion. Along with Cushing's character, I counted at least 3 other smaller roles done in similar fashion. But honestly, I think it helped keep a decorum of continuity between Rogue One and A New Hope which was filmed 40 years prior. 

      I enjoyed Rogue One. It was great getting to see some big budget production battles. It think they rival and surpass the prequels! I enjoyed how the film captured the magic of the original trilogy and finally, a film without any annoying characters like Jar Jar Binks! Alan Tudyk's (Firefly) voice as the droid K-2SO and Martial Arts master Donnie Yen's (Ip Man) portrayal as blind warrior  in tune with the Force Chirrut Îmwe stole many scenes. 

     

    So was Rogue One the best Star Wars film ever? Nope- because technically, it's not a Star Wars movie. It's set in the Star Wars Universe but it's really a stand alone film. You don't have to even know what's been going on prior or afterwards to enjoy Rogue One- but it helps! 

     The film pulls no punches and to many Star Wars fans, Rogue One has shown them that Disney has no intentions of turning George Lucas' universe into a version of It's a Small World with aliens. The House of Mouse is working on other 'Star Wars Story' films to release at a rate of about 1 a year. If they continue to follow the formula of Rogue One, then the fate of a galaxy far, far away is in very good hands.

    Worth Consuming

     Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

OK- fine. I'll rank them...

                1. Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

                2. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

                3. Episode IV: A New Hope

                4. Episode VII: The Force Awakens

                5. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

                6. Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

                7. Episode II: Attack of the Clones

                8: Episode I: The Phantom Menace

    There... happy?

The 18 Days of a Star Wars Christmas Miracle +7: Day 4

 Santa Yoda is perhaps the most iconic Star Wars Christmas image. It was painted by Ralph McQuarrie, who was the concept artist on the original trilogy. Santa Yoda was used as the 1981 edition of Christmas card issued by Lucasfilm. If you were a member of the cast or crew of Empire Strikes Back, then you got this in the mail as a holiday greeting from George Lucas.

   Since 1977, Lucasfilm has issued a Star Wars themed Christmas card that it would give to actors, artists, craftsmen, and more as a thank you for all their hard work during the previous year. The cards aren't that rare, nor are some of the images used as many of them have been recycled in Star Wars trading card sets in the 90s. But since they have something to do with Star Wars, the Lucasfilm Christmas card of any of the past 37 editions are a highly sought after piece of memorabilia.

   For my Advent present today here is a look at some of the past cards issued by George Lucas. If you haven't been able to make Star Wars creator's Christmas card list, this may very well be the next best thing...

   Enjoy...