I had the chance to read Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars #1 by Brian Wood and Carlos D’Anda. Here, are my thoughts on this VERY anticipated comic...
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...there was an awesome movie called Star Wars. No Episode number(OK, technically there was), just a movie called Star Wars. It was a movie with little hype that nobody expected to do much at the box office. Of course, we all know how that story ended. After Star Wars became a mega-hit, Marvel Comics published some comics picking up where the movie left off. We can look at those comics now and go "HOLY CRAP WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!!". You have to realize at the time, there was NO sequel planned, NO prequels, just the movie that the creative team had for reference. There was appearances by a VERY different Jabba the Hurr, giant bunnies and all sorts of fun stuff.
But, I digress. Let's focus on THIS comic book. Basically, the premise for this comic is the same as the Marvel Series. There's NO sequels, NO prequels, NO expanded universe, nothing. Except the movie Star Wars. And it is FANTASTIC. What I loved most about this book, was that, again, there is NO reference to anything but the first Star Wars movie. There's a scene in the book where the Emperor is talking to Darth Vader and I was SURE there was going to be a line of dialouge from the Emperor like "remember when I rescued you on Mustafar" or "You killed Padme" or something like that, but NO. NOTHING. Just the Emperor scolding Vader for the Death Star getting blown up. The story does take a VERY natural progression from where Star Wars left off. This is the book that I've wanted since Dark Horse acquired the license for Star Wars. They've published some good series, but lately it's been ALL comics based on the video game eras of Star Wars and the prequel era. So, this book is really for people my age. I don't know if younger readers are going to appreciate this book as well as my generation, but we'll see. Overall, this is a GREAT book. The writing is fantastic, the art is excellent, and it's one that you'll find yourself reading multiple times. Again, I'm not sure how younger Star Wars fans who grew up with the prequels will take to this book, but anyone who grew up with the original trilogy-THIS IS A MUST HAVE!!!!! I can't say enough good things about this book!!! Make sure you this ones on your pull list!!!
SPEAKING of Star Wars, if you're in Chicago, you better mark January 13th on your calendar. You do NOT want to miss STAR WARS DAY at Challengers Comics!! We've got a jam packed event! Jimmy Mac from the Forcecast! Crish Macht, filmmaker of The Force Among Us, and the upcoming The Force Within Us! The 501st and Rebel legion!! Snacks! Cake! And, best of all, we've got prized from both LUCASFILM and HASBRO!!!!! Simply purchase a copy of Star Wars #1 and you're in the drawing for some REALLY great prizes(and I'm talking REALLY great prizes!!!) Here's all the details:
If you have any questions, you can give Challengers a call at 773-278-0155. Hope to see you there!! It's gonna be outrageous!!!
Wow, this is a book I would have overlooked. But now I'm intrigued. I have stayed away from Star Wars because it has gotten so deep with canon and storyline that I thought I'd get lost.
ReplyDeleteI have only seen the original trilogy. I saw Star Wars the summer of 1977 in a movie theater while on vacation in L.A. It was fun and cool and it made my sister into a raving Star Wars figure collector!
So a story that takes place after the one I know so well, the movie I studied so much as a kid, is certainly attractive to me. Might just be picking this one up.