Star Wars Story Talk: Salt Lake Comic Con, Aliens of the Galaxy, & Year by Year

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Time for a new colossal-sized episode of Star Wars Story Talk as Yowie the Skunk, Baby Jawa, and I cover the latest in Star Wars stories, and we have a lot to talk about: a few recent Star Wars events and check out not one, not two, but three Star Wars books! I give a recap of all the Star Wars goings-on at Salt Lake Comic Con, held at the beginning of September, plus talk a bit on Star Wars Day at the San Diego Padres, and dive into three books: the newest Star Wars Little Golden Book: I Am a Princess, and Star Wars: Aliens of the Galaxy by Jason Fry and the newly released Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual History, Updated and Expanded Edition by Pablo Hidalgo. Plus an update on Wear Star Wars Every Day and a triple dose of Baby Jawa fun time! Continue reading “Star Wars Story Talk: Salt Lake Comic Con, Aliens of the Galaxy, & Year by Year”

The week in Star Wars: Hurry up and wait (for Celebration)

Space BearThis week was a great deal quieter than the last, likely because we’re barreling towards Celebration Europe, which begins on the 15th. We got two panel announcements for the con, the ‘Future Filmmakers’ with directors Rian Johnson, Chris Miller and Phil Lord, and ‘Ahsoka’s Untold Tales’ with Dave Filoni and Ashley Eckstein. (Pablo is moderating both, of course. Because Pablo.)

#PutDrewinStarWars is gaining steam! Nearly 8000 signatures as of Friday evening!

→ Of course Star Wars’ biggest secret keeper, aka Mark Hamill, isn’t running around spoiling Episode VIII.

→ Unboxing Star Wars is now Star Wars Story Talk!

→ Our themes on Tumblr were The Force Awakens, behind the scenes, and the Skywalkers.

What we didn’t get to

→ Samuel L. Jackson thinks Mace Windu survived Revenge of the Sith, and George Lucas is okay with it, apparently.

→ DK’s Star Wars Year By Year and Star Wars: Complete Locations are getting updated versions this fall.

→ Hasbro reveals two new 6-inch convention figures at Entertainment Weekly: A helmetless Kylo Ren (with melted Vader helmet) for Celebratiopn Europe, and A New Hope Obi-Wan Kenobi (with hologram Leia) for San Diego Comic-Con.

EUbits: Grant Gould’s ‘Thrawn Legacy’

Namesake corner. Artist Grant Gould did a Thrawn trilogy/Tron: Legacy mashup for the cover of his 2011 sketchbook. I LOL’ed.

I gotta see how they managed that. Apparently there’s a full-color excerpt from the Knight Errant comic in the Knight Errant novel. The paperback. It’s on glossy paper, but is it readable at that size? I guess we’ll find out. Maybe we should ask author John Jackson Miller, since he’s taking questions and all.

Map love. Entertainment Weekly dug up the galaxy map from The Essential Atlas, so it’s been making the rounds. Again! Oh, internets.

Comics. Dark Horse has posted a preview for Legacy: War #2.

Review. Book Legion says Year by Year is the “best Star Wars book to date.”

Our top 10 Star Wars books of 2010

Can’t end the year without a list, can we? Here are our staff’s picks for the ten best books of the year.

Be sure to check out more favorites at StarWars.com. They asked us to do the literature portion, but other contributers include Kyle Newman, Ashley Eckstein, TFN’s Eric Geller, Steve Sansweet, and Bonnie Burton!

10. Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle by Daniel Wallace, Pablo Hidalgo, Gus Lopez, and Ryder Windham
Rounding out the list is the one book that has it all. Expanded Universe history? Check. Oddball merchandise? Check. Museum exhibits? Early versions of Yoda? Mark Hamill on Broadway? Check, check, and you better believe it. Star Wars Year by Year compiles over four decades (yes, four) of highlights, lowlights, and trivia – think of it, perhaps, as The Essential Franchise Chronology. But its scope goes beyond Lucasfilm productions. The authors also spotlight various milestones in science, pop-culture, and politics, giving readers a sense of the events that helped shape Star Wars, as well as how Star Wars changed the world. – Stooge

9. The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams
Setting the stage for the eventual release of The Old Republic MMO, Fatal Alliance builds up the worlds and character types, and then throws them all into the fray against a new threat. Sean Williams captures the look of this era, and brings together some new enjoyable characters. It’s a heist caper that unfolds into a tale of espionage and war. It takes a little while to set up the players, but the endgame is well worth it. – James

8. Millennium Falcon: A 3D Owner’s Guide by Ryder Windham
The saga’s most iconic ship is revealed! Ryder Williams’ text is sparse but clever, the illustration work by Chris Trevas and Chris Reiff shines, and the layer-by-layer design is icing on the cake. Kids will love it and adults will delight in the technical specs and (in-character!) modification notes. It’s a just plain fun book – certain to entrance even the most jaded fan for at least a little while. – Dunc

7. Fate of the Jedi: Vortex by Troy Denning
With Luke and Ben and their new Sith allies having defeated a more sinister evil, you’d think that Troy Denning would take it easy on the Jedi Order, but Abeloth’s demise in Allies is just the beginning of a series of explosive events. Faster that you can say “Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal”, the Sith bring it. Chief of State Daala brings it. The Mandalorians bring it. Tahiri’s prosecutor brings it. So it’s up to a couple of Jedi, and Han and Leia to strike back – and when they bring Lando and droids to help, you know it’s going to get heavy as the Jedi shake things up against their adversaries. – James

6. The Sounds of Star Wars by J. W. Rinzler and Ben Burtt
A book that needs a volume button? Not to worry, this is more than just a gimmick. To fully explore the audio awesomeness of Ben Burtt, The Sounds of Star Wars has a built-in soundboard which plays over 200 (unmixed!) effects from that galaxy far, far away. So you can read about the crazy ways he made these sounds, then listen to the fantastic end results! Plus, Mr. Burtt has enough behind-the-scenes stories to fill ten volumes – and for a quadruple Oscar-winner, he’s remarkably humble. – Stooge Continue reading “Our top 10 Star Wars books of 2010″

Out this week: Year by Year, Legacy

Both Amazon and DK’s site gives Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle the release date of yesterday, so it ought to be in stores now. Penned by the all-star team of Pablo Hidalgo, Daniel Wallace, Ryder Windham and Gus Lopez, the book has been picking up lots of good buzz.

Tomorrow brings the final (or, not so much) issue of Legacy, #50. I’m pretty sure I heard that there were copies in Orlando, but… Well, let’s just say I barely got out that way. In any case, we can all pick it up in the comic store in the morning.

EUbits: Sideshow might actually get around to making a Mara Jade figure. No, really!

Namesake corner. Mara Jade gets a namedrop in Sideshow’s SDCC video, which leads me to believe that we might actually see a figure before we all die of old age. Alas, it’s pretty much the same thing they said last time, regarding the Adam Huges painting. Skip straight to 2:40 for the brief clip.

Comic-Con is so last week. There were copies of Year by Year on sale at in San Diego, but the rest of us will just have to settle for a con report.

First draft peek. Paul S. Kemp gives fans a very early look inside Riptide.

Good news, procrastinators! Star Wars Blueprints is coming out in book form!

Friday afternoon news sweep: Dave Filoni, John Jackson Miller and the Squishies are starting a band

There’s been an absolute barrage of news today and I haven’t much time, so you’re getting most of it in roundup forum. Aren’t you lucky?

StarWars.com confirms Year by Year and Adventures in Hyperspace

Dan Wallace confirmed the book and shared some additional details on Year by Year with us yesterday, but now StarWars.com has an item on the book – including some early cover art and the addition of Gus Lopez as a writer. They also give us a short Q&A on Adventures in Hyperspace, which is being penned by Scholastic regular Ryder Windham.

We’re still waiting on word of Sean William’s The Old Republic novel – as yet, Sue Rostoni is “unable to either confirm nor deny.” (Don’t panic: That’s pretty standard.) Though audio versions have shown up on RandomHouse.com.