Pros and fans alike have plenty to say on the passing of the legendary Star Wars concept artist. Below the cut, I’ve collected several remembrances of McQuarrie on Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere.
Star Wars visionary Ralph McQuarrie has passed away
It’s a sad day in fandom: The man who gave Star Wars its first images passed away yesterday. Originally commissioned by George Lucas to illustrate scenes from the Star Wars script in 1975, Ralph McQuarrie was the first – and certainly the most well-known – concept artist for the saga. On StarWars.com, Lucas said: “When words could not convey my ideas, I could always point to one of Ralph’s fabulous illustrations and say, ‘Do it like this.'”
In addition to the original trilogy, McQuarrie also worked on Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Cocoon, for which he won an Academy Award.
McQuarrie was 82. His official site is asking for memorials to be posted to his Facebook page or via email.
EUbits: Where the hell are the female protagonists?
The blogside. Over at EU Cantina, Nanci has a lot to say about the disappointment that many were feeling about yesterday’s cancellation of the Nomi Sunrider novel, and why it’s important for the books to start nurturing their female characters. Meanwhile, at Roqoo Depot, Lane has something you can link to your curious friends: An introductory roadmap for the Expanded Universe.
Sneak peeks. There’s been an abundance of previews for Essential Guide to Warfare. Three on Facebook (a map, Lando at Taanab and one of Luke and Daala. Dude is too old for the shag, not that I’m advocating a return to the Wall Street.) plus 10 more at io9 today. Lots of ships and battles and things, but there is one of Anakin and Ahsoka.
Fate of the Jedi. Yet another mini-excerpt from Apocalypse, plus a link to Roqoo Depot’s giveaway.
Interview. Knights Archive talks to Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff about Shadow Games and the upcoming fourth Coruscant Nights book.
Review. James is kinda meh on Crimson Empire III: Empire Lost #5.
Scum and villainy team up for tonight’s Clone Wars
In tonight’s ‘Bounty,’ Asajj Ventress teams up with Boba Fett and a team of bounty hunters – including the controversially Simon Pegg-voiced Dengar. (He’s made a few more tweets on the topic.)
There are three more clips over at Big Shiny Robot.
Meanwhile, Daniel Logan will be joining Entertainment Weekly for the live episode chat this week.
Rejected Star Wars Concepts are back!
Remember the rejected Star Wars concepts from a few years back? Well, Jason Geyer is back with more product concepts – and even a few that got made.
Etsy Scavenger: Geeky cards from Crafting Tiger
The awesome I Love You More Than Star Wars card above is sold out at the moment, but there are plenty of others to chose from! (My fav.) Geekalicious! (via)
Irvine’s Nomi Sunrider novel canceled; Karpyshyn’s new Old Republic novel is Annihilation
We got a lengthy update from Del Rey’s Frank Parisi today, and what’s most of interest to our particular readership is probably the cancellation of Alex Irvine’s Nomi Sunrider novel, one of the few upcoming projects featuring a female protagonist. The novel was known – tentatively – as Mandorla and apparently featured Mandalorians. (Which takes a bit of the sting out of the news, I must say.)
The rest of the post is a few details of Drew Karpyshyn’s next Old Republic novel, including the title, Annihilation. It also has a release date, November 13, and features Republic agent Theron Shan, from the comic The Old Republic: The Lost Suns.
The schedule given is consistent with what we’ve had, though we do have a new tentative date for Zahn’s Han Solo novel – Winter 2012.
Simon Pegg to voice Dengar on Clone Wars
Simon Pegg is the latest geeklebrity to the join The Clone Wars, Entertainment Weekly reports. The Shaun of the Dead and Star Trek star will voice bounty hunter Dengar, who you might remember from The Empire Strikes Back.
“Dengar is one of the elite,” Pegg tells EW. “If you’re on Darth Vader’s bounty hunter speed dial, you are the best in the galaxy.”
Dengar will teams up with Boba Fett, Bossk, and Asajj Ventress in this Friday’s ‘Bounty.’ Pegg, in reference to his outspoken criticism of the prequels, tweeted today:
Being Dengar doesn’t change the way I feel about the prequels but then the prequels couldn’t change the way I feel about the original three.
— Simon Pegg (@simonpegg) February 29, 2012
First sizable excerpts from final Fate of the Jedi novel, plus Mercy Kill, Scourge teases
And speaking of Apocalypse, Random House has posted a fairly sizable excerpt. (via)
Meanwhile, over at Amazon, the ‘search inside’ will give you not only some Apocalypse, but the previews of Aaron Allston’s X-Wing Mercy Kill and Jeff Grubb’s Scourge! (via)
Out this week: Red Harvest in paperback
The cupboard is pretty bare this week: No comics and a reprint. If anyone has been waiting for the paperback to pick up Joe Schreiber’s Red Harvest, it’ll be in stores tomorrow.
(Note that it has a different cover from the hardcover – is two enough to call it a trend?)
Our next book release, on March 13, will be Troy Denning’s Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse, the last book in the series. (Though, no, most probably not the last go for the OT movie characters.) Are you ready to put a lid on the mega-series era?
For releases above and beyond Star Wars, check out Suvudu’s list, which includes new books from Tobias S. Buckell, Melanie Rawn and more.