Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
On Saturday at Comic-Con, I had a chance to sit down with Lucasfilm’s J. W. Rinzler to discuss his upcoming works: The Making of Return of the Jedi, The Making of … ebooks with enhanced content, and The Star Wars, the eight-issue comic portraying the original draft screenplay of George Lucas for Star Wars. Big thanks to Mr. Rinzler for the interview, and Del Rey for their secret press room.
Before we get any deeper into the SDCC madness…
Press. LucasBooks and the Expanded Universe was highlighted in an article that appeared on the front page of Friday’s Wall Street Journal. (That’s the print version above.) It’s situated behind a paywall online, but there are ways around that. Writer Alexandra Alter appeared on NPR to talk further about it on Tuesday.
The Star Wars. J.W. Rinzler talks about the upcoming comic with CBR, while artist Mike Mayhew chats with Bleeding Cool.
Crucible. There’s another Troy Denning interview at Lightsaber Rattling. Shockingly enough, not everyone agrees with what he had to say about Jaina Solo. And here’s a video that features Denning talking last week in Minnesota.
Namesake corner. Mara again? Here’s a new piece of art from the new card game, by Anthony Foti. She also made the cover of the latest expansion, and you can see she’s on at least one more card there, too.
The Force has conspired to have Free Comic Book Day on the same day as the big celebration of Star Wars on May the 4th. So hop on down to your local comic book shop and May the 4th be with you as you get your hands on this year’s free Star Wars comic by Brian Wood, featuring Darth Vader and Boba Fett. Also, Dark Horse Digital has two great super bundles for sale this weekend, with a preview of J. W. Rinzler’s The Star Wars.
At your shops for Free Comic Book Day, Dark Horse has two free comic books, each containing several stories, and the all-ages book has the 2013 Star Wars tale written by Brian Wood with art by Ryan Odagawa. Entitled ‘The Assassination of Darth Vader’, Darth Vader finds himself in the sights of someone who wants him out of the way, and collateral damage is no issue. But what is Boba Fett’s role in this plot? Put both of Dunc’s favorite characters into one story, and she’ll explode with delight! Note that this book has a flip cover: one side has the Star Wars artwork by Doug Wheatley, while the other side has the cover for the Avatar: The Last Airbender story (and in the middle is a preview story for the upcoming Captain Midnight series).
Continue reading “May the 4th is also Free Comic Book Day, which means free Star Wars comics!”
Comics. Remember how Entertainment Weekly was supposed to break some ‘interesting’ Star Wars news? And then we heard it out of WonderCon instead? Well, their article on The Star Wars has finally shown up… And Dark Horse’s Randy Stradley is, let’s say, less than impressed with the end result.
There are two other recent, less wrath-inducing interviews with Stradley on Newsarama and Jedi Journals.
The blogside. Two very different takes on the EU/EpVII issue: Newsarama’s Lucas Siegel takes a thoughtful approach, while io9’s Rob Bricken fans the angry paranoia flames. In another direction, Bria’s Waru Express has reached the New Jedi Order.
Interviews. EUCantina talks to Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff.
Flashback. Blogger Rologutwein is creating Star Wars roleplaying modules – based on other films – in the style of the old West End Games. Here’s his covers, and one of the interiors.
Randomly… Tosche Station’s Emily has a recipe for Corellian ryshcate.
Wednesday, it was announced that Disney is closing down LucasArts, the video game division of Lucasfilm. This news did not come as a surprise to me, nor likely to many who follow the storied company closely. In the process, an estimated 150 employees have been laid off, including friends and former colleagues of mine. To they who worked very hard everyday to bring interactive Star Wars entertainment to the fans, we wish the best of luck.
Like every aspect of Star Wars fandom, the pros and cons of this move will be hotly discussed and contested among fans, and perhaps I will join you when the wound has healed somewhat.
Meanwhile, for those who lament that they will never see cancelled LucasArts projects Star Wars: 1313 and Star Wars: First Assault, might I suggest that you may one day have a rescuer in Dark Horse Comics?
Continue reading “Could Dark Horse rescue 1313 and First Assault?”
As we reported earlier, Dark Horse Comics announced at the Star Wars comics panel at WonderCon a new title coming this fall: The Star Wars, based on George Lucas’ original 1974 screenplay. This eight-issue arc, written by J. W. Rinzler (of The Making Of Star Wars books) and Mike Mayhew will tell the Star Wars story as it was in the first drafts, and using imagery that first appeared in Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art. We’ve got a preview page to help get you excited for the series, starting in September: Continue reading “More on The Star Wars comic based on George Lucas’ original draft screenplay”
I expect we’ll hear more soon, but Bleeding Cool reports live from WonderCon that Dark Horse will be publishing The Star Wars, an eight-issue series based on George Lucas’ original concept for the films. It’ll be written by Jonathan Rinzler with art by Mike Mayhew.