Star Wars: The Dailies (inspired by Confessor)
Jan 8, 2015 15:55:17 GMT -5
shaxper, Action Ace, and 2 more like this
Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 8, 2015 15:55:17 GMT -5
When Confessor first started his review thread for the Star Wars comics I became instantly excited, I'm a huge Star Wars fan and I love the Marvel books...but even more than the Marvel books I grew up loving the daily comic strips in my local newspaper and I was sad that Confessor was not going to be covering these stories on his exploration of the Star Wars universe. With some gentle prodding though Confessor convinced me to explore these stories myself and so here we are.
Now, originally when I had asked Confessor if he was going to be covering the comic strips I had asked specifically about the comics by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson as those were the people I commonly associated with the strip but as I was researching the comic in preparing for this thread I uncovered an entire run that had appeared earlier that I had absolutely no knowledge of which was a fantastic discovery and even better it was by Russ Manning of Tarzan and Magnus, Robot Fighter fame! The strips were originally printed in three panel installments or occasionally a single extended panel ,as in the image from the opening strip shown below and while this cliff hanger style writing made for fun reading I originally struggled with how to review these as each installment would not necessarily have enough meat to discuss. At first I had contemplated doing a week's worth of stories per review but I've instead decided to do it story by story and so here is the first installment:
Gambler's WorldNow, originally when I had asked Confessor if he was going to be covering the comic strips I had asked specifically about the comics by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson as those were the people I commonly associated with the strip but as I was researching the comic in preparing for this thread I uncovered an entire run that had appeared earlier that I had absolutely no knowledge of which was a fantastic discovery and even better it was by Russ Manning of Tarzan and Magnus, Robot Fighter fame! The strips were originally printed in three panel installments or occasionally a single extended panel ,as in the image from the opening strip shown below and while this cliff hanger style writing made for fun reading I originally struggled with how to review these as each installment would not necessarily have enough meat to discuss. At first I had contemplated doing a week's worth of stories per review but I've instead decided to do it story by story and so here is the first installment:
March 12th, 1979 to September 8th, 1979
Written and Penciled by Russ Manning
Inked and Lettered by Mike Royer
Published by the LA Times Syndicate
Summary: After the fall of the Death Star, Lord Vader over sees a space battle with a Rebel fleet but as he witnesses the Imperial fleet cruising towards an easy victory he senses a pattern to the Rebel's efforts; they are purposefully failing in these skirmishes in order to gain sympathy to sway others to their cause. In order to disrupt these membership drives Vader dispatches his chief spy Blackhole to the planet Vorzyd V where he has learned Princess Leia is traveling to.
On Vorzyd V, the Imperial version of Las Vegas, Princess Leia along with Luke Skywalker, R2-D2 and C-3P0 hope to meet up with a contact who will help them divert the Empire's winnings. The only problem is that because of the high Imperial presence their contact has refused to give away its identity, instead instructing the rebels to peruse the gambling establishments and wait to be contacted. While visiting the Casino Royale Luke inadvertently uses the Force in a game of chance and ends up hitting it big, which of course attracts unwanted attention.
Stopped by strange black Stormtroopers Luke and Leia become captured, but R2 and 3P0 are able to free them before Blackhole can deliver them to Lord Vader. While collecting themselves back at Luke's ship they finally get contacted by their source on Vorzyd V and so Luke goes out to the meeting place. As he dodges and weaves through out the city attempting to lose any Imperials that might be tailing him a gang captures Leia in the hopes of gaining a hefty ransom.
At the meeting place Luke discovers that his contact is none other than the President of Vorzyd, Natala Vanden! But as Luke and the President talk they come under attack from Imperial Forces. Vanden shepherds Luke away from the battle and through a series of underground shoots and tunnels he is able to make his way back to the ship, though once there he discovers things are not well as C-3PO informs him that R2-D2 and Leia have been captured. Luke and 3P0 rush to the scene with Blackhole and his shadowtroopers right at their heels and only manage to escape with Leia in the confusion of the battle between the gang and the Imperials, but although they escape with their lives they inevitably leave empty handed.
Review: I was excited before I even tracked this story down simply because of one name attached to: Russ Manning. I've been a big fan of Manning's for some time now, I just love how he balances his crisp,clean line work with his eye for for action scenes that are both vibrant yet simple. And although his work on Tarzan is probably my favorite it was his work on Magnus that got me excited for this as in Magnus he created a beautiful sci-fi world that seemed like a contemporary to both Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon which made him seem like a no brainer for Star Wars as those were the very things that influenced George Lucas. Like I said though, Lucas was inspired by those fantastic pulp sci-fi world's Manning's work came off as feeling contemporary to them, which really gave his story a more authentic feel than what Lucas was able to capture on film, making this strip much different than either what we had seen on screen or on the page over at Marvel.
Now, the story may have been on the flimsy end of the spectrum being essentially Vader uncovers a Rebel plot, sends an emissary who ends up confronting Luke and Leia, but it's over all high energy feel really elevates it beyond that. We're in unknown territory on an alien planet with a new villain named Blackhole(whose design is every bit as cool as Vader's) which makes us feel like anything can happen, and it invariably does; Luke uses the Force to gamble, we see why R2 and 3P0 don't have weapons and we meet an interesting gang of aliens and cool storm troopers in black. But what's really interesting, and refreshing, is the ending...although Luke and Leia escape their mission was ultimately a failure. It's a simplistic plot with many nearly nonsensical twists and yet it veers away from the predictable happily ever after ending which really makes the Empire feel like a credible threat. I'm not one who feels the modern trend of darkness in comics is the greatest but I have to admit that having the villain win every once in a while is satisfying in that it truly reaffirms their threat level; Vader and this new villain could have easily come off as bumbling, Saturday morning cartoon villains in the vain of Skelitor or Cobra Comander but instead their menace came off as very real which really surprised me.
So, while slightly simplistic it was still an incredibly fun read.
Grade: B+
At the meeting place Luke discovers that his contact is none other than the President of Vorzyd, Natala Vanden! But as Luke and the President talk they come under attack from Imperial Forces. Vanden shepherds Luke away from the battle and through a series of underground shoots and tunnels he is able to make his way back to the ship, though once there he discovers things are not well as C-3PO informs him that R2-D2 and Leia have been captured. Luke and 3P0 rush to the scene with Blackhole and his shadowtroopers right at their heels and only manage to escape with Leia in the confusion of the battle between the gang and the Imperials, but although they escape with their lives they inevitably leave empty handed.
Review: I was excited before I even tracked this story down simply because of one name attached to: Russ Manning. I've been a big fan of Manning's for some time now, I just love how he balances his crisp,clean line work with his eye for for action scenes that are both vibrant yet simple. And although his work on Tarzan is probably my favorite it was his work on Magnus that got me excited for this as in Magnus he created a beautiful sci-fi world that seemed like a contemporary to both Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon which made him seem like a no brainer for Star Wars as those were the very things that influenced George Lucas. Like I said though, Lucas was inspired by those fantastic pulp sci-fi world's Manning's work came off as feeling contemporary to them, which really gave his story a more authentic feel than what Lucas was able to capture on film, making this strip much different than either what we had seen on screen or on the page over at Marvel.
Now, the story may have been on the flimsy end of the spectrum being essentially Vader uncovers a Rebel plot, sends an emissary who ends up confronting Luke and Leia, but it's over all high energy feel really elevates it beyond that. We're in unknown territory on an alien planet with a new villain named Blackhole(whose design is every bit as cool as Vader's) which makes us feel like anything can happen, and it invariably does; Luke uses the Force to gamble, we see why R2 and 3P0 don't have weapons and we meet an interesting gang of aliens and cool storm troopers in black. But what's really interesting, and refreshing, is the ending...although Luke and Leia escape their mission was ultimately a failure. It's a simplistic plot with many nearly nonsensical twists and yet it veers away from the predictable happily ever after ending which really makes the Empire feel like a credible threat. I'm not one who feels the modern trend of darkness in comics is the greatest but I have to admit that having the villain win every once in a while is satisfying in that it truly reaffirms their threat level; Vader and this new villain could have easily come off as bumbling, Saturday morning cartoon villains in the vain of Skelitor or Cobra Comander but instead their menace came off as very real which really surprised me.
So, while slightly simplistic it was still an incredibly fun read.
Grade: B+
