Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Jul 25, 2020 20:37:58 GMT -5
Yeah, I'd noticed the thematic similarities between Sienkiewicz's splash pages before. I agree, it's a nice touch.
I think that the reason that the four issue ROTJ mini-series had these splashes, along with three extra splash pages in the middle of issues #2, #3 and #4, illustrated by Rick Bryant, and a host of bonus pin-up illustrations at the back of each issue, was to give hardcore fans something new and exclusive to get them to buy the mini-series. The ROTJ adaptation had already been published it in its entirety three times in the U.S. by the time issue #1 of ROTJ hit the stands. It had first appeared two months earlier in the paperback-sized The Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, then as a trade paperback edition, and also in Marvel Super Special #27: "Return of the Jedi". So, I guess this new art was supposed to be a bit of a sweetener to try and get kids to buy an adaptation that they may have already bought once before.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,222
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Post by Confessor on Jul 28, 2020 10:51:00 GMT -5
Sorry I'm a bit late getting round to replying to this, wildfire2099. Better late than never though, eh?  Finished the epic volume today.... #68 (The Search begins) and #69 (Death in the city of bone)- So many issues here. On the face, it's a good story.. if you take it at face value. If you don't know about RoTJ, or anything else. Granted, they know Han is going to Jabba, and Luke knows about Jabba, but... well, but what? Why not work that angle first? That's my main sticking point with the issue. There's no particular reason to think Jabba's not already in possession of Han, or that Han is even alive, until they check. Talking to the other bounty hunters isn't going to tell them that. As Confessor pointed out in his review... they already had a plan to go to Tatooine, so what was this escapade even accomplishing? Au contraire. At the end of the ESB, the Rebels know that some searching for Han will be required, as I pointed out in my review of SW #68 (relevant part quoted below)... At the end of Empire, Lando says to Luke and Leia, "When we find Jabba the Hutt and that bounty hunter, we'll contact you", to which Luke replies, "I'll meet you at the rendezvous point on Tatooine." Lando then says to Leia, "Princess, we'll find Han. I promise", with Luke replying, "Chewie, I'll be waiting for your signal." It's clear from this dialogue that, although Luke, Leia and the others know that Fett will eventually take Solo to Tatooine, they know that Fett won't be going directly there. Otherwise, why would the Rebels need Lando to contact them when he has located Fett and/or Jabba? The Rebels know that some searching will be required, otherwise the end of the second Star Wars movie would just be Luke, Leia, Lando and Chewie saying, "OK everybody, let's get to Tatooine and rescue Han!" In reality, of course, the ongoing search for Solo in the comic book was also necessitated by the fact that Marvel had three years of comics to fill between the release of Empire and Return of the Jedi, during which time they couldn't have Han being rescued. But, as I've explained, Fett hiding out somewhere with Solo's frozen body, before delivering it to Jabba, does sort of fit in with the films. It was also a godsend for the writers of the comic in those inter-sequel years, because the search could end up getting broken off and then re-started again, as other threats loomed over the Rebellion, providing perfect plot fodder for the ongoing comic narrative. The reason the Rebels went searching for Han, instead of waiting until he was deliverd to Jabba, was presumably because it would be much more difficult to rescue their friend from Jabba's palace and also because they wanted to save him sooner, rather than later. Of course, rescuing Han is something that the Rebels ultimately failed to do in the comics, which is why we get the rescue attempt at the start of Return of the Jedi. So, I think Marvel got it pretty much spot on, in terms of how their comics fit in with what happened in Empire and Jedi. The contradictions of Mandalore's history (which is now quite extensive thanks for Clone Wars and Rebels) obviously didn't exist yet, so that's just one of those things. Even the saying he new Leia during the Clone Wars thing.... it wasn't established yet that the Clone Wars were a generation before. You're quite right, of course, and remember that this issue really fleshed out the history of the Mandalorian Supercommandos and Boba Fett's involvement in the Clone Wars for the very first time. That was a big deal back in 1982; I can well remember my friends and I endlessly debating and analysing the info found in this issue (we had no real idea about "canon" back then -- if it was in the SW comic, then it was correct, as far as we were concerned). Fett is described in the ESB novelization as wearing the armour of a band of "evil warriors defeated by the Jedi Knights during the Clone Wars." The armour itself was originally designed by Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston during pre-production for ESB, as the armour of a squad of Mandalorian Supercommandos. Johnston later refashioned it for the character of Fett. However, it was David Michelinie in the SW comic who first describes Fett as being both an ex-Mandelorian Supercommando and as having fought the Jedi in the Clone Wars. So, that's pretty neat for that origin story to have originated in Marvel's SW comic, when you think about it. However, I think that Michelinie's error concerning Leia is less forgiveable: he really should've known that Leia was too young to have been around during the Clone Wars, based on the information that was available at the time. I also question that they could actually build an entire Star Wars tech fortress in a skeleton.. Hey, it looks good! First rule of sci-fi, if it looks cool, it's OK. Don't over-analyse it. Then there's the fact that the guy in charge is some random alien. While I like having random aliens, having one in charge of an Imperial facility is not what should happen... they are famously against non-humans, after all, and that guy didn't exactly radiate confidence like Thrawn. The Empire's racist recruitment policies were only established properly when the Expanded Universe was rebooted for the first time in the early '90s (as in Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, for example). Prior to that, no such policy had ever been established or even mentioned. So, this isn't really Michelinie's fault...and besides, we'd seen alien Imperial leaders in the comic before, such as Sk'ar in SW #53 and #54. That all said, it was a great story to just sit and read and not think about too much. Agreed. These are a fantastic couple of issues. #70-72 (Stenax saga) # 70 was very fill-inish to me, and I hate Kerry Gammill's art. I do really like Jo Duffy's Lando though, he feels much more like Lando and not Han-substitute in this story, which amused me greatly. I would like to know why Bossk and IG-88 were randomly hanging out together though, that's not clear, other than having an excuse to follow up on that fill in. The flashback parts of this issue were from an old inventory story that Duffy and Gammill had concocted back in the late '70s. So yeah, I can see why it might've seemed a bit finll-in-ish. Still, it's nice to have Han Solo back in the SW comic, if only momentarily. As for Bossk and IG-88, they'd already been shown as having teamed-up before in the comic, back in issue #50, where they were working for Domina Tagge. In that issue they, along with Dengar and 4-LOM, had all been employed by Domina to search for the Crimson Forever jewels. So, maybe Bossk and IG-88 figured that they made a good team and just decided to continue to work together? Ric was interesting.. sort like a dark mirror image of Han, but I don't really need him and Dani to be recurring characters. Oh, for shame! I loved Rik, Dani, and (to a lesser extent) Cheedo as supporting characters. I thought they were a great trio and Dani in particular was certainly among the most memorable original SW characters that Marvel gave us. Then there's the fact that there's no reason at all for them to have a Carbonite chamber.. there didn't seem to be any mining operations going on (the usual use of Carbonite). Yeah, that was maybe a bit of a contrivance. But then again, carbonite had been used to freeze people for long-distance space voyages in the days before hyperspace was discovered/invented. So freezing people wasn't unheard of in the SW universe. Maybe the bounty hunters set the chamber up precisely to transport any prisoners that they might capture? Maybe?  #73 Lashbane OK, so let me get this straight... the LEADER of the rebellion, and arguably your top two pilots, get detours to pick up a random x-wing guy's flight logs? Really? I guess that makes it feel better than they called in everyone to search for Han, and I get it was 'on the way', but geez. Other than that, and that we get another cutesy alien race (who apparently turn into big giant guys), this was a pretty good story.. the contrast of Leia and Dani was really good. Well, I guess Luke and Leia are still soldiers, just like anyone else in the Rebellion. But I do take your point. For me, it's the humour and the dynamic between Dani and Leia in "Lashbane" that really makes it work. Jo Duffy's script in this issue was just fantastic. It's also significant as the start of the "Search for Tay Vanis" arc, which will take us all the way up to the ROTJ adaptation. Hopefully at some point I'll be able to get the rest of the run, but this set of issues (Michelinie's run, really) is definitely my the best of the lot, so I'm glad I got to them  I agree that the Michelinie and Simonson run was a high point, but for me that winning streak continues well into Duffy's run too. So yeah, I hope you get to read the other issues too.  |
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Post by aquagoat on Sept 5, 2020 14:46:33 GMT -5
What's happened to the next Epic Collection? Has it just been delayed due to you-know-what, or cancelled altogether?
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Post by brutalis on Sept 5, 2020 16:09:40 GMT -5
What's happened to the next Epic Collection? Has it just been delayed due to you-know-what, or cancelled altogether? Well, that's a good question. Covid messed up shipping schedules. Amazon lists Star Wars Epic Legends # 5 as Feb or March 2021 and yet it lists Epic Legends #6 to ship in September 2020. So who knows? The Conan Omnibus #4 was scheduled to ship 9/2/20 but Amazon lists as out of stock, will notify when delivery date has been scheduled. Most books/trades scheduled have been pushed back at least 3-4 months it seems. |
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Post by aquagoat on Mar 17, 2021 19:47:53 GMT -5
According to Wookieepidia, volume 5 should be out on August 10, and include Star Wars (1977) 74-88, Star Wars Annual (1979) 3, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) 1-4.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 17, 2021 21:22:00 GMT -5
I saw! Very happy it got on the schedule... I hope this means at some point (maybe next year) they'll put out a final volume to finish the series. The Epic books do look nice on the shelf, and I don't want to have to try to get the singles or buy an omnibus
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 21, 2021 15:27:35 GMT -5
Star Wars #7Cover dated: January 1978 Issue title: New Planets, New Perils!Script: Roy Thomas (plot, script)/Howard Chaykin (co-plotter) Artwork: Howard Chaykin (breakdowns)/Frank Springer (finished art and inks) Colours: Carl Gafford Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Gil Kane (pencils)/Tony DeZuniga (inks) Overall rating: 4½ out of 10  Plot summary: Han Solo and Chewbacca bid farewell to Luke, Leia and the droids, having decided to leave Yavin 4 and return to Tatooine to pay off their debt to Jabba the Hutt. On their way there, the Millennium Falcon is waylaid and boarded by space-pirates, led by Crimson Jack. The pirates steal the money that Han and Chewbacca received from the Rebel Alliance for rescuing Leia from the Empire, but spare the smuggler's lives. Broke and unable to pay Jabba the money that they owe, Han and Chewbacca decide to lay low on the backwater world of Aduba-3. Shortly after arriving, they encounter an alien priest who pays them to help bury a recently deceased cyborg. The pair complete the task, but not before they have to do battle with an angry mob of local spacers, who object to the cyborg being buried on their traditional mound. Later, while relaxing in a cantina, the two smugglers are approached by a group of locals who have a deadly proposition for them. Comments: So, here we have the first post-movie issue of Marvels' Star Wars comic. The first thing I will say about this issue is that, although it's not perfect, it's head and shoulders above the drek that Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin were concurrently churning out in the pages of Pizzazz magazine. Chaykin provides breakdowns for this issue, rather than the rough layouts that he's recently been doing on the series and as a result, I can detect much more of his influence in the artwork. Having said that, Frank Springer certainly puts his own stamp on things with his finishes and inking, but you can still spot Chaykin's work a mile off. Unfortunately, although the staging and sequential storytelling is very good and very Chaykin, the overall quality of art is pretty poor. There are a few nice looking panels, but the majority of this issue just seems rushed and sloppy. In particular, Chewbacca's face looks extremely weird in a number of panels for some reason. Story-wise, what we have in this issue is essentially a western set in space. That kinda works OK actually, because a lot of the first Star Wars movie was a western set in space too. Among the western tropes on offer in this story we get a half-breed (or a cyborg in this case) who needs to be buried on Boot Hill (make that Spacer's Hill), much to the annoyance of the bigoted townsfolk, resulting in a dramatic shoot-out in the town square. Hilariously, the cyborg in question is quite literally half man, half robot, with his entire left-hand side seemingly robotic, while his right side is human. This isn't the last time we'll see this very literal take on cyborgs in Marvel's Star Wars comic (but more of that later). To further emphasise the western vibe of this story, we learn that Aduba-3 was once a boom planet, during the chromium rush, but now it's a half-forgotten "ghost town" of a world. There's also a wild west-style wanted poster for Han and Chewbacca on the front cover. Things will get even more "western" in coming issues though, with a clear homage to The Magnificent Seven. Roy Thomas's writing is fairly good here. He really tries to give the readers a feel for this galaxy far, far away in his narration boxes, but whereas I really liked the breathless, poetic quality of his caption boxes in the Star Wars film adaptation, here they seem slightly off and, at times, a bit cringe-worthy. It feels as if Roy hasn't quite got the feel of the Star Wars Universe himself. Still, these were the early days of writing for the so-called expanded universe, so we shouldn't be too harsh. While we're on the subject of Thomas's writing, the characterisation of Chewbacca here isn't quite right either. Roy must've taken a lot of notice of that line in the film about Wookiees pulling "people's arms out of their sockets when they loose" because he writes Chewbacca as a ferocious, ill-tempered brawler. Thomas informs us that on the Wookiee homeworld (which will later be given the name Kashyyyk) "violence is such a common occurrence that there are fifteen separate words for it in the Wookiee vocabulary." At one point, Thomas even has Chewbacca go into a berserker killing-rage at the sight of blood! Again, these were very early days, in terms of writing stories that went beyond the movie, so I guess we can excuse these slip ups. The run in with Crimson Jack and his space-pirates at the start of this issue is a nifty little trick to separate Solo and Chewie from their reward money and put the smugglers down on their luck. It also neatly explains why Solo never used his reward to pay Jabba the Hutt off. Maybe this was something that George Lucas insisted on, with his eye already on the sequel, or maybe Roy just got lucky in explaining away a dangling plot thread. Oddly, when Han first spots Jack's ship he says, "At least it's not an Empire ship", but actually Jack's ship is clearly a Star Destroyer, so how does Solo know it's not crewed by Imperials? As for Jack himself, he's a full on, red bearded, "Arrr, Jim lad" pirate in space – albeit one in very short shorts! Some of the members of Jack's crew even wield cutlasses, which is all a little ridiculous and really not very Star Wars-y, but it's quite fun at the same time. We'll see Crimson Jack and his female first mate Jolli again in a few issues time. On a side note, I wanted to mention that early on in this issue Han mentions the planet of Aquilae. This is noteworthy because Aquilae is a planet that is mentioned in the very earliest drafts of The Star Wars (as it was then titled). I know from interviews that I've read that Roy Thomas was given access to George Lucas's earlier drafts of the Star Wars movie, in case there was anything that he could lift from them and use in the comic. This reference to Aquilae is one example of something that Roy definitely borrowed. The cantina sequence towards the end of this comic is kind of interesting too because judging from the attire that the female beings frequenting the establishment are wearing, disco is pretty big on Aduba-3. We also get to see Han and Chewbacca "on the pull" and it seems that Chewie has a thing for humanoid females. I guess some of that Star Wars erotic fanfic and porn featuring him and Leia isn't so far off the mark after all! Overall, this is a reasonably solid, if somewhat mediocre, issue to begin the post-film adventures with. The artwork is a bit sub-standard and, even when it's on point, it's hardly anything to write home about. Roy Thomas makes a few slip ups with characterisation here and there, but you know what? I really enjoy this issue in spite of its short-comings. I mean, I feel as if I really shouldn't like this issue as much as I do, but it has a certain something – a wide-eyed innocence, maybe, or perhaps that comfy western vibe – that I find awfully compelling. The "western in space" story suits Han and Chewbacca well and there's enough action and drama to make this a pretty enjoyable read, in spite of its shortcomings. Continuity issues: None Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "Get a smuggling czar on your tail, ol' buddy, and even a galactic war won't save you" – Han Solo wryly sums up his current situation with Jabba the Hutt to Chewbacca. I’ve finally decided to pull out my Star Wars Omnibuses and go through all of the Star Wars comics, so here I am. One of the things I like best about this issue is, as you mention, how it explains why Han never paid Jabba back, since the movies never did explain that. I am also curious if Roy got lucky or if that was direction from Lucas. I tend to think it was that Roy got lucky, since Lucas didn’t know at this point if Harrison Ford would even do another Star Wars movie, which is why he’s absent form Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. I also agree that Chewie’s characterization isn’t quite right, but that it’s more or less forgivable. I thought the story was pretty good, with an obvious western motif, but that the art was, frankly bordering on awful. As you pointed out, Chewie looked pretty bad in some panels, and the banthas were terrible. I’m pretty sure I could draw a better bantha, and I’m no artist. By the way, have you, or will you, review the Star Wars comic strip by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson? Reprinted by Dark Horse as Classic Star Wars. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 21, 2021 15:31:19 GMT -5
Star Wars #8Cover dated: February 1978 Issue title: Eight for Aduba-3Script: Roy Thomas (plot, script)/Howard Chaykin (co-plotter) Artwork: Howard Chaykin (pencils)/Tom Palmer (inks and embellishing) Colours: Tom Palmer Letters: John Costanza Cover art: Gil Kane (pencils)/Tony DeZuniga (inks) Overall rating: 6 out of 10  Plot summary: While laying low on the planet of Aduba-3, Han Solo and Chewbacca are hired by a local farmer named Ramiz, to defend his village from a vicious gang of thugs known as the Cloud-Riders. Ramiz informs the pair that the gang, who are led by the cruel Serji-X Arrogantus, attack the village at around this time every year, to steal their food, slaughter their livestock, burn their crops and kidnap the villagers' daughters and wives for their own amusement. Han quickly hires a rag-tag group of six spacers to help him with his task. Serji-X approaches Han and attempts to persuade him to forget all about the villagers and even offers him compensation for doing so, but Han declines the offer. Meanwhile, back on the fourth moon of Yavin, Luke Skywalker, C-3PO and R2-D2 depart on a mission to search for a suitable planet for a new Rebel base. Comments: First up, let me just say that, on some level, this is the greatest comic book ever published. Why you ask? Well, because it features the very first appearance of Jaxxon, the 6 foot-tall, green, carnivorous space-rabbit that I have as my avatar, of course! The art here is a definite improvement on last issue. Tom Palmer's inking and/or embellishing over Howard Chaykin's pencils looks quite nice, although it isn't wholly consistent throughout the issue. For example, some of the art featuring Jaxxon has the space-rabbit's face changing from cute to dopey to ferocious-looking from one panel to the next. However, for the most part, Palmer's contribution here really makes Chaykin's pencils look good. In particular, there's a nice full-page splash of Serji-X, with the panels behind him illustrating his damnable crop burning, kidnapping and pillaging exploits. Oh, and there's a couple of nice tips of the hat to Buck Rogers (with the Rebel technician's red and yellow uniform, in the first panel of the scene where Luke and Leia say goodbye to each other) and Flash Gordon (the star on Serji-X's double-breasted leather jacket), which is fitting, since both franchises had such a big influence on George Lucas and Star Wars. This issue is also the first time since the series started where Chewbacca actually looks like the Chewbacca from the movie, rather than some slightly deformed, overly-shampooed sasquach. Mind you, that's not so surprising; I long ago realised that when it comes to comics, everything's better with added Tom Palmer. Palmer's colouring in this issue is pretty nice too. It's a little bit more subtle than the Technicolor hues of previous issues, but not so much that it's a jarring departure from what has come before. While we're on the subject of the art, I find it interesting that the three farmers that we saw last issue have had a radical make over for this instalment. Gone are the slightly racially offensive, oriental-looking peasants that we saw last issue, and in their place, a trio of Luke Skywalker clones! I can't help wonder what drove this change? I'd like to think that someone at Marvel, or maybe Roy Thomas or Tom Palmer themselves, objected to the insensitive racial stereotyping of the earlier depiction, but this being 1977, I doubt it. Thomas's scripting is better than it was last issue and more up to the standards that he displayed in the adaptation of Star Wars. The writing in his narration boxes is less cringy too. Also, I like the way that Thomas litters the comic with off-hand references to exotic planets like Delphon or alcoholic beverages like Nikta. As a kid, I ate this kind of detail up with a spoon, desperate to know as much as I could about the Star Wars universe. The "western in space" theme begun last issue continues in this instalment, with Thomas clearly riffing on The Magnificent Seven here (which is itself is based on Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, of course). This all fits and connects nicely though because Kurosawa's film The Hidden Fortress was a big influence on George Lucas and the first Star Wars film. Anyway, the Magnificent Seven-esque storyline definitely suits Han and Chewbaacca well. We even get a wild west-style bar room brawl at one point in this issue! As for the storyline's chief villain, Serji-X Arrogantus, you can't tell me that he isn't Chaykin and Thomas's gentle send-up of legendary comics artist Sergio Aragonés. I remember that when I first heard of Aragonés' name, probably while reading MAD magazine as a teenager, I thought, "Oh, that's funny. His name sounds a bit like Serji-X Arrogantus." But years later, when I actually saw a picture of Sergio Aragonés, I finally understood and got the joke. I think Serji-X makes for a pretty good villain. I mean, yes, he's small-fry compared to Darth Vader, but within the context of this storyline and as an adversary for such an off-beat group as the Star-Hoppers of Aduba-3 (as they would later be known), he makes for a worthy and quite threatening adversary. I also like the Cloud-Riders' skyspeeders: they're an awful lot like the speeder bikes that we'll get to see the Imperials using in Return of the Jedi. While we're on the subject of the Star-Hoppers, I'd like to know what's in it for them? I mean, Han is barely being paid himself, so it surely can't be the promise of money that has secured their services in protecting the village. Of the six recruits, Hedji the porcupine-like spiner is probably the most interesting and original of the bunch. Amaiza of the Black Hole Gang is a great warrior woman and it's cool that Chewbacca and Solo already know her (there's an interesting back-story hinted at here, but frustratingly, not much is ever revealed). Still, she wears a nice – if somewhat overly sexualised – disco-influenced outfit. Jimm, or "The Starkiller Kid" as he likes to call himself, is a pretty likeable character, and very much in the Luke Skywalker mould. In fact, "Starkiller" was an alternate last name for Luke in the early drafts of Star Wars, which Roy had been given access to. Jimm's droid FE-9Q (or Effie) is kind of annoying, but only in the same way that C-3PO is. The old Jedi Knight (or is he?), Don-Wan Kihotay, is an obvious riff on the eponymous character from Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's classic novel Don Quixote, right down to the sound-alike name. Thomas might as well have given him a side-kick called San-Cho Panzaz or something! The character's name also rather obviously alludes to the fictional libertine and womaniser, Don Juan. Roy has the Jedi Knight talk in the chivalrous vernacular of a character straight out of some Victorian literary saga set in England during the Dark Ages...'cause, you know, he's a knight.  To be honest, I'm not sure why Kihotay is even on the team. Han essentially recruits him because he feels sorry for him, which is quite out of character and seriously foolhardy. Kihotay was always my least favourite Star-Hopper as a youngster and he still is today. My favourite Star-Hopper, on the other hand, is of course Jaxxon, the lepus carnivorous smuggler from Coachelle Prime. Unfortunately, there are many Star Wars fans out there who feel that Jaxxon pretty much exemplifies everything that was bad about Marvel's Star Wars run. I can kinda see their point, but c'mon...he's a great character. More importantly, to me he represents a time when Star Wars was just one film; an all-action roller-coaster ride of a movie, not bogged down in overly convoluted back-story minutiae. As such, he is synonymous in my mind with a more innocent time, when Star Wars was pure escapist fun and nothing else. Of course, George Lucas wasn't overly fond of Jaxxon either, and after this issue hit the stands, word came down from Lucasfilm that Roy was to stop using him and refrain from ripping off The Magnificent Seven in the comic. Of course, this doesn't explain why Marvel again chose to feature Jaxxon in the Archie Goodwin written and Walt Simonson drawn issue #16, but there you go. Regardless of Lucas's opinion of Jaxxon though, no one is gonna tell me that he's is any worse or any sillier than Jar Jar Binks, who Lucas was and is apparently fine with. Anyway, issue #8 of the Star Wars comic is a pretty good one, all in all. The art is superior to most of the past issues – although still not up to the heights of issues #2 or #6 – and the Magnificent Seven influenced storyline is well suited to the characters. Continuity issues: None Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: " Girl friend!? It's getting so you can't tell one sex from the other in these spaceport towns." – Han Solo mistakes a cantina patron's gender. I enjoyed this Seven Samurai (or Magnificent Seven, but I've seen Seven Samurai more, so that's what came to mind for me) takeoff. I do like Jax as a character (sorry, Mr. Lucas) though they perhaps could have made him a bit less like a green Bugs Bunny. The art is definitely improved, and I'm assuming it's because Tom Palmer is now on inks. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 22, 2021 10:03:39 GMT -5
Star Wars #9Cover dated: March 1978 Issue title: Showdown on a Wasteland World!Script: Roy Thomas Artwork: Howard Chaykin (pencils)/Tom Palmer (inks and embellishing) Colours: Tom Palmer Letters: John Costanza Cover art: Gil Kane (pencils)/Tony DeZuniga (inks) Overall rating: 7 out of 10 Comments: This is another strong issue art-wise, with some lovely looking Tom Palmer inking over Howard Chaykin's pencils. Palmer has clearly done an awful lot of embellishing on this issue and his work is so confident and strong that it's actually kinda hard to see any of Chaykin's influence at all. Mind you, that's not necessarily a bad thing in my view; if you've been following these reviews, you'll have realised by now that I'm far from being a fan of Chaykin's work on this series. Actually, I've read that Alan Kupperberg was helping Chaykin out with some of the layouts in these issues from the end of his time on the series (Kupperberg will even get a credit next issue, which is also the final Chaykin one). Talking of Chaykin, there's a really bad looking Star Wars pin-up by him in this issue, that's even more scribbly and rushed-looking than his art for issue #1 was. However, having said all that, the sequential storytelling in this issue is as excellent as ever, and the "camera angles" and staging that Chaykin would've established in his layouts obviously plays a significant part in that. The big battle against Serji-X and the Cloud-Riders towards the end of the comic is excellent, with a number of fantastically rendered and nicely laid out action sequences; the best of which is probably the one in which FE-9Q brings down a skyspeeder and a furiously enraged Chewbacca bludgeons its rider to death. There's a real animalistic fury on the Wookiee's face in this sequence that I love. Palmer's colouring is very nice too in this issue, with his palette working well for the "western frontier town" style setting. I also really like his use of Zip-a-Tone shading, which we saw last issue, but which really gets used to great effect this month. Overall, the art is very pleasing here on all fronts and I'd have to say that this issue is probably a strong contender for best art in the series so far. The opening splash page of the Star-Hoppers of Aduba-3 astride their Banthas, on their way to the village, is particularly nice. Roy Thomas's script is as good as always, but there are a couple of plot points concerning Luke's discovery of the planet Drexel and the old shaman's summoning of the beast that I don't believe he's really thought through properly (I'll address these in a couple of paragraph's time). On the upside, I really like the way that Roy manages to give all of the Star-Hoppers a very distinct personality for the reader to latch on to, despite us only having met them last issue. The Star-Hoppers all give a good account of themselves in the battle sequences and there's a lot of action crammed into this issue, but the pacing never feels rushed at all. There's also an interesting burgeoning romance hinted at, with Jaxxon flirting with Amaiza, although she appears uninterested. Don-Wan Kihotay is still my least favourite of the Star-Hoppers and Thomas still has him talking in the parlance of a chivalrous knight from days of old. In fact, Palmer (or maybe Chaykin) even dresses the old codger up in a suit of futuristic looking space-armour here, just to ram home the idea that he's a Jedi "Knight". Roy's sub-plot concerning Luke Skywalker's search for a suitable location for a Rebel base is quite interesting and I have to say that I like the name Drexel for the planet that Luke finds; it really sounds like a Star Wars-y name to me. However, you have to wonder why Luke is bothering to report back to Rebel Alliance HQ about the planet before he's even been down to the surface to see if there are any threats – which, it turns out, there most definitely are!
Another thing that doesn't quite add up is the fact that the old shaman of the village, who believes that he can summon a giant beast from the mountain side, has never thought to do so before now. I mean, we found out last issue that Serji-X Arrogantus and his Cloud-Riders attack the village at the same time every year, so clearly it's happened at least twice before, if not more times. So why didn't "The Old One" summon the beast the second time Serji-X attacked? Why wait until now to do it? It really makes no sense at all.In spite of those couple of head-scratching moments, with Luke and "The Old One", I think that this is one of the best issues of Marvel's Star Wars comic so far and certainly the best since the adaptation of the movie finished. The artwork is really nice and Roy Thomas does a bang up job on the plotting and scripting. I quite agree on all these fronts. As I was re-reading this this morning, I was struck especially by the old man conjuring up this monster. These raiders have apparently been making an annual event of raiding this villiage, so why didn't this guy do this liast year? Or the year before? It didn't make any sense. I also found Luke's subplot interesting, and I liked the cliffhanger ending to its part in this story, with Luke's transmission getting suddenly and mysteriously cut off. And this series is reestablishing my opinion that Tom Palmer is (was) one of the best inkers in the business. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 22, 2021 22:46:41 GMT -5
I’ve finally decided to pull out my Star Wars Omnibuses and go through all of the Star Wars comics, so here I am. Hey! That's awesome. Great to have you here. You know, I'm always up for a chat about this series, so I'm pleased to see you posting comments. One of the things I like best about this issue is, as you mention, how it explains why Han never paid Jabba back, since the movies never did explain that. I am also curious if Roy got lucky or if that was direction from Lucas. I tend to think it was that Roy got lucky, since Lucas didn’t know at this point if Harrison Ford would even do another Star Wars movie, which is why he’s absent form Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. It was a bit of both, honestly. Lucasfilm instructed Roy Thomas not to use Darth Vader or have Luke meet Vader, and he also couldn't advance Luke and Leia's romance. That, combined with the fact that Han Solo was his favourite character from the film, was why he separated Han and Chewbacca off from the rest of the cast for this western-in-space adventure. The uncertainty about whether Han and Chewie would appear in the SW movie sequel was further impetus for Thomas to use them, in case he was later told not to. I also agree that Chewie’s characterization isn’t quite right, but that it’s more or less forgivable. Yeah, it was such early days of the Star Wars phenomenon. The style and "feel" of the universe wasn't as automatically ingrained in people's minds as it is now. I thought the story was pretty good, with an obvious western motif, but that the art was, frankly bordering on awful. As you pointed out, Chewie looked pretty bad in some panels, and the banthas were terrible. I’m pretty sure I could draw a better bantha, and I’m no artist. Yeah, Howard Chaykin was really dialling in his breakdowns at this point. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the Marvel Omnibus Volume 1 has some of Chaykin's pencil breakdowns from these issues reproduced in the back of the book. I don't own the Omnibuses, but from the scans I've seen online, they look pretty slap-dash. That said, the panel composition and sequential storytelling is very much Chaykin, but Springer's inks in this issue look rushed to me and the combination of the two doesn't make for great art. Clearly Springer's grasp of the creatures and ships from this new-fangled film Star Wars is a little shaky too, as you say. By the way, have you, or will you, review the Star Wars comic strip by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson? Reprinted by Dark Horse as Classic Star Wars. No, I decided to just stick with the Marvel comics from his era in this thread. Luckily, our very own thwhtguardian has reviewed the Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson newspaper strips (along with the earlier Russ Manning ones) in this thread... classiccomics.org/thread/1080/star-wars-dailies-inspired-confessor |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 22, 2021 23:11:00 GMT -5
I enjoyed this Seven Samurai (or Magnificent Seven, but I've seen Seven Samurai more, so that's what came to mind for me) takeoff. I do like Jax as a character (sorry, Mr. Lucas) though they perhaps could have made him a bit less like a green Bugs Bunny. How dare you!! Personally, I'm OK with the green Bugs Bunny look...it never bothered me as a 5-year-old kid, which I was when I first encountered these comics and I was regularly watching Bugs Bunny cartoons on TV back then too. As an adult, my biggest issue with the way Jaxxon is depicted here is how Tom Palmer can't seem to decide how to draw his face: in one panel he looks cute, in the next he looks ferocious, and in the next he looks kind of dopey. It's really inconsistent. As I was re-reading this this morning, I was struck especially by the old man conjuring up this monster. These raiders have apparently been making an annual event of raiding this villiage, so why didn't this guy do this liast year? Or the year before? It didn't make any sense. I also found Luke's subplot interesting, and I liked the cliffhanger ending to its part in this story, with Luke's transmission getting suddenly and mysteriously cut off. Yeah, the old man not having thought to summon the Behemoth before doesn't make a lick of sense. Another puzzling plot hole is just what are the Star-Hoppers getting out of this whole endeavour? Han is barely being paid himself, so it's not like defending the village is gonna make any of them rich. The art is definitely improved, and I'm assuming it's because Tom Palmer is now on inks. And this series is reestablishing my opinion that Tom Palmer is (was) one of the best inkers in the business. Yeah, Tom Palmer is da man! By the way dbutler69, did you decide to skip over the first six issues of the series, which adapt the original Star Wars film? |
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 23, 2021 5:11:55 GMT -5
I enjoyed this Seven Samurai (or Magnificent Seven, but I've seen Seven Samurai more, so that's what came to mind for me) takeoff. I do like Jax as a character (sorry, Mr. Lucas) though they perhaps could have made him a bit less like a green Bugs Bunny. How dare you!! Personally, I'm OK with the green Bugs Bunny look...it never bothered me as a 5-year-old kid, which I was when I first encountered these comics and I was regularly watching Bugs Bunny cartoons on TV back then too. As an adult, my biggest issue with the way Jaxxon is depicted here is how Tom Palmer can't seem to decide how to draw his face: in one panel he looks cute, in the next he looks ferocious, and in the next he looks kind of dopey. It's really inconsistent. As I was re-reading this this morning, I was struck especially by the old man conjuring up this monster. These raiders have apparently been making an annual event of raiding this villiage, so why didn't this guy do this liast year? Or the year before? It didn't make any sense. I also found Luke's subplot interesting, and I liked the cliffhanger ending to its part in this story, with Luke's transmission getting suddenly and mysteriously cut off. Yeah, the old man not having thought to summon the Behemoth before doesn't make a lick of sense. Another puzzling plot hole is just what are the Star-Hoppers getting out of this whole endeavour? Han is barely being paid himself, so it's not like defending the village is gonna make any of them rich. The art is definitely improved, and I'm assuming it's because Tom Palmer is now on inks. And this series is reestablishing my opinion that Tom Palmer is (was) one of the best inkers in the business. Yeah, Tom Palmer is da man! By the way dbutler69, did you decide to skip over the first six issues of the series, which adapt the original Star Wars film? Well, I did read the first six issues two or three years ago, and just decided to skip them this time around. MY recollection is that I disliked the art, but I very much enjoyed the "deleted scenes" from the movie that made it into the comic, such as the scenes with Biggs and with Jabba. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 23, 2021 5:13:19 GMT -5
By the way, have you, or will you, review the Star Wars comic strip by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson? Reprinted by Dark Horse as Classic Star Wars. No, I decided to just stick with the Marvel comics from his era in this thread. Luckily, our very own thwhtguardian has reviewed the Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson newspaper strips (along with the earlier Russ Manning ones) in this thread... classiccomics.org/thread/1080/star-wars-dailies-inspired-confessorGreat. Thanks for the link. I'll check it out whenever I get around to those strips, which might not be until I finish this. |
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Post by tarkintino on Mar 23, 2021 5:49:22 GMT -5
though they perhaps could have made him a bit less like a green Bugs Bunny. Yeah, that was jarring to a lot of SW fans when this issue was published; its one thing to have characters somewhat based on earth creatures, but to make him look like the already comically exaggerated Bugs Bunny made no sense. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 23, 2021 6:50:28 GMT -5
Star Wars #10Cover dated: April 1978 Issue title: Behemoth from the World BelowScript: Roy Thomas (plot)/Howard Chaykin (co-plotter)/Donald F. Glut (script) Artwork: Alan Kupperberg (layouts)/Howard Chaykin (pencils)/Tom Palmer (inks and embellishing) Colours: Francoise Mouly Letters: John Costanza Cover art: Rick Hoberg Overall rating: 5½ out of 10 Comments: Wow! What a hodgepodge of creative talents it took to get this issue onto the comic racks! This was the final issue of Marvel's Star Wars comic that Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin would contribute to and in the "Star-Words" letters page, Roy announces that Archie Goodwin and Carmine Infantino will be taking over from next month. Chaykin apparently had work on other books that was tying him up and Thomas's reason for leaving is, according to the letters page, "... a bit more complicated and personal." In fact, it has become known in the years since that Thomas was finding Lucasfilm's restrictive edicts and complaints about his post-movie storyline extremely frustrating and demoralising. In addition, Thomas was also beginning to feel that Chaykin wasn't quite giving his all on the pencil layouts (something I wholeheartedly agree with!). As a result, Donald F. Glut, who some Star Wars fans will know from his excellent novelization of The Empire Strikes Back, is brought in to handle the scripting for this issue, which is based on Roy and Howard's plot. Thomas has suggested in interview that Alan Kupperberg had been assisting Chaykin with his layouts for maybe an issue or two prior to this one, but here Kupperberg actually gets a proper credit for his work. I'm not sure if Chaykin did full pencils on this issue or just rough layouts like on previous issues, but regardless, Tom Palmer does an awful lot of embellishing work on this comic and firmly puts his own stamp on things. Unfortunately, the artwork isn't quite up to the high standards of last issue, with the Behemoth being particularly badly drawn for some reason. In fact, all of the Aduba-3 sequences are a bit uneven artistically. Some of the art is really nice, but some of it looks a bit rushed. In stark contrast, the one-page sequence showing Leia racing to help Luke is fantastic and is undoubtedly the best drawn part of the entire issue. My biggest problem with the artwork here, however, is that we never get to see Hedji the spiner die. The scene in which he perishes from a direct hit from the Behemoth's laser blast is very confusing or not at all clear. We see the monster's laser missing Don-Wan Kihotay, but the fate of Hedji is not adequately illustrated and neither is it explained in the narration boxes. He's just not seen again and later we are told that he died. It's so badly done, in fact, that it's enough to make you wonder if the creative team just accidentally forgot to show the spiner's demise. Regardless of the reason, it's really poor sequential storytelling, in my view. Glut's scripting is pretty good and he certainly does a passable approximation of Thomas's writing "voice", resulting in the transition from one scriptwriter to the other being basically unnoticeable. However, one thing that I think is a real shame is that the threat of Serji-X and his Cloud-Riders is dealt with and unceremoniously dropped rather too quickly (although I suppose that is down to Thomas's plot, rather than anything to do with Glut's scripting). Anyway, it's too bad because the bandits were a good threat and should have been used to greater effect in this issue. Interestingly, we get to see Han Solo handle a lightsaber for the first time here, so I guess that using Luke's lightsaber to gut a Tauntaun in The Empire Strikes Back wasn't the first time that the Corellian had employed the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Another thing worth noting about Han in this issue is that he makes a bit of a hash of things: it's "The Old One" and his summoning of the Behemoth that actually sorts out the Serji-X problem. Sure, Han and the Star-Hoppers destroy the rampaging monster afterwards, but really this is damage limitation or clean up, rather than actually saving the village, which is what they're all getting paid for. While we're on the subject of pay, it's still not clear exactly what the Star-Hoppers are actually getting out of this. Amaiza makes it plain in this issue that the Star-Hoppers are getting paid for their help, but in previous issues the villagers stated that they couldn't afford to give Han very much and again in this issue it's stated that the pay for saving the village is pretty meagre. So what exactly are Jaxxon, Amaiza and the rest risking their lives for? Talking of the Star-Hoppers, there's a blooming romance between Merri, the village girl that Han saved from the High-hounds last issue, and Jimm, The Starkiller Kid, at the end of this issue. Also, the possible romance between Jaxxon and Amiaza, which was hinted at last issue, is referenced here again, when Amaiza shows more than usual concern for the green space-rabbit's safety – something that Jaxxon himself picks up on. Unfortunately, I think that this final instalment of the Star-Hoppers of Aduba-3 storyline doesn't make for a wholly satisfying conclusion. The threat of Serji-X is squandered somewhat and the issue suffers from inconstant art and rushed pacing towards the end of the tale. As an aside, this issue has nostalgic significance for me because I can clearly remember my mother buying Marvel UK's Star Wars Weekly #20, which reprinted part of this issue, for me while we were on a family holiday in 1978. It was only the second Star Wars comic that I ever owned...  Yep, that's a pretty butt-ugly looking cover, I know, but it must've "spoken" to 5-year-old me in ways that it simply doesn't to 42-year-old me. While we're on the subject of covers, those are some pretty nice fuchsia pink blasters that Han and Chewie are brandishing on the cover of issue #10! Looking at these first four post-movie issues of the Star Wars comic, I have to say that I'm kinda torn as to whether they're an entirely successful continuation of the Star Wars story or not. I mean, on the one hand, I love the characters of Han Solo and Chewbacca, so it's very satisfying to have them go off on an adventure that focuses on them alone. In addition, the western frontier town setting and Magnificent Seven style storyline suits the pair well. But on the other hand, this story arc isn't really very Star Wars-y. We don't get to see Luke, Leia and the droids very much and there's a lack of the epic space battles and lightsaber duels that made the film so great. I guess that ultimately, the basic storyline suits the characters, but this adventure may have worked better if it hadn't come hot on the heels of the movie. I agree that the art wasn’t a good as last issue. I thought the plot was a mess, frankly. Like you implied, the raiders were pretty much an afterthought. Also, I didn’t even realize the spiner died! I was wondering about the pay issue, too. A couple of issues ago it was stated they could only pay them in food, or something like that, yet here it’s implied that they got money. Funny, I, too, was thinking of Han Solo using the lightsaber in The Empire Strikes Back during the scene here. And that Star Wars Weekly cover is...interesting. |
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To be honest, I'm not sure why Kihotay is even on the team. Han essentially recruits him because he feels sorry for him, which is quite out of character and seriously foolhardy. Kihotay was always my least favourite Star-Hopper as a youngster and he still is today. 