Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 23, 2021 13:17:56 GMT -5
First all, I just have to say that the art was spectacular! It’s a huge shame that Al Williamson wasn’t available to do the Marvel comic. Just imagine how great this would have been! I know, right? I mean, Al Williamson is an absolute master comic book artist anyway, but his photo-realistic, lived-in characters and environments are a particularly good fit for a Star Wars spin-off comic. No wonder he was always George Lucas's #1 choice for the comic. I think he did the Star Wars comic strip with Archie Goodwin, yes? Or at least for part of the run. If so, I need to pull out my issues of Classic Star Wars from Dark Horse (which reprints those – I bought them in a lot of random Star Wars comics years ago and never got around to reading them) and I’ll have to start reading those sooner rather than later. I’d planned on waiting until I finish these Star Wars comics, but I may need to find time for both. Then I’ll have to check out thwhtguardian’s thread. However, from what you’ve said, Confessor, it sounds like Williamson didn’t work on the strip until 1981. Yes, Williamson was the artist on the strip (with Goodwin writing) from 1981 until it finished in 1984. This was following both Russ Manning's celebrated run and the shorter Russ Helm/Alfredo Alcala tenure on the strip. If you do start re-reading the strips and commenting on them over in thwhtguardian's thread, I might have to join you. I am probably due a re-read of them (I have both the reformatted Dark Horse Classic Star Wars reprints and the three-volume IDW collection of the original daily and Sunday strips). Anyway, when I read an adaptation like this, one of the main points of interest for me is looking for things that aren’t in the film. And of course, there are a few of those here. Han and Leia’s conversation in the rebel base hallway is extended, and I do remember some of that in the deleted scenes. There’s also some extra dialogue from Ben’s Force ghost when he speaks to Luke after Luke has collapsed, and some minor additional dialogue in a couple of other places. I see that the wampas also play a larger role here. I know that they ran into them a lot more in earlier drafts of the script, and there’s at least one unfinished deleted scene that alludes to that. Ben talking to Luke when he’s hanging upside down in the wampa cave isn’t in the film. I can only assume that it was in an earlier version of the script. I did read a late (maybe final version) of the script once and I don’t remember that. Also, the probot blasting that rebel lookout didn’t happen in the released film. Yeah, these additional scenes or sub-plots that were eventually excised from the movie are fascinating. As I think I said in my review, the "Wampas in the Rebel base" sub-plot in particular works much better in this six-issue adaptation than it ever would've in the finished film: it gives this first issue an extra layer of threat for our heroes to deal with before the Empire turns up in part two. If memory serves, Goodwin and Williamson worked from Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan's final fourth draft of the script (i.e. the shooting script), but that's not the same as the published version of the ESB script that appeared as a stand-alone book some years later. That later version of the script takes into account last minute re-writes and changes to dialogue that the actors or director Irvin Kershner made on the set, and thus it conforms to the film exactly. Since the dialogue in the ESB comic adaptation is taken from the shooting script it sometimes differs markedly from what we hear on screen. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Apr 23, 2021 16:00:54 GMT -5
I've actually been thinking of re-reading those strips myself; I'm getting pretty psyched up for the Bad Batch cartoon coming out and have a desperate need for more Star Wars leading up to that.
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 23, 2021 16:12:08 GMT -5
I think he did the Star Wars comic strip with Archie Goodwin, yes? Or at least for part of the run. If so, I need to pull out my issues of Classic Star Wars from Dark Horse (which reprints those – I bought them in a lot of random Star Wars comics years ago and never got around to reading them) and I’ll have to start reading those sooner rather than later. I’d planned on waiting until I finish these Star Wars comics, but I may need to find time for both. Then I’ll have to check out thwhtguardian’s thread. However, from what you’ve said, Confessor, it sounds like Williamson didn’t work on the strip until 1981. Yes, Williamson was the artist on the strip (with Goodwin writing) from 1981 until it finished in 1984. This was following both Russ Manning's celebrated run and the shorter Russ Helm/Alfredo Alcala tenure on the strip. If you do start re-reading the strips and commenting on them over in thwhtguardian 's thread, I might have to join you. I am probably due a re-read of them (I have both the reformatted Dark Horse Classic Star Wars reprints and the three-volume IDW collection of the original daily and Sunday strips). Cool! The more, the merrier. It's fun discussing these with someone shortly after reading them. Anyway, when I read an adaptation like this, one of the main points of interest for me is looking for things that aren’t in the film. And of course, there are a few of those here. Han and Leia’s conversation in the rebel base hallway is extended, and I do remember some of that in the deleted scenes. There’s also some extra dialogue from Ben’s Force ghost when he speaks to Luke after Luke has collapsed, and some minor additional dialogue in a couple of other places. I see that the wampas also play a larger role here. I know that they ran into them a lot more in earlier drafts of the script, and there’s at least one unfinished deleted scene that alludes to that. Ben talking to Luke when he’s hanging upside down in the wampa cave isn’t in the film. I can only assume that it was in an earlier version of the script. I did read a late (maybe final version) of the script once and I don’t remember that. Also, the probot blasting that rebel lookout didn’t happen in the released film. Yeah, these additional scenes or sub-plots that were eventually excised from the movie are fascinating. As I think I said in my review, the "Wampas in the Rebel base" sub-plot in particular works much better in this six-issue adaptation than it ever would've in the finished film: it gives this first issue an extra layer of threat for our heroes to deal with before the Empire turns up in part two. If memory serves, Goodwin and Williamson worked from Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan's final fourth draft of the script (i.e. the shooting script), but that's not the same as the published version of the ESB script that appeared as a stand-alone book some years later. That later version of the script takes into account last minute re-writes and changes to dialogue that the actors or director Irvin Kershner made on the set, and thus it conforms to the film exactly. Since the dialogue in the ESB comic adaptation is taken from the shooting script it sometimes differs markedly from what we hear on screen. Frankly, I'm glad that it's based on the fourth draft rather than the later version. I like being able to see an earlier version of the script this way (the evolution of the script and the movie itself is interesting) plus it would be kinda boring if the comic had all of the exact same dialogue as the released film. By the way, my understanding is that Leigh Brackett only did the first draft of the script, then passed away. Then Lucas made substantial changes to the script before bringing in Kasdan to help finish it. However, Lucas kept Brackett's name on the script out of respect for her, though the final version doesn't bear much resemblance to her first draft. I do remember reading her script many years ago, and there were quite a few changes, though my memory isn't good enough to recount them all. |
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Post by tarkintino on Apr 23, 2021 17:28:40 GMT -5
Despite my own comments on TESB adaptation posted many years ago in another thread: Williamson's work does reveal a number of issues. One, as another member mentioned in this thread, his stylistic leanings to add overtly organic, Flash Gordon-esque shapes to mechanical equipment and landscapes is really out of place and distracting, because the film version had such a strict, distinctive design having no appearance like that Williamson leaning. Then, there's the following, which could have been of the biggest issues: Carlos Garzon's finishes/inking. If one were to compare any random all-Williamson original work on early-to-mid 1970s examples from the daily strip Secret Agent Corrigan:   I've read many an Al Williamson interview where he discussed how long in advance (of print date) he would work on the Corrigan strip, and he faced a great volume of work, but through it all, his pen work was stellar and details so rich. That's a sharp contrast to how the adaptation for The Empire Strikes Back turned out (s, as the lines are thin to looking like tracing in some panels, and its only for some scenes (like the one I posted above to compare to film captures) that one can see the heft resembling his earlier work. Whether Garzon had something to do with it's thin appearance, depends on which account one reads (and he did have more time on this project than he would a few years later on the rushed, messy ROTJ adaptation). Perhaps he worked better inking himself. He would not be the first nor last comic artist who knew how to finish his own work properly. |
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Post by zaku on Apr 23, 2021 18:58:29 GMT -5
So, it was a known fact that Vader could move objects with his mind even before ESB? I'm trying to remember if I was surprised at the time but I was only 8 so... That's right, it was. I've read that Alan Dean Foster put the casual cup moving via Force telekenisis in the novelization to just casually demonstrate Vader's mastery of the Force. Myself, I can't remember if I was surprised at Luke moving his lightsaber, lifting rocks and R2 on Dagobah, or Vader hurling pieces of machinary at Luke in ESB or not. Probably not because I was reading the Marvel SW comics in the late 70s and, as discussed, it happened on occasion in them. Or maybe I just never gave it much thought at all at the time. I was only 7 when ESB came out. Well, It's not like Obi-Wan showed incredible feats of force-moving objects in ANH, so I suppose I was a little surprised when Luke moved his lightsaber.. I think? Now I'm feeling stupid, considering I watched that movie I don't know how many times, but did Obi-Wan move anything with the force in that movie !?!? He just, don't know, closed a door o something? |
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Post by tarkintino on Apr 23, 2021 19:27:34 GMT -5
Well, It's not like Obi-Wan showed incredible feats of force-moving objects in ANH, so I suppose I was a little surprised when Luke moved his lightsaber.. I think? Now I'm feeling stupid, considering I watched that movie I don't know how many times, but did Obi-Wan move anything with the force in that movie !?!? He just, don't know, closed a door o something? No, Obi-Wan never used any kind of telekinesis in ANH. His displayed powers were the mind trick, using a lightsaber, sensing the loss of life from endless distances away, sensing Vader, creating distractions (used against Stormtroopers after he deactivated the tractor beam), becoming one with the Force when he allowed Vader to "kill" him, and returning through the Force as a disembodied voice. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 24, 2021 5:45:25 GMT -5
Just a couple of things that have come to me while thinking about this topic of pre-ESB examples of Force-telekinesis, zaku and dbutler69... Isn't Vader's Force-choking of Admiral Motti in ANH essentially an instance of Force telekinesis? I mean, he's presumably using the Force to crush Motti's windpipe, just as he did with his hand earlier in the film to Captain Antilles on board the Tantive IV...only this time he's pushing Motti's trachea closed with his mind. This is the same scene BTW as the one in which the floating cup appears in the novelization and comic. Also, I had a flick through Splinter of the Mind's Eye and read up on its plot on the Wookiepedia website to refresh my memory, and Foster does write Luke using proper Force telekinesis in it -- he picks up a rock with his mind and hurls it at an enemy as a weapon. Which doesn't exactly fit in with his later being trained to lift rocks by Yoda in the ESB, but there it is. There's also the old woman Hella, that Luke and Leia meet, being able to move a salt shaker with her mind, seemingly with the Force. However, she later reveals that she isn't actually Force-sensitive, just a practitioner of "parlour tricks", so that probably doesn't count. But Luke's throwing of a heavy rock at a foe with the power of the Force in Splinter pre-dates the release of ESB by just over two years. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 24, 2021 10:56:04 GMT -5
Star Wars #40Cover dated: October 1980 Issue title: Battleground Hoth!Script: Archie Goodwin Artwork: Al Williamson (pencils & inks)/Carlos Garzon (pencils & inks)/Rick Veitch (pencils - uncredited) Colours: Glynis Wein Letters: Rick Veitch Cover art: Al Williamson (pencils & inks)/Carlos Garzon (pencils & inks) Overall rating: 10 out of 10  Plot summary: While Luke Skywalker recovers in the Rebel medical centre from his encounter with a Wampa, he reveals to Princess Leia that he must leave and travel to the Dagobah system to locate the mysterious Jedi Master, Yoda. Leia is upset at this news and, after an angry exchange with Han Solo, she passionately kisses Luke in an attempt to make Han jealous. Meanwhile, the Imperial fleet, led by Darth Vader's Super Star Destroyer, Executor, comes out of lightspeed in the Hoth system. However, Admiral Ozzel has come out of hyperspace too close to the planet where the Rebels are located, thus alerting them to the Imperial's presence. Vader punishes Ozzel by using the Force to choke the Admiral to death, quickly promoting Captain Piett as his replacement. The Imperials then deploy gigantic, armoured AT-AT walkers to the planet's surface, under the command of General Veers. Back on Hoth, Luke Skywalker leads Rogue Squadron against the advancing walkers, in support of Rebel ground troops, as the evacuation of the Rebel base begins. Coming under heavy fire and realising that their on-board blasters are ineffective against the AT-AT's thick armour, Rogue Squadron fly their snowspeeders around the walkers' legs, using harpoons and tow cables to trip them up and destroy them. During the battle, Luke's snowspeeder is hit and crashes into the snowy terrain, as an advancing walker bears down on his craft, ready to crush it with its feet. Comments: This is the best issue of Marvel's Star Wars comic published so far, in my opinion. Last issue was fantastic, but this second instalment of the comic adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back somehow manages to up the ante even further. Archie Goodwin's scripting is superb, as he masterfully adapts Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan's screenplay to the comic book page and, just like last issue, Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon's artwork is absolutely gorgeous. You can get lost looking at all the lovingly rendered backgrounds and technical detail that Williamson and Garzon cram into every panel here. In addition, Williamson does a very nice job of translating the movie's more tender, character-driven moments, with some really effective poses, facial expressions and moody shadow work. But he also excels at rendering the AT-AT walker assault on the Rebel base – one of the film's biggest and most memorable action sequences – with all the pace, excitement and grandeur of the film itself. Actually, an uncredited Rick Veitch helped Williamson and Garzon out in the panels in which the AT-AT walkers appeared. The reason Veitch ended up pencilling the Imperial walkers was that Williamson and Garzon were both having trouble imagining how the machines would move, since they only had a couple of blurry polaroids of the models to go on, as Veitch explained on his personal blog in 2010... "...both [Carlos] and Al were having trouble envisioning the Imperial Walkers that showed up in the script. Lucasfilm had only sent two grainy polaroids of the model used to create the scenes in the movie. Al was fretting so I offered to try and make sense of it with some sketches. I'd worked as a mechanic in my early years and had a reasonable familiarity with how machinery worked. I spent an hour or two figuring out how the thing would have to function and what the parts we couldn't see in the photos might look like. Al was so delighted he put me to work penciling the Walkers throughout the whole sequence. When the film came out we were delighted to see we'd somehow caught the whole flavor of the Walker attack as staged by director, Irving Kirshner."There can be no doubt that Veitch added considerably to the fluidity and excitement of this sequence, both in this issue and the next. In fact, two years later, during a 1982 interview with James Van Hise, Williamson was still singing Veitch's praises regarding his work on the AT-AT walkers... "We had these poor scratched-up reproductions of a walker and we couldn't really tell what it actually looked like, but good old Rick figured it out and made it work and now they look like swipes from stuff Lucasfilm gave us when actually they aren't. He made those walkers come to life and look exactly like they were supposed to, and that was on top of doing a beautiful job with the lettering." One tiny, nit-picky criticism of Williamson's art in this issue would be that he makes a small gaff by swapping Captain Piett for Admiral Ozzel in the scene where the latter is Force-choked by Darth Vader. In the panel below, it is Ozzel who is being choked, while Piett stands nervously by. However, it's clear from the art that Williamson has mistakenly drawn actor Kenneth Colley (who played Piett) as the one being choked, while Michael Sheard (the actor who played Ozzel) stands close by...  Another minor grumble on the art side of things is that Glynis Wein's colouring in this portion of the adaptation is not quite as effective as Carl Gafford's in The Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of The Empire Strikes Back paperback. That said, the colouring here is more than adequate, but if push comes to shove, I'd have to say that Gafford's colouring of these pages is superior. Just like the first instalment of the Empire adaptation, this issue includes scenes that were ultimately left out of the cinematic release of the movie. For example, the "Wampas in the base" sub-plot from last issue is wrapped up, with C-3PO explaining to R2-D2 that the creatures have been enticed into a sealed off section of the base by high pitched whistles and imprisoned there. Another deleted scene features Luke having a weird, Bacta mask removed from his face, while he and Leia express their affection for each other and almost kiss, only to be interrupted by C-3PO...  The above scene comes right before Han enters the medical centre and has an angry and sarcastic exchange with Leia (a scene that was included in the finished version of the film). The cut scene adds an extra dimension to the moment in the film where Leia says "well, I guess you don't know everything about women yet" and then promptly gives Luke a passionate – though in hindsight, a very uncomfortable and incestuous – kiss. All in all, Star Wars #40 is a hugely enjoyable, right ripping read, with some great dialogue, some fantastic sequential art and all the excitement of the movie. The quick-fire tempo and breathtaking pace of this issue just doesn't let up from start to finish and the reader finds themselves tearing through it at a rapid speed, only slowing momentarily to savour Williamson's exquisite artwork. Star Wars comics just don't come any better than this. Continuity issues: None Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "Why is it when things seem to get settled...everything falls apart?" – C-3PO rhetorically asks R2-D2 to explain the never ending turmoil of life in the Rebel Alliance. Yup, another fantastic installment of the TESB adaptation. I didn't realize the wampa subplot was still in such a late draft of the script. New scene with Luke & Leia - including some romance, as you mentioned. Also, Threepio breaks up yet another tender moment, as he will later with Han & Leia. Luke also mentioned Dagobah to Leia here. Here, it's Luke that says he owes Han two, not Han saying it. Plus, Luke getting the healing mask removed is new (as you mentioned). That whole scene in the medical room is quite a bit different than in the film, in fact. There are some new (meaning not in the film) lines between Han & Luke before they leave Hoth. Also a new line by Wedge, mentioning Death Star. A caption says that Luke & Wedge are the only survivors of the Death Star battle, but there were a couple of other survivors, plus Han. Unless they're claiming that the other survivors of that battle had since died? Luke's escape from his snow speeder and the marching AT-AT is not as dramatic here as in the film. |
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Post by zaku on Apr 24, 2021 14:43:42 GMT -5
Thank you Confessor and tarkintino!  So, how did Luke even known that he could move object with his mind..? |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 24, 2021 18:51:58 GMT -5
Thank you Confessor and tarkintino! So, how did Luke even known that he could move object with his mind..? Let me go back and re-read the relevant part of SOTME and get back to you on that. EDIT: Although it's always possible that Luke was told about this Jedi ability by Kenobi off-screen during the events of the first SW film. But let me see how Foster actually describes the scene in the novel. |
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Post by tarkintino on Apr 24, 2021 21:09:15 GMT -5
Thank you Confessor and tarkintino ! So, how did Luke even known that he could move object with his mind..? You are welcome!
In the film universe, its left up to assumption that Luke (when calling his Lightsaber in the Wampa cave) is just using another Force power never mentioned in ANH. Its similar to Luke having a vision of the future, which was another power that was new to the SW mythos with TESB. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 25, 2021 10:36:49 GMT -5
Star Wars #41Cover dated: November 1980 Issue title: Imperial Pursuit!Script: Archie Goodwin Artwork: Al Williamson (pencils & inks)/Carlos Garzon (pencils & inks)/Rick Veitch (pencils - uncredited) Colours: Glynis Wein Letters: Rick Veitch Cover art: Al Williamson (pencils & inks)/Carlos Garzon (pencils & inks) Overall rating: 10 out of 10  Plot summary: Escaping from his downed snowspeeder, Luke Skywalker manages to place an explosive charge inside the advancing AT-AT walker bearing down on him, destroying the vehicle. Back at the Rebel base, Darth Vader enters the Rebel stronghold with a contingent of snowtroopers, as Han Solo rushes to get Princess Leia and C-3PO to the Millennium Falcon and escape. After blasting off from the Rebel base, the Falcon is immediately pursued by a group of Imperial Star Destroyers and a squadron of TIE fighters. Han and Chewbacca expertly manoeuvre the ship through an asteroid field, causing the pursuing TIE fighters to collide with the floating rocks, thus allowing Han to hide the Falcon in a cave on the surface of a large asteroid. Meanwhile, back on the planet Hoth, Rogue Squadron is preparing to evacuate and travel to the rendezvous point, but Luke elects not to follow them. Instead, he and R2-D2 board his X-wing fighter and head towards the mysterious and remote planet of Dagobah. Upon arrival, Luke crash lands his X-wing into a swamp on the jungle-choked planet's surface. Exiting his craft, Luke is unaware that a small, frail-looking bipedal creature with a walking stick is approaching through the tangled undergrowth. Comments: Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson continue to hit it out of the park with this instalment of The Empire Strikes Back comic adaptation. As ever, the artwork is breathtakingly good and, just like last issue, letterer Rick Veitch helps out by pencilling the Imperial AT-AT walkers in the panels in which they appear (though he isn't credited). Veitch also pencilled some of the rocks in the asteroid belt scenes in this issue, according to a 2010 post on his personal blog. Speaking of the asteroid field sequence, Williamson chooses some really inventive "camera angles" here and there's some lusciously heavy shadow work in this sequence too. There's also ample evidence of Williamson and Carlos Garzon's meticulous attention to detail. For example, I love how, in the panel below, we have Luke's X-wing fighter casting a shadow on the surface of a nearby planetoid as it passes by. A lot of comic artists wouldn't have bothered with such seemingly superfluous detail, but it's things like this that make Williamson and Garzon's work such a joy to behold...  Williamson also really nails the more subtle character moments in this issue too. There's a nice depiction of an exchange between C-3PO and a clearly irritated Han Solo, as the golden protocol droid attempts to warn Solo that the Millenium Falcon's hyperdrive is malfunctioning. Williamson expertly manages to communicate Han's annoyance and disdain for the droid in a single panel, without any help at all from Goodwin's script...  Although the above sequence is something of a throwaway moment in the overall scheme of things, it nonetheless provides a superb example of how Williamson can communicate so much with just one well drawn image. It's a shame that the overall effect is spoiled slightly by Goodwin's clumsy and largely unnecessary dialogue in the third panel, telling the reader that the Imperials are setting up a laser cannon in the hangar. But still, I think it's clever how much is communicated here in a single panel. Something else that I want to mention, regarding the art, is that in the scene where Admiral Piett sees Darth Vader without his helmet on, Vader's head is entirely in silhouette, whereas in the movie we see the rear of the Sith Lord's head clearly. It also appears as if Vader's head has hair on it from the look of Williamson's art, while in the film it's entirely hairless. It's possible that Vader's head was concealed in shadow in the comic adaptation at Lucasfilm's request, to preserve the surprise for cinema goers, just as Marvel were instructed to conceal the Wampa in issue #39. Goodwin's scripting in this issue is excellent for the most part and, in particular, he does a fantastic job of nailing the quick fire banter and bickering between Han and Princess Leia, without resorting to slavishly copying the screenplay verbatim. I also like that Goodwin has Leia hear something unexpected and troubling as the Falcon descends into the dark asteroid cave. It's not revealed until next issue that what she heard was the sound of tremors, but her reaction here nicely foreshadows the troubles that the crew of the Corellian freighter will encounter next issue and also suggests a sense of foreboding regarding Han's chosen hiding place. It's a nice touch. On a nerdy, nit-picky note, in this issue C-3PO estimates that the chances of successfully navigating an asteroid field are 2,467 to 1, while in the film itself, the odds are far longer at 3,720 to 1. As in previous issues, the comic adaptation is faithful to the shooting script, so clearly the change in odds was something that either Anthony Daniels or Irvin Kershner came up with during production of the film. Unlike the previous two issues, there aren't any deleted scenes in this comic – not even the scene in which C-3PO removes the warning notice from the door behind which the Wampas are imprisoned. This is a strange omission, since the "Wampas in the Rebel base" sub-plot that was deleted from the movie had been included in the previous two issues of the comic and having C-3PO trick a squad of Imperial snowtroopers into encountering the enraged creatures is a good pay off for that sub-plot. We also don't get to see General Veers' AT-AT walker destroying the Rebel shield generator, which is another weird omission, since it was in the film and is quite important, at least within the context of the evacuation of the Rebel base. Still, while they might be puzzling, these omissions don't detract at all from the reader's enjoyment of this issue. Star Wars #41 ends with a back-up feature titled "Building An Empire -- Marvel Style" written by Goodwin. The text article details how he, Williamson and Garzon produced the adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back and it also explains why an alternate version of Yoda appeared in the earliest paperback-sized publication of the adaptation (see my review of The Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of The Empire Strikes Back here for details). Continuity issues: None Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "Would it help if I got out and pushed?" – Princess Leia sarcastically suggests an alternative method of starting the malfunctioning Millennium Falcon to Han Solo. It was nice to see Luke's though balloon, and the caption, as he grabs the harpoon gun and concussion charge from his fallen snow speeder. Han's hair is black instead of brown on p.8. A Stormtrooper tells Vader that 17 rebel ships were destroyed, and they don't know how many escaped. I found that little factoid interesting. Other tidbits of interest: Luke says Dagobah isn't on any navigational chart, and Luke mentions a beacon on Dagobah. Interesting about Veitch’s uncredited work here. Also, yeah, I loved the look of death Han gave Threepio in that picture you posted. Threepio never did know when to keep his mouth shut! I was wondering about the silhouetted Vader’s head myself. I wonder what the reason for that was. I hadn’t noticed the odds in navitating the asteroid field had changed! You’re also right that the omission of the wampa sign and the omission of General Veers' AT-AT walker destroying the Rebel shield generator are odd, especially the latter. I guess they must have run out of pages. Unfortunately, my Dark Horse reprint doesn’t include that Archie Goodwin text article. |
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Post by tarkintino on Apr 25, 2021 11:45:06 GMT -5
Williamson uses Kennner's 1979-released die-cast Falcon as the template for the ship (when he did not trace from photos) on the cover. This is notable with the thicker, flattened mandibles and their lack of light installations (which is seen / used for the first time in the movie, as the Falcon entered what was believed to be a cave). The exterior cockpit is also very inaccurate, being more of a triangular shape than the studio miniature, inexplicably adding more top window sections--as many as 12 (than the 9 sections of the studio miniature(s) and the full size set). This problem is seen from time to time in the adapted story.
As much as the wealth of LFL-provided photos were traced in this adaptation, it calls the "why" of such obvious alterations into question, when that was not necessary.
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Post by The Cheat on Apr 25, 2021 13:10:43 GMT -5
Thank you Confessor and tarkintino! So, how did Luke even known that he could move object with his mind..? I always thought of the Force as a living thing, with a lot of Jedi training basically being how to "quiet the mind" and listen to what the Force was telling you. Once you can do that, the abilities kind of just reveal themselves as you spend time communing with it. |
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Post by brutalis on Apr 25, 2021 15:35:52 GMT -5
While adult me is quite enjoying the discussions throughout this thread diving deeply into the various written and artistic endeavours, teenage high school me could have cared less. At the time I was more overjoyed than anything and excited for having an ongoing MONTHLY comic for Star Wars. This was my 1st experience with an ongoing licensed comic book based on a movie and I was eating it up and enjoying immensely.
I was at an age where I could afford and seek out the new issues. I had a few issues of various other licensed products. 2 or 3 Planet of the Apes magazines, a Star Trek Log collection, some issues of Marvel's Doc Savage and DC's Shadow. Having an ongoing series telling NEW adventures and filling in the gaps between movies was pure joy. In a time where there was ONLY the movie novel adaption, Alan Dean Fosters Splinter of the Minds Eye and seeing the movie(s) at the movie theater it was thrilling to have this comic to pore over time and again.
You can dissect and evaluate all you wish, but NOTHING compares to those joyous youthful days when finding the newest issue on the spinner racks. My enthusiasm and happiness were beyond compare. I was so eager and hungry for more Star Wars and was just coming of an age to fully appreciate my lucky circumstances.
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