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Post by Confessor on May 11, 2015 19:34:39 GMT -5
Star Wars #32Cover dated: February 1980 Issue title: The Jawa ExpressScript: Archie Goodwin Artwork: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks) Colours: Petra Goldberg Letters: John Costanza Cover art: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks) Overall rating: 7½ out of 10  Plot summary: Having returned to his homeworld of Tatooine on a mission for the Rebel Alliance, Luke Skywalker is now stranded in the Dune Sea with Han Solo, Chewbacca and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, due to a broken down landspeeder. Faced with the prospect of dying beneath the merciless twin suns of Tatooine, Luke and Han perform makeshift repairs to the speeder, using coolant syphoned from the droids. Making their way to Luke's nearby starship, our heroes find it being dismantled by Jawas, but manage to hitch a ride in the desert scavenger's sandcrawler. The Rebels soon discover evidence that the House of Tagge and the Empire have created a long range freezing mechanism, capable of destroying large vehicles with intense cold, even under the planet's blistering suns. Following a battle with the Imperials, Luke realises that the freezing device is a threat to the Rebel Alliance and the heroes race back to Mos Eisley spaceport, in order to leave the planet and warn the Rebellion. Comments: The second part of the Omega Frost saga is pretty much on a par with the first, in terms of Carmine Infantino's artwork. All of the artistic pros and cons that I made mention of in my last review are present in this issue – even those weirdly elongated blasters that Han and Luke are suddenly now brandishing. Interestingly, at one point in this issue, Infantino has Baron Orman Tagge don a heavy blue coat with a fur lined hood, which, when taken together with his cybernetic goggles, makes him look an awful lot like the DC Comics' villain Captain Cold. Since Captain Cold was originally designed by Infantino in the late 1950s, while he worked for DC Comics, the similarities here surely can't be a coincidence. Is Infantino referencing his old Flash villain? Decide for yourself... Captain Cold:  Baron Orman Tagge:  There's also some dynamic action sequences from Infantino in this issue, with some really lethal looking explosions throwing out hunks of twisted shrapnel. Some of the staging and panel composition is quite nice in this issue too. Interestingly and perhaps unsurprisingly, given that we're on Tatooine again, letterer John Costanza reintroduces the Jawa's squiggly, Arabic-like dialogue font, which Jim Novak originated back in issue #1. Archie Goodwin's writing is strong here again, but perhaps inevitably, after absolutely knocking it out of the park in Star Wars #31, the contents of this issue seem slightly less impressive. Only slightly though, because the plot continues to build in excitement and there are some nice humourous moments inside the Jawa's sandcrawler, with Han Solo repeatedly banging his head in the cramped environment. There's also some very good writing of C-3PO, with the golden robot attempting to sneakily take credit for a number of R2-D2's brilliant ideas throughout the issue. Goodwin also shows us more of how Silas Tagge's Omega Frost superweapon works and reveals that Baron Orman Tagge is keen to use it against the Rebels to curry favour with the Emperor. The Omega Frost itself is kind of a neat weapon and the way in which it's able to flash-freeze large swathes of the boiling desert landscape is quite dramatic within the context of this Tatooine based issue. However, I question how effective it would actually be against the Rebel's starships (but more of that in my review of issue #34). All in all, Star Wars #32 is another very strong comic that does a good job of advancing the current storyline, while upping the action quota a notch. Continuity issues: None Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "The Omega Frost! Brilliant, Silas…! It's going to be the club with which we beat Darth Vader from the Emperor's favor." – Baron Orman Tagge commends his brother for inventing the Omega Frost, while revealing his desire to use it to take Darth Vader's place as the Emperor's right-hand man.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on May 13, 2015 9:53:12 GMT -5
Star Wars Weekly #104Cover dated: February 20th, 1980 Issue title: The Weapons Master!, Part 1 Script: Archie Goodwin Artwork: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Steve Mitchell (inks) Tones: Howard Bender Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks) Overall rating: 3½ out of 10  Plot summary: After some sharp shooting by Princess Leia allows her, Luke Skywalker and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO to escape from a squad of Imperial stormtroopers, Luke inquires as to how the princess learned to use a blaster so well. Leia recounts the story of how, during her first term as a senator, an attempt was made on her life on the planet Chalon. Her life was saved by Giles Durane and his assistant Gimlet, who, it turned out, had been hired by Leia's farther Bail Organa to train her to defend herself. Meanwhile, an Imperial general named Emir, who was responsible for hiring the assassin that had attempted to kill Leia, was instructing the head of the Assassin's Guild, Torgas, to dispatch more assassins in order to finish the job. Some time later, Giles began Leia's training on board his starship, but the pair were attacked by more assassins. Comments: Since I'm reviewing the various issues of Marvel's Star Wars run in strictly chronological order by cover date, we have to interrupt the Omega Frost saga for another UK exclusive story entitled "The Weapons Master!". Like the other exclusive Star Wars Weekly stories we've had so far, the majority of this adventure is set before the events of the then-current Marvel Star Wars continuity: in this case, as a flashback to the early days of Princess Leia's senatorial career. Something else that this story has in common with the other UK exclusive stories is that it wasn't reprinted in the U.S. until November 1981 in the paperback-sized Marvel Illustrated Books: Star Wars #1. Actually, that was where I first read "The Weapons Master!", but I didn't encounter the story until I picked up a copy of that book in the early 2000s. Archie Goodwin's writing is reasonably serviceable here and Giles Durane, the story's titular character, is fairly interesting, what with his ties to Leia's farther. Unfortunately, some of C-3PO's dialogue in this issue is pretty cringe-worthy, especially the part where the protocol droid compares a prone R2-D2 to an Alderaan beach snail. That's one of the poorest in-universe references that Goodwin has used to flavour his dialogue with so far. Carmine Infantino's artwork is much like his work in the regular, American Star Wars series, although, I found myself confused in the scene where an Imperial probe is hovering above Giles and Leia. Precisely what was happening in these panels wasn't instantly understandable for me and I had to re-read the page, which is extremely unusual for Infantino's work. Also, I'm not bowled over by Steve Mitchell's inking. It never seems to really gel with Infantino's pencils in the way that inkers like Gene Day or Bob Wiacek do. Overall, this first part of "The Weapons Master!" is mildly entertaining, but Goodwin's scripting could be better and the artwork is kinda workman-like. Continuity issues: None Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "Your new obligations take you far from home, lass...and the rest of the galaxy isn't Alderaan!" – Giles Durane explains to Leia why her farther thinks it is necessary for him to teach her how to defend herself.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on May 16, 2015 17:04:49 GMT -5
Star Wars Weekly #105Cover dated: February 27th, 1980 Issue title: Day of the Assassins! ( The Weapons Master!, Part 2) Script: Archie Goodwin Artwork: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Steve Mitchell (inks) Tones: Howard Bender Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks) Overall rating: 3½ out of 10  Plot summary: The story that Princess Leia is telling Luke Skywalker, C-3PO and R2-D2 continues, as Leia recounts how a group of three assassins made an attempt on her life, while she was training with Giles Durane, on board his space cruiser. Giles killed two of the assailants and Leia was forced to deal with the third, with a little help from Durane. Back on the planet Challon, Imperial General Emir was sharply criticising Torgas of the Assassins Guild, for his failure in killing the princess. This prompted Torgas to defend the guild's honour by vowing to take care of Leia himself. Comments: Part two of "The Weapons Master!" is, like the initial instalment, entertaining without ever being remarkable. Carmine Infantino's artwork is serviceable enough, but, as I noted in my last review, Steve Mitchell's inking doesn't really blend that well with the artist's pencils. That said, I kinda like the Infantino and Bob Wiacek cover to Star Wars Weekly #105. The Marvel UK Star Wars comics often had cover artwork that differed from that used in the U.S. and, on occasion, these covers were really excellent. I'm not sure I'd call this cover "excellent", but I do quite like it. Archie Goodwin's plot plods along without ever being that gripping. However, the action quota is definitely upped in this issue, with the attack on Leia and Giles by a group of assassins. Still, that isn't enough by itself to prevent the story in this issue from being rather forgettable. Continuity issues: None Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "I was your good-hearted idealist back in the Clone Wars...so I came out of 'em poor. Too poor to afford to move my family when plague swept our homeworld!" – Giles Durane explains the reason behind his cynical outlook and latter-day mercenary lifestyle.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on May 16, 2015 19:38:31 GMT -5
I expect that your questions about the Omega Frost will be the same as mine: how can a cold-producing weapon be of any use against spaceship traveling in space, where the temperature is just slightly above the absolute zero?
I try to rationalize it this way: a machine can not generate cold; what it does is move heat from a point to another one else.
Why do spaceships not freeze? Space and its vacuum may not be warm, but they're also a pretty good heat insulator since heat can only dissipate from a spatial body by radiation. A well insulated spaceship would not radiate much, and so wouldn't freeze in space if it had some way to replace the small a amount of heat lost by radiation. What the Omega Frost device must be doing is actively shunt a body's heat to someplace else (let's say in hyperspace, why not?), and so it might be able to suck all heat out of a spaceship no matter how well it is insulated, or how efficient its heating aystem.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on May 17, 2015 7:12:17 GMT -5
I expect that your questions about the Omega Frost will be the same as mine: how can a cold-producing weapon be of any use against spaceship traveling in space, where the temperature is just slightly above the absolute zero? Bingo! Yep, that always puzzled me. Well, actually it didn't always puzzle me...as a kid I just accepted it. But as I grew older, the whole idea of a device that could flash-freeze a fleet of space craft in the already frigid vacuum of space, seemed unlikely. But more of that in my review of issue #34. I try to rationalize it this way: a machine can not generate cold; what it does is move heat from a point to another one else. Why do spaceships not freeze? Space and its vacuum by not be warm, but they're also a pretty good heat insulator since heat can only dissipate from a spatial body by radiation. A well insulated spaceship would not radiate much, and so wouldn't freeze in space if it had some way to replace the small a amount of heat lost by radiation. What the Omega Frost device must be doing is actively shunt a body's heat to someplace else (let's say in hyperspace, why not?), and so it might be able to suck all heat out of a spaceship no matter how well it is insulate, or how efficient its heating aystem. Good to have a scientist here to try to rationalise these things, roquefort. I think that's a really good theory and it certainly sounds plausible to me. However, from information gleaned from the comics themselves, we know that the Omega Frost will work on anything containing moisture -- even if it's only tiny microscopic amounts of moisture (presumably the metal of a Jawa sandcrawler or the hull of a Rebel star cruiser contains some moisture and so these vehicles are therefore vulnerable to the weapon). How would you fit that information into your above theory? |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on May 17, 2015 8:33:27 GMT -5
I expect that your questions about the Omega Frost will be the same as mine: how can a cold-producing weapon be of any use against spaceship traveling in space, where the temperature is just slightly above the absolute zero? Bingo! Yep, that always puzzled me. Well, actually it didn't always puzzle me...as a kid I just accepted it. But as I grew older, the whole idea of a device that could flash-freeze a fleet of space craft in the already frigid vacuum of space, seemed unlikely. But more of that in my review of issue #34. I try to rationalize it this way: a machine can not generate cold; what it does is move heat from a point to another one else. Why do spaceships not freeze? Space and its vacuum by not be warm, but they're also a pretty good heat insulator since heat can only dissipate from a spatial body by radiation. A well insulated spaceship would not radiate much, and so wouldn't freeze in space if it had some way to replace the small a amount of heat lost by radiation. What the Omega Frost device must be doing is actively shunt a body's heat to someplace else (let's say in hyperspace, why not?), and so it might be able to suck all heat out of a spaceship no matter how well it is insulate, or how efficient its heating aystem. Good to have a scientist here to try to rationalise these things, roquefort. I think that's a really good theory and it certainly sounds plausible to me. However, from information gleaned from the comics themselves, we know that the Omega Frost will work on anything containing moisture -- even if it's only tiny microscopic amounts of moisture (presumably the metal of a Jawa sandcrawler or the hull of a Rebel star cruiser contains some moisture and so these vehicles are therefore vulnerable to the weapon). How would you fit that information into your above theory? Harh!  I would suppose (if we really want to get a no-prize!) that the Omega Frost does not work on any type of material but is somehow much more efficient on water molecules than on anything else. Perhaps it has to do with water being easily agitated in varying magnetic fields, as is the case in a microwave oven; The Omega Frost "beam" (whatever it might be) might agitate water molecules and shunt their energy into hyperspace while the metal hulls would just reflect the beam into space. I'm just making things up using real physical properties, you understand; I have no idea how such a thing could be made to work in real life! |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on May 17, 2015 8:49:03 GMT -5
I would suppose (if we really want to get a no-prize!)... Well, of course we do! the Omega Frost does not work on any type of material but is somehow much more efficient on water molecules than on anything else. Perhaps it has to do with water being easily agitated in varying magnetic fields, as is the case in a microwave oven; The Omega Frost "beam" (whatever it might be) might agitate water molecules and shunt their energy into hyperspace while the metal hulls would just reflect the beam into space. I'm just making things up using real physical properties, you understand; I have no idea how such a thing could be made to work in real life! No problems, that's a good enough explanation for me!  I will probably quote what you've written here in my review of issue #34, if you don't mind? |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on May 17, 2015 8:50:20 GMT -5
I'd be honoured!
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on May 17, 2015 8:55:01 GMT -5
Star Wars Weekly #106Cover dated: March 6th, 1980 Issue title: My Enemies Surround Me! ( The Weapons Master!, Part 3) Script: Archie Goodwin Artwork: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Steve Mitchell (inks) Tones: Howard Bender Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks) Overall rating: 4 out of 10  Plot summary: Princess Leia continues to recount her story to Luke Skywalker, C-3PO and R2-D2, reaching the point in the tale where, with her weapons training now complete, her mentor Giles Durane decided that Leia could resume her senatorial duties on the planet Challon. Some days later, during a diplomatic conference, Leia was attacked by the head of the Assassins Guild, Torgas. Giles' right-hand man, Gimlet, came to the princess's rescue, but he was killed by the assassin, leaving it to Giles himself to kill Torgas with a rocket dart. However, Leia was not out of danger yet, as Giles revealed that Imperial General Emir had hired him to finish the job of killing the princess. A battle between the two began, during which Leia managed to shoot and kill Giles. As Leia's story comes to a close, C-3PO remarks on how sad the tale was and how glad he is that the princess's weapons experience saved them from their previous encounter with a squad of Imperial stormtroopers. Comments: So, here we have the third and final instalment of "The Weapons Master!" storyline. This part is, as you might expect, the most exciting of the three and ultimately, Archie Goodwin's story does a good job of justifying how Leia is able to display such prowess with a blaster, when she grew up on Alderaan, a planet with no weapons. On the downside, some of C-3PO's dialogue here is pretty poor, just as it was in the first instalment of this story. The panels where the golden protocol droid advises R2-D2 not to dwell on Leia's sad story because it may cause moisture in R2's gearbox – as if the little astro droid was crying – was very cringe-inducing and a real eye-rolling moment for me. The fact that the roguish and mercenary Giles Durane suddenly turns against Leia is an excellent plot twist and one that I certainly never saw coming when I first read the story. However, for all its cleverness, Duarne's sudden switching of sides is problematic insofar as he clearly had some fatherly affection towards Leia and he also had a long-time friendship with Leia's farther (he earlier stated that he owed Bail Organa his life, in fact). Now, while it's true that Durane made no secret of his mercenary nature, to have him suddenly decide that it's OK to kill Leia, simply because another party made him a good offer, marks him as a bit of a dick, as well as a wholly unsympathetic character. As a result, it's hard to understand why Leia should feel such sorrow at having had to kill him, since it was clearly a case of self-defence. Still, the ending does provide us with a nice "pupil besting the teacher" moment, which brings the whole tale to a reasonably satisfying close. Carmine Infantino's artwork is very dynamic here. In particular, the sequence in which the master assassin makes an attempt on Leia's life is very nicely handled, with some tight, close-up "camera angles" that serve to heighten the tension in the scene very well. As I've said before, I'm not a huge fan of Steve Mitchell's inking over Infantino's pencils, but the end result is serviceable enough. Overall, "The Weapons Master!" is a fairly inconsequential and, dare I say it, forgettable story. However, if you're interested in reading it, I would recommend the coloured version that first appeared in Marvel Illustrated Books: Star Wars #1. While it's true that an awful lot of the panels in the story were cut in half or re-arranged, in order to fit them onto the smaller pages of the paperback-sized reprint, Marie Severin's colouring works wonders on the somewhat pedestrian artwork and makes for a much more satisfying read than the original black & white. Continuity issues: None Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "You're determined, Senator...I give you that. But before your hand can swing that blaster, my venom touch will be chilling your spine!" – Torgas, the master assassin, taunts Princess Leia as he attempts to kill her.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on May 21, 2015 11:51:49 GMT -5
Star Wars #33Cover dated: March 1980 Issue title: Saber Clash!Script: Archie Goodwin Artwork: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Gene Day (inks) Colours: Petra Goldberg Letters: John Costanza Cover art: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks) Overall rating: 8 out of 10  Plot summary: Departing Tatooine in the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO spot a House of Tagge Mining Explorer preparing to jump into hyperspace. The Rebels follow the Tagge ship to the planet Junction, where they witness the Tagge's Omega Frost technology being transferred to an Imperial Star Destroyer. Leaving the Falcon in a spacesuit, Luke investigates the transfer and discovers that the Tagge's are planing to use the Omega Frost weapon against Junction, which is a critical source of supplies for the Rebel Alliance. Luke is captured by Imperial stormtroopers, but not before he relays his discovery to Han, who races to Yavin 4 in order to alert the Rebellion. On board the Mining Explorer, Baron Orman Tagge tells Luke that the plan to use the Omega Frost on Junction was misinformation and the device will instead be used to destroy the Rebel fleet as it races to save the planet. Angered by this news, Luke attacks Orman and the pair engage in a lightsaber duel. Using the Force and guidance from Obi-Wan Kenobi's spirit, Luke defeats the Baron by destroying his cyber-vision goggles, leaving him helpless and in a state of shock. Luke escapes from the Mining Explorer in an Imperial TIE fighter and heads for Yavin 4, to warn the Rebellion of the Omega Frost weapon's true target. Comments: Star Wars #33 features the third part of the Omega Frost saga and sees Archie Goodwin's already excellent storyline get even more gripping. His scripting in this issue captures the voices of the main cast very well, for the most part, and in particular, there's been a big improvement in the way in which Goodwin writes Han Solo recently. I noted in some of my earlier reviews that Solo was the cast member that Goodwin seemed to have the least good grasp on, but in this arc we've seen him nail the Corellian smuggler's character with satisfying and, at times, humourous results. There's also some nice little nods to the original Star Wars movie here. For example, we see that R2-D2 and C-3PO are still "letting the Wookiee win" at Dejarik (the holochess game seen in the film), and we also see Luke practising his lightsaber with a training "remote" on board the Millennium Falcon. However, Luke actually hits the "remote" with his saber in this scene, just as he did in issue #3, rather than simply deflecting its laser bolts, as he did in the film. Although having Luke strike the training ball itself is not in keeping with George Lucas's movie, I like that we at least have some consistency between Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin's movie adaptation and these later issues. The coolest thing about this issue though is that we see Luke engaging Baron Orman Tagge in a lightsaber duel. This is only the second time in the Marvel series that Luke has crossed sabers with an enemy, the first being in the Chris Claremont-penned Star Wars Annual #1, where he duelled and killed Kharys, the Majestrix of Skye. Here too, Luke manages to vanquish the Baron, leaving him in a babbling, semi-catatonic state, due to the sheer precision and skill of Luke's lightsaber technique. In showing us how much Luke's skill with both his lightsaber and the Force have grown, Goodwin is setting the stage nicely for the events of The Empire Strikes Back. We also get the first mention in this issue of a sister to the Tagge brothers, although we won't actually learn her name or meet her until issue #35. Talking of the Tagge family, something that's interesting in this issue is that Ulric Tagge is described as a Fleet Commander by Luke and as a General by Orman. I'm not sure, but I'm beginning to think that Goodwin meant Ulric to be the same Tagge brother that we saw on board the Death Star in the original Star Wars film. That particular brother was referred to as General Tagge in the novelization of the film and as Commander Tagge in issue #1 of the Star Wars comic, but he wasn't given the first name of Cassio until relatively recently. It makes me wonder if Goodwin only meant there to be three Tagge brothers when he was writing these issues, rather than four. Having said that, the Tagge brother that appeared in the film and in the comic adaptation looks nothing like Ulric – even his hair colour is different – which suggests that Goodwin didn't, in fact, intend them to be the same person. I'd really love to get to the bottom of this and get a definitive answer. See what you think... Cassio Tagge (upper pictures) and Ulric Tagge (lower pictures). Did Archie Goodwin intend for these characters to be the same person?  Carmine Infantino's artwork displays all of the overly-angular leanings, improbably-posed figures and woefully inaccurate depictions of Star Wars spacecraft that I always make mention of in my reviews. But, as ever, the artwork never fails to faithfully serve Goodwin's script and the way in which the story flows from panel to panel is predictably smooth and clear. That said, some of the art in this issue is a little hit and miss, with some panels looking like they've had lots of time spent on them, while others look rushed and sloppy. Gene Day's somewhat heavy, but detailed inking results in a return of those overly-harsh or weird facial expressions that seem to occur whenever he works with Infantino. Still, the precise line work that Day brings to this issue is rather nice to look at. Petra Goldberg's colouring is worth mentioning too, especially in the space sequences and also for her background colour choices. Overall, this is another really good Star Wars comic from the Goodwin/Infantino era. It sees the Omega Frost saga move from a semi-nostalgic, Tatooine-based tale of intrigue into a full blown, widescreen space opera. Continuity issues: - On the cover, Luke Skywalker and Orman Tagge's lightsabers are incorrectly coloured: Luke's is red when it should be blue/white and Orman's is green when it should be orangey red.
- On the cover, Orman Tagge's clothing is coloured cerise and gold, instead of the correct red and blue.
Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "Kid, you're a bad influence. Every time I'm around you, I get turned into a hero in spite of myself." – Han Solo wryly agrees to join Luke in attempting to prevent the Tagge family using the Omega Frost weapon.
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Post by lindario on May 23, 2015 6:53:09 GMT -5
Now I got sad.
Here in Finland Marvel's Star Wars content was released in quite peculiar fashion. Before starting a monthly (and chronologically messed up) magazine in 1983, they first published six trade paperbacks between 1977 and 1983. In the published order, these were:
1. Tähtien sota (translated "Star Wars", collects issues #1-#6)
2. Avaruuden rosvot (translated "Marauders of Space", collects issues #11-#15)
3. Surman ruletti (translated "Roulette of Death", collects issues #18-#23)
4. Musta valtias (translated "The Dark Lord", collects The Empire Strikes Back issues)
5. Hyinen väijytys (translated "A Glacial Ambush", collects issues #25-#26 and #31-#34)
6. Jedin Paluu (translated "Return of the Jedi", collects the Return of the Jedi special)
Though I was born in the mid 90's I owned all of these books as a kid and thought they were quite neat reads. I especially found the Roulette of Death saga (yep, I've always called it that instead of "the Wheel saga" and not gonna change now  ) engaging, though I kinda felt the same way as you did about Infantino's art.
However, now after reading you reviews, I noticed that the some of the Finnish publications of the stories are abridged. In book 5 the Siege of Yavin and Doom Mission have been cut into one 22 page long story (with no R2-D2 in it) and the Ulric Tagge subplot from the Omega Frost saga has mostly been removed. Even worse, Darth Vader's grand entrance in #21 is nowhere to be seen in the book 3, and it is likely that cuts don't end there.
This has made me a bit paranoid about the content of my beloved books. I'm afraid of if also my Empire Strikes Back book (with a page count of 96, 93 of which contain the story) and Return of the Jedi (with 64) are also abridged. And, as several sites and Wookieepedia pages give contradictory and confusing information on the matter, I'm both stuck and kind of saddened... 
But, no matter I would have bought the Original Marvel Years: Omnibus anyhow at some point and now it's even more relevant to me thanks to curiosity for "lost" content, so no harm done there! Rather a big thank you for your greatly interesting and enlightning reviews!
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on May 27, 2015 12:14:43 GMT -5
Now I got sad.
Here in Finland Marvel's Star Wars content was released in quite peculiar fashion. Before starting a monthly (and chronologically messed up) magazine in 1983, they first published six trade paperbacks between 1977 and 1983. In the published order, these were:
1. Tähtien sota (translated "Star Wars", collects issues #1-#6)
2. Avaruuden rosvot (translated "Marauders of Space", collects issues #11-#15)
3. Surman ruletti (translated "Roulette of Death", collects issues #18-#23)
4. Musta valtias (translated "The Dark Lord", collects The Empire Strikes Back issues)
5. Hyinen väijytys (translated "A Glacial Ambush", collects issues #25-#26 and #31-#34)
6. Jedin Paluu (translated "Return of the Jedi", collects the Return of the Jedi special) Very interesting information, lindario. It's always fascinating to learn how Marvel's old Star Wars series was published around the world. Myself, I grew up reading the black and white weekly reprints in the UK's Star Wars comic. Though I was born in the mid 90's I owned all of these books as a kid and thought they were quite neat reads. I especially found the Roulette of Death saga (yep, I've always called it that instead of "the Wheel saga" and not gonna change now ) engaging, though I kinda felt the same way as you did about Infantino's art. I quite like the "Roulette of Death" as a name for this story arc. However, now after reading you reviews, I noticed that the some of the Finnish publications of the stories are abridged. In book 5 the Siege of Yavin and Doom Mission have been cut into one 22 page long story (with no R2-D2 in it) and the Ulric Tagge subplot from the Omega Frost saga has mostly been removed. Even worse, Darth Vader's grand entrance in #21 is nowhere to be seen in the book 3, and it is likely that cuts don't end there. This has made me a bit paranoid about the content of my beloved books. I'm afraid of if also my Empire Strikes Back book (with a page count of 96, 93 of which contain the story) and Return of the Jedi (with 64) are also abridged. And, as several sites and Wookieepedia pages give contradictory and confusing information on the matter, I'm both stuck and kind of saddened... But, no matter I would have bought the Original Marvel Years: Omnibus anyhow at some point and now it's even more relevant to me thanks to curiosity for "lost" content, so no harm done there! Well, the original publication of The Empire Strikes Back comic adaptation in the pages of Marvel Special Edition - Featuring Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was 96 pages long, 93 of which were the actual story. So, it appears that the Finish book you have is identical to the very first U.S. publication. However, when the adaptation was serialised a month or two later in issues #39-44 of the regular Star Wars comic, there were a number of extra splash pages added that took the total page count up to 102 pages. But these splash pages don't really add much, so you've definitely got the whole story in your ESB book. Likewise, the Return of the Jedi adaptation is 64 pages long, but in the four part Star Wars: Return of the Jedi mini-series that Marvel started putting out in July 1983, each issue had an extra credits page, making the total page count 68 pages. But you don't miss anything by not having these. Rather a big thank you for your greatly interesting and enlightning reviews! It's my pleasure. I'm glad that you enjoy them. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jun 3, 2015 8:52:22 GMT -5
Star Wars Weekly #107Cover dated: March 12th, 1980 Issue title: World of Fire!, Part 1 Script: Chris Claremont Artwork: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Gene Day (inks) Tones: Howard Bender Letters: Irving Watanabe Cover art: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks) Overall rating: 6½ out of 10  Plot summary: Arriving on the planet Alashan to investigate a Rebel archaeological site that has suddenly stopped responding to communications, two Rebel scouts named Wadie and Arlo find a scene of carnage and destruction. While searching the remains of the base, their scanners detect a huge energy reading coming from the main archaeological dome. As they approach the darkened building, Arlo is cut in half by a laser bolt from an unseen assailant. Wadie rushes to his Y-wing fighter in an attempt to escape the planet and warn the Rebel Alliance, but his ship is destroyed by another laser bolt as he takes off. Meanwhile, Princess Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, R2-D2, C-3PO, and fellow Rebel Mici Shabandar are inside the Empire's starship construction facility on the planet Foundry, as part of a secret mission to steal an experimental warship called the Staraker. The Rebels are discovered and a firefight erupts between them and the Empire's stormtroopers, during which Leia is shot by a stun blast. The Rebels manage to board the Staraker and escape the Imperial facility, with Luke at the ship's controls. Comments: Like "The Way of the Wookiee!", "The Day After the Death Star!" and "The Weapons Master!", the "World of Fire!" storyline was written and drawn exclusively for the UK's Star Wars Weekly comic. It wasn't published in the United States until October 1982, when it appeared in the paperback-sized Marvel Illustrated Books: Star Wars #2 – World of Fire. It sees the return of Chris Claremont as writer, following his excellent effort in Star Wars Annual #1 and his co-writing of Star Wars #17. Claremont conjures a pretty suspenseful and creepy opening to this tale, with two Rebel pilots wandering among dead bodies strewn around an archaeological site on the planet Alashan. The planet's people and civilisation are supposed to be long dead, so the carnage and the surprise attack that the pilots encounter are intriguing to say the least. I also like that Claremont gives us a little background information on the Rebel Arlo Tyre and how he lost those he loved at the hands of the Empire. It's a nice touch which demonstrates that everyone has his or her own reasons for joining the Rebellion. On the downside, I have trouble believing that the Rebel Alliance has the time or resources for an archaeological division. I mean, really? The Rebel Alliance has non-military archaeological bases? Who knew! Of course, we later find out that the Rebellion's top scientists believe that some of the technology belonging to the long dead civilisation that once inhabited Alashan might be of military use, so I guess it makes some sort of sense. But really? There are Rebel archaeologists?  Claremont's writing here isn't quite up to the standard of his last two contributions to Marvel's Star Wars series. Some of the dialogue in this instalment is a little clunky and not terribly in character at times, which is a shame, given that he captured the voices of the central cast so well in Star Wars Annual #1. Also, I have a hard time believing that Imperial stormtroopers would use stun bolts against Rebel saboteurs in a heavily guarded starship construction facility like the one on Foundry. But I guess it's lucky for Princess Leia that they did. Claremont also introduces us to a new Rebel character named Mici Shabandar, but more on her in future reviews. Carmine Infantino's art is as good as ever, in terms of his staging and his storytelling, but his heavily stylised, overly-angular art and his shaky grasp of Star Wars spacecraft design is as irritating as always. While we're on the subject of Infantino's spacecraft, the Staraker is one of the butt-ugliest starships I've ever seen in any space-fantasy or sci-fi story. It just looks rubbish! It's doubly amusing because Claremont describes it in the narration boxes as a "sleek, dangerous-looking strike craft." Looking at it, I'm reminded of Luke Skywalker's classic line from the film, "What a piece of junk!" Talking of Luke, it's worth noting that he isn't wearing his Tatooine moisture farmer's garb in this story. Instead, Infantino clothes him in the outfit that he wore during the medal ceremony at the end of the original Star Wars movie...  Interestingly, Leia is also dressed in a variation on this outfit. Matching his 'n' hers Rebel strike uniforms perhaps? Anyway, it's certainly good to see Luke wearing something other than his grubby moisture farmer's clothes in the Star Wars comic for a change. Overall, this is a pretty gripping inaugural episode of the "World of Fire!". However, some clunky, slightly out of character dialogue and a somewhat unlikely story set up concerning a Rebel archaeological site detract from my enjoyment of this comic. Continuity issues: None Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "I'm in command of this mission, remember? I've given you your orders -- now carry them out!" – Princess Leia curtly reminds Luke Skywalker that she out-ranks him on their mission to Foundry.
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Post by lindario on Jun 3, 2015 14:09:02 GMT -5
Well, the original publication of The Empire Strikes Back comic adaptation in the pages of Marvel Special Edition - Featuring Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was 96 pages long, 93 of which were the actual story. So, it appears that the Finish book you have is identical to the very first U.S. publication. However, when the adaptation was serialised a month or two later in issues #39-44 of the regular Star Wars comic, there were a number of extra splash pages added that took the total page count up to 102 pages. But these splash pages don't really add much, so you've definitely got the whole story in your ESB book. Likewise, the Return of the Jedi adaptation is 64 pages long, but in the four part Star Wars: Return of the Jedi mini-series that Marvel started putting out in July 1983, each issue had an extra credits page, making the total page count 68 pages. But you don't miss anything by not having these. Oh, so that's why they are like that. That's very relieving to hear because I'm currently listing a chronological timeline for my Star Wars comics and I'd hate to have stuff from the movies left out of it. My biggest thank you for the info! Btw. I got the Marvel Omnibus yesterday, and just as I expected, there are indeed small cuts in nearly every Finnish story arc. Most of them aren't that grave though. They actually resemble the edits made for Dark Horse's editions of the Star Wars newspaper strips by having the function of erasing information that might confuse a common reader. For example, references to the Aduba saga are absent from the beginning of issue #11 because that story arc never saw light and day in Finland. The Darth Vader scene from #21 is likely not to be found for the same reason (no stories involving Valance got published here), though it might also be gone because of cencorship (Vader executing his prisoner is pretty grim and Scandinavian cencors were very straight-laced back in the day). As Finnish publisher Semic got its material from Sweden and Denmark, I suspect that all the changes were originally made in those countries, which would mean that all of northern Europe got left out of a lot of Marvel Star Wars epicness  But yeah, enough of me filling up your thread now. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
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Post by Confessor on Jun 3, 2015 14:31:15 GMT -5
Well, the original publication of The Empire Strikes Back comic adaptation in the pages of Marvel Special Edition - Featuring Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was 96 pages long, 93 of which were the actual story. So, it appears that the Finish book you have is identical to the very first U.S. publication. However, when the adaptation was serialised a month or two later in issues #39-44 of the regular Star Wars comic, there were a number of extra splash pages added that took the total page count up to 102 pages. But these splash pages don't really add much, so you've definitely got the whole story in your ESB book. Likewise, the Return of the Jedi adaptation is 64 pages long, but in the four part Star Wars: Return of the Jedi mini-series that Marvel started putting out in July 1983, each issue had an extra credits page, making the total page count 68 pages. But you don't miss anything by not having these. Oh, so that's why they are like that. That's very relieving to hear because I'm currently listing a chronological timeline for my Star Wars comics and I'd hate to have stuff from the movies left out of it. My biggest thank you for the info! Btw. I got the Marvel Omnibus yesterday, and just as I expected, there are indeed small cuts in nearly every Finnish story arc. Most of them aren't that grave though. They actually resemble the edits made for Dark Horse's editions of the Star Wars newspaper strips by having the function of erasing information that might confuse a common reader. For example, references to the Aduba saga are absent from the beginning of issue #11 because that story arc never saw light and day in Finland. The Darth Vader scene from #21 is likely not to be found for the same reason (no stories involving Valance got published here), though it might also be gone because of cencorship (Vader executing his prisoner is pretty grim and Scandinavian cencors were very straight-laced back in the day). As Finnish publisher Semic got its material from Sweden and Denmark, I suspect that all the changes were originally made in those countries, which would mean that all of northern Europe got left out of a lot of Marvel Star Wars epicness But yeah, enough of me filling up your thread now. Very interesting info regarding the Finish censorship, lindario. You're welcome to post in this thread with your thoughts on the issues I've already reviewed or with interesting info like that above. So don't worry about "filling up" the thread. Comments like yours are precisely what this thread is for (well, along with being a place for me to post my reviews, obviously  . |
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I will probably quote what you've written here in my review of issue #34, if you don't mind?
) engaging, though I kinda felt the same way as you did about Infantino's art. 
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