kellyg
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Post by kellyg on Aug 31, 2016 16:47:57 GMT -5
Good thread! I got the treasury edition of the Star Wars movie in 77 and then lost it somewhere--and got the 6 issues at a comic shop years later (when Star Wars 1 was $10).
I collected a fair bit of them, the ESB issues, and then the post ROTJ ones (the one I remember best is the Boba Fett one!).
I know I also have the final issue somewhere.
Been looking at the newspaper strip recently. Only saw bits and pieces of it back in the day.
I read somewhere (maybe it has already been mentioned) that Lucas couldn't stand that rabbit alien on the cover of one early post-movie and told them never to do it again.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Aug 31, 2016 18:01:10 GMT -5
I collected a fair bit of them, the ESB issues, and then the post ROTJ ones ( the one I remember best is the Boba Fett one!). Ah, the wonderful Star Wars #81! That's probably my favourite issue of the entire series. If you haven't already, you can read my review of it here... classiccomics.boards.net/post/166253/threadI read somewhere (maybe it has already been mentioned) that Lucas couldn't stand that rabbit alien on the cover of one early post-movie and told them never to do it again. Yes, George Lucas himself was reportedly not keen on Jaxxon, the 6 foot tall, green, carnivorous, space rabbit. As you can see from my avatar though, I'm a big fan for Jaxxon. Here's what I wrote about Lucas's dislike of the character and my own love of Jaxxon in my review of SW #8... "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." |
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kellyg
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Post by kellyg on Aug 31, 2016 23:12:34 GMT -5
That issue review is what prompted me to comment! Nice to see them indexed for easy linking--going through a bunch of reviews now...
Also funny that Lucas would object to the rabbit look when he didn't mind the teddy bear appearance of the Ewoks.
In 1977 Star Wars was such an open universe. Lucas closed it off by 1980 (remember the Han Solo novels?).
The space spaghetti western aspect of it which was hinted at in the Mos Eisley scene was abandoned pretty fast.
Looking at the Pizzazz #1 review--interesting theorizing about Han and Chewie not being present. It makes sense doesn't it? He had to pay off a gangster. What is he doing hanging around with the rebels for months afterwards when he has bounty hunters after him? Not only is he a bad smuggler but he is a deadbeat about paying debts to the biggest gangster in the galaxy!
Lando Calrissian was certainly on the right track when he asked Chewbacca about him hanging around with a loser.
"When Luke sees his family homestead destroyed he calls out for Uncle Ben, instead of Uncle Owen."
LMAO
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Post by Rob Allen on Sept 2, 2016 12:01:29 GMT -5
We interrupt this review thread for an urgent request from Roy Thomas:
Kind of an unusual request this time. ALTER EGO #145, out this coming
February, will celebrate the 40th anniversary of... well, not really the
film, but the Marvel comic book. If anyone has any unusual art, etc.,
that would fit in that issue, now would be a good chance to share it
with me. Naturally, anything used in the issue will bring the supplier
a copy of the magazine. I have a treasure trove of rare stuff already,
but can always use more... particularly stuff on STAR WARS (the comic
and to some extent the movie) from the late 1970s.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Sept 2, 2016 12:08:27 GMT -5
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. I can't say I liked Jaxxon as much as you do, but I wholeheartedly share your appreciation of the early days of the franchise compared to what it became later!!! I would have liked Jaxxon better had he been drawn in a style a little less cartoony, a bit as in Watership Down. (Well, not that dude right up there... the rabbits from the clip). |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Sept 2, 2016 18:38:12 GMT -5
Yes, you may be right about them aping Williamson's style, but I'm still darned if I can work out exactly which pages the Frenz and Palmer penciled and inked. I know what you're saying about some of the early pages having that Palmer smoothness, but they also look very Williamson and Garzon in their composition to me. Have a look at the very last page -- the one with the Ewok celebration -- do you think that could be Frenz and Palmer imitating Williamson's style? That was a page I was suspicious about, but in my review I ultimately attributed it to Dan Green's inks over Williamson's pencils. I have a nagging feeling it could be Frenz/Palmer though. What do you think? As I noted in my review, I'm pretty certain that that's Tom Yeates inking Williamson's pencils on the pages where Luke Skywalker is brought before the Emperor and then engages Vader in a duel. He worked on issue #3 as well, and his dark, brooding shadow work on those earlier pages looks the same as the Emperor's throne room pages to my eyes. I think Dan Green may have inked page 13 in which Luke cuts off Vader's hand. Hmmm...yeah, you might be right about that. Looking at it and page 8, which I've attributed to Green over Williamson's pencils, there are similarities in the inking style. Are we in agreement that pages 8 and 13 look to be inked by the same person? With that person being Green? I think I can see see similarities in inking between page 13 and the final page, which both look like Dan Green's work. He may also have inked page 8, but I'm not certain. On ComicArtFans, the owner of the original artwork for page 18 credits it to Williamson and Green, who may have signed the page. Page 18I think it may be a mistake to assume Frenz and Palmer would necessarily have worked on the same pages. Palmer could have inked Williamson on some of the early pages and Green could have inked some Frenz. The owner of the original art for pages 12 and 13 credits the pencils to Ron Frenz but doesn't try to guess the inker. If Frenz did those pages, he may also have done the rather rushed-looking page 14. Page 12Page 13 I don't think Yeates' work on #4 was quite as distinctive as his superb contribution to #3. Pages 9 and 10 look the most Yeatesish to me, especially the last panel on page 9. The inking on the faces on pages 2 to 6 still looks more like Palmer to me, although I could be mistaken. The scans I have of ROTJ #4 aren't the sharpest, and the painterly colouring in Marvel Super Special #27 seems to lend something of a Palmeresque atmosphere to the art. I would like to see scans of the Marvel UK reprint if that was in black and white. Do you have any thoughts on who inked what in Star Wars #82? |
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Post by Rob Allen on Sept 3, 2016 18:07:30 GMT -5
We interrupt this review thread once more for an opportunity to wax intellectual:
From: Sean Guynes See below a call for chapters for a volume that I am co-editing with Dan Hassler-Forest on the Star Wars franchise and transmedia storytelling. We hope we can entice some folks to write more about comics for this collection. CALL FOR CHAPTERS: Star Wars and the History of Transmedia Storytelling Edited by Sean A. Guynes and Dan Hassler-Forest We seek chapter proposals for a volume titled Star Wars and the History of Transmedia Storytelling, which aims to provide an account of the history of the franchise, its transmedia storytelling and world-building strategies, and the consumer practices that have engaged with, contributed to, and sometimes also challenged the development of the Star Wars franchise. We aim to have the collection in print by 2017, the year that marks the 40th anniversary of the first Star Wars film’s release. In those forty years, its narrative, its characters, and its fictional universe have gone far beyond the original film and have spread rapidly across multiple media—including television, books, games, comics, toys, fashion, and theme parks—to become the most lucrative franchise in the current media landscape, recently valued by Forbes at roughly $10 billion (Damodaran 2016). A key goal of this project is to highlight the role and influence of Star Wars in pushing the boundaries of transmedia storytelling by making world-building a cornerstone of media franchises since the late 1970s. The chapters in this collection will ultimately demonstrate that Star Wars laid the foundations for the forms of convergence culture that rule the media industries today. As a commercial entertainment property and meaningful platform for audience participation, Star Wars created lifelong fans (and consumers) by continuing to develop characters and plots beyond the original text and by spreading that storyworld across as many media platforms as possible. While there is much to be said about recent installments in the franchise, we discourage submissions that focus exclusively on Star Wars texts produced since the sale to Disney in 2012. Priority will be given to those submissions that demonstrate an ability to engage with the breadth of Star Wars media and fan activity, including (but not limited to) digital and analog games, novels, comics, televisions shows, tie-in merchandise, fanfic, and Star Wars events, places, and gatherings (conventions, exhibitions, shows, theme parks, performances, etc.); or that bring new approaches from transmedia and franchise studies to old topics. Chapters solicited from invited authors, for example, already propose a broad range of topics, including transmedia worldbuilding in comics and novels surrounding the original trilogy; the limits and criteria that define the limits of “A Star Wars Story”; transmedia erasure and the Holiday Special; and the Star Wars collectible card game. Submissions might consider, but are certainly not restricted to, some of the following topics: Children’s media, kidification, and Star Wars Star Wars and/on television Star Wars video games Transmedia “metaseries,” e.g. Dark Empire Star Wars comics and graphic novels (Un)Adaptation and Dark Horse’s The Star Wars (2013-2014) Licensing, intellectual property, and canon Star Wars “Legends” imprint of novels and comics Children’s literature, YA literature, and Star Wars novels Star Wars and fandom, cosplay, fanfic, consumption practices, collecting Generational shifts in Star Wars fandom and creators as consumers Gender, race, and sexuality in Star Wars (especially where readings of lesser known characters, novels, comics are forwarded) Genre flexibility across Star Wars media Star Wars action figures and world-building through play Star Wars (tabletop) role-playing games Star Wars merchandising, franchising, and branding Mash-up/remix culture and Star Wars Music in and across Star Wars media If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the editors about the suitability of your topic for the collection. Submissions should include a provisional title, a 200-word abstract, and a 100-word biographical note. Abstract submissions are due by October 1, 2016. Please send submissions simultaneously to both editors, Sean A. Guynes (guynesse@msu.edu) and Dan Hassler-Forest (d.a.hassler-forest@uu.nl), with the subject line “SURNAME Star Wars Transmedia Book.” Drafts of 5,000 words will be due February 5, 2017, with a quick turnaround for editing and revisions so as to publish by Autumn 2017 before the 40th anniversary year ends. A shareable link to this CFP can be found here: seanguynes.com/2016/ 09/03/call-for-chapters- transmedia-star-wars/.
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Post by rom on Sept 4, 2016 19:52:15 GMT -5
As always, great thread! I'm a huge SW fan, and these original Marvel SW comics were fantastic. I had a blast reading these as a kid back when they originally came out - not only were they the only real "Expanded Universe" (EU) at that time, but they had great, very fun stories, with colorful characters: Crimson Jack, Valance the cyborg bounty hunter, Jaxxon the green rabbit, Luke returning to Tattoine and running into Camie and Fixer, Princess Leia running into a whole army of Boba Fett look-alikes in her search for Han Solo, etc. Great stuff. The artwork was incredible as well - Carmine Infantino, Walt Simonson, Michael Golden (at least for one issue), Al Williamson, etc. I actually think these '70's/'80's Marvel SW comics are far superior in every way to all of the Dark Horse SW series (Dark Empire, Rebellion, etc.) that have come out from the early '90's-on, and this is coming from a fan of most of the SW Dark Horse comics.
Some of the many high-points of the series were the late Al Williamson's incredible artwork in the excellent Empire Strikes Back adaptation in 1980 - this was followed by his great adaptation of ROTJ in '83; also notable was his art in Star Wars #50, as well as the excellent #98.
Though a lot of fans don't like these because some of the stories seem cheesy (Jaxxon, anyone?) and the continuity doesn't fit into the post-1991 SW EU continuity, these are some of the first EU stories and have a great sci-fi/fantasy feel to them, similar to ANH. Also, IMHO the EU became bogged-down in the '90's with all of the various comics, novels, etc., and because of this I prefer the much more limited '70's/'80's EU ('78 Splinter of the Mind's Eye novel, Han Solo novels by Brian Daley, Lando Calrissian novels by L. Neil Smith, these 1977 - 1986 Marvel comics, etc.)
Re: the post-ROTJ issues, at the time I didn't like them, especially the ones with the punk rock white-skinned aliens & the green aliens. So, I pretty much stopped collecting the series not long after #81 (the excellent Jawas of Doom). However, I re-read many of these issues when Dark Horse reprinted them in the 200X's & gained a much greater appreciation for them. I guess my perspective had changed as I got older, and I was less critical of the stories as a result. In any case, the art by Cynthia Martin in many of these issues is stellar.
The Star Wars: A Long Time Ago TPB Marvel reprints that Dark Horse published in 2002-2003 are some of the best TPB reprints I've ever seen. Beautiful remastered color, all of the covers included in almost the full original size, and all of the #107 issues (and 3 Annuals) of the original Marvel series included as well, in their entirety. Great stuff. Other comic book companies could take lessons from the way these reprints were handled/produced. They've also been reprinted twice since then, i.e. the 2010-2012?! DH small Omnibuses, as well as the current much larger Marvel Omnibuses.
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Post by rom on Sept 4, 2016 19:59:44 GMT -5
You're absolutely right of course, lindario, but as you say, depicting Luke as blond is something that occurs on action figures, lunch boxes, comics and even the official poster for the first movie. I used to wonder about this discrepancy as a kid, but just put it down to Mark Hamill's hair being a sandy, light brown colour. Great point. I always wondered about this as well. Luke's hair in the films is never even close to blonde, but the original Vintage action figures (from both ANH & ESB) depict him as having blonde hair, as do movie posters & these original Marvel comics. IIRC, it's also blonde in the Russ Manning & Williamson/Goodwin newspaper strips from the late '70's/early '80's (in the Sunday color strips). |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Sept 5, 2016 9:21:58 GMT -5
Also funny that Lucas would object to the rabbit look when he didn't mind the teddy bear appearance of the Ewoks. Yes, quite. Perhaps I have a much higher tolerance of the more cutesy elements of SW, such as the Ewoks, than many other fans, but to me, the likes of the Hoojibs and Jaxxon fit right in with the Star Wars aesthetic. Lest we forget that it was actually an alien from the cantina sequence in Episode IV that looked a bit like Porky Pig that prompted Roy Thomas to create a Bugs Bunny-inspired character with Jaxxon. The space spaghetti western aspect of it which was hinted at in the Mos Eisley scene was abandoned pretty fast. You're absolutely right there. Good to know that I'm not the only one who sees the clear influence of spaghetti westerns in parts of the very first Star Wars movie.  Looking at the Pizzazz #1 review--interesting theorizing about Han and Chewie not being present. It makes sense doesn't it? He had to pay off a gangster. What is he doing hanging around with the rebels for months afterwards when he has bounty hunters after him? Not only is he a bad smuggler but he is a deadbeat about paying debts to the biggest gangster in the galaxy! Lando Calrissian was certainly on the right track when he asked Chewbacca about him hanging around with a loser. Yes, to me in makes perfect sense that Han would leave the Rebellion after the Battle of Yavin just as quickly as he "joined" it. As I think I noted in my reviews of those early Pizzazz issues, having Solo absent from the post-Episode IV movies is something those comics have in common with Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye novel too. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Sept 5, 2016 9:51:03 GMT -5
As always, great thread! I'm a huge SW fan, and these original Marvel SW comics were fantastic. I had a blast reading these as a kid back when they originally came out - not only were they the only real "Expanded Universe" (EU) at that time, but they had great, very fun stories, with colorful characters: Crimson Jack, Valance the cyborg bounty hunter, Jaxxon the green rabbit, Luke returning to Tattoine and running into Camie and Fixer, Princess Leia running into a whole army of Boba Fett look-alikes in her search for Han Solo, etc. Great stuff. The artwork was incredible as well - Carmine Infantino, Walt Simonson, Michael Golden (at least for one issue), Al Williamson, etc. I actually think these '70's/'80's Marvel SW comics are far superior in every way to all of the Dark Horse SW series (Dark Empire, Rebellion, etc.) that have come out from the early '90's-on, and this is coming from a fan of most of the SW Dark Horse comics. I couldn't agree more! As I've said many times, at its best, Marvel's original Star Wars comic featured some excellent stories, some fantastic artwork, some pretty mature themes, and it managed to capture the unfettered wonder and wide-eyed spectacle of the original trilogy much better than some of the supposedly more serious Star Wars comics that came later. I have to slightly disagree with you for including Carmine Infantino among that list of exemplary Star Wars artists because, although he was clearly one of the comic book greats, I've never felt that his art was a particularly good fit for Star Wars. His overly-angular and highly stylised work on the series has never been 100% to my tastes and, as I mentioned in some of my earlier reviews, he also willfully drew the various pieces of SW tech or space ships in his own stylised fashion, rather than attempting to replicate the movie props, as other artists on the series did. That might not be a problem for some, but it bugged the hell out of me as a kid and it still annoys me now to a degree. I have no complaints with Infantino as a storyteller or as a sequential artist, but I really don't think he was right for the SW comic. Some of the many high-points of the series were the late Al Williamson's incredible artwork in the excellent Empire Strikes Back adaptation in 1980 - this was followed by his great adaptation of ROTJ in '83; also notable was his art in Star Wars #50, as well as the excellent #98. Yep, I'm a BIG fan of Al Williamson myself, as you no doubt know if you've read my revews of those issues you mention. Though a lot of fans don't like these because some of the stories seem cheesy (Jaxxon, anyone?) and the continuity doesn't fit into the post-1991 SW EU continuity, these are some of the first EU stories and have a great sci-fi/fantasy feel to them, similar to ANH. Also, IMHO the EU became bogged-down in the '90's with all of the various comics, novels, etc., and because of this I prefer the much more limited '70's/'80's EU ('78 Splinter of the Mind's Eye novel, Han Solo novels by Brian Daley, Lando Calrissian novels by L. Neil Smith, these 1977 - 1986 Marvel comics, etc.) Again, I think we're basically in complete agreement here. In any case, the art by Cynthia Martin in many of these issues is stellar. Oh...whoops! Looks like I spoke too soon. I dislike Cynthia Martin's artwork even more than Infantino's.  The Star Wars: A Long Time Ago TPB Marvel reprints that Dark Horse published in 2002-2003 are some of the best TPB reprints I've ever seen. Beautiful remastered color, all of the covers included in almost the full original size, and all of the #107 issues (and 3 Annuals) of the original Marvel series included as well, in their entirety. Great stuff. Other comic book companies could take lessons from the way these reprints were handled/produced. They've also been reprinted twice since then, i.e. the 2010-2012?! DH small Omnibuses, as well as the current much larger Marvel Omnibuses. I've never bought any of the reprints of this series, since I have a complete collection of the original comics. But you're not the first person I've seen online to sing the praises of the Star Wars: A Long Time Ago TPB series. The latest Marvel Omnibuses interest me to a degree because apparently each volume includes a few bonus pages of original artwork. In the first volume, for example, they include Howard Chaykin's original rough breakdowns for the first handful of post-SW issues, before Tom Palmer inked and embellished them. I've heard from folks in this thread that often the differences between Chaykin's breakdowns and the finished comics is startling. However, the price tag for those Omnibuses is a little too steep just to get my hands on the 20 or so pages of bonus content. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Sept 5, 2016 12:52:30 GMT -5
I think I can see see similarities in inking between page 13 and the final page, which both look like Dan Green's work. He may also have inked page 8, but I'm not certain. On ComicArtFans, the owner of the original artwork for page 18 credits it to Williamson and Green, who may have signed the page. Page 18Great! The original artwork of that final page is signed by both Williamson and Green, so we now know that as a fact. Good work! I correctly attributed that page to Williamson and Green in my review.  As for page 13, on reflection, you might be right that this is also inked by Green. If so, I'm inclined to attribute page 8 to Green as well because the inking looks similar to pages 13 and 18 (and similar to some examples of Green's inking that I've found online). I think it may be a mistake to assume Frenz and Palmer would necessarily have worked on the same pages. Palmer could have inked Williamson on some of the early pages and Green could have inked some Frenz. The owner of the original art for pages 12 and 13 credits the pencils to Ron Frenz but doesn't try to guess the inker. If Frenz did those pages, he may also have done the rather rushed-looking page 14. Page 12Page 13Hmmmm...if Frenz did do those pages -- and I'm sort of inclined to believe the owner of those pages, because he or the dealer he got them from may have actually checked with Frenz himself -- it would make sense for him to have done 14 as well, since it carries on directly from page 13. I wonder who inked those pages? I don't think Yeates' work on #4 was quite as distinctive as his superb contribution to #3. Pages 9 and 10 look the most Yeatesish to me, especially the last panel on page 9. I agree. I've attributed the inking on pages 9 and 10 to Yeates in my review. The inking on the faces on pages 2 to 6 still looks more like Palmer to me, although I could be mistaken. The scans I have of ROTJ #4 aren't the sharpest, and the painterly colouring in Marvel Super Special #27 seems to lend something of a Palmeresque atmosphere to the art. I would like to see scans of the Marvel UK reprint if that was in black and white. I hate the "painterly colouring" in Marvel Super Special #27. It really does obscure a lot of the artwork. The best colour versions of this adaptation are to be found in the U.S. magazine-sized trade paperback collection or in the UK hardcover annual, both from 1983. Unfortunately, the version that appeared in the pages of Return of the Jedi Weekly in the UK was not in black and white, but instead some pages were in a really murky looking full colour and some were reproduced in a two-tone colour scheme. The UK comics look way worse than the original U.S. four-part mini-series does. Do you have any thoughts on who inked what in Star Wars #82? I'm pretty sure that Tom Palmer did at least some of it and I've also heard Bob McLeod say that the reason he was given the art chores for the fill-in issue #83 was because he'd impressed his superiors by helping out with the inking of the previous issue. So, McLeod is definitely in there somewhere. Other than that, I haven't a clue, I'm afraid. Do you have any ideas? |
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Post by rom on Sept 8, 2016 10:39:50 GMT -5
Just to respond to several points:
I understand that Carmine Infantino may not have been the ideal SW artist due to his own "take" on the SW characters/tech, etc. However, I think that's what made his SW work interesting - he put his own "spin" on the SW universe. In fact, Infantino's Stormtroopers are my favorite artistic depiction of these characters - to the extent that I would like to see Hasbro make a comic-book two-pack with figures of these Infantino Troopers.
Yes, Al Williamson was definitely my favorite SW artist. His work brought to mind the Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon comic strips that inspired Star Wars in the first place. Though he didn't do much work on the Marvel series, it was nice that he did a whole run of the excellent SW newspaper strips - which I would never have read if not for the excellent DH reprints back in the '90's.
The 2002-2003 SW Marvel Trades (by DH) are superb - excellent reproduction & improved colors - these reprints are better than some newer collected editions I've seen. The only thing these are missing are the 1983 4-issue ROTJ comic adaptation. However, this ROTJ adaptation is included in the later DH Omnis reprinting this Marvel series. Note that later 2010-2012?! Omnis are reprinted in a smaller-than-average format - to cut costs, presumably.
The more recent Marvel Omnibuses reprinting their original series sound nice. The extras are a cool bonus, but I would only buy these if I didn't have any of the previous reprints. |
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Post by brutalis on Sept 8, 2016 11:06:08 GMT -5
Just to respond to several points:
I understand that Carmine Infantino may not have been the ideal SW artist due to his own "take" on the SW characters/tech, etc. However, I think that's what made his SW work interesting - he put his own "spin" on the SW universe. In fact, Infantino's Stormtroopers are my favorite artistic depiction of these characters - to the extent that I would like to see Hasbro make a comic-book two-pack with 2 of these Infantino Troopers.
Yes, Al Williamson was definitely my favorite SW artist. His work brought to mind the Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon comic strips that inspired Star Wars in the first place. Though he didn't do much work on the Marvel series, it was nice that he did a whole run of the excellent SW newspaper strips - which I would never have read if not for the excellent DH reprints back in the '90's.
The 2002-2003 SW Marvel Trades (by DH) are superb - excellent reproduction & improved colors - these reprints are better than some newer collected editions I've seen. The only thing these are missing are the 1983 4-issue ROTJ comic adaptation. However, this ROTJ adaptation is included in the later DH Omnis reprinting this Marvel series. Note that later 2010-2012?! Omnis are reprinted in a smaller-than-average format - to cut costs, presumably.
The more recent Marvel Omnibuses reprinting their original series sound nice. The extras are a cool bonus, but I would only buy these if I didn't have any of the previous reprints. I want to make vocal my support of the Infantino contribution to Star Wars. At this time of publishing it was common practice that you could NOT USE THE ACTOR'S FACES and therefore you had to guesstimate a general likeness which could still promote the sense of the character. It was evident Chaykin was rushing and sloppy and the inker's were doing much of the work in finishing the adaptation. The next storyline it was Tony DeZuniga who carried the inking which really did not suit or fit the Star Wars universe. Finally with Infantino Marvel had an artist capable of giving them solid pencil work that looked futuristic and felt closer to the Star Wars movie than anything coming before. Infantino provided action packed science fiction/fantasy that looked good. Marvel had a veteran willing to work on a low paying job which required referencing lots of photo work so the comic would look like the movie while not being the movie. Infantino provided stability and his art was an interpretation of a visual world only defined in a 2 hour movie. It is during this run of his art combined with Goodwin's stories that the series managed to not only stay alive but yet grow so that the series continued until Empire Strikes Back came out. Without Infantino as the stabilizing monthly artist it is quite possible that the comic could have been dropped before Empire came out as most licensed properties are lucky to last 1 or 2 years at most due to their diminishing revenue back to the publisher. |
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Post by rom on Sept 8, 2016 12:04:24 GMT -5
Yes! I fully agree with the assessment of Infantino's work on the Marvel SW series. As you said, he definitely brought a stability & artistic professionalism to the series that was missing with the haphazard different artists who worked on the title prior to his taking over the art. I liked all of his SW issues, but I especially enjoyed his work on the Crimson Jack & the "Waterworld" issues. Also, the issue that came either right before (or right after) the ESB adaptation was great - IIRC, it was called "Death Probe" and involved a runaway probe droid; it was nice how this tied in to ESB to some extent.
I never made the connection between Infantino's consistent work on the series & the series continuing up to & well beyond the ESB adaptation. However, you're absolutely right that most of Marvel's licensed series from the '70's & '80's never lasted nearly as long as SW. I.e., Marvel's Battlestar Galctica, Logan's Run, Godzilla, and Star Trek didn't have extended runs at all. The exceptions were Star Wars, ROM Spaceknight, and Micronauts - all of which had relatively long runs.
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