WGTB Reviews Star Wars #1

There is a lot for Star Wars fans to be excited about these days: The Force Awakens trailer went up on the Internet in December, and was a fun taste of what will undoubtedly be the hit film of 2015-2016. Also, just a few weeks ago, Disney which now owns both Lucasfilm and Marvel comics, brought the Star Wars licence back to the publisher who had it from 1977 until 1989 when it was taken over by Dark Horse Comics. Of course, Dark Horse's work with the property from 1994 to 2014 proved they were worthy custodians of the Star Wars universe, but this only means that Marvel Comics' first issue in decades would have to be strong and lasting impression.

Marvel's Star Wars Vol.2 #1 (March 2015) Written by Jason Aaron, art by John Cassaday, colors by Laura Martin and letters by Chris Eliopoulos.

So how did Marvel do? All in all, I would say Marvel didn't do too badly. All the main characters were present -- including Darth Vader -- who is always cool to see. John Cassady's art has a photo-realism that works well, especially given that it's a franchise readers cannot help but bring their old awe-struck memories to the reading experience. The ships and technology was also great, and the fact that Star Wars has always had the best naval architecture of any science-fiction/space opera franchise, was not lost on Cassday and the Marvel crew. Have a look for yourself:

An AT-AT in Star Wars #1

And it's not just the technology: the gang's all here in Star Wars #1...

It's almost a truism to say Jason Aaron is as skilled a writer as comics can get. His work with the various Thor titles since the Marvel NOW! re-branding has lent itself to space-opera and stories of epic proportions, as did Wolverine and the X-Men which was never afraid to go to outer space when needed. So while it's probably too early to tell whether these stories are going to great, I think Aaron is both the right person for the job and at this point is off to a good start. The book is at a $4.99 price point, which seems to be where Marvel is heading these days (Avengers!) which was slightly unpleasant, but this particular edition included sample pages from the upcoming Marvel releases: Darth Vader and Princess Leia, both of which looked like good beginnings to a fresh look at the Star Wars universe. 

... as is Darth Vader!

So while it's probably too early to tell whether these stories are going to great, I think Aaron is both the right person for the job and is off to a good start. In either case, while the Dark Horse material is no longer canon, (Will it become an Ultimate Star Wars universe?) it will be interesting to see how Marvel does with this line of Star Wars comics, especially given the new films are just over the horizon. However, from a first impression, things look to be in good shape. 4/5 STARS 

Fan Expo Canada 2013

I know its been a while since I've written on WGTB, but in my experience summer is prone to either a deluge of blog writing or very little. So to make up for the recent drought, I have a bunch of articles coming soon. But in the meanwhile, here are some choice photographs from Fan Expo Canada 2013 (August 22-25). Unfortunately, I was only able to attend the Friday of the four day show, but these pics should give you a sense of how Canada's largest fan and comics convention fared. It was pretty good, and certainly biggest and busiest I've seen yet.   

As usual, the Whovians and Deleks are out in force! 

As were the Trekkies as this convention featured some prominent Star Trek cast members. Here's the legendary George Takai signing autographs.

This year's Fan Expo was the first to use both halls of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Early attendance figures put it at over 100,000 people.

Sons of Anarchy was featured prominently this year and anecdotal t-shirt evidence says the fanbase is growing. Here's a SOA-themed Harley-Davidson.

Dark Horse brought a booth. Unfortunately DC and Marvel did not.

And Marvel heard about this perceived slight at the Marvel: Infinity panel. Left to right: An unidentified fan, Marvel SVP, Publishing Tom Brevoort, editor Ellie Pyle and creators Stuart & Kathryn Immonen. Highlights of this panel included: 

1) Re: the Ultimate universe: We must continue to expect the unexpected. But there is no confirmed information about Hunger and any Ultimate characters coming over to Earth-616.

2) Brian Michael Bendis is heavily involved in the upcoming X-Men: Battle of the Atom crossover, so we can expect something tying that arch to the recently completed Age of Ultron.

3) There may be more New Universe characters coming to Earth-616. This shouldn't surprise anyone after Jonathan Hickman's use of Star Brand in Avengers. 

Friday also featured a great panel with Walt and Louise Simonson. Seen here are an unknown tech-guy and host (left), Walt (middle) and Louise (right). It was fun hearing about the creation of Beta Ray Bill, Walt's upcoming creator-owned work with IDW, writing the Star Wars comics of the early 80s and why he changed Warren Worthington III in X-Factor. Louise offered some great stories about working with Walt and how the DC editorial team came up with the idea to kill Superman in the early 1990s.  

After the Simonson panel, there was another with the always engaging Neil Adams. Here, Adams spilled the beans about the Silver Age with stores about the Comics Code, the famous Green Lantern/Green Arrow issue involving a drug-using Speedy, and how he didn't get to finish The Kree/Skull War to his satisfaction.

Avatar Comics had a great display booth.

The Toronto Lego Users Group had a presence with a Death Star trench display and...

...a Lego Serenity from Firefly. I asked if any glue was involved and the host (left) said no.  

The Batmobile circa 1989. Looks like a homebuilt, but it's still very cool. 

80s icon KITT from Knight Rider.  

The cockpit of KITT. How would one do a U-turn in that thing?  

George Takei talks about working on the set of Star Trek, past convention practical jokes, his use of social media and a musical he co-wrote called Allegiance. It's about the experience of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War. He's such an engaging speaker!

While fellow Star Trek alum Nichelle Nichols spoke about her family history, her father's early support and encouragement and being one of the first  African-American women on network television.

And finally Ian McDiarmid a.k.a. the Emperor from the Star Wars universe spoke about his casting break as the Emperor in 1982, working on the subsequent trilogy as Palpatine and what it's like being a pop culture icon. The Scotsman was great and he even did that evil voice!

All in all it was a great day spent, and another successful FanExpo Canada. 

May the 4th Be With You!

Happy Star Wars Day everyone! And Happy Free Comic Book Day too. With one of my Star Wars t-shirts on, I'm about to head down to my local funny book emporium for a few freebies. But before that I thought I'd share a few images and commentary from a small sampling of the Star Wars books I've collected over the years. Of late, I've been very busy with exams so I feel terrible about not spending as much time on my blog as I'd like. But I promise to get back to writing reviews and features as soon as possible and in the meanwhile hope you enjoy the art. May the Force be with you!

There's no order for the images, except to start with the comic that re-booted things for Star Wars in the early 90s: Dark Horse's Star Wars: Dark Empire #1 (August 1992) by Tom Veitch with art by Cam Kennedy. 

This image comes from Dark Horse's Star Wars: Dark Empire #2 (April 1992) Creators are the same as above.

Here's an image from Dark Horse's Star Wars: Crimson Empire #1 (December 1997) written by Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley with pencils by Paul Gulacy and inks by P. Craig Russell. This was the last comic I bought before I took my 'I'm too cool for this stuff' hiatus from comics. I was gone for too long!

The splash from Dark Horse's Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith #1 (October 1994) Written by Tom Veitch & Kevin J. Anderson with pencils by Chris Gossett and inks by Mike Barreiro. It was one of the early efforts by Dark Horse/Lucasfilm Ltd. to explain the Sith/Jedi conflict.  

Here's a page from Dark Horse's Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War #1 (August 1995). It was written by Kevin J. Anderson with pencils by Dario Carrasco, Jr. and inks by Jordi Ensign. Note the familiar look to the helmet.

Remember when Han mentioned the 'bounty hunter on Ord Mantell' in The Empire Strikes Back? Well, here he is! It's from a reprint of an original newspaper comic published shortly after the original film. It's called Dark Horse's Classic Star Wars #2 (September 1992) written by Archie Goodwin with art by Al Williamson and colours by Steve Buccellato.

Yoda and Luke in Marvel's official comics adaptation of Return of the Jedi #2 (November 1983). The story was adopted by Archie Goodwin with art by Al Williamson & Carlo Garzon.

From Marvel's Star Wars #61 (July 1982) written by David Michelinie with plot by Walter Simonson and finishes by Tom Palmer. The Star Wars universe always had the coolest looking spaceships.

I love this comic. I first read the story when it was on one of those Books on Records/Tapes back in the early 80s. The image is from Marvel's Star Wars #55 (January 1982) written by David Michelinie with pencils by Walt Simonson and inks by Tom Palmer. Thanks for reading! 

Summer of Star Wars

With the recent announcement of another Dark Horse Star Wars title, I got to thinking about how twenty years ago this summer could rightfully be called my 'Summer of Star Wars'. I was in my early teens and comics were still all the rage so in June of that year, I bought Dark Horse's Dark Empire #4 by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy and was immediately transfixed. From there I traversed my area looking in every comic shop for back issues 1-3. Fortunately I was able to find them in a great little store called Comics North in Sudbury, Ontario and from there it was a frantic effort to consume any and everything Star Wars related.

Dark Horse Comics Dark Empire #1 (December 1991)

Dark Horse Comics Dark Empire #4 (May 1992)

From Dark Horses Dark Empire #2 (February 1992)

Dark Empire was Dark Horse Comics’ first foray into the Star Wars franchise and helped significantly to establish the comics element of its ‘Expanded Universe’. Published shortly after that company purchased the licensing rights from Lucasfilm (Marvel had let them go years earlier) the series helped reverse an overall decline which had started when the hype around Return of the Jedi dissipated. To my knowledge it was also the first regular Star Wars comic book since 1986.

Dark Horse's Dark Empire #2 (February 1992)

Dark Horse's Dark Empire #4 (April 1992)

Of course, Dark Empire wasn't without some help. The release of Timothy's Zahn's fantastic book Heir to the Empire in May 1992 aided in this renaissance and helped Bantam Spectra launch a virtual fleet of Star Wars related books. Having since bought the rights, Del Rey still publishes Star Warsnovels. 

So while the ultimate result of this Star Wars resurgence is still debatable -- I don't want to wade into a debate about the Prequel Trilogy or the 'Special Editions' – Dark Empire was a catalyst for so many fans, my included, to get back into Star Wars and enjoy that great mythic universe. Dark Horse would (and still does) publish comics based on George Lucas’ creation and while I’ve since stopped reading them, they like Depeche Mode and New Order were a staple of my existence in the early to mid 1990s and will always be looked upon with a certain fondness. 

Dark Horse's Dark Empire #4 (April 1992)

Dark Horse's Classic Star Wars #1 (August 1992)

If you have any Star Wars related memories please leave a comment.  Also if you’re looking for some actual history of the Dark Empire series, check out this Comic Book Urban Legends feature from CBR. It's an interesting read. 

Remembering Ralph McQuarrie

On March 3rd, Star Wars conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie passed away at age 82. 

Born in Gary, Indiana on 13 June 1929, McQuarrie would move to California in the 1960s where he would find work as a technical artist for Boeing. Soon, after transitioning into Hollywood work, he met a young filmmaker named George Lucas who asked him to take the ideas of his nascent space opera and put them onto canvass. From there, this art became the costumes, props and stop motion models of the original Star Wars trilogy, one of the most captivating and successful film series of all time. 

McQuarrie conceptual art for The Empire Strikes Back

In many respects, I owe a great deal to the partnership of McQuarrie and Lucas. In the early 1990s, I had given up on the superhero genre. It may have been because of the gimmickry and market saturation of that era, but not wanting to give up on comics entirely (and prompted by Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire novel) I turned to Dark Horse's Dark Empire comic series. From there I couldn't get a enough of Star Wars and after re-watching the films and reading the comics and novels, my imagination was once again captured by the majesty and grandiosity of that far away galaxy.

Then, in 1995, I was diagnosed with cancer and my entire world was turned upside down. Because the chemotherapy was so potent I was unable to read books -- which meant television and comics were all I could do to entertain myself when not sleeping or getting chemo. Because of this, the Star Wars galaxy became the escapist fare I needed while undergoing treatments and this entertainment was in large part due to the creative genius of Ralph McQuarrie. Thank you, Ralph. 

Cover of the book Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster. This story was originally intended to be the low budget Star Wars sequel if the first movie was unsuccessful.  

If you'd like to see some of this man's fantastic art, I've linked to two websites below. I'm also sure there are plenty of comic book artists who owe a debt of gratitude to Ralph McQuarrie too, so if you'd like to share a story please leave a comment in the comments section. If not, enjoy the artwork from the Star Wars and McQuarrie personal websites and I hope to speak with you again soon.

Comics and Christmas Memories

To mark the festive season, I thought it would be interesting to post some comic images from the various toy franchises I've asked Santa Claus for over the years.  

Optimus Prime from Marvel's Transformers Universe #2, January 1987

We start with Transformers, the toyline that kept me the most interested in the 1980s. One of my best Christmases was when Optimus Prime showed up under the tree in 1984, and I still think he's one of the best toys ever designed. Unfortunately, I don't own a lot of TF comics, but if you're looking for an interesting account of the Autobots, Decepticons and Marvel's role in their development, check out the link to Jim Shooter's blog here.  

From Marvel's Transformers #39, April 1988

Star Wars toys were also a staple of Christmases in the 1980s in my house. Here are some images from the Marvel's run which started with A New Hope and ended in the mid-to-late 1980s. I've also included an image from Dark Horse's reprint of the Archie Goodwin/Al Williamson newsprint run which was collected into 20 issues in the early 1990s and titled Classic Star Wars. Dark Horse bought the licence between 1989 and 1990 (I couldn't uncover an exact date) and has been publishing Star Wars comics ever since.

Splash from Marvel's Star Wars #28,  October 1979

'Jabba the Hut' appears in Star Wars #28, October 1979

From Dark Horse's Classic Star Wars #10,  July 1993

Robotech -- one of the first successful forays of Japanese Manga into the North American market -- is the third group of toys I've included. I was never a big collector of the toys, but remember a great Christmas morning when a Zentradi Battlepod appeared under the tree. The action figure line wasn't of the same quality as Hasbro's GI Joe (which was banned in my house anyway), but I liked the sci-fi and will still watch the show every now and then. 

Splash from Comico's Robotech #19, May 1987

The fold bothers me too. Page from Comico's Robotech #19, May 1987

Robotech comics were published Comico, a small publisher based in Norristown, Pennsylvania. They printed the Macross Saga between 1985 and 1989 but went out of business in 1990. Other comics from other companies have been printed involving the Robotech franchise, but I only followed Macross, so that's all I've included. 

From Comico's Robotech #18, March 1987

From Comico's Robotech #18, March 1987

Finally we have Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future. This live-action show had a line of toys which were unique because they involved some of the earliest toy-television interactive play. The show only lasted one season (1987-88) however; probably because it couldn't figure out whether it was an adult program like Star Trek or a kids show like Transformers. 

From Continuity Comics' Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future #1, August 1988

From Continuity Comics' Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future #1, August 1988

Only three issues of the comics were ever published and what's particularly interesting about them is that they were done by Continuity Comics, a company founded by comics great Neil Adams in 1984. This particular issue was drawn by Adams himself and was adapted from a television script by long-time television and comics writer J. Michael Straczynski. One Christmas I got a Lord Dredd's throne and a 'Soaron' figure which was very cool.

From Continuity Comics' Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future #1, August 1988

'Soaron' from Continuity Comics' Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future #1, August 1988

So there you go: a little walk down memory lane before you stuff yourselves with Christmas turkey and chocolate. Thanks again for visiting WGTB and have a very Merry Christmas!