I’m very open about my passion for Star Wars; it completely steered my life into the direction I’ve found myself in this very day. It was so fun to obsess about the movies and expanded universes and when I was with friends who felt the same way it was like we were speaking a completely different language from everyone else. I was, am, and always will be a Star Wars fan.
When I heard word that Darkhorse was bringing us a new series based on George Lucas’ original screenplay draft I was excited. Personally, I never read it, but I knew enough about it to know that it’s very different from the film that actually released back in 1977. Gone is Anakin Skywalker and in his place Annikin Starkiller. Also, Han Solo is now a giant green monster. The art style would harken back to the works of the legendary Ralph McQuarrie’s original designs, and we would finally see the film George Lucas had originally wanted to give us in the form of a comic book where budget and time constraints weren’t really an issue.
The Star Wars follows a very different story than Star Wars: A New Hope; all the elements are there, we have a mentor, a young hero hoping to learn, and a galactic war happening, but the structure and chain of events is very different. It’s also much more politically charged which is less like the classic Star Wars Trilogy and more like the majorly less favored Prequel Trilogy. Still, it’s fun to see the initial inception of some of the most iconic staples in the Star Wars universe. We get to see George Lucas’ original Star Wars universe the way he intended for it to be seen, and you can’t beat the fact that they used Ralph McQuarrie’s art as inspiration.
There’s not much to write home about in terms of the dialogue, but I don’t believe that’s writer J.W. Rinzler’s fault; where Star Wars: A New Hope kept the back story very minimal, this story has a lot events and battles referenced that lead readers completely lost and out of the loop. This makes the characters sound weirdly stiff and non-inclusive. They exist in their universe where these things that happened are common knowledge and we’re thrown into of the middle of it without any frame of reference.
The Star Wars is an intriguing concept that, unfortunately, from the first issue I foresee will fall flat for most readers. I’d suggest buying it as a glorified art book, because artist Mike Mayhew (I couldn’t confirm a relation to Peter Mayhew) perfectly captures the magic of Ralph McQuarrie’s original work. I’m glad this isn’t the Star Wars movie we ended up getting because it unfortunately lacks a great deal of the charm that made myself and millions of other people fans of the franchise.
Writer: J. W. Rinzler
Artist: Mike Mayhew
Colorist: Rain Beredo
Letterer: Michael Heisler
Cover Artist: Nick Runge
