The major comic companies put out enough comics that sometimes it can leave your head spinning and eyes bleeding as you search the new titles each week for something worth reading. To aid in your Geeky endeavors, Speak Geeky To Me on occasion reviews new titles from the major companies to spotlight the best and worst of what’s available at your local comic shop. So sit back, relax, and enjoy a new Comic Review.

 

CR-TheStarWars0The Info Bit

Title: The Star Wars #1

Genre/s: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Writer: J.W. Rinzler

Artist: Mike Mayhew (Bionic Man, Fear Itself: Homefront)

Colorist: Rain Beredo (Avengers Assemble, All New X-men)

Letterer: Michael Heisler (Halo Initiation, Avatar)

Publisher: Dark Horse

Number of Issues: 1 (of 8)

Page Count: 25

Price: $3.99

 

The Review Bit

CR-TheStarWars1“Longer ago. In a galaxy even further away….”

This is the tag line for one of the most anticipated Star Wars comic titles in many years. Almost 6 months ago on Easter Sunday I was sitting in room 207 of the Anaheim Convention Center at WonderCon, eagerly awaiting the Star Wars Comics 2013 panel, to see what was next in sequential art stories of my favorite subject. It was there that THE STAR WARS was announced for an 8-issue run beginning in September. The story goes that George Lucas had approached the powers that be over at Dark Horse comics asking if they had an interest in adapting his original draft of Star Wars, they of course jumped at the chance. Every Star Wars fanatic worth their salt knows about the fabled first draft (Vader is not part machine, Luke Skywalker is a battle hardened Jedi General, and Han Solo is a giant lizard like alien), and now we get to see it in comic form…beyond exciting!!

To say the next several months dragged on is putting it mildly, but on September 4th our wait was over.

Right off the bat the first thing I want to do is thank Dark Horse for putting this book on high quality card stock. I still think that most comics being priced at $3.99 is ridiculous, but I have a hard time complaining when it’s nice card stock like this, which also only helps to accentuate Nick Runge’s gorgeous cover art for this book. J.W. Rinzler and Mike Mahew totally pulled off the 1-2 punch putting this book together. J.W. Rinzler’s words paired with some of the amazing art by Mayhew really made me feel like I was experiencing Star Wars in a whole new way. I carefully looked at each panel, carefully read each bubble, letting it sink in that this was something I never imagined I would get to read like this. It was so much fun to read through, wondering which character was coming up next and if you could figure it out before being told, and the thrill of seeing Darth Vader for the first time.

I am not aware of how much of what was written was from the original draft, or was from Rinzler’s adaptive thoughts, either way I felt the script was well laid out and flowed exactly like you would imagine and want something from this universe to. It just plain felt Star Wars-y (Star Wars-esque?). Mayhew’s pencils/inks and Rain Beredo’s colors were just marvelous in my opinion. I think the last few pages involving Kane Starkiller and his son Annikin meeting with General Luke Skywalker are a perfect example of this. There were a few panels consisting of a close-ups on one character or another’s eyes, or a just a character’s face, and these panels conveyed so much more emotion than words could. I was very impressed and really couldn’t be happier with this first issue.

Of course, in an attempt of being critical, I did have one issue with the opening salvo of The Star Wars, and it is related to the art. It seems much of the concept art of Ralph McQuarrie was a heavy influence. Not that I have a problem with this magnificent art by any means, but one thing stuck with me, the art used for Kane Starkiller is the concept art of Han Solo. Confused is too strong a word, but when you have spent many many years associating that art with a character, seeing it used for another was a bit hard to get used to…perhaps I could describe it as slightly jarring. I’m not sure why the decision was made to use the art, but it stands to reason that the concept art has a deeper history than some of us know. It is entirely possible that the Solo concept art could’ve existed for both characters. McQuarrie’s original drawings could very well been originally meant to depict Kane Starkiller. But when the original draft was scrapped, along with many of its characters like Kane, the art remained and was reassigned to similar characters.

 

The Rating Bit

The Star Wars #1 is great for long time Star Wars fans, as well as new fans. I can’t sing its praises enough. I feel it is my duty to give this book a rating of 10 out of 10. It was just masterfully crafted, and wonderfully packaged. If you do not pick up this book, you are truly missing out on something special.