Jabba the Hutt’s palace in “Return of the Jedi” was George Lucas’s “faster and more intense” answer to the cantina in “A New Hope.” Also benefiting from a second chance was “Tales from Jabba’s Palace” (1996), the follow-up to “Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina” that had more room to play in, more screen time to draw […]
In this “Star Wars” re-reading project, I encounter some stories that are exactly as I remembered them and some that offer pleasant surprises. As I worked through the “Tales of the Jedi” series, I was especially looking forward to the final chapter, “Redemption” (1998), remembering it as being the most emotionally moving “Star Wars” comic book series […]
Like so many “risky” concepts, “Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina” (1995) ultimately proved to be a brilliantly obvious one. Up to this point on the “Star Wars” publishing schedule, every adult book had featured at least one of the main characters from the movies. Comics, “Star Wars Adventure Journal” short stories and young-adult books had branched into side […]
Although the four-part “droids in the void” arc was by far the worst in the series’ run, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” Season 5 (8:30 a.m. Central Saturdays on Cartoon Network) nonetheless ranks as the best season so far thanks to the other arcs — the Onderon rebellion, the young Padawans, the Darth Maul/Death Watch saga (that […]
Similar to following evolutionary theory backward to the Big Bang, “Star Wars” stories always seem to have a backstory, no matter how far back on the timeline they take place. 1993’s “Tales of the Jedi,” which takes place 4,000 years before “A New Hope,” aimed to give some historic flavor to the Force. But writers […]
“Rebel Dawn” (1998) wraps up the best and most essential “Star Wars” trilogy outside of the classic films. Honestly, although its difficult to make a cross-media comparison, I think A.C. Crispin’s telling of Han Solo’s backstory is better than George Lucas’ telling of Anakin Skywalker’s backstory.
You know, sometimes it’s great to just settle in and enjoy a Denzel Washington movie. Although I’m not really the type to have a favorite actor (there’s no one where I follow them from role to role regardless of the topic), I did go on a Denzel kick back in 1999 in the wake of […]
TV commentary: The ridiculous behavior of lead character Rick Grimes has been a low point of “The Walking Dead” Season 3.
A.C. Crispin’s “The Hutt Gambit” (1997), the second book in the “Han Solo Trilogy,” does the best job of tying together disparate aspects of the Expanded Universe of any “Star Wars” work before or since. The author obviously did her research, and she delivers a story so central to the backstory of Han Solo that it’s remarkable […]
When I first saw “Episode I — The Phantom Menace,” I was a bit disappointed that the Emperor was already, for all intents and purposes, the Emperor — he was already evil. As the prequels went on we learned how he gained power over the galaxy, but not why he sought that power. Certainly, the […]