‘Revenge of the Sith’ reviews
John’s “Revenge of the Sith” review, Brainerd Dispatch, May 20, 2005 John’s “Revenge of the Sith” flashback review, johnvhansen.com, Sept. 6, 2016
‘The Phantom Menace’ reviews
John’s “Phantom Menace” 10th anniversary commentary, johnvhansen.com, May 19, 2009 John’s “Phantom Menace” 3D release review, johnvhansen.com, 2012
10 funniest moments in ‘Family Guy’s’ ‘Blue Harvest’
TV review: Ten years after its initial airing, “Family Guy’s” “Blue Harvest” episode remains one of the funniest “Star Wars” parodies.
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ (1980) and ‘Return of the Jedi’ (1983) (Comic book reviews)
My look back at the “Star Wars” saga comic adaptations concludes with the best and the most disappointing entries, both from the legendary duo of Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson (“Classic Star Wars”), along with background artist Carlos Garzon: “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back”(1980) and “Episode VI: Return of the Jedi” (1983). “Empire” is exactly what we
‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ gets comic adaptations in 1977, 1997
‘Star Wars’ flashback (Comic book reviews): Here are my takes on the “A New Hope” original (1977) and Special Edition (1997) adaptations.
‘Star Wars’ flashback: The prequel trilogy adaptations (1999-2005) (Comic book reviews)
I feel the “Star Wars” prequel films get a little more stagey and theatrical – or to be harsher, a little sloppier — as they go along, but the comic adaptations are the opposite: They get progressively better. “Episode I: The Phantom Menace” (1999) is a flat retelling, “Episode II: Attack of the Clones” (2002) has vibrant art but
‘Star Wars’ flashback: The 10 best ‘Clone Wars Adventures’ digest stories (2004-07) (Comic book reviews)
The Genndy Tartakovsky “Clone Wars” TV microseries (2003-05) delivered bite-size kinetic tales that served as a testing ground for “The Clone Wars” (2008-14). Its comic-book parallel was the “Clone Wars Adventures” digests (2004-07), in which artists – most often the Fillbach Brothers – and colorists mimic Tartakovsky’s work and the microseries’ energy.
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Agent of the Empire’ (2011-13) (Comic book reviews)
One of the most all-around beautiful pieces of “Star Wars” comic storytelling came toward the end of the Dark Horse run: “Agent of the Empire,” which includes the five-issue arcs “Iron Eclipse” (2011-12) and “Hard Targets” (2012-13). The series is written by elite scribe John Ostrander with gorgeous art by Stephane Roux and Stephane Crety (“Iron Eclipse”)
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Lost Tribe of the Sith: Spiral’ (2012) (Comic book review)
During the Expanded Universe era, the Bantam/Del Rey books and Dark Horse comics didn’t collaborate too often, but when they did, it was often a treat. A prime example is John Jackson Miller’s “Lost Tribe of the Sith: Spiral” (2012). It spins off from “Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories,” nine novellas that give us
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘The Clone Wars’ digests Nos. 10-11 (2013) (Comic book reviews)
“The Clone Wars” digests, like their parent show, came to a premature conclusion in 2013 with Disney’s purchase and rebooting of the franchise. As with the TV show, the digests were starting to be more consistently good when they ended. No. 9, “The Sith Hunters,” which I reviewed in a previous post, is the best and most essential