‘Session 9’ review
“Session 9” — A group of workers goes in to clear asbestos from an abandoned insane asylum. One of the workers becomes obsessed with old tape reels of doctor-patient conversations. You’d think it would be a can’t-miss premise for a horror movie, but there’s only one genuinely creepy scene in the film. Most of the
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Legacy’ Issues 48-50 (2010) and ‘War’ (2010-11) (Comic book reviews)
Writer John Ostrander brings together all the myriad factions of “Legacy” in two final, epic arcs – “Extremes,” Issues 48-50 (2010), and the six-issue miniseries “Legacy: War” (2010-11). The Fel Empire, the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi unite against the Sith Empire. Additionally, the non-Sith members of the Sith Empire finally realize the Sith are 1) evil and 2)
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Legacy’ Issues 41-47 (2009-10) (Comic book reviews)
A major impetus behind launching a series set four generations after Luke Skywalker was that it gave the writer freedom to chronicle a fresh part of the timeline. But by the time of “Legacy”Issues 41-47 (2009-10), a big appeal of John Ostrander’s saga is the way it ties back to the wider mythos.
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Legacy’ Issues 32-40 (2009) (Comic book reviews)
George Lucas was interested in the dangers of humans melding with machines, but that concept was buried by the time he got to the final drafts of his “Star Wars” films. The machine aspects of Darth Vader and General Grievous (and Lumiya and the Hunter, if you delve into the Expanded Universe) were emblematic but
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Vector’ (2008) (Comic book review)
Dark Horse editor Randy Stradley begins his introduction to the first trade-paperback volume of “Vector” (2008) by apologizing for the “crass commercialism” of the crossover project. But he needn’t have apologized. The idea of a story that travels through the four ongoing “Star Wars” comics of the time may have been commercial, but it was also just
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Legacy’ Issues 20-27 (2008) (Comic book reviews)
Coming off Cade Skywalker’s epic escape from the Sith Temple in the previous arc, “Legacy” Issues 20-27 (2008) mark an opportunity for the series to catch its breath. Rather than being a boring stretch of issues, it is enjoyable to bask in this world writer John Ostrander has constructed, especially since he shines with dialogue and humor
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Legacy’ Issues 11-19 (2007-08) (Comic book reviews)
“Legacy” Issues 11-19 (2007-08) explore Cade Skywalker’s attempt to infiltrate the dark side without being turned, something that had already been chronicled in “Tales of the Jedi” (Ulic Qel-Droma), “Republic” (Quinlan Vos) and “Dark Empire” (Luke Skywalker). So it’s impressive that – despite the way-too-familiar nature of this story – writer John Ostrander ratchets “Legacy” to
Dark Horse’s ‘The Star Wars’ gives fascinating insight into Lucas’ writing process (Comic book review)
When I first heard Dark Horse was doing an adaptation of George Lucas’ May 1974 rough draft of “A New Hope,” I had two reactions: 1) How cool!, and 2) In retrospect, how obvious! Laurent Bouzereau gave insights into the various drafts of the original trilogy in his 1997 gem “Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays,”
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Empire’ Issues 20-28 (2004) and ‘A Valentine Story’ (2003) (Comic book reviews)
Rather than tread ground already covered by Marvel’s “Star Wars” and Goodwin and Williamson’s “Classic Star Wars,” I suspect part of the aim of “Empire” was to fill in the storytelling gaps. Two ways to do this are to give time to previously under-explored characters and to tie in prequel information with classic-era yarns. Both of those
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Empire’ Issues 10, 11, 13, 14 and 16-19 (2003-04) (Comic book reviews)
The early issues of “Empire” explored old favorites (Vader, Leia and Boba Fett) and a cult favorite (Biggs). Up next, the title puts the spotlight on characters we had no connection to before (Rebel officer Roons Sewell and stormtrooper TK-622) or little connection (Imperial Lieutenant Janek Sunber – more on where you MIGHT have heard of him