Welcome back to Strange Times & Places, where this week I’m jonesing real bad. For three years, Disney has trained me to want Star Wars in December…and this year they’re giving me Mary Poppins Returns. To sate my cravings, we’re reading 2013’s eight issue mini-series The Star Wars.
How’s It Different?
It’s an Imaginary Story,with a side of IRL For Want of a Nail, because it adapts the 1974 rough draft of the movie that would become Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
What’s The Story?
The New Galactic Empire has targeted the independent planet of Aquilae for conquest! They send their newly appointed system Governor Crispin Hoedaack, General Darth Vader, and a Knight of the Sith named Prince Valorum in their powerful Space Fortress to conquer the planet.
General Luke Skywalker,last of the Jedi Bendu, and his brash young apprentice, Captain Annikin Starkiller, set out to keep Aquilae free and its royal family safe from the imperial onslaught. They enlist the aid of Ureallian rebel Han Solo, imperiald eserter androids C-3PO and R2, and the wild Wookie tribes of the forbidden planet Yavin to accomplish this goal!
Best of Differences
- Han Solo as a seven foot tall green alien,who looks like Swamp Thing shagged a Battletoad, is actually a pretty coolcharacter.
- Kane Starkiller, father of Annikin, gets afew great character moments: fighting off a Sith Knight to save his son and sacrificing his cybernetically-lengthened life to save one of Aquilae’s princes.
- The Imperial Army uses lazerswords (better known as Lightsabers) and rides toothy Ostriches to patrol. They are better than Stormtroopers in every possible way.
- R2 can speak basic (AKA English). I personally imagine he sounds like
Baron Vaughn, but I just finished MST3k: The Gauntlet. - Prince Valorum is a really cool character that demonstrates that the Knights of the Sith, despite their feud with the Jedi Bendu, have at least some honor.
- First name Darth. Last name Vader. Darth Vader, perfectly mundane army general.
Worst of Differences
- Too. Many. Damn. Characters. The main bandof heroes consists of Princess Leia, Annikin Starkiller, Kane Starkiller, LukeSkywalker, Clieg Whitsun, Chewbacca, and Owen Lars by the end of the mini. Luke& Kane become Obi-Wan, Whitsun & Annikin become Luke Skywalker, and elements from Whitsun, Chewbacca, & Han Solo become Han & Chewie as weknow and love them..
- The villains consist of Emperor Dashit,Governor Hoedaack, Prince Valorum, and General Darth Vader. These characters got boiled down to Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin in the final flick. That’s four characters into two.
- Princess Leia is utterly useless.A ccomplishes nothing.
Come Back Next Week for a New Installment of 1 out of 5 – Would Recommend!
