Inside ‘Star Wars Insider #145’

October 18, 2013 at 10:47 am | Posted in Star Wars, Star Wars Insider | Leave a comment
Tags: constant spirit, jennifer heddle

Star Wars Insider #145 sports Vader on the cover because inside is a serious treat: ten Star Wars authors and artists tackling the character and weighing in on whether he’s a villain or a victim. Also inside is new fiction by Jen Heddle, a cool dialog between George Lucas and Alan Dean Foster discussing Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, a look at The Lando Calrissian Adventures, and much more.

For me, the highlight of this issue was the “Darth Vader: Victim or Villain” article. To answer the question, they brought in Timothy Zahn, Aaron Allston, John Jackson Miller, Christie Golden, Michael Reaves, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, Doug Wheatley, Kevin Hearne, Ryder Windham and Joe Schreiber (though it’s worth noting that Jason Fry also weighs in on the subject). The experts were asked “Is Darth Vader really a bad guy or a victim of tragic circumstance?”, “Who is really to blame for the tragedy of Darth Vader? Anakin, Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi, or Palpatine?”, and “Can he truly be redeemed give the atrocities committed: The murder of the younglings, the destruction of Alderaan, torturing Leia, the purge, and his other murderous acts?” The answers are surprising, well thought out and very insightful. The wide array of authors (plus artist) gives a wide variety of answers. All in all, this was a very cool article and I’d love to see more like this in future issues of Insider.

Another key feature in this issue was “The Conversation”, a transcript between George Lucas and Alan Dean Foster back on October 13, 1976. The two got together to talk about Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, what would be the first Expanded Universe novel and what would have served as a cheap sequel to Star Wars if the movie failed. There’s some interesting plot points they toss around including romantic relationships for Leia and killing off characters.

“From Page to Screen and Back Again…” continues Bryan Young’s highlight of the importance of the Star Wars RPG material. I really like these articles as the old West End Games material is often overlooked and it’s fun to hear some of the authors talk about how they’ve utilized the material in their own books. Michael A. Stackpole, Timothy Zahn and Aaron Allston each weigh in on the subject as the article highlights how the RGP sourcebooks have tied-in and been drawn upon for the EU.

Also included in this issue…

• A fun little one page comic by Jonathan Wilkins and Jeff Carlisle promoting the Death Star Owner’s Technical Manual.
• Rogues Gallery of Naboo security forces.
• Doug Chiang and Iain McCaig talking about their concept art for the Prequels.
• Paul Bateman’s new piece of artwork inspired by Ralph McQuarrie and featuring a Wookiee patrol.
• A very nice spotlight on L. Neil Smith and his work on The Lando Calrissian Adventures.
• An interview with model builder Lorne Peterson.
• Upcoming books, comics and collectibles.

Plus Star Wars Insider #145 has a new piece of original fiction by Jennifer Heddle. Entitled “Constant Spirit”, the story stars Leia and features three new pieces of artwork by Magali Villeneuve. Leia attempts to rendezvous with a Rebel agent on Quellor but things go bad and they’re pressed to the breaking point. The story presents a hard lesson for Leia, but also a nice moment of reflection that highlights one of her fundamental traits.

If you’re not a subscriber to Star Wars Insider, you can always pick it up on newsstands (#145 will be out October 22nd) or head on over to Titan Magazines to order or subscribe.

Posted By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.