Mandalorian running thread

Quick thoughts:
- Lord Tion?
- I know Perry King auditioned for Han Solo. Never knew he “got” the part.
- wow, I had no idea that David Alan Grier was in this and apparently did voices on the ESB version.
- is this the one where the Call signs during the Death Star run are different?

 

The first two chapters are table-setting scenes dropped from the screenplay by Lucas but greatly expanded by the author Brian Daley when he adapted the screenplay into a radio teleplay. Lord Tion only appears in Daley’s radio play, in the second chapter (“Points of Origin”).

 

oop-

In my heart of hearts ANH is No. 1, because without it there is nothing else after it. But Empire is such a well-crafted story and has the best directing chops of the franchise.

One of the worst corners Lucas painted himself into was having his bad asses like Maul and Grievous just stick around for one movie. I understand he wants to preserve the episodic aspect of the old serials that inspired Star Wars, but there is no sense making decent foils a one-and-done.

Whereas Snoke should have been knocked off after one film, I think.

The SW film I really like that nerd peers take a hard pass on is Solo. I enjoyed the hell out of Solo.

 

I think we have the same idea. We just apply it differently if we rank all those stories.

Of course, it turned out that Maul wasn't really dead, but you have to dive into Clone Wars and Rebels to see most of that story.

I don't hate Solo, but I can't say I loved it, either. Han shooting first did make me smile. I love that they took a jab at Lucas.

 

I've been reading the back issues of the fairly recent Marvel Darth Vader comic and enjoying the hell out of them. They did two series, about 25 issues apiece, and both are available at ComicOnlineFree - Read comics online free in high quality.
The first series, which I'm still reading, picks up after A New Hope and follows Vader's quest to find Luke. It includes the scene where Vader finds out Luke is his son, which was an interesting twist on the established story. Vader also has two droid companions that are like murderous versions of R2-D2 and C3PO and steal every scene they're in.

The second series picks up literally where Revenge of the Sith ends, with the physical transformation of Anakin into Vader. From there it follows Vader's early years as he hunts down the remaining Jedi, makes a name for himself to the Empire at large, and then gradually becomes a man in search of a purpose as he kills off all but the last few well-hidden Jedi.

The two series, together, are great reads. Vader is a ruthless badass in both, and it gives a lot of depth to his character. In the second series you see him actually having to temper his rage so he doesn't simply murder everyone, and in the first you see him using a lot more of his experience, wits and cunning to deal with rivals who view him as a has-been.
I also enjoyed the characterization of the Emperor in both series. He's a guy with stuff to do, and plenty of other plots in motion. He gets pissed at Vader at one point for accidentally killing a senator who was important to some scheme or another, and through both series it's pretty clear that Vader is more of a useful tool to him than a son-like apprentice.
Both series are weird twists on the normal Star Wars stories, since they're told from the Empire's point of view. You get glimpses of the Emperor just trying to run a government and maintain order, and all of the headaches that entails, rather than juggling all of these Machiavellian Sith plots. There are also glimpses of everyday life in places like Coruscant, which feel fairly normal. You start to realize why Vader hates bureaucrats and Imperial officers so much in ANH, and it fills in some of the cracks between stories.
Anyway, two good reads. Highly recommend checking them out.

 

I read some issues on that site. It can be a little glitchy. Some issues will suddenly just not load. It does tend to work better with the trade paperbacks for some reason, so I'm going to give it another shot.

 

I've been reading Skywalking, the Lucas biography. He was talked out of so many dumb ideas for the first trilogy.

I thought it was interesting he wrote the original screenplay longhand, and was fastidious about it thereafter, which is how I've done a lot of my work.

I just always felt the words came to me better when I had a writing instrument in my hand.

 

Yeah, I've had a few series I've read through where I hit an issue that simply isn't there. It's annoying as hell. I think they're also a couple months behind the newest issues. But there are so many issues that are there that it's an infinitely valuable resource if you're a comic fan. I haven't found many major series, or at least trade paperbacks of the major story arcs, from the last 30-40 years that are missing. Plus it's free.

 

Oh, it's a great website. I've been able to read stuff I would have never gotten to otherwise, including The Boys and Old Guard. I've been reading the Darth Vader stuff since your post.

 

Snoke should have been in all three and they should have actually developed the character, shown us what he can do, given him a backstory, etc.

Bringing back Palpatine was lazy.

 

Agreed. They showed nothing of him turning Ben Solo, not even in flashbacks, and gave us only a little screen time with him demonstrating his power before taking him out. Again, it is the lack of a real plan. The proper path through all three would have been to leave Palpatine out of it and have Snoke as the big bad. The proper follow-up to The Last Jedi would have been to have Kylo Ren as the big bad in the final movie. His turn back in Rise of Skywalker just doesn't work after the first two movies. Maybe that is the Han Solo fan in me talking, but I imagine I'm not alone there. The people making those movies should have known it.

 

rocked this while cleaning a dog run this morning

a dirty job and this was just right for it