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I don't like it either!

Aye or nay on this look for Luke?

“Star Wars 107: All Together Now (Last Issue!)” Original Marvel. June 17, 1986. Writer: Mary Jo Duffy. Penciller: Cynthia Martin. Inker: Whilce Portacio. Letterer: Tom Orzechowski. Colorist: Elaine Lee.

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I just noticed your hilarious addition, omg! I feel you!

This week’s theme: Droids!

Shoutout to Jedi Academy’s adorably cheerful knock-off 3POs, vastly out of touch with the priorities of middle-schoolers. I, for one, want to hear to the rest of the Mando poetry lesson.

“Jedi Academy: Return of the Padawan.” July 29. 2014. Writer and illustrator: Jeffrey Brown.

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I'm late for Star Wars Day, but here is my tribute to the most iconic gay Sith wedding of all time. It's a straightfoward redraw, though I did color-correct Marka Ragnos' skin to Sith-ly red, and I also gave Exar a bunch of piercings because he's evil and this is the 90s.

I painted this on the blank cover variant of the first edition of Marvel's current "Star Wars" series, which kicks off right after the events of Empire Strikes Back. So turn the page, and you'll find Exar and Ulic's spooky union attended by a miserable Luke, imperial girlboss Ellian Zahra, and Poe Dameron's cool parents. Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace!

This week’s theme: Star Wars OTPs!

As long as we’re talking trashy, evil mlm ships – in Star Wars, it doesn’t get any better than Exar Kun x Ulic Qel-Droma. These panels show their first meeting (though earlier, Ulic had sensed Exar’s existential anguish in the Force), in which they briefly fight and are then immediately married by a Sith ghost. This is, I believe, the fabled gay agenda.

How it started:

My enemies…I am Exar Kun!

How it’s going:

Together we will bring down the galaxy!

… And they all lived horribly ever after.

“Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith, Issue 6: Jedi Assault.” Dark Horse. March 14, 1994. Writers: Tom Veitch and Kevin J. Anderson. Penciller: Art Wetherell. Inker: Jordi Ensign. Letterer: Willie Schubert. Colorist: Pamela Rambo.

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Guess who I'm finally drawing onto this blank variant cover I've had since 2019?

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Everybody’s talking about the Andur finale!

Damn, got by a lizard! That was so exciting! I can’t wait for Season 2; this Nomi seems like she’ll be a fantastic character!

“Tales of the Jedi, issue 3: The Saga of Nomi Sunrider, part 1.” Dark Horse. December 1, 1993. Writer: Tom Veitch. Penciller: Janine Johnston. Inker: Mike Barreiro. Letterer: Willie Schubert. Colorist: Pamela Rambo.

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This week’s theme: Beautiful Planets!

I don’t know if any other comic has managed to render Tatooine more beautifully than this ancient tome from 1987. Bravo.

“Droids 6: According to the Droids,” Book 1. Original Marvel. February 1987. (Reprinted as “True Believers: Star Wars - According to the Droids.” December 4, 2019.) Writer: David Manak. Penciller: Ernie Colón. Inker and Colorist: Marie Severin. Letterer: Ed King.

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Happy Star Wars Day!

Two years ago, I wrote about young Anakin’s strange vision of the future; last year, I wrote about old Ulic Qel-Droma’s tragic vision of the past. This year, I thought I’d write about the natural next step: old Daegen Lok’s terrifying vision of infinity.

I expounded briefly but extravagantly upon my love for Daegen Lok once before; I’ll try to be clearer here. Daegen and Xesh form the core master-student relationship of the excellent 15-part Dawn of the Jedi comic series. Never were two souls more haunted by their own dark deeds, oppressed by the cruel systems around them, nor tormented by the sheer, cold majesty of the Force than Messrs. L and X. Obi-Wan and Anakin? They had it easy. Kreia and the Exile? That’s nothing. Cere and Trilla? No, the boys definitely suffered more. (Alright, apparently when it comes to DotJ I must be extravagant.)

Daegen's Force-vision, which takes place just before the story begins, has two layers: the first like Cassandra’s, and the second like Zaphod Beeblebrox’ (pictured). As a young and reckless knight fresh off a bloody victory, he descends into the forbidden cavern below the Temple with his buddy Hawk Ryo to see what they can see. Their first, more plot-heavy vision foretells of another war, heralded by a mighty young man with a glowing stick (new at the time). When they try to warn their elders to prepare, they are threatened with exile for their disobedience. Hawk betrays Daegen (cue homoerotic subplot) and Daegen is banished to the moon, where he becomes the titular Prisoner of Bogan until Xesh and the proto-lightsaber fall right into his lap. Since no one believes Daegen about the war, he takes matters into his own hands and prepares his own army of crooks and ne’er-do-wells against the impending alien invaders. Xesh follows along until his love triangle plot kicks in; of course, heterosexuality was the one thing Daegen could not have foreseen.

But the second layer of Daegen’s vision is the thing that really fucks him up. If you’ve read Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, you might remember the scene where they try to torture Zaphod by impressing upon him the immensity of the galaxy. While Zaphod is too egotistical for it to work, Daegen is not. The true identity of the mysterious chasm is revealed to him: it is a portal that can take one anywhere in the universe! (It’s also a reference to my least favorite Quinlan Vos comic.) The elders always said the chasm would drive any visitors mad, and this overwhelming awareness is why.

Nevertheless, though Daegen has gone insane because of the second thing, he is still right about the first thing. And while Hawk takes the easy path of conformity and self-denial, Daegen never wavers from his terrible truth, which is very sexy and transgender of him.

As far as the illustration goes, it is simpler than those of the other two visions I discussed. The vision is technically full-page, but the inserts don’t allow it to dominate the scene, which is just too bad. In the limited space available, Jan Duursema does the “sky full of beachballs” trick which is also utilized in Anakin’s vision, is a staple of Al Williamson’s compositions, and is honestly most effective in Michael Murnane’s conclusion to the epic Wat Tambor one-shot. This visual trick actually makes the universe look small, which is usually a great choice for Star Wars, where transportation is hardly the physics-straining problem that it is in harder sci-fi. That is the exact opposite of what Daegen’s cosmic-horror vision is supposed to convey, but Duursema’s expressive figure and face make the intended emotions obvious anyway.

“Dawn of the Jedi: Force War,” issue 3. Dark Horse. January 15, 2014. Writer and co-plotter: John Ostrander. Penciller and co-plotter: Jan Duursema. Inker: Dan Parsons. Letterer: Michael Heisler. Colorist: Wes Dzioba.

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This is the description for an upcoming panel at Star Wars Celebration at the end of May. If Nomi Sunrider is coming back as a cartoon character, I'm gonna lose my shit.

What are the chances this new animated Tales of the Jedi is going to have anything to do with my beloved 90s comic Tales of the Jedi? Probably very slim. But if it does -- will they do it justice, or mess it up?! 😱

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Favorite Lightsaber Comic Panels

all stolen from my own sideblog

Retro fun with dynamic angles, bold shapes, and stylish onomatopoeia by Ernie Colón and Russ Manning

Splintering sticks by Jeff Albrecht Studios and Joe Johnston

Dramatic environments with weird, energetic shapes by Andrea Broccardo and Derek Thompson

Chris Gossett's dripping popsicles, contrasted with Exar Kun's dry savannah and paralleling Cay Qel-Droma's fresh blood

Al Williamson's masterful composition: a study in diagonals and a glorious halo of light

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I'm doing pretty badly and I'm also sort of bummed out with Star Wars right now, so I'm taking a short break from daily posting. I hope I will be back soon because I really do enjoy and feel proud of this blog. I am just not feeling it lately.

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Another example of a gorgeous, intricate foreground, ephemeral background, and delicate character linework by Al Williamson. My favorite part of this panel is how the moss overlaps with Luke’s speech bubble, which emphasizes the power of nature over the designs of man. My least favorite part is our boys’ apparent disregard for gun safety.

Star Wars Newspaper Comic Strip: “The Night Beast.” March 27, 1982. Writer: Archie Goodwin. Illustrator: Al Williamson.

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Happy (?) Clone Wars Friday! (Why do I say happy? It never is!)

The three Star Wars trilogies parallel in each other in interesting and not-so-interesting ways. One of the less obvious parallels is that a never-before-seen but beloved minor character dies at the beginning of each “dark middle chapter.” Padme’s decoy Corde dies at the beginning of Attack of the Clones; Luke’s gunner Dak dies at the beginning of Empire Strikes Back; and Rose’s sister Paige dies at the beginning of The Last Jedi. These deaths accomplish two things: they set a grim tone after the victorious finale of the previous film, and they establish a main character’s emotional investment in the war.

Both Dak and Paige die in battle, but Corde is assassinated just outside the Senate. Though The Clone Wars have not been declared, this act of aggression was certainly meant to provoke them. I would argue that Corde is technically the first casualty of The Clone Wars -- the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Star Wars.

Little Golden Book: Attack of the Clones. July 28, 2015. Writer: Geof Smith. Illustrator: Ethan Beavers.

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This moment, when Maul hangs up on Palpatine, is in my opinion the most empowered Maul ever gets to be. In fact, I think it might even be going too far! I’m not sure Maul, as I think of him, would ever have the confidence to actually do this. But this moment ultimately doesn’t last very long, and Maul is certainly humbled by the end of this comic. :(

“Darth Maul – Son of Dathomir.” This comic was published by both Dark Horse and Marvel, and is therefore both canonical and non-canonical. Matt Martin says it isn’t, and Sam Witwer says it is. Dark Horse publishing date: October 1, 2014. Marvel publishing date: November 28, 2017. Writer: Jeremy Barlow. Penciller: Juan Frigeri. Inker: Mauro Vargas. Colorist: Wes Dzioba.

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I like the idea that Jocasta is one of the teachers for the Jedi kids before they become Padawans.

“Kanan, Volume 2: First Blood,” trade paperback. Marvel. May 31, 2016. Writer: Greg Weisman. Penciller: Pepe Larraz. Colorist: David Curiel. Letterer: Joe Caramagna.

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The wifi at my house is still out, so I’m using my local library’s wifi to update this blog. It looks a little something like this.

Also: we stan Jocasta’s black lippy.

“Choose Your Destiny: An Obi-Wan and Anakin Adventure.” March 19, 2019. Writer: Cavan Scott. Illustrator: Elsa Charretier.

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You may be wondering (though you probably aren't) why today's panel is so late. Well, it's because there is a wifi outage in my neighborhood! It's actually been going on for days, but I had the last few panels scheduled beforehand.

I've finally gone to the public library to use their wifi. Thank God for libraries! So I'll be posting our beloved Jedi librarian Jocasta Nu today and every day until my household wifi is back.

Like and reblog to show support for libraries and librarians everywhere!

“English-Japanese Dictionary for Jedi Knights,” entry for “Individual.” 2015. Illustrators: Chifuyu Sasaki and Naoko Kawano, aka Gurihiru.

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Game over, man!!!

“Choose Your Destiny: An Obi-Wan and Anakin Adventure.” March 19, 2019. Writer: Cavan Scott. Illustrator: Elsa Charretier.