Hieing to Kolob in a Bucket of Bolts

Here's the one thing that I think the prequels lacked that, if Lucas would have found a way to fit into the movies, would have improved them greatly: a Han Solo type character. Everyone was so serious* in episodes I-III that it became somewhat of a chore to get through.**

One of the reasons I'm so excited for the Force Awakens--disregarding any apprehension I may have expressed in my last post--is the return of Han Solo (and, based on the trailers, I also suspect there will be another Han Solo type character found in the movie). Really, when you think about it, the secret to the extremely crowd-pleasing Guardians of the Galaxy is that someone finally made a space opera where Han Solo was the chief protagonist.

*Let's all just agree to ignore Jar Jar Binks here, okay? The less said about Lucas' attempt at humor in The Phantom Menace, the better.

**I should know, several weeks ago, I proposed to my children we rewatch all six movies to get us ready for The Force Awakens, only to loose interest after Attack of the Clones (my personal least favorite***).

***If you care, my personal rankings would be: 1) Empire, 2) New Hope, 3) Revenge, 4) Return, 5) Menace, and 6) Clones. I won't consider The Force Awakens a success unless it cracks the top three.

Never Mind, Obi-Wan

I'm really excited to see the new Star Wars movie. I've been heartened to see that the reviews to the movie have been overwhelmingly positive. (Granted, I haven't actually read any of those reviews for fear of being spoiled concerning the movie.) But there is one thing that has been troubling me concerning the Force Awakens.*

At the end of Return of the Jedi; Luke, Leia, Han, and their friends are enjoying the fruits of a hard-fought victory over the Empire. Their victory over evil seems earned too. Over the course of three movies, they suffered plenty. Luke lost a hand and watched both a father figure and his actual father die before his eyes, Leia was witness to the genocide of her home planet, Han was frozen in carbonite, and Lando seems to have lost that sweet cape he was rocking in Empire Strikes Back.

And now the Force Awakens seems to have reset everything. The good guys are still a ragtag band of rebels fighting and evil empire (with storm troopers and everything). I realize they're going by different names in the new movie, but the idea is the same. So what changed after the battle of Endor? Were all of the sacrifices of Luke, Leia, and Han for nothing?

I've got a bad feeling about this...

Tune in tomorrow for more ramblings about a galaxy far, far away.

*Here's the disclaimer that I offer every time I post one of these: be aware that things are going to get geeky. If that's not your thing, you are under no obligation to read this through to the end.

Star Wars Week: Episode VI

It is a time of great confusion. Children (and adult cartoonists) are usually anticipating Christmas presents, eggnog, and candy plumbs dancing in their heads (whatever those are); but this year there is a great disturbance in their holiday cheer. With the latest Star Wars movie opening a mere week before Christmas, they don't know what to celebrate.

Meanwhile, one intrepid Mormon Cartoonist has decided to celebrate Star Wars this week and Christmas next. He will be publishing not two, but three Star Wars-themed comics to honor the occasion on Monday, Thursday, and Friday; thus completing his trilogy of Star Wars weeks (find Episode IV and Episode V here).