Comic Info
Comic Name: Star Wars Tales
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Ron Marz/Jim Woodring/Peter David/Timothy Zahn/Tony Isabella/Dan Jolley/Dave Cooper/Ryder Windham/John Ostrander/Rich Handley/Darko Macan/Rich Hedden/Lovern Kindzierski/Kevin Rubid/Sergio Aragones/Mark Evanier/Kilian Plunkett
Artist: Claudio Castellini/Tsuneo Sanda/Robert Teranishi/Martin Egeland/Igor Kordey/John Nadeau/Sean Phillips/Dave Cooper/Tom Fowler/Jan Duursema/Chris Brunner/Rick Leonardi/Robert Teranishi/Lucas Maragon/Sergio Aragones/Kilian Plunkett
# of Issues: 4
Release Date: 2002
Star Wars Tales #1
Reprints Star Wars Tales #1-4 (September 1999-June 2000). A long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away, the Force was strong and danger lurked behind every corner. Stories of the battle between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance still rise up and stories of Jedis run deep.
Written Ron Marz, Jim Woodring, Peter David, Timothy Zahn, Tony Isabella, Dan Jolley, Dave Cooper, Ryder Windham, John Ostrander, Rich Handley, Darko Macan, Rich Hedden, Lovern Kindzierski, Kevin Rubid, Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier, and Kilian Plunkett, Star Wars Tales—Volume 1 was a collection of the quarterly Dark Horse Comic Star Wars Tales. Each issue of the series was oversized and contained a number of stories of different lengths and the issues featured art by Claudio Castellini, Tsuneo Sanda, Robert Teranishi, Martin Egeland, Igor Kordey, John Nadeau, Sean Phillips, Dave Cooper, Tom Fowler, Jan Duursema, Chris Brunner, Rick Leonardi, Robert Teranishi, Lucas Maragon, Sergio Aragones, and Kilian Plunkett.
I love Star Wars, and I love anthology series so Star Wars Tales was a natural. The idea was solid and smart. Every character of Star Wars can have a story. From Sy Snoodles to R5-D4 aka Skippy the Jedi Droid all get their chance in this series…with some great art.
This collection has a lot of great stories. Some of the serious stories like “Extinction” by Ron Marz in Star Wars Tales #2 (December 1999) involves the hunting of the Jedi by Vader and though it was written before the release of Star Wars—Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, it still is in continuity with the film series. Other stories are more directly tied to the movies by presenting events either occurring before or after the films. Something like “The Death of Captain Tarpals” by Ryder Windham in Star Wars Tales #3 (March 2000) leads directly into Star Wars—Episode I: The Phantom Menace by showing how Jar Jar Binks was exiled. Others like “Three Against the Galaxy” by Rich Hedden in Star Wars Tales #3 (March 2000) shows the story of one of Gamorean Guards after the destruction of Jabba’s palace in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
Star Wars Tales #3
Despite having fun with serious stories, Star Wars Tales also employs a lot of comic writers for lighter stories (usually balancing the serious stories). In this volume I particularly like “Skippy the Jedi Droid” by Peter David from Star Wars Tales #1 (September 1999) which tells how R4-D5 discovered he was a Jedi and destroyed himself to ensure that R2-D2 and C-3PO would help lead Luke to destroy the Empire. Another favorite in the humor department is “A Death Star is Born” by Kevin Rubid in Star Wars Tales #4 (June 2000) which points out construction flaws in the Death Star.
Star Wars Tales—Volume 1 is a great start to a fun series. If you don’t like one story, you surely will like one of the tales in the individual issues or in the collection. I generally favor the humorous ones since I feel there is a lot of room for parody in the Star Wars series and the comedy stories often get it right without being condescending to the original content. Star Wars Tales—Volume 1 was followed by Star Wars Tales—Volume 2.
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