Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Dan Jurgens & Jerry Ordway — Chewbacca, RIP

Original Art and The Artists

Star Wars: Chewbacca #1, January 2000

A long time ago, in continuity far, far away, Chewbacca apparently does not make it to the conclusion of the Star Wars Saga.

And the classic team of Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway beautifully illustrate this mournful moment in a rare departure from their more common DC team-ups.

I realize we can be broken records about this, but the coloring obviously doesn’t do the art true justice. It might look good on a computer screen, but as for the final printed version… not so much.

This was a DF exclusive to this Dark Horse comic published in 2000.

Of course any storyline that Chewbacca died flies out the window with all the other post Return of The Jedi continuity, once Disney purchases Lucasfilm and declares all the previous “cannon,” non-canonical.

Which is good for Chewie, of course, but not necessarily the rest of the Star Wars Saga.

(As a side note, Marvel has indeed done some terrific comics since reacquiring the license. But tossing out 30 years of stories, in comics and novels, some of them quite excellent… well… I have no words.)

Reilly Brown — Trouble Always Follows

Original Art and The Artists

Star Wars Special: C-3PO #1, June 2016

Where he goes, trouble follows.

Many great variant covers exist for this Star Wars C-3PO one-shot, including this beautifully detailed version by Reilly Brown.  But one of my other favorites — and, unfortunately, I don’t have a scan — never made it to print.

The cover came from the imagination of my pal Mike McKone. Marvel commissioned it as an exclusive variant, paid Mike for it, had it approved by Lucasfilm and then… in the ongoing game of musical chairs cover variants (at all the publishers), it became the odd man out.

Mike and I both tried tracking a published version down for years, as Marvel told him it actually was published, but ultimately that turned out to be an inadvertent red (golden?) herring.

If he still has it when I see him again, I will photograph it and add it to the blog later. It’s fun, and I would own it if it had actually been published.

Facundo Percio & Dan Parsons — My Old Master, Revisited

Original Art and The Artists

Star Wars #14, February 2014

Here’s an absolutely iconic scene from the original Star Wars film. (“New Hope.”) Darth Vader faces his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, on the Death Star.  As any Star Wars fan knows, things don’t go well for old Ben. 

Or do they? 

It depends on a certain point of view, I suppose.

If you scan the word balloons, you’ll see that there’s a slight twist to this Dark Horse storyline, although I’m not going to be the one to spoil it for you.

Classic imagery

Impactful.

And, it bears repeating — iconic.

Paul Gulacy & P. Craig Russell — Empire In Crimson

Original Art and The Artists

Star Wars: Crimson Empire #1, December 1997

Paul Gulacy and P. Craig Russell provide creative storytelling (I love the top sequence) and excellent draftsmanship (of course) for the 1997 Dark Horse Series, Crimson Empire.

This is one of my favorite pages in the first issue, with Darth Vader landing and bowing before his master, The Emperor.

In other words, what’s not to like?

Classic. Just classic.

Jim Balkie — Empire’s End

Original Art and The Artists

Star Wars: Empire’s End #2, November 1995

Here’s a stunning Jim Balkie page from the Dark Horse mini-series, Star Wars: Empire’s End, a fitting sequel to the acclaimed Dark Empire saga.  

Both stories feature the writing of the talented Tom Veitch, although Cam Kennedy illustrated the Dark Empire series.

Each page — by either artist — is fully painted, and most of the originals I’ve seen, including this one, are terrific.

Nice Star Wars iconography on this page too, featuring Han and Leia, a great action shot of the Millennium Falcon, and of course the Emperor frying one of his officers who displeased him.

How did the Empire ever get anyone to sign up for the officer’s school?

Fun fact: The Emperor “lives” in this 90s saga because of — you guessed it — clones. If this storyline didn’t influence at least some of The Rise of Skywalker, well, we can chalk up to: “Great minds think alike.”

Ryan Kelly & Dan Parsons — Leia Flies In

Original Art and The Artists

Star Wars #8, August 2013

Once again, Leia takes control in this terrific page from the art team of Ryan Kelly and Dan Parsons.

The Princess grabs a ship and heads off on her own in this final classic saga series from Dark Horse (written by Brian Wood) before the rights reverted back to Marvel. 

Even If Lucas retconned his own work in the making of the original Trilogy, and decided that Leia was Luke’s sister after the fact, she’s the baddest ass of the bunch. She’s not to be taken for granted or trifled with, even if she doesn’t have “Force Powers.”

But I will say this: Her resistance to Vader’s torture droid on the Death Star makes more sense if she does.

Back here next week with more Star Wars.

Fun (or not-so fun) fact: We never actually see Leia pilot a ship in the classic trilogy, and we never see her Mom Padme fly on her own in the prequels either. But I guess Princesses typically have drivers?

Marvel rebrands the original Dark Horse comics with its own trade dress for print and digital collections.

Carmine Infantino & Gene Day — Leia & Luke, Buried Alive!

Original Art and The Artists

Star Wars Weekly #109 (UK), March 1980

Here’s a classic era Star Wars page featuring pencils from Carmine Infantino with inks from Gene Day. 

It’s from a Star Wars story written by fan-favorite Chris Claremont, which ended up without a logical place in the timeline, as Marvel couldn’t fully predict when Lucasfilm would permit story insight and scheduling approval related to events of Empire Strikes Back.

Infantino drew many of the Star wars stories that appeared in between New Hope and ESB, and many after as well, but this odd continuity duck” didn’t make into the U.S. comics.

Instead, it ends up in Marvels Star Wars Weekly, a combination of  “new” and reprint material. 

The weekly format featured shorter stories, more serialized, making them even closer in spirit to Lucas’ favorite SF, the classic Flash Gordon serials. Perfect for titles like “Molten Doom!” and “Buried Alive!”

And, except for a slot in an oddball licensed Marvel book collection, the story remained un-reprinted for more than 30 years, until Dark Horse included it in one of its Omnibus collections. (And now, it’s been reprinted twice by Marvel, so it’s a bit easier to find.)

Terry & Rachel Dodson — Leia Steps Up

Original Art and The Artists

Princess Leia #5, September 2015

Of all the characters in the classic (original trilogy) Star Wars Universe, Leia is the most intriguing.

Nearly all of the other characters in the saga are archetypes found in dozens, if not hundreds of myths, fables and tales. George Lucas revered the late author Joseph Campbell who dissects these concepts ad nauseum in in his brilliant and well-known tomes on mythology.

But Leia… She’s a bit off model, certainly from a Hollywood depiction of a damsel in distress. (Possibly with the exception of Dorothy in Wizard of Oz, who gets her act together in similar but less assertive fashion.)

As one pop culture podcaster put it recently: “She (Leia) hijacked her own rescue.”

And from there, it only gets better. She’s clearly the smartest, most pragmatic member of the Star Wars gang.  She’s also strong, decisive and strategic. And she can out wise-ass Han, no easy feat.

After Alderaan goes boom, Leia is the one holding entire rebellion together. No offense, Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, or anyone else in the rebellion ruling class. It’s pretty clear Leia is a — pun intended — driving force of the story.

Here we have a knockout Star Wars page from Terry and Rachel Dodson featuring a lovely half splash of Leia. It’s from the eponymous — and terrific — Mark Waid-authored series, published not long after the franchise reverted back to Marvel from Dark Horse.

More on Leia on Thursday and Saturday.

See you then.

John Cassaday — May The 4th Be With You

Original Art and The Artists

Star Wars #2, April 2015

Well, it’s May, that time of year when thoughts turn to… Star Wars.

Here we have a great page by superstar artist John Cassaday, depicting the very first time Luke and Darth Vader confront each other in the “new”(current) Star Wars continuity. 

This story takes place shortly after the (first) Death Star is blown to bits in “A New Hope.” Luke does not know that Vader is his pop, and Vader does not realize that Luke is the rebel that was responsible for said Death Star going “boom.”

Heh. Much to learn, they both have.

It’s the 45th anniversary of Star Wars this month, and perhaps more significantly, the release of yet some more backstory revision with the launch of the new Obi-Wan Television series later this month.

That’s really more of an observation than a knock, but I really hope the show is narratively clever. Because no one (honestly, no one) thought that Obi-Wan would have logically fought Vader yet again. One of them should have been not just toasted, but complete toast.

But of course, let’s see how this all plays out.

In the meantime, we’ve got a full slate of Star Wars posts for the rest of the month.

May The 4th be with you.

Dan Adkins — Was It Nightmare All Along?

Original Art and The Artists

Doctor Strange #170, July 1968

Nightmare prepares to reveal himself to a fallen Doctor Strange in the second issue of the Sorcerer Supreme’s solo title.

Ever since Marvel Films announced that Sam Raimi was going to direct the Doctor Strange sequel, I’ve thoroughly convinced myself that Nightmare would be a (or “the”) nemesis of the film. Horror, darkness and weirdness? Bring on Nightmare.

And then, we had a Scarlet Witch (w/Vision) TV series, where it appeared that Agatha Harkness was the big bad? C’mon, there’s more to that than meets the Eye of Agamotto, right?

After that, Shuma-Gorath (the giant one-eyed creature) appears in the Doctor Strange trailer? The same Shuma-Gorath (now called Gargantos because of legal reasons) who once “employed” Nightmare in the comics? 

And the same trailer where both Strange and Wanda talk about…Nightmares?

Yep, I’m a Nightmare conspiracy theorist, apparently.

I have zero inside information. 

I don’t even read most of the spoiler “news” on-line.

I am just convinced that some time before those last post-credit scenes in Doctor Strange 2 are finished rolling, Nightmare will have raised his hallucinogenic head. And I guess by this time next week, most of us will know whether I’m right, or I’m the one hallucinating.

And one more thought on the subject of hallucinogens and impersonations:

Who says that was actually “our” Doctor Strange in Spider-Man: No Way Home?

Just sayin…

Agatha all along? Maybe, maybe not.