Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Return of the Jedi

Dave Dorman — Breaking Ground, Star Wars Style

Original Art and The Artists

Preliminary Art, Breaking Ground: Imperial Base, Moon of Endor Litho, Star Wars Celebration IV, 2012

If you’ve spent any serious time around Star Wars art over the last four decades, chances are you’ve spent time in the world of my buddy Dave Dorman.

For many fans, Dorman isn’t just a Star Wars artist—he’s one of the Star Wars painters.

From his stunning covers for Dark Horse Comics in the 1990s, to book covers, trading cards, posters, fine art, and official Lucasfilm commissions, Dave has helped define what Star Wars looks like for an entire generation.

And original Dorman Star Wars paintings aren’t exactly easy to come by. A fellow by the name of George Lucas acquired quite a few of them over the years… and the other collectors fortunate enough to own the others don’t tend to let them go.

The piece I’m sharing here isn’t the finished print fans saw in 2012.

It’s pretty obviously the preliminary—the original concept painting Dave created for his 2012 Star Wars Celebration VI limited edition print, Breaking Ground: Imperial Base, Moon of Endor.

And like many great prelims, you can almost see the ideas forming in real time—loose energy, compositional decisions, storytelling beats… all still wonderfully alive on the board.

When Dave first unveiled the finished piece on his blog back in 2012, fans naturally had questions—some about the Imperial Guards, some about the modified AT-STs, and yes… plenty about the Ewoks.

Fortunately, Dave answered them himself, and his comments offer a glimpse into how this scene came together:

Q: Dave, what was the original concept behind Breaking Ground?

Dave Dorman:
I wanted to incorporate elements I enjoy—AT-STs, Ewoks, and especially the Biker Scouts, who I think of as the hot-rodders of the Imperial forces—in a scene that’s never actually been shown, but nonetheless plays out in my own theater of the mind.

Q: One of the first things people notice is Darth Vader flanked by Imperial Guards. Why?

Dave Dorman:
First off, it was a compositional decision. I needed to draw your eye to Vader, and the bold red of the Imperial Guards against the cooler earth tones of the rest of the piece ensures he commands your attention. If he were simply standing among Stormtroopers, you might not notice him as readily.

Secondly, Vader is overseeing the Emperor’s construction of the second Death Star, so the Imperial Guards are there to ensure—and report back—that nothing is amiss on the Moon of Endor.

Q: The AT-STs here aren’t exactly standard issue…

Dave Dorman:
The Moon of Endor is a forested planet, so naturally deforestation would be part of constructing an Imperial base camp.

In my mind’s eye, the AT-STs made perfect sense as laborers because of their strength and adaptability. After all, the “AT” stands for “All Terrain,” so I replaced their heavy gun arrays with claws.

Q: And yes… those are Ewoks.

Dave Dorman:
Over the years, I’d had literally hundreds of fans ask me to paint Ewoks, so this piece was my tip of the hat to them.

Obviously the Ewoks would resist the Empire’s intrusion, so in this scene they’re creating chaos… and getting arrested.

Dave’s original blog post can still be found here:
Dave Dorman’s original 2012 blog post

Ron Frenz & Tom Palmer — “He’s Got A Lightsaber!”

Original Art and The Artists

Star Wars #71, May 1983

Here is a very dynamic page from a very dynamic art duo (sorry, couldn’t resist) of Ron Frenz and Tom Plamer. Following the terrific run by Walter Simonson and a few fill-in issues from Gene Day, Frenz took over as regular penciller; Palmer stayed on as inker, once again providing a smooth consistency to the art.

As for the story? Don’t let the cover blurb fool you. The quest For Han Solo most definitely did not end here; he wasn’t able to return to Marvel’s Star Wars series until a few months after the release of Return of The Jedi. (Issue #81, to be precise.) And again, Marvel’s creative team did a heckuva job with the little information they had ahead of ROTJ.

Ernie Colon & Al Williamson — A New Hope

Original Art and The Artists

Droids #8, June 1987

Original Marvel Comics Star Wars comic book art by Ernie Colon & Williamson from the collection of Greg Goldstein

George Lucas thought SF comics legend Al Williamson (EC, Flash Gordon) was an ideal choice to draw the original Marvel adaption of Star Wars. (Now officially titled Chapter IV: A New Hope.)

Unfortunately, Al was locked into his deal for the Secret Agent Corrigan newspaper strip and couldn’t take the gig.

(Fortunately for George, his other choice came through: Howard Chaykin, who was extraordinarily familiar and comfortable with SF and swashbuckling came on board for the adaptation and a few additional issues. But, as always, we digress.)

Al ultimately ended up doing wonderful adaptations of both Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The stories are gorgeous.

But… Al gets another shot on the original film, when, 10 years after the fact, Marvel decides to adapt A New Hope again — this time as a three-part story in the kids’ comic, Droids. 

Ernie Colon provides lovely storytelling, and Williamson provides his beautiful inks, giving him credits on all three Star Wars original trilogy films.

As for the story itself — the main selling point is that this adaptation is told from the Droids’ point of view — which seems odd, since Lucas told interviewers that the films were told from the Droids’ POV, in the first place.

Deja Vu all over again?

Klaus Janson — The Apprentice

Original Art and The Artists

Star Wars Annual #3, 1983

Original Star Wars Comic Book art by Klaus Janson, from the collection of Greg Goldstein

1983 was a busy year for Star Wars… and Klaus Janson.

Janson pencils, inks, and colors a terrific looking stand-alone Star Wars annual which releases in the summer. At the same time, he’s inking and penciling over Frank Miller’s layouts on Miller’s legendary Daredevil run. (Ultimately penciling and inking four issues on his own.)

On the Lucasfilm front, Return of The Jedi releases in May 1983, concluding the original trilogy — with the gazillion licensed products that follow suit. (The Jedi adaptation from Marvel is released as a separate series, in addition to the monthly Star Wars ongoing comic book.)

The first three pages of this Star Wars annual came up for auction late last year and fortunately, I snagged one.

Al Williamson — Return Of… Return Of The Jedi

Original Art and The Artists

Return of the Jedi, #2, October 1983

Forty years ago, today — 

On a warm sunny day in NYC, my friends and I restlessly stood on a movie theater line, a line like many others that day, that wrapped around the proverbial city block. But did it matter that much? We had waited three years for this. What’s another three hours? (For the record, the theater, now gone, was the Loew’s 34th Street Showplace, near Second Ave.)

Return of the Jedi was opening that day, and we figured the Star Wars saga would reach its dramatic — and inevitable — conclusion. End of the story. (How naïve — but we were young and foolish.)

Somehow, I had the discipline and willpower to avoid opening Marvel’s ROTJ magazine adaptation which I owned for about two weeks prior to the film’s release date. (I did not have that same willpower three years prior for ESB, but that’s a story for another day.)

An original piece of art from that graphic novel adaptation, by the legendary Al Williamson, is a prized possession. Here’s my original 2019 post about the art:

Lush brushwork. Clear storytelling. Impeccable detail. Accurate anatomy and likenesses.  Al Williamson’s page from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi adaption speaks volumes about realizing potential in adapting other mediums to comics.

George Lucas had the power to choose the artist to draw the Marvel Empire Strikes Back adaption and he had the good sense to choose Al Williamson.

Al’s gorgeous art on classic EC science Fiction stories as well as Flash Gordon had clearly made an impression.

Fortunately for us, Williamson agreed to also illustrate the Star Wars newspaper strip (after Russ Manning’s untimely passing), and he ultimately came back for Return of the Jedi adaption as well.

On all three projects — plus a handful of stories in the regular comics — Al delivered. It’s some of his finest work.

Williamson kept much of his Star Wars related art, and his estate now owns it.  Nearly all the originals that have come on the market are those once owned by his assistants or inkers.

This great page from ROTJ has a more interesting provenance. Superstar inker Mike Royer received it from Al (see inscription) shortly after publication. It remained in his collection for many years.

So, it’s not only a great piece of original art, but it also has a great story behind it as well.

And it’s a cornerstone of my collection.

Yes, we waited in line. (That’s me, Star Wars sartorial in a bootleg “REVENGE” of the Jedi t-shirt.) I have a feeling the line on the other side of town was more interesting.

Al Williamson — Jedi At The Drawing Board

Original Art and The Artists

Return of the Jedi, #2, October 1983

Lush brushwork. Clear storytelling. Impeccable detail. Accurate anatomy and likenesses.  Al Williamson’s page from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi adaption speaks volumes about realizing potential in adapting other mediums to comics.

George Lucas had the power to choose the artist to draw the Marvel Empire Strikes Back adaption and he had the good sense to choose Al Williamson.

Al’s gorgeous art on classic EC science Fiction stories as well as Flash Gordon had clearly made an impression.

Fortunately for us, Williamson agreed to also illustrate the Star Wars newspaper strip (after Russ Manning’s untimely passing), and he ultimately came back for Return of the Jedi adaption as well.

On all three projects — plus a handful of stories in the regular comics — Al delivered. It’s some of his finest work.

Williamson kept much of his Star Wars related art, and his estate now owns it.  Nearly all the originals that have come on the market are those once owned by his assistants or inkers.

This great page from ROTJ has a more interesting provenance. Superstar inker Mike Royer received it from Al (see inscription) shortly after publication. It remained in his collection for many years.

So it’s not only a great piece of original art, it has a great story behind it as well.

And it’s a cornerstone of my collection.

The complete adaptation was printed all at once in a Marvel special magazine — it appeared in Direct Market stores a few weeks prior to the film’s release. Imagine if that happened in 2019.
Covers for the magazine and the comics by Bill Sienkiewicz.