Marvel Star Wars: Difference between revisions

A long time ago, in a comic book market far, far away, [[Marvel Comics]] released an official comic-book adaptation of the movie ''[[Star Wars]]'' (''A New Hope'') in 1977. Like the movie, this adaptation was a success, and so Marvel continued publishing the comic beyond the end of the original story.

 

 

[[Dark Horse Comics]], the current publisher of ''Star Wars'' comics, has published reprints of these stories as the ''Classic Star Wars'' series, and in trade paperback form as ''Star Wars: A Long Time Ago'', a seven-volume series, later reprinted in 5 omnibus volumes.

 

* [[Adventurer Archaeologist]] - Han Solo had a tendency to go on adventure-filled treasure hunts in lost ruins in this series -- [[Indiana Jones|even before a certain Harrison Ford film was released in 1981]].

* [[Adventures in Coma Land]]: Luke's had one of these.

* [[Audio Adaptation]] - "Droid World" and "Planet of the Hoojibs" were both adapted as book-and-tape sets.

* [[Art Shift]] - Starting with the Empire Strikes Back adaptation the art changes from Carmine Infantino's loose, angular style to a more detailed look with much closer likenesses to the film characters (usually veteran inker Tom Palmer over Al Williamson or Walt Simonson.) The last issue also has a strikingly different style than its predecessors.

* [[Badass Boast]]: Done in order to activate a droid's capture programming, but still.

* [[Badass Long Hair]] - Luke, particularly in the final issue, is portrayed with longer hair than in any other ''[[Star Wars]]'' material.

* [[Bald of Evil]]: Strom.

* [[Break the Cutie]] - Dani

* [[Broad Strokes]] - How most of the elements from this series brought into the main [[Expanded Universe]] are handled.

** As can be seen [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Canon#Canon_in_the_Holocron_continuity_database here], [[Marvel Star Wars]] is considered to be on a lower level of canon than most of the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], although its material can be used or discarded as other authors wish, as long as it does not contradict the higher levels of canon.

** An issue of the Marvel series deals with Wes Janson's death. Wes is alive and well in the [[X Wing Series]], set a few years later. [[All There in the Manual|Supplemental material]], specifically [http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=starwars/article/sw20040401adumarmain Adumar: Pilots Wanted], [[Retcon|Ret Cons]] this rather than ignoring it completely. It's a story Wedge would tell new recruits before calling in Wes. Even Luke fell for it.

** But the original example has to be the TIE Bomber.

** Zeltrons, too, the species of hedonistic red near-humans. The Zeltron attraction to Force-Sensitives is actually a plot point in ''Coruscant Nights''.

* [[Chekhov's Boomerang]]/[[Brick Joke]]: Drebble. Lando owes him money because Drebble claims Lando cheats at cards. So Lando uses him as a fake identity. Lando's work is so good that the Rebels want to give Drebble a medal!

* [[The Chessmaster]] - Darth Vader. The Marvel series really ran with the idea of Vader being an evil genius to a much larger extent than anywhere else in the Expanded Universe. Largely by necessity, as Lucasfilm generally forbade direct confrontations between Vader and the main characters, as they might have upstaged what they were planning for the movies.

* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]] / [[Anvilicious]]: The entire Mary storyline. Luke goes on a mission to help guerrillas fight the Empire. While there, he falls in love with a guerrilla named Mary. They succeed, but then [[We ARE Struggling Together!|they turn on each other]], and in the process, Mary is killed. Yes, this was around the same time as Iran-Contra. Why do you ask?

* [[Equal Opportunity Evil]] - The Marvel series probably has more female antagonists than the rest of the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] ''combined''. Lumiya is by far the most famous but there are many others ranging from serious villainesses like Kharys to one issue annoyances like Captain Traal. There are even a couple of nameless female [[Mooks]]!

* [[Even the Guys Want Him]] - Luke again. One of his Zeltron entourage is male.

* [[Everythings Better With Bunnies]] - Hoojibs! Telepathic ''pink'' bunnies! Plus the above-mentioned Jaxxon.

* [[Faith Heel Turn]] - after he shoots down Shira, Luke has a crisis of faith in the Force

* [[Fantastic Racism]] - Of all people, ''Leia''! Leia doesn't like Zeltrons. Mon Mothma asks what's wrong with her. Given [[Ethical Slut|what we know about Zeltrons]], this says more about Mon Mothma.

*** The issues featuring bounty hunter Valance prominently feature anti-droid prejudice, but take it to a new level. Valance, who obsessively hates droids, is a cyborg, and it turns out they're subject to prejudice, as well.

* [[Dream Tropes]]: Luke's Force-tinged dreams come up three times in the series. The first, "The Empire Strikes", has him go into a coma after sensing Vader's mind for the first time, and having to fight a Vader-shaped manifestation of his fear. The second time is when he's infected with the Crimson Forever plague, and fights a Vader-shaped manifestation of the sickness until he gets a burst of insight from Obi-Wan and Yoda and lets it strike him down. The third time, he... sees a Vader-shaped manifestation [[Recurring Dreams|several nights in a row]], talks to it with the spirits of his teachers and father, and discovers that it's a new Sith Lord. Only then can he see it as something not-so-Vader-shaped.

* [[Foe Yay]] - Luke and Lumiya.

* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]] - Zeltrons. Given that Marvel (and Lucasfilm) had a very strict "No gays" policy, the Zeltrons could be this trope personified.

** [[Depending on the Artist]]. In ''The Crimson Forever'', halfway through the series, he looked like [http://images.plurk.com/e1f5f4d1748250176994101c3eae425f.jpg this]. Near the end he was usually drawn as muscular but slim, as in [http://images.plurk.com/ee25e35646dfea961cd77025c33f4114.jpg My Hiromi] - however, in the last issue, ''All Together Now'', he looked like [http://images.plurk.com/fa35826647b815e1c9edc5348d298f19.jpg this].

* [[Honey Trap]] - Shira/Lumiya

* [[Idiot Ball]] - Luke and Dani think Kiro's dead because he fell in the water fighting an enemy, the water got bloody, and he never came up, ''and he's a fish man''!

** They aren't really sure it's him, but when they get back to their ship and see that Shira/Lumiya has been released, and the flower Den gave to Dani there, it pretty much seals the deal that Kiro lost (although it turns out later that he survived and made it back to his home planet).

* [[Les Collaborateurs]]: Sk'ar and Delois in the story where Leia crashes on an alien planet. [[Red Right Hand|Delois looks like a pink Lando!]]

** Fixer, but [[The Commies Made Me Do It|the Empire made him do it]].

* [[Magical Computer]]: The cyborg Lobot can manipulate energy to alter technology because [[Everything Is Online]], even bombs!

* [[Magikarp Power]]: Lahsbees. At puberty, they go from being cute little things to being hulking monstrosities called huhks.

* [[Sleepwalking|Sleep Fighting]]: Luke's not bad at this, apparently.

* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]] - Usually, the Rebels are the champions of democracy, right? Not so when [[Idiot Ball|they order Luke's execution over friendly fire in a situation when if he hadn't fired blindly, the entire squadron would've died, compromising their mission]]. This leads to Luke [[Faith Heel Turn|doubting the Force]] until he learns Shira was an Imperial spy after all and clears his name. Then the Alliance are so democratic that they don't let the Heroes of Yavin take part in the government because they missed a meeting they didn't even know about. On the other hand, and at one point, our heroes are so popular, they could basically [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog|start their own Empire]], but they're too clueless to realize it.

* [[Space Pirates]]

* [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]] - Mary

* [[Take Me to Your Leader]]: Used in a friendly way [http://images.plurk.com/87286a795d18e3df063394ab3c9948a0.jpg here].

* [[This Is Sparta]]: Luke has one of these once, when told 'We'll never make it!' in a dire situation.

* [[Title Drop]]: The 89th comic is called "I'll See You In The Throne Room!", which on the first page is shouted by one of the characters.

* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: After being blinded by Darth Vader, [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Orman_Tagge Orman Tagge] became obsessed with defeating him, procuring a lightsaber and training endlessly with it. He also had a dirty trick in mind that he planned to use if it came to that, which he was [http://images.plurk.com/f86a25c446b7468d6de5a8495d8aa553.jpg forced] to use [http://images.plurk.com/95a2c33a71edb1d1bc682b6fe26bc713.jpg on Luke] - namely, he planned to ''have the lights go out'' during the fight. With his cybernetic replacement eyes, he'd be able to see in the dark. The poor man never understood the power of [[The Force]]...

* [[Villains Never Lie]]: After Luke apparently kills Shira, who was popular with Alliance personnel, he goes on sabbatical to grapple with his faith in the Force, soon finding that Shira had been lying about her homeworld and tragic backstory. Vader communicates with him and tells him that not only had she been lying, she'd been working for ''him'' the entire time. Now the Alliance is against Luke, and the only way he can keep from being a pariah is to join Vader. Luke is shaken by this, but actually goes to try to find Imperial records on Shira before he outright believes his father.

** He also needed the records in order to prove his innocence.

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Political?]] - The Alliance has Luke work as a liaison to other anti-Imperial Rebels who have been fighting [[The Empire]] for 50 years, even falling in love with a girl who gets fridged, and then the revolution succeeds, but without the new king, they descend into anarchy. This was around the time of Iran-Contra.

* [[Winged Humanoid]]: The Stenaxes are quite demonic.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Marvel Comics Series]]

[[Category:Star Wars Expanded Universe]]