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Post by driver1980 on Apr 19, 2024 7:33:38 GMT -5
So, favourite licensee for Star Wars?
Firstly, like a wrestler stepping aside to allow a friend to have a shot at a championship, I’m going to graciously exclude myself from this poll as I don’t know enough about one particular licensee, so I can’t vote with knowledge.
I should also explain some logic behind the poll choices.
I’ve included “Other” in case, I don’t know, someone wants to advocate for the newspaper strip. Something called Blackthorne Publishing is listed on Wikipedia (I’ve never heard of them). “Other” allows flexibility in polls.
Also, I realise that comparing 1977-1987 Marvel and 2015-present Marvel may well be comparing apples and oranges because they represent different eras and marketing mindsets; the original SW comic came about at a time when there was only one theatrical movie, and, despite any restrictions by Lucas, was allowed a certain amount of leeway (“New Worlds and New Perils” after all). The series from 2015 onwards has the benefit of a comprehensive theatrical film series, and possibly with fewer restrictions than the original Marvel series, so a direct comparison may not be possible.
However, how people vote, and how people interpret a poll like this, is up to them.
I have read quite a few of the original comics thanks to Marvel Unlimited, and quite a few of the modern comics, which I did enjoy, but I don’t know if I’ve ever read a single Dark Horse comic (maybe a Boba Fett story), hence why I have excluded myself from this poll.
Over to you - and may the Force be with you!
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Post by wildfire2099 on Apr 19, 2024 8:00:22 GMT -5
Definitely Dark Horse... while the original Marvel stuff has some charm, there would never have been an EU without Dark Horse, IMO. Dark Empire and Tales of the Jedi showed that people had a desire for more Star Wars... if the stories were good.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2024 8:12:26 GMT -5
Great topic, and I voted Dark Horse but will take a little bit of a lengthy explanation.
First off, I'm old enough to have been there at the start with the first movie and read the Marvel series. I still love that series (at least the late 70's run through Empire Strikes Back which I'm most familiar with), partially the nostaliga, but also I loved how it envisioned the "further adventures of..." after the early issues adapting the original movie (which I will never call a New Hope, it's flippin' Star Wars dammit...hah, I'm such a cranky old man now).
Back then our imaginations were wide open, other than stuff like the Splinter of the Mind's Eye book (which I didn't even read until much later, man that romantic tension between Leia and Luke was creepy in retrospect lol), the Marvel stuff really WAS my canon until Empire Strikes Back. Loved the concept of the House of Tagge and the dynamic that created.
Next I'll mention the newspaper strip from back then. If I had to pick an overall choice that just captured the "feel" of original Star Wars from the movie, this would be it. I love both the Russ Heath early material and then Goodwin/Williamson (which I've only recently been able to read in collected form). I think Williamson is my favorite Star Wars artist of all time (of course he's one of my overall favorite artists too). If it was just between this and the Marvel series, it would already be a tough contest.
And so I arrive at Dark Horse. Despite all the earlier importance of Star Wars to me and so many others in the late 70's and early 80's, it really was all over later in the 80's. The nostalgia would always be there but hope for any serious revival of the franchise had continued to fade over the years. Then the 90's and Dark Horse getting the comic book license, Zahn with the Thrawn books and the advent of the EU, even a new toy line! The decade was a most unexpected revival that ultimately paved the way for the actual movie franchise to get going again with the prequels. But in a sort of odd parallel to the Marvel series between the first two movies, the part I enjoyed the most about those 90's Dark Horse years was that yet again, the freedom to envision the "further adventures of...".
There was certainly a mixed bag in terms of content with both the comics and the related books that were sometimes adapted, but it was an amazing buffet with snazzy cover art and a super fun time to get back into Star Wars. Even going into the 2000's stuff like the alternate reality Infinities. Or as late as 2013 with the adaptation of an early rough draft of the original movie script with "The Star Wars", very different from what the movie would eventually be and a very intriguing what if!
So for those reasons I give it to Dark Horse, but I feel like there have been multiple great eras of comic book related Star Wars (with plenty of fluff to sift through as well, inevitable with such a high profile franchise I think).
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Post by Dizzy D on Apr 19, 2024 8:41:22 GMT -5
I have problems deciding on any of the three major (I remember Blackthorne BTW. They made some 3D Star Wars comics (you know the old ones where you needed red/green glasses))
Each period had some titles I enjoyed and some titles I thought were absolutely terrible.
I have a far bit of nostalgia for the old Marvel comics and I agree that the amount of leeway they got, made them to me a lot more interesting than later series. The build-up of Luke first facing space pirates and criminals then minor Imperial nobility and bounty hunters before finally facing Vader was a great bit of storytelling. The issues between ESB and ROTJ were probably my favourite. Post ROTJ the line lost a lot of motivation, unclear where they'd need to go from then on. Still I have fondness for the Duffy/Martin stories even though they were very uneven.
Dark Horse: Had some really good stories, but also had some problems with "let's just do the same thing again.. and again." The Old Republic had probably 2 good mini's and a couple more that just repeated the same basic plots. I really liked the comics that Ostrander did for DH.
Current Marvel: Had some solid talent and artists, but I've not kept up with them as they basically just have been streamlining events that happened between the various movies. I really liked Gillen's Darth Vader series and Doctor Aphra gave us a new character with some new adventures.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Apr 19, 2024 9:01:33 GMT -5
While the Marvel books were certainly entertaining and there was some solid storytelling and world building Dark Horse really took all that to another level.
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Post by Rags on Apr 19, 2024 9:20:55 GMT -5
I like the more recent Aaron series, although I took them in HC instead of the floppies....which reminds me I need to get the 3rd volume.
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Post by tonebone on Apr 19, 2024 10:17:12 GMT -5
Yes, a LOT of the original Marvel era SW comics were not great. But the movie adaptations are indelibly burned into my memory. The first movie adaptation probably spurred on my creativity as a 9 year old, like nothing else ever has. I was so absorbed by those comics that I (more than once) set off to create my own adaptations. I was fascinated by how they so perfectly captured the spirit of the movie without looking like the movie. I loved how the subsequent issues so creatively TRIED to expand the universe, with such impossible restrictions in place to not step on the feet of the next movies. Were there better Dark Horse comics over the years? Yeah, but none that I can so fondly recall.
So, I picked OG Marvel.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Apr 19, 2024 13:08:22 GMT -5
Kenner. Sometimes, nothing beats making your own stories  |
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Post by driver1980 on Apr 19, 2024 13:12:17 GMT -5
Kenner. Sometimes, nothing beats making your own stories And that is why “Other” is always a good poll option. And I concur: I “reimagined” the final of ROTJ with my figures (not that I’d have known of the word reimagined). I had Han Solo and Chewbacca battling Vader and Emperor. |
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Post by tarkintino on Apr 19, 2024 16:31:53 GMT -5
Marvel--only in certain periods. The Goodwin/Infantino period was the title's most successful for a number of reasons, one being that it thoroughly lived up to the Space Fantasy the original Star Wars film had been referred to--it felt like a perfect mix of the galaxy-spanning sci-fi war drama and the sweeping fantasy epic, a style the film franchise used to excel at (pre-Prequel and Sequel trilogies). The Goodwin/Infantino team built visually rich, strong character-driven arcs of their own, not content to ape the film over and over again, something that would become something of a problem as the Marvel monthly wore on, particularly in the post-The Empire Strikes Back era of comic.
I am fond of some Dark Horse titles--Dark Empire and Shadows of the Empire at the top of the list, but IMO, they were rare gems created during a period where original thinking for ancillary Star Wars material was valued, with every other plot not being some attempt to re-live beat-by-beat moments from the OT. Add Dark Horse's daily strip reprint title--Classic Star Wars--and the publisher...at that time...easily earns the 2nd place tier of Star Wars comic books.
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 19, 2024 21:26:09 GMT -5
I picked Dark Horse, because they reprinted the Marvel material and the newspaper strips, as well as their own material, making for the ultimate line of Star Wars stories.
Plus....Tag & Bink!
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 22, 2024 5:39:17 GMT -5
This is a tough one because even though I'm a die-hard fan of the original Marvel run, I loved a lot of the Dark Horse comics too. Ultimately I voted original Marvel (1977-1987) because at its best I think it was superior to anything published by later licensee holders, but yeah, Dark Horse is a very close second for me.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 22, 2024 5:48:46 GMT -5
I love Russ Manning, and he caught the likenesses of characters and ships much better than Carmine Infantino, so the comic strip is way up there for me... but I only ever got to read it in the past decade, so it didn't have as much of an impact as the original Marvel run.
That was the original extended universe, the one we had in between the movies. It developed the characters, set things up for upcoming films, and felt completely integrated with what Lucasfilm was doing. As such, it was the "real" thing for me.
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Post by spoon on Apr 22, 2024 18:33:10 GMT -5
What would you folks say are the best parts of the first Marvel series? I have read much of it. I've read just an issue or two past the issues that adapted the first movie, but I may be interested in checking other stuff out.
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Post by tarkintino on Apr 22, 2024 20:54:43 GMT -5
What would you folks say are the best parts of the first Marvel series? I have read much of it. I've read just an issue or two past the issues that adapted the first movie, but I may be interested in checking other stuff out. I posted this up thread, but I believe the Goodwin/Infantino period was the title's best part (and most successful) for a number of reasons, one being that it thoroughly lived up to the Space Fantasy the original Star Wars film had been referred to--it felt like a perfect mix of the galaxy-spanning sci-fi war drama and the sweeping fantasy epic, a style the film franchise used to excel at (pre-Prequel and Sequel trilogies). The Goodwin/Infantino team built visually rich, strong character-driven arcs of their own, not content to ape the film over and over again, something that would become something of a problem as the Marvel monthly wore on, particularly in the post-The Empire Strikes Back era of comic.
Post Return of the Jedi, the creative tank quickly dried up, with plots that were trying to play up the Luke angle, only it was only going to fail without the gravity of his familial conflict from the films.
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