Return of the Jedi

[Tnerb]

Or the last great Star Wars movie???

 

Return of the Jedi was released in May of '83. It wasn't for another year that I picked up New Mutants issue 15, which started my collection of comic books, but the Return of the Jedi limited series made its way into my home before then. I don't know where I purchased it or if it was a gift. I fathom I got them one summer at camp. This limited series and the picture book (remember school book sales?) gave me the option to relive the movie. It was so good that I already knew when the next one came out in '86, it would be great.

 

I purchased a few of the Star Wars comic books here and there. Reading the exploits of my favorite childhood heroes kept me going, but as much as I enjoyed seeing Luke, Han, and Leia, my focus slowly changed to Illyana, Sam, and Dani. Month after month passed and I wanted more. I collected the Uncanny X-Men, Invincible Iron Man, and the Avengers while periodically checking in with the Fantastic Four. At issue 200 I stopped collecting Iron Man every month as well as the other two. It was the mutant titles I coveted and stuck with, like the New Mutants series, even when during times I thought it was . I mean seriously...Birdboy???

 

 

In '86 the next Star Wars movie never came out. I thought maybe in '87 and then in '88 I would finally see what happened to my first idols. It wasn't until '91 when Timothy Zahn wrote an Heir to an Empire that Star Wars jumped to the forefront of my collecting desires. This novel helped catapult Star Wars back into my life. Dark Horse solidified that with Dark Empire. Recently Star Wars has seen a revival stronger than when the Phantom Menace fizzled in '99.

 

The New Mutants was then cancelled, patching the way for X-Force, revitalized and cancelled again 13 issues later. A third time was not the charm as 50 issues later they were left in the wind. Today the character I fell in love with l, along with her beloved brother Peter, has had her sorceress ways placed among the X-Men and so many years later I get to see what happens to my original heroes after they get older and pass the torch to a younger generation. May the force be with you.

 

Thanks for reading

 

Tnerb

 

See more journals by Tnerb

[mzhammer]

I have strange & mixed feelings towards the first episode. The 1st thing I ever saw was the poster with a young boy and Darth Vader's shadow, it still works on me now, even after seeing the film. But, the night the trailer came out for Phantom Menace, I walked up the street to a local theatre, a good friend of mine worked there and let me in to watch it. Adam Sandler's Waterboy had sold out and even 20-30 people overflowed into the theatre, stood in the back and watched the trailer. After it showed 1/2 the room emptied out.

 

It was probably the greatest Star Wars moment in my life. I'd never waited 16 years for anything and the trailer looked awesome with the new LucasFilm logo fading away to the Gungan army marching through the fog, pod racing, etc. The horror of the film could not be seen in that first trailer. And yes, after finally seeing, I was terrified at how terrible the acting, the dialogue, the extreme wide shots full of... well, let's face it, the writing and directing.

 

When great actors look like poop, it's the directing. That's whose responsible and that's who you have to blame. George was young and hungry when the first film came out, he hired great writer's and director's when Empire & Jedi followed, but I get it. He wanted to make his "baby" himself. It's understandable, I can live with that. It's an artist thing. He continued with episode 2 and 3 and well, there's the prequels in a nutshell, under the helm of poor writing and poor directing. (Some of my friends kids think Qui Gon is the old jedi master and even love Jar Jar) So strange in my mind.

 

A buddy of mine on Facebook mentioned, "with all these terrible reboots going on, why doesn't someone just remake the prequels?"

 

 

 

 

 

[Phillip]

Empire was the first Star Wars film I had ever seen. Watched it at a friends house on VHS. I skipped school to go see Episode I and as much as I hate to say it. I fell asleep until the Darth Maul fight at the end. But aside from the bad dialogue in all three films, I very much enjoyed the idea of Episode III. But nothing will ever in my mind surpass Empire and Jedi. Until December 18th of this year (I hope).

[mzhammer]

x

[mattn792]

I first saw Empire and Jedi when I was only 5 or 6 years old, and for a while I kept calling it "The Umpire Strikes Back." Evidently I secretly hoped for a contentious baseball game to break out at some point in the movie.

 

Anyway, I don't know which of the prequels I dislike the most. They all have their various demerits, especially Hayden Christensen being a whiny person_without_enough_empathy through the entirety of II and III, but I think the end of III may be what irks me the most. Even if it did spawn one of the great moments in Robot Chicken history ("So I threw the Senate at him!" Genius).

 

Consider just how haphazardly it was thrown together just so it would jive with episodes IV-VI. I think the worst of all is Natalie Portman giving birth to twins and then punking out on them by simply dropping dead for no particular reason. And we're really supposed to believe that no M.D. in the galaxy far, far away was able to tell the once happy Mr. and Mrs. Vader that they were having twins? Hell, an intergalactic civilization that can create hyperdrive motivators should certainly be able to get their hands on some basic ultrasound equipment.

 

Yoda's cut and run act certainly deserves an honorable mention too -- "Well, we gave it the college try. I know I've got this amazing control of the force, but I think you guys got this. Keep it real, I'm loose."

 

All that said, I'd see VII on opening weekend if I weren't getting married that Saturday.

[Phillip]

I know that's why I am having faith.

[2ndhandSmoke]

I had a chuckle when I read this because it so closely mirrored my own introduction into comics. I saw Star Wars in 1978 (I lived in Northern Canada so we were a bit behind) and it totally took over my youth. By the time Empire came around I was grabbing anything Star Wars related I could, hence the introduction to comics. My first issue was actually Star Wars #46, and I was able to pick up back issues pretty easily (I frequented a thrift store that actually had comics in good shape...it's where I picked up Uncanny X-Men 101 for 10 cents, but that's another story). I stuck almost entirely with Star Wars for a couple of years. The comic really got good with #51 (start of the 2 issue Taking the Tarkin plot) and the art got better with each issue as well. Issues 51 - 81 are some of the best story telling out there and if JJ really wanted to give me a present it would be somehow working Shira Brie into the new movies (she was Luke Skywalkers girlfriend and also an agent of Vader and the Emperor). I loved the comics so much that I started to branch out a bit. The first Marvel Universe issue I bought was Uncanny 192...it was so different from anything I had ever read. Once I got my hands on some back issues (I got a good number of Byrne and Claremont's run by trading a crapload of useless Spiderman issues to another young collector) and I was hooked. Another point that you bring up, the New Mutants, totally hits home. I thought the title deserved more (some of the art is horrendous!) except for the Arthur Adams covers which were fantastic. I too had a crush on Illyana, especially when Arthur Adams drew her (see Uncanny X-Men annual 9 which shows her lounging around the pool in a bikini...yum!) The title completely lost me with the whole birdboy thing, especially since they offed Cypher by having a mad scientist shoot him. He was a great character, balanced the team, and a Superpower revolving around languages was exactly what Marvel needed...they had enough over powered musclemen. Anyways, I'm rambling, just wanted you to know that your post hit home and reminded me of why I have keep collecting and reading for the last 30 years.

 

Cheers from the Great White North!