Words to Live by.

A preview of forthcoming chapters

Here’s a great quote I discovered in my comic adaptation. A few lines that Star Wars Director & Writer George Lucas hadn’t thought to add to one of Obi Wan Kenobi’s snippets of wisdom:

Despite countless script rewrites, George Lucas could never come up with this.

Kenobi: (Emits an animal wail to scare off the Sandpeople)
Luke: “That’s a Krayt Dragon Call!”
Kenobi: “It just takes a set of well trained vocol cords (sic) that’s all. Oh well: a duck can quack!“
Luke: (Without pausing to ponder this nugget exclaims, wide eyed) “What’s a duck?”

Classic stuff. Kenobi has seen more things in the universe than poor Luke could ever dream of. You know, ducks for instance.

See the previous chapters at: Star Wars age 9

The Making of Star Wars and the ‘excitingly familiar’.

I just finished reading ‘The Making of Star Wars’ and I have to say it’s a fascinating, gripping read. I was given it for my birthday this year and I thought it’d be exciting and inspiring to read about such a staggering achievement – considering the odds, obstacles, studio resistanace, and the so-young team that slaved over it. I wasn’t disappointed.

I really do have to take my hat off to Lucas now. I learned a lot about his totally new approach to Science Fiction movies. The most surprising revelation was that he wanted everything in the film to seem familiar. So much so that familiar items would be used by the production designers such as cannibalised and cut-up and reassembled parts from actual WWI guns

Other Funny Star Wars Strips

This is pretty bloody good – stumbled accross it today: Blue Milk Special.

The husband and wife/author and illustrator team are creating a wickedly humourous comic strip of the whole film – but with lots of extra bits you never saw. Bit like “Guildenstern and Rosencranz are Dead”! Hardly a mere parody, it’s a true labour of love! Quite an undertaking actually, take a look:

Blimey – they’re starting younger!

Wonderful looking book here on ‘The Daily Cross-hatch‘ website. Miss Alexa Kitchen, who still is very young is not only a comic-strip artist but has even published a how-to book on the subject. I must try to get this one!

Drawing Comics is Easy (Except When it’s Hard)

She was only 7 when she wrote this!

Leave that thing alone!

Imperials enter the rebel ship via the sanitation block

As I said, I ripped out much of the original comic and replaced it with newer stuff. Now, I’m glad that I have the newer versions of the pages but I wish – how I wish – that I still had all the old ones. They have a charm all of their own. It does remind me of what George Lucas is doing with the original film.

Funny (old) blog post about it here: Stop it George! on Robert and Anna’s blog. I get the impression that if you start analysing the differences between versions you’re headed where madness lies. Someone’s even made a site minutely tracking the differences!

Sometimes it’s a relief to know that you’ve very little time on your hands.

Star Wars age 9: Update

I’ve done a bit more work on the site – see it here – and have also set up this Blog to accompany it.

The Site Design (so far...)

The site will be for giving updates in a form that will allow easy interaction and comment. I also eventually intend to create a gallery so that anyone can upload their own childhood drawings for all to see.

Watch this space.

The Interactive Site

Thanks for dropping in! This site accompanies the Star Wars age 9 website. In here I’ll post about the latest additions to the main site and… more importantly:

You can post witty comments about each chapter that goes online. Can’t wait to see those ; )

Watch out for the Chapter headings that’ll be added along the top here as each one goes live.

Announcing the new site!

I was off work again with a chest infection the last two days and feeling restless, I opened the old suitcase I’d brought up from mum and dad’s, and the plastic Penney’s bag dad’d given me last time I was there. Both are full of my old drawings – mainly of Star Wars. Handing me the bag he said: “I remember you said ‘oh just throw them out’, but I kept them.” So he did, and I’m glad he did. My mum also kept some stuff I think. “No, don’t throw those out…” she pleaded.

Star Wars: the Definitive comic strip adaptation (note the Liebherr packing tape)

One of the most fascinating things is the comic strip adaptation of Star Wars that I started aged nine and a half. I have most of the first version, but some was sadly culled as my drawing improved. I’d remove pages no longer deemed up to scratch and replace them with better versions. These were the pages my mum wanted me to keep safe. Between dad and mum as I said, I have most of them. The odd thing is, the earliest, poorest ones are my favourites. The dawing is so poor, so out of proportion, so in need of a ruler at times! – but it brings me back immediately to that happy time, immersed in my drawing and the imaginary escapist alternate universe of Star Wars. It was also executed very quickly so has a wonderful immediacy and freshness.

To close, I must apologise to all the people that I bored senseless with my youthful Star Wars obsession!

Read more about this cover and see more of the comic at Star Wars age 9