Tag: Star Wars

Are you a Jedi fan who wishes that Star Wars Day felt a little more special? Well, good news — this year the date arrives with ”New Hope” and The Force of history. The May 4 tradition (“May the Fourth be with you” — see what they did there?) gives fans yet another occasion to dust off their lightsabers, don their stormtrooper suits and bask in the Blu-ray glow of Jedi films. But more than that, this month marks the 35th anniversary of the first “Star Wars” release, later labeled “Episode IV” and called “A New Hope.” And it was 29 years ago that “Return of the Jedi” closed out the original trilogy of the space saga that defined cinema for a generation of moviegoers and future filmmakers. Fans today can’t get enough of the imaginative universe George Lucas created, but in May of 1983, ...

What if Darth Vader had been around for Luke Skywalker’s childhood — not as a distant threat, but as a loving and devoted father? That’s the concept behind “Darth Vader and Son,” a new book from comic artist and writer Jeffrey Brown. The book reimagines the Dark Lord of the Sith parenting an adorable 4-year-old, his days filled with potty breaks, Lego, bicycle riding and bedtime stories. Brown, the author of “Clumsy” and “Bighead,” chatted with Hero Complex about the book, “Star Wars” and fatherhood. HC: How did this idea come about? JB: I got a phone call from Ryan Germick at Google, and he works as one of the homepage designers. Sometimes, for holidays, they’ll have an outside artist or someone do a drawing. And the idea he and a coworker had come up with was wanting to do ...

WonderCon is coming to Anaheim March 16-18 — and Hero Complex is throwing a galactic pre-party to celebrate. Admission is free but space is limited so RSVP now for our Mega Mixer at Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana on March 15 from 6 p.m.  to 9 p.m. Hosted by Geoff Boucher, the event includes free after-hours admission to the science center exhibits, plus complimentary food and beverages. Mingle with other heroes and check out the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit. Fans of comic books, sci-fi film and genre TV will see some familiar faces in the crowd, too. This is an all-ages event; bartenders on site will card everyone. The 26th edition of WonderCon, the younger sibling of Comic-Con International, will feature preview panels of upcoming films (among them “The Amazing Spider-Man,”  ”Prometheus” and ”Battleship”), an autograph area, a children’s ...

“Star Wars” is a persistent (and even relentless) presence  in pop culture today, but in 1974 the Empire existed only in the imagination and writing of George Lucas. To get the expensive intergalactic project off the ground, though, the filmmaker knew he would need more proof of his vision — that’s when he hired artist Ralph McQuarrie to paint vivid dispatches from this far-away galaxy and its alien landscapes, strange warriors and memorable machines. The collaboration bottled-up a rare sort of lightning and the echo of its thunder grew louder with the news that McQuarrie, 82, died Saturday after a battle with Parkinson’s disease.  The passing put his legacy — both as a Jedi myth-pioneer and a titan of concept art –very much on the mind of  illustrators, filmmakers and fans. “You know what it’s like? It’s like George Martin and the Beatles,” said fantasy artist Tony DiTerlizzi, referring to the Fab Four and the studio producer who helped make the group the ...

The costume party that is Comic-Con International just got a major new photo op — fans and celebrities will participate in a 136-mile Olympics-style torch run in the days leading up to massive San Diego pop-culture expo but, of course, instead of torches they’ll be holding aloft their lightsabers. The Course of the Force will begin in Santa Monica and every quarter-mile the ceremonial lightsaber — the trademark weapon for the Jedi Knights of “Star Wars” fame —  will be handed off to a new runner that, considering Comic-Con obsessions, may be dressed as a Wookiee, Klingon, Time Lord or Justice League member. Through sponsorships, the event will raise money for Make-A-Wish Foundation but Peter Levin, chief executive officer of Nerdist Industries, said the lightsaber run is also intended to widen the footprint of fanboy culture. “I was at Comic-Con last year and I noticed that there was a real lack of ...

“Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi” takes readers back to the beginning — the creation of the mystic warrior order known as the Jedi. In February, Dark Horse will launch the series with both #0 and #1 — that zero issue, according to writer John Ostrander, will be a handbook of sorts focusing on “many of the characters, places, and tech involved” in this new tale, as well as development drawings by artist Jan Duursema. To learn the ways of the new series, Hero Complex writer Jevon Phillips talked to Ostrander and Duursema. JP: With all that is out there about the Star Wars universe and the Jedi, it would seem like a daunting task to lay the complete groundwork for this influential galaxy. What was the first task that you gave yourselves? JO: This is a time of myth and legend. An epic era. ...

The George Lucas universe returns to theaters on Feb. 10 when “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” opens in 3-D and it looks like he will be using every Jedi trick to get fans into seats on opening weekend. Some of the special offers and giveaways we’re hearing about so far: * At all RealD theaters, the Darth Maul glasses you see above will be handed out (while supplies last) to fans who buy tickets on the movie’s opening day. And now, you don’t have to break them in half at the end of the movie.  * At all AMC Theaters, fans will get the all-new Hasbro “Star Wars” Fighter Pod with the purchase of each RealD 3-D ticket for “Episode I,” all weekend long, Feb. 10-12.  The limit is one per ticket and the offer is good only while supplies last. * At ...

It may be the largest entertainment production in history. More than 800 people on four continents have spent six years and nearly $200 million creating it. The story runs 1,600 hours, with hundreds of additional hours still being written. Nearly 1,000 actors have recorded dialogue for 4,000 characters in three languages. The narrative is so huge that writers created a 1,000-page “bible” to keep the details straight, and the director recently asked a colleague not to spoil moments he hadn’t yet seen. It’s not a movie or a TV series. It’s Star Wars: The Old Republic, the most expensive, ambitious and riskiest video game ever produced. Created out of a 60,000-square-foot converted warehouse next to a cooking school on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, the Old Republic is proof that while box-office, network TV ratings and music sales are slumping, ...

Toy collector Jay West writes occasional guest essays for Hero Complex about vintage collectibles. Today: The empty box that became a holiday gift sensation in 1977.   The hottest Christmas gift for 1977 was the one that wasn’t available — “Star Wars” had opened in May of that year but no one, least of all the toy company called Kenner, was prepared for the film’s galactic success and the massive consumer demand that followed. Kenner was thrilled to hold the toy-making license for the George Lucas epic that was quickly becoming one of the largest grossing movies of all time but aside from a small amount of merchandise that hit stores at the time of the movie’s release, the toymaker was woefully unprepared to handle the hunger for Jedi products and playthings. As the year wore on, that meant a yuletide dilemma that presented ...

Bob Anderson, the Olympic fencing coach who doubled as Darth Vader during lightsaber duels in “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi,” died on New Year’s Day. He was 89. Anderson, who competed in the 1952 Olympic Games as part of the British fencing team and went on to coach future fencing teams, began his side career as a sword-fight trainer to the big screen’s swashbucklers after coaching Errol Flynn in “The Master of Ballantrae.” His Hollywood handiwork spans five decades and multiple genres, with credits including “Star Wars,” “The Mask of Zorro,” “Highlander,” “The Phantom,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” several James Bond films and many more. “The sword is the ultimate weapon,” he said in a 1995 Los Angeles Times interview. “It’s not so threatening shooting at someone at 20 or 30 paces away or while hiding ...