Thought Balloons
Okay… interesting story… sort of. You may need to refresh / reload this page in your browser as the strip has changed THREE times this morning. What happened? The original strip’s gag was invalidated by my own goof when I was correctly shown how Han was freed of his Han-cuffs. So, my knee jerk reaction was to move Monday’s strip forward and replace the Han-cuff strip. Then, I realized I was throwing away a lot of work and that my eventual plan to give Han’s carbonite form a voice / thought balloons would fit really well with the original strip’s layout. So, I pushed Monday’s strip back to Monday (meaning some of you have had a sneak peak of NEXT Friday’s strip!) and revised today’s original strip. What a lot of work! But I brought it on myself!
Some readers had left comments about Han’s suddenly absent manacles in the film, and for their benefit here’s what another reader, Michael had to say. “You can see Han’s naked wrists after the Ugnaughts leave, no hand cuffs. You can also see that he starts to lower his hands before the scene shifts. It’s the thing behind Han’s back that might be a continuity issue, but it does not prevent Han from holding up his hands.” See a video here.
Harrison Ford is interested in stepping back into the role of Han Solo again… a role he is on record as never having liked. It seems the wave of excitement about a new Star Wars film, a sequel to the originals, has got the better of him at last.
There is also a strong rumor about the possible writer. Oscar winning screenwriter Michael Arndt is said to have written a 40-50 page treatment of the new trilogy. Arndt wrote Toy Story 3, Little Miss Sunshine, and Hunger Games: Catching Fire, is the writer of Pixar’s next upcoming movie and a “Star Wars expert”. Arndt began work on the treatment well before the LucasFilm / Disney deal was announced and it sounds like he is a real candidate. That doesn’t mean Arndt has the job, and even if he gets it, several writers may end up being involved in the final version.
Matthew Vaughn, director of X-Men: First Class and Kick Ass has been rumored by DenOfGeek.com, though Vulture.com says Disney intend to try the big name directors first, including Steven Spielberg, Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, Pixar’s The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) and J.J. Abrams (Mission Impossible III, Star Trek 9, Super 8).
What do I make of all this? I have mixed feelings. Vulture.com reports that Disney / LucasFilm WANT the big three back: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher. I enjoyed elements of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but is that the sort of hit and miss I’d be content with for Star Wars VII simply to see the originals back in character? Regardless of their age, as a fan I can’t turn that down. Even the Holiday Special has an annoying glimmer of appeal due to the involvement of the Star Wars main cast, and I’m willing to bet whatever LucasFilm / Disney make, it will be better than watching a Wookiee child running around his home growling for 5 straight minutes, or a geriatric Wookiee watching porn.
I’m pleased to announce that all US orders of Leanne’s Artbook, Sketchbook and sketchcards have been delivered successfully. We can’t confirm our international orders have found their targets, but we hope that the packages will arrive soon. If you are concerned and you are one of our international supporters who placed an order, let us know if your package has not been delivered by early next week. Thank you to everyone who has made an investment in Leanne’s work and given us a boost! We continue to offer Artbooks, Sketchbooks, and Leanne’s special one time deal to fans for a commissioned sketchcard.
Click here, if you are interested in seeing what is in these books, as well as examples of sketchcard art that Leanne can illustrate for you personally!
I like to assume that leia slipped Han one of her hair pins during their last kiss. 😛
My copy of the artbook arrived yesterday here in Berlin, Germany. Thanks! 🙂
What I would like them to do is abandon all of this bunched up, main line stuff.
What about just making movies set in the Star Wars Universe? Like maybe a “James Bond-esque” spy film featuring rebel operatives, a mafia film set in the Hutt underworld, or any number of things? Why bust things up and create a quagmire out of everything when you can go just a little outside what already exists and enrich?
This came up a few times in roleplaying games (I have been involved with the SWRPG since 1987 and now I feel old for admitting that!); that people run these games that are basically, “You’re rebels or rebel-sympathizing smugglers and one of you is a force-user.” Then GM’s complain that there is no variety in it. I get immensely angry with them; it’s Star Wars! It’s a giant, ever-changing and growing universe of stuff! Pick a tangent and head off into the bush.
I think those sorts of movies will happen eventually. Like Lucas says, Star Wars will have a long life with Disney. However, the first trilogy they are making (at least the first movie in that trilogy) looks set to link with the Original Trilogy by having the three main stars return in some capacity. I have no problem with that. They are part of the reason I loved Star Wars as a kid. I think one of the problems people have, is a loyalty to the EU and treating it as if it is inseparable canon. To me, it’s very easy to view these as a “film” continuity. It doesn’t invalidate the EU, it’s just another iteration of Star Wars.
If LucasFilm and Disney make an appalling job of it, I am sure I will be ignoring and trying to forget the new films just like I do with parts of the EU and the PT, and continuing to focus my admiration for Star Wars on the Original Trilogy.
But I agree that future Star Wars films don’t HAVE to be of the same formula as what went before. I don’t mind at least this next one (or three) making an effort to have a connection though.
Therein lies part of what I am getting at though. They could put the next three directly attached to the original trilogy, but they don’t have to acknowledge the EU. It’s kind of like driving down a multi-lane freeway and sticking to one lane, you don’t have to stay in this one place to get where you’re going.
To use an RPG analogy, when a good gamemaster railroads his players, he gives then a dozen rails to choose from. They go to the same place and stop at the same waypoints, but there is more than one route.
All that said though, Disney has the balls to force a collaborative effort instead of justing bowing to Lucas. You look at the making of the original movies and it was plagued with problems, disaster, and only got made through a true group effort. Then you look at prequels and it is almost all just green screens and controlled environments, nobody is challenging bad ideas, and it turns into just fulfilling work orders – it became all too easy to just throw it up on the screen.
Probably why my gaming group is so loose Exxos. We don’t have a bunch of rules and generally, we don’t tend to push any one story line unless the mods come up with something really ambitions and even then it gets shot down a lot of it forces the entire site to participate because we don’t think it’s fair to MAKE people play a particular way.
It works for us and it’s a lot of fun most of the time. Look us up if you need a change of pace or just like a more story driven gaming experience.
A pair of Ugnaughts go up to him right before he goes down. It’s not specifically shown they take them off but one of them looks like he’s messing with the cuffs.
Leanne and I watched the scene to confirm and his arms are still together when he descends.
But are the cuffs still there? 😉 I don’t believe we can actually see them in the shot if I remember correctly.
The implication, by his having his arms in the exact same pose, is that nothing has changed and the cuffs are still there. They would have had to automatically drop off the second before the freezing chamber activated. That’s probably what happened “logically”, but it’s still left hanging onscreen and something that was overlooked. But like our Kershner was going to say “who gives a shit? On to the next shot!” 🙂
You can see Han’s naked wrists after the Ugnaughts leave, no hand cuffs.
You can also see that he starts to lower his hands before the scene shifts.
It’s the thing behind Han’s back that might be a continuity issue, but it does not prevent Han from holding up his hands.
http://youtu.be/QSolTVCx_jQ?t=1m16s
I see it! Well there ya go! Now what do we do about today’s strip? :-/
You could have left it alone. I like the idea of of Kershner coming in and saying “who gives a shit”. The strip could be a testament of all the nit pick debating hard line fans do. On the other hand you have now created a rare “collector’s strip” like the Butcher Cover of the Beatles.
I’ve heard two explanations for it…
1) There’s some Ugnaughts that shuffle in front of him at the last second and take the cuffs off. Han doesn’t fight at this point because he knows it would be a waste of effort as he just told Chewie a few moments earliler.
2) The cuffs were made of a form of carbonite and melted as the first blast of carbonite hit him. He raised his hands in agony as the carbonite filled the chamber, catching him with his hands up.
Admittedly, I never noticed it or thought about it until it was pointed out here. Nothing gets by you guys. : )
My thought was the Carbonite would have caused the cuffs to shatter with extreme cold. Although I love the “eh – let someone else deal with it” that you used here.
Thanks! We do miss the odd thing, hence the occasional flashback strips I’ve been doing to cover ideas that occurred late to me. In the early days of the strip, there was also a sense of urgency to progress through the first film, rather than dwell on EVERY detail. Now that we’re well past the half way point, I guess I’m getting nostalgic?
Just read the edit. I totally never put that together that the little furry Chewie wannabes took off the cuffs. I guess I was watching faces and focusing on dialogue more than on the small details of the scene. We’ve got us some clever campers in our midst, that’s for sure. Way to be all sleuth-y out there!
Hey, Leanne and I specifically watched the scene to confirm that the manacles stayed on BEFORE attempting to make that strip. However, either the steam, or our bad eye sight let us down. As Michael points out, the strap around Han’s chest and biceps remains in place, which is probably what tricked us.
“The problem with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and putting things in it.”- Terry Pratchett 😉
I’m trying to keep an open mind about the Post-Trilogy thing, and the Disney Connection (they do an excellent job at the Theme park, but that is after all what a theme park is for). I just can’t seem to catch the fire of enthusiasm. Hopefully, standing in line with my kids will be enough to take me back. 🙂
Maybe I should sell my collection now, and pay off some credit cards.
Reality bites! 🙁
Well, I didn’t enjoy the Prequels, so I have hope that with less Lucas, and Disney’s creative resources, I’m going to get a more entertaining movie. I am much more optimistic right now than I am worried about a repeat of my feelings during the releases of the PT.
I finally got my artbook last night (stupid hurricane). We’re still playing a bit of a guessing game with some of the pictures, but the art is excellent. 🙂
I don’t think there’s any need to visit Luke/Han/Leia except to make money.
Luke’s character arc is complete at the end of Jedi. He’s gone from childish and immature (in thinking, not necessarily acting) to adult and mature. He stopped thinking about himself and throwing fits like a teenager, and started taking on larger responsibilities that affect not only himself, but his friends and the galaxy at large.
Han goes through a very similar character arc. His is, arguably, the most pronounced of the main characters. From a self-serving, cynical rogue to a compassionate and competent leader. Leia’s arch is much less noticeable but she’s matured too at the end of Jedi.
(This is something different than anything in the prequels: as there are no character arcs. They are in Episode III as they are in Episode I. The characters in the prequels are very flat.)
The people at the end of Jedi are different people than we met them in A New Hope. We’ve seen then complete a character arc.
LET IT BE.
Seriously. We have a good thing here. There’s NO reason to go back to these characters other than the fact that they are easily recognizable to sell movie tickets. Is that a bad thing? I don’t think it’s the worst thing to happen to Star Wars but I think it’s more about marketing than it is storytelling.
And yeah, Hollywood is a business. And the “Star Trek” reboot did almost the exact same thing: cash in on easily recognizable characters and settings in order to sell the most tickets. We were lucky that it had a good script. But look at Indiana Jones. His character arc isn’t as pronounced as Han’s, but at the end of Crusade, he’s grown up a little. He understands that family, friends, and life is more important than “getting the gold.” There was no reason to bring him back, and Crystal Skull is what happens when the script (and directing) is bad.
Start with new or less developed characters. Run with Wedge and tell the Rogue Squadron story. Follow along Bossk, IG-88, and Boba Fett and tell “Tales of the Bounty Hunters” or something. Take us to places we’ve only seen a glimpse of in a “shove as much CGI crap onto the screen for 3 seconds before cutting away.”
The Star Wars galaxy is so rich and dense and creative. There’s no need — beyond laziness and greed — to go BACK to the core characters. But, like I said, Hollywood is a business and they’re most likely going to make a smart business decision (i.e. no creativity and no risk) to sell as many tickets as they can.
Sorry for a long post.
Who says a new movie will be ABOUT those three? I agree their personal storyline development is complete, but the interest in casting Hamill, Ford and Fisher isn’t necessarily anything more than them passing the torch to the new central characters.
Dunno. I know why Disney/Lucasfilm wants them back (marketability), and I would imagine that a good scriptwriter would fight them on that. Possibly some sort of compromise, but I can’t see how that’d be good either (cameo? yuck).
I was huge into SW growing up until the prequels and the NJO books, at which point it no longer felt like SW to me and I lost interest. But, goodness, so many wonderful stories were told in the EU. Such a rich universe, let’s hope we can see more of it!
But in balance, a number of AWFUL stories were also told in the EU. I’m happy to give the film a chance. The kid in me always wanted to see these characters one more time. I don’t see what is wrong with cameos though. I mean, unless people expect Luke, Leia and Han to be dead, they have a place in Star Wars future. Most of the complaints and reluctance seems to be coming from people who feel new movies will undermine the EU. I see both as parallel canons.
I agree, lots of good -and- bad in the EU.
In regards “parallel canons,” I grew up with SotME, Marvel comics, and Holiday Special before ESB came along, so blessed (or cracked in the head enough) to be able to process various canons simultaneously.
The EU books are (to me) no more “canonical” than this comic, DARTHS AND DROIDS, or even parts of Return of the Jedi.
If, say Peter Jackson wanted to come along and reboot Star Wars after ESB, or the first couple reels of RotJ, and replace it with Lucas’ alternate story line where Luke is two years older than Leia and Luke’s sister is off in Jedi training somewhere, that’d be fine with me.
Again, that’s just me, and I’m not ruling out the “cracked in the head” theory. 🙂
I pretty much feel the same way. But rebooting is not the same as a continuation. I wish they had REBOOTED Doctor Who, rather than tried to make it all fit. I guess the BBC felt they would upset the fans if they did a reboot, but I personally would have found it easier to embrace as a new canon.
Back to Star Wars… I would love to see new iterations of the story, but I’m also open to the OT having a film canon sequel and treating it as a bonus. Do people honestly count the Holiday Special? Okay, that’s an unfair example of accepting ALL with the Star Wars stamp on it as one canon. To me, things like Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (with obvious characterization conflicts due to later Luke and Leia siblingship) are something just outside of the regular Star Wars canon. I grew up with cartoons and comics that ran parallel to each other, but were clearly different canons. I just don’t see what is so hard about accepting any new films as Disney/Star Wars and giving them a chance as something a little different. From my point of view, I think having Han, Luke and Leia make appearances, add a welcome bit of legitimacy to post ROTJ movie.
People are welcome to think what they like, but I just hope fans will try to think objectively about things before entrenching themselves in one camp or another.
I also accept I could end up HATING any new movies. But I’m open minded at this point.
Totally off topic but (since you mentioned the new Dr. Who) I thought they almost had to do the current series as a continuation, because there were supposed to be X number of doctors, before a final evil (or was it crazy) one showed up and the story was supposed to move in that direction? Some kind of prophesy?
Will a complete re-booting mess that prediction up, or am I completely off target in the first place.
BTW Cyber Men VS Daleks, who is more awesomeerer?
You might be referring to the splinter incarnation of the Doctor, somewhere between his twelfth and final incarnation… but those are MAJOR spoilers for newbies to the classic series… and about the only redeeming thing from one of the later seasons of the classic series, too!
Daleks are more awesomer.
I used to love Cybermen more as a kid, perhaps because Daleks were more popular and I liked to be contrary. But you just can’t beat the single-mindedness of a Dalek. Their one-track minds are endlessly amusing to me. Plus they are so iconic in so many ways. I think they did good things with them in the New Series. Helped keep them interesting.
The new series had the opposite affect on the Cybermen, in my opinion. They turned them into robots, taking a lot of the cyborg out of the equation. The look like C3PO’s butch cousin impersonating a Borg. Cybermen weren’t trying to “delete” people. They weren’t computers. They were living augmented brains, governed by survivalist logic. They were creepier when they had a stronger organic look, I think.
Obviously if they do choose to include the original actors, they are going to have to set it into the future to account for their ages. I don’t see them going away from the main line character stream due to the previous 6 movies and all other (MOST OTHER) EU stories focus on the Skywalker family tree. And what of Timothy Zahn’s “sequel” books. I didn’t like those stories, so lets not do those. In my opinion this sets the whole EU on it’s head, since that is what has made due for what we thought would never be created.
I was not smitten with the Zahn books either. If they did adapt the Thrawn trilogy (which strong rumors say they will not) then, like you say, the actors are too old… another reason why they will not. The guy who wrote the Incredibles is enough to give me some confidence in a solid story, beginning, middle and end, with character development, and hopefully a non-convoluted plot. Too much Christopher Nolan these days. I LOVE Inception, but so many movies are trying too hard to cram too much into films in an effort to appear intelligent. I miss solid adventure films, with a reasonable run time. What will we end up with? As a friend said, “interesting times.”
NOOOOOOOOOO! Get old Harrison Ford out of that vest! I don’t want Han Solo looking like my dad!
Yeah!
I downloaded the old incentive strip before you removed it. Now it will live on my Hard Drive FOREVER! 🙂
It’s about to get a new lease of life, with some dialogue modifications…
I’ve been hanging at the Jedi Council Forums lately, and it seems like there are as many opinions as there are SW fans. I’m a post-ROTJ EU fan, but I’d rather see that tossed aside than a reboot of the OT with new actors. I’m a child of the 70s and 80s and Luke, Han and Leia can only be played by Mark, Harrison and Carrie in a live-action film.
The fangirl in me needs the Big 3 to return, even if it’s just for VII and to pass the torch to a new generation. IMO, there has to be something organic that ties the ST to the rest of the movies.
As for the strip, ITA with Han – although in my adult imagination, Leia has already given it up. It was a long trip to Bespin after all. 😉
It’s too bad that C3PO got in their way every time things started happening between them in Blue Milk Special. Now Han has the ultimate form of angst… Carbonite Angst!
And yes, you and I agree on wanting to see the Big 3 back, even if it’s just handing the reigns over to new characters. Obi-Wan worked really well in A New Hope, though I wouldn’t want any of the Big 3 throwing their lives away for a moment of drama.
***bzzt*** tranSmissiOn corRuPtEd ***bzzt*** iNVaLid copIes of caRtoOn eXiSt ***bzzt*** plEAse reLoAd ***bzzt*** eRRor ***bzzt*** pLeasE eXpLain ***bzzt*** plEaSe reCTifY ***bzzt*** ###ERROR ERROR FATAL ERROR EXTERMINATE TERMINAL ERROR HUMANITY MUST BE DESTROYED EXTERMINATE HUMANITY STERILIZE STERILIZE STERILIIIIIIIIZE###
I thought I’d resolved that? I don’t see any problem after I refreshed / reloaded the browser page. Try a Forced Refresh. Ctrl + F5 on a PC in your browser. Or, if you’re using Chrome, you can open the image in a new tab and then refresh it there. Then go back to this page and his refresh again. That, or you can clear your temporary cache.
I’m joking. I’m seeing the new comic fine. Of course, my new robot overlords are not as amused…
Thank the maker!
Gabby and I were pretty depressed driving home after ‘Crystal Skull’.
“So what did you think of..? I asked.
“I – I – don’t want to talk about it.”
But yes, I want to see the 3 return. [careful what you wish for…] It’s still exciting. I think Peter Jackson could really do it. I’d hate a sort of ‘knowing’ style to it. Lots of in-jokes. Almost ‘breaking the 4th wall’.
Crystal Skull had its moments… but not enough of them. What I DID genuinely enjoy, was a lot of the humor. I think Ford is good with the character and I personally enjoyed seeing Marion return and getting married to him. I’m a big softy. But seriously, Leanne and I turned and looked at each other at exactly the same time when that fridge landed and Indy crawled out intact. I was jolted out of the movie on more than one occasion.
I liked some bits too Rod.
The first chase around the university town and skidding across the library floor on the bike. That was more real, and more like ‘Raiders’ for me. Chase No.6 or 13 [yawn] against blue screen with yet MORE jumping from thing-to-thing was energetic but repetitive and artificial looking. Lucas and Spielberg were probably enjoying it all so much they lost the power of objectivity.
The actors did a lot of standing around, looking stiff, with their arms at their sides though. Probably due to the goddamned green screen basis of many of the shots – something that killed the Prequels’ performances. I’d be concerned that we’ll get more of that in the new SW movies.
I probably liked it more than most (with the exception of the f***** monkeys) but then I don’t hate the PT either, so my taste is shot to hell any way.
Getting back to the strip, I think the inclusion of Han’s thought bubbles is inspired and also horrific:)
It actually is horrific! Jesus.
In the second panel I think “baloon” should be “balloon”.
And I’m looking forward to seeing three ‘Obi-Wans’ in Episode VII. They can be wise, grumpy and crazy, and when C-3PO mentions the chances of surviving a cloud of space rocks, Han Solo-Organa can cheerfully explain that he doesn’t care, because he’s old and has a foot in the grave anyway. Wheehoo! 😀
Thanks for catching the typo! I did a real rush job on this!
LOL!
Or – Bloody hell – do you think George would CGI Ewan McGreggor in instead of Alec Guinness in all of the films? Hold on, I’m confusing myself now.
J. J. Abrams!!!! Boy, that means it’s either gonna be really good (for complexity and unpredictability [that’s what I like]) or the ending is gonna be….. bad. And that’s definably NOT star wars…. if not counting ewoks. What would you think if J. J. Abrams was involved?
Honestly, I don’t think J.J. Abrams will get the job. He’s a part of the Star Trek reboot and I think he’s going to stick to that arena. Abrams work doesn’t do anything for me. I thought Lost was a deliberate mess, Cloverfield had potential but struggled to make up for the cliched plot, Star Trek 9 was hit and miss for me. With the latter, there was some good comedy and performances, but the plot was unnecessarily top heavy. You can see the influence of things like Star Wars in his action packed version of Star Trek, particularly the over-the-top action extravaganza at the end. Part of Star Trek’s identity and uniqueness is it’s more philosophical and less action-oriented stories. I just felt he removed that key element from Star Trek.
Action packed entertainment is more of what a Star Wars film should be, but none of the scripts from his works I’ve seen have satisfied me. Abrams, like Christopher Nolan, crams TOO much into his films. It’s almost as if there’s some sense that complicated, drawn out movies are somehow more worthy of critical praise. However, Star Wars has always been solid, straight forward story telling (before the Prequels) and that’s what gave the films their appeal. So, no, I wouldn’t trust Abrams with Star Wars, personally. For the record, I love Nolan’s Inception. It’s one of my all time favorite films. But his Batman films all dragged on a little too long with an extra layer of plot that could have been trimmed and tightened.
I don’t mind the odd long film. Lord of the Rings had a good reason to be so long. But I think that sometimes the strength of a story can be diluted by too much being thrown into it. This is why writers often have editors, or do revision. Powerful film directors can indulge their own whims and keep material in a film more for sentimental reasons and tunnel vision and lose sight of key story. There is a chance that Peter Jackson may have done this with the upcoming Hobbit trilogy. I’m really looking forward to it, but it could prove to be another example of a director with too much control.