The Alliance
Are you reading Between Wars? If you remember Star Wars: Age 9, created by Irish-based artist, John White, then keep in mind his latest work is nothing like it! This is a modern, fully illustrated and digitally painted webcomic, but like Star Wars: Age 9, a deeply personal story of childhood in the 1970s. John’s original webcomic project published the actual sequential fan comics he made adapting Star Wars when he was 9 years old, but Between Wars is his first original webcomic as an adult professional artist. It is beautiful, and funny. I was a child of the plastic 80s, but I find myself connecting with Between Wars in a way I expect everyone can who experienced Star Wars as a child.
The latest issues deal with Jack’s introduction to Star Wars, indirectly through word of mouth, and then on the big screen during it’s original theatrical release.
His dad didn’t buy into the hype and didn’t even see it with him.
I’ve known John since 2009. We met online thanks to Blue Milk Special when we both launched our first webcomic projects around the same time. He’s a very talented artist and author and I’m really pleased to see him undertaking this new project. I hope others will join me in supporting him and spreading the word!
To see the full Star Wars segment, start with “Premath” here. Be sure to like, retweet or +1 John’s webcomic and leave him an encouraging comment if you enjoyed the strips. We webcomic authors love it and thrive off it! And you can read all of Between Wars from the beginning, here.
Don’t forget, Leanne and I are selling everything we own. So please look at our auctions on eBay and consider purchasing something.
Yoiks! Mon Mothma needs to dish something out in return!
Well done John!
Since you are really just a big 10 year old, you have come a long way in only 1 year… 😉
9 year old Tom – 9!
Jesus!
I don’t think Mal would loose his shit that easily.
He would just smile, make a smart-arsed comment and let Zoe attack her from behind.
Hi, Rod. Long-time reader, first-time commenter. I meant to bring this up with the last strip, but I guess it’s still relevant. Besides a cursory glance at Wikipedia when I was reading about Terry Nation, virtually everything I know about Blake’s 7 comes from your commentary here, and it seems to me to have a lot in common with Firefly thematically and character-wise. Which makes me wonder why you don’t particularly enjoy Firefly. Does it feel derivative? (Whedon spent a few years in England in the early ’80s. I wonder if it was an influence…) Or maybe too quintessentially American? I’m genuinely curious, not trying to start an argument. Anyway it’s very cool of you to include the Serenity crew in the geekstravaganza for us Browncoats even when they don’t float your boat. Cheers!
PS. Mal would never smack a lady like that. He’d just shoot her. 8^D
PPS. Any advice on how and a where a newbie might look to get into Blake’s 7?
So many of our readers love Firefly, which is something our poll a year or so ago really showed us. I don’t dislike Firefly, I just didn’t really get into it. And I think part of that is, as you say, to do with the American-ness of it. I felt like it was just missing something, even though it was admittedly refreshing compared to stuff like Star Trek and Star Gate. I grew up with Blake’s 7, and yes, there are similarities. One of those will probably surprise you, but I won’t spoil it as it’s part of a gag that’s coming up soon. Essentially, it’s a line that is a direct lift from B7 by Whedon.
There is no doubt Firefly has the shiny production values… but I think there’s a real edge to B7 that separates it from almost everything else. When it hits, it really hits. But yes, I like the classic BBC era flavor of television production, warts and all, so I’m predisposed to it.
As for getting started on B7, it looks like all the eps are up on Youtube, so you might as well just start from the beginning and work your way through. There are some doozies, of course… but most likely, if you find yourself enjoying the show it will be because of Blake and Avon (particularly the later) and the conflict between them. Even in the doozy episodes, there’s some great character moment that justifies the episode. Terry Nation loved moral dilemmas, and he comes up with some dark situations that get progressively worse for the “heroes”.
I think I already mentioned what happens at the end of the series. It was a massive big deal at the time. It’s only in the last 5 or so years that television shows have become more daring… Game of Thrones for example, where now B7 might not seem to have quite as shocking a finale, but I think it still holds up. Whenever I watch that episode it’s impossible to turn away and not be moved by what is happening. Easily one of the best endings in television history. But it’s a long road to get to that ending, and as far as I’m concerned, most of season 3 and 4 are avoidable, or time wasters. I recommend skipping Season 2’s Hostage and Voice From the Past; Season 3’s Volcano, Dawn of the Gods, Ultraworld, Moloch; S4 avoid Animals. I have a hard time with those episodes because I feel they really didn’t fit with the series, were poorly written and extremely hokey.
I personally love season 1, but most people pick season 2 as their favorite because of the storyarcs and epicness that unfolds toward the end. Big things happen and the series dramatically changes as a result. Crucial episodes from S3 would be Aftermath, Powerplay, City at the Edge of the World, Rumors of Death, Sarcophagus, Death-Watch (just for fun), Terminal. For S4 I would recommend Rescue, Traitor, Orbit, Warlord and final episode, Blake.
Like I said before, the hook of the series is Avon and conflict between Blake and himself. That’s not to say that Vila isn’t awesome (he should have won you over by City at the Edge of the World, if not then definitely by Orbit and Blake in season 4), or that Jenna and Cally aren’t great. But they don’t get the attention or development that Blake and Avon get. It’s one of the biggest failings of the series, and the show has many faults. But the scope and character conflicts are epic, and Avon is addictive to watch. Imagine Spock, if he was an asshole anti-hero.
They need a score card, to keep all these groups straight! This kind of reminds me of a Kenner action figure commercial for Empire Strikes Back, where a kid drops a Han Solo figure in a drinking glass carbonite chamber and has him yell, “long live the alliance!” Even as a 10-year-old, I had a problem with that, cause that’s definitely not what Han says at that moment. It’s also an oddly statist thing for a rebel freedom fighter to say. I love Between Wars. Shared experiences on both sides of the Atlantic through Star Wars, a pretty big deal in the dark days before the internet and everything.
Thanks Phil 😉
Hi! Just discovered your site this week when a friend shared a link to last week’s strip on Facebook. As a fan of Star Wars, Blake’s 7, Star Trek (TOS), Babylon 5, Doctor Who (classic and modern), Battlestar Galactica (classic), etc., I HAD to check it out. I then promptly read through from the beginning. I love your BMS universe, your wit, and your artwork.
I’m also in your camp of loving Blake’s 7 (my favorite character is Vila, though my friends have nicknamed me Avon) and never quite getting into Firefly. (So, alas, the “Alliance” joke above sailed right over my head, but, hey, one can’t expect to know everything about everything.)
Please keep up the good work!
I have to agree with Benga; I think Mal would just use some pithy Mandarin on her, and Inara (we need to see Inara here!) would smooth things over.
Been loving the addition of all the other sci-fi staples, especially the Doctor. Showing my age by admitting I could identify Sarah Kingdom and Steven Taylor just by your images of them. 🙂 I have every Doctor Who story ever on DVD from my full collection of VHS tapes that I converted over to DVDs plus all the reconstructions of the missing stories. I’ve enjoyed the new Doctors as well, really loved Eccleston, but Matt Smith’s and Capaldi’s stories have left me rather cold. Also a long time Blake’s 7 fan as well. Being a long time Who fan the production values of Blake’s 7 never bothered me. It is tough to draw in younger viewers nowadays, though, because their expectations are so much different.
Philc I could see that Han in his carbon freeze glass more likely saying “FU Vader” than “Long live the Alliance”. Hahahahaha