In this issue 3 Editor’s Letter 4 Mini Board 6 All Stars
Favorite toys and clothing pieces
8 War Report
Fans answer quick questions
9 Joy Ride
Would you ride it?
10 The Spoiler
What this franchise is missing Mike Posillico
11 Sketching Stars
Artwork by Luis Vega
12 Star Sounds
John Williams creates credibility and takes the storytelling to another level, John Villanova
14 All Around
Movie merchandise hides in plain sight throughout the Vega home, Madeline Vega
32 Not in the Toy Aisle
Wal-Mart has plenty of Star Wars merchandise if you know where to look, Madeline Vega
34 Nerd Holiday
Throwback to that time we celebrated May the 4th with the whole school, Madeline Vega
36 Five Things
An battle for the backyard
Art department weekly Luis Vega Chief content officer Madeline strum Managing Editor Credits Madeline Vega (Cover and pages 3, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14-31, 32-33, 34-35, 36), Luis Vega (Page 11) along with images from 20th Century fox, Lucas film, and disney as well as manufacturers
fan for life For as long as I can remember, Star Wars has held a special place in my life. I remember having the figures as a little boy before I ever saw the film. I remember my brothers talking about the movie and telling me how amazing it was. Needless to say, Star Wars is a big deal to me. The first Star Wars movie I ever saw was Empire Strikes Back right before I saw Return of the Jedi (see the handy “War Report” on Page 8 for this and many more fun facts) as part of a doublefeature. It made such a mark on me, that I drew the characters for months and vivdly remember writing a “What I Did Over My Summer Vacation” essay centered around watching Star Wars, complete with an illustrated cover of Darth Vader with the Emperor high over his head. From the first moment I saw it, I knew I was smitten. As I stormed through school, it was easy to find like-minded fans. We were like a big geeky tribe. As the movies became a thing of the past, and the comics and the toy lines dwindled, the tribe started to fade. Without any movies to support, new material became scarcer. That started to change a bit in the early ’90s as a series of excellent Timothy Zahn books started to get adapted into comics at Dark Horse. Dark Empire was a particularly excellent trilogy of books which continued the saga of the
Skywalker clan. Sadly, those books are completely out of canon now as they were all erased when Disney purchased the property. On Page 10, I examine a bit of Star Wars history in comics. With the success of the comics line, Hasbro (which had purchased original toy line producer Kenner) released the Power of the Force figures in 1995. These figures sold like gangbusters. The initial waves featured very muscular sculpts, but it was apparent that the interest was there. Hasbro continued to pump out tons of new excellent products (they still do to this day, as evidenced by the excellent Black Series light sabers pictured above). With comics and toys making huge waves, George Lucas took notice and announced that he was going back to “A Galaxy Far, Far Away”. A series of prequels were released which provided even more new tie-ins and licensed merchandise. While the movies weren’t critical hits, they were massive box-office hits. More than that, Star Wars was back in the public eye and has stayed there ever since. As I’ve entered fatherhood, I have shared Star Wars with each of my kids. I can only hope that they love it as much as I have.
Year in Review 2017 • Art
Department Weekly 3
