#star wars comics

It’s Anakin Week! This is one of my favorite kind moments with him. It really makes Luke look like a jerk for shooting the womp rats, huh?

“Episode 1 Adventures: Anakin Skywalker.” Dark Horse. May 19, 1999. Writer: Timothy Truman. Penciller: Steve Crespo. Inker: George Freeman. Colorist: David Nestelle.

It’s Anakin Week again! This panel shows a perfect example of Anakin and Obi-Wan’s emotion-vs-logic conflict. But what I love most about it is how scary it makes Obi-Wan look!

The first time we meet Obi-Wan, he has obscured his face in his hood in order to scare the Tusken Raiders off of Luke. The shadowy hood has been a visual motif in Star Wars ever since. Usually it is a false front that hides a heroic Jedi, but in the case of Darth Maul, the face underneath can be even scarier.

In this comic’s case, Obi-Wan’s dark hood emphasizes his coldness and power over his Padawan and the citizens they are trying to help. Anakin knows what Obi-Wan really looks like, but in this moment the visual cues tell us to take Anakin’s side and even to see the darkness within Obi-Wan’s point of view.

Yoda in “Empire Strikes Back” said that Anakin chose the quick and easy path. The prequels show us that Anakin is an impetuous character who follows his heart before his head. But though Anakin makes terrible decisions and later adopts a villainous personality, other details in the bigger story – like this small moment in a comic – show us that the quick and easy path isn’t always the evil-looking one.

“Obi-Wan & Anakin” (trade paperback). Marvel. July 19, 2016. Writer: Charles Soule. Penciller and Inker: Marco Checchetto. Letterer: Joe Caramagna. Colorist: Andres Mossa.

If I had to list my favorite Star Wars costumes, third place would go to Luke’s dad-rescuing goth number and runner-up to Padme’s meadow dress, but first place would go to something way more obscure: Atton Rand’s jacket.

An image seared into my mind.

KotOR II’s Atton Rand is Star Wars’ baddest Han Solo knockoff, and he’s got the duds to prove it. He’s wearing the same exact pair of pants and sexy cowboy holster, but like any good knockoff he’s added his own little something-something: fingerless gloves, a side part, and of course, those three extra sleeve layers onto the vest. Something about this jacket is so fun and spacey, so silly but so flattering, so dangerous but so approachable – in a word, handsome. It’s such a shame that you can only find it in one video game…

Or can you? KotORs I and II (2003-4) are clearly inspired by the Star Wars movies that immediately preceded them, Phantom Menace (1999) and Attack of the Clones (2002), with their shared themes of a corrupt Republic, a hypocritical Jedi Order, a cursed Chosen One, capitalist violence, and forbidden love. But the KotORs also had a weirder, more plot-significant influence: those 90s comics I’m always going on about, Tales of the Jedi! In fact, the KotORs are set one generation after TotJ and reference many TotJ characters by name, especially Exar Kun and various Siths.

But back to the jacket – did Atton make such a beautiful thing himself, or did that no-good pirate steal it right off the corpse of noble comic book character Andur Sunrider?!

The long sleeves and pocket were lost in the confusion.

The resemblance could be a coincidence, but it’s fun to imagine the black market shenanigans that might have transpired between Andur’s murder and Atton’s acquisition. I also love the parallel of the two men: Andur the gallant Jedi teacher, honorable husband and tragic father, versus Atton the AWOL murderer and romantic wastrel who humbles himself as your student and (sometimes) learns his lesson. They even have similar names. Anyway, you know I love to argue that Star Wars comicsdid it first.

But after Atton followed the Jedi Exile to the ends of the galaxy, what happened to the jacket?

Well, 4000 years passed, and it ended up with someone new:

The sleeves grew back.

DJ from The Last Jedi is the next character, timeline-wise, who has that excessive sleeve thing going on, and he’s exactly the sort of mysterious, debonair trickster who deserves this ancient hand-me-down. I’m sure Andur would not approve, but personally I can think of no more fitting fate for such a legendary garment than with someone who doesn’t join either side.

I’ll add onto this post if I ever find more instances of this sexy design in Star Wars, and I’ll try to imagine how each new owner got it, and how their stories align with the rest of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Jacket.

But let’s give three cheers for Andur Sunrider, who wore it first, and four cheers for Janine Johnston, who designed it.

Addendum:

Snoke’s ribbed robe is a bit too off-model to convince even me that it could be the same jacket, but it’s fun to imagine that DJ could have stolen it right out of the Supreme Leader’s closet. Perhaps the jacket has limited shape-shifting abilities?

Credits:

Promotional art of Atton Rand from 2004. I can’t find the artist’s name, but Wikipedia says I need to credit “Obsidian Entertainment, LucasArts and Disney,” which is better (and worse) than nothing. The lead artist of KotOR II was Aaron Meyers, and the entire art team was Aaron Brown, Brian Menze, Dennis Presnell, Doug Cope, Ed Lacabanne, Glenn Price, Lucas Feld, Mustazar Essa, Timothy Cox, Trent Campbell, TJ Frame, Robert Giampa, Will Harper, and David Espinoza.

The picture of Andur is from “Tales of the Jedi, issue 3: The Saga of Nomi Sunrider, part 1.” Dark Horse. December 1, 1993. Writer: Tom Veitch. Penciller: Janine Johnston. Inker: Mike Barreiro. Letterer: Willie Schubert. Colorist: Pamela Rambo.

Concept art of DJ by Jock (Mark Simpson), from The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, written by Phil Szostak, published 2017.

The picture of Snoke is from “The Rise of Kylo Ren” trade paperback. Marvel. August 11, 2020. Writer: Charles Soule. Penciller and Inker: Will Sliney. Letterer: Travis Lanham. Colorist: Guru-eFX.

“I’ve been disrespected my whole life–but being underestimated has its values.”–Dengar

Cover art for Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #023, “A Clear and Present Dengar”

Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Jesus Aburtov

FromStar Wars: Bounty Hunters #023, “A Clear and Present Dengar”

Art by Natacha Bustos and Arif Prianto

Written by Ethan Sacks

“You’ve chosen your path now. You alone are responsible for where it takes you.”–Darth Vader

Cover art for Star Wars: Darth Vader #023, “The Shadow’s Shadow”

Art by Paul Renaud

FromStar Wars: Darth Vader #023, “The Shadow’s Shadow”

Art by Raffaele Ienco and Carlos Lopez

Written by Greg Pak