Star Wars Comic Vol.1 #4

15 Aug 1999. Cover price £1.25.
28 pages. Full colour.
Titan Magazines.

Edited by John Freeman.

Cover painting by Hugh Fleming.
r: cover from Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (Dark Horse) #02 (May 1999).

Contents:

 2 Whisperings in the Force text introduction (uncredited). / Contents / Indicia

 3 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, part four, w: Henry Gilroy, based on the story by George Lucas; p: Rodolfo Damaggio, i: Al Williamson, lettering by Steve Dutro, colouring by Dave Nestelle.

r: Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (Dark Horse) #?? (1999).

 7 Forbidden Planet advertisement.

18 Star Toons - the Cartoon Art of Science Fiction advertisement for the British Cartoon Centre exhibition; a: Don Lawrence.

r: image from Storm.

19 Star Wars: Episode I - Anakin Skywalker, part four, w: Timothy Truman; p: Steve Crespo, i: George Freeman, lettering by Vickie Williams, colouring by Dave Nestelle.

r: Star Wars: Episode I - Anakin Skywalker Dark Horse) nn (May 1999).

25 Make a Date With Star Wars! competition to win Star Wars Episode I - The Data File.

26 Coming Next Week

27 Subscribe & Save

28 See and Read the Film advertisement for graphic novel.

A dramatic image of Anakin in his pod-racer is a much better use of the cover than photographs, and seems more appropriate for the title. For such a slim issue, and this is a very thin publication, every opportunity to catch the attention of possible readers needs to be taken. Opportunities such as the contents page, which is likely the first page consulted before purchase, which are elsewhere squandered. It's an incredibly busy contents page, with a couple of stills from the film set in an awkward circle which calls attention to the design elements rather than the images or - crucially - what is is in the issue.

The Phantom Menace always felt like a film which dragged on, rather than the pacy and attention-grabbing original, and this adaptation seems to follow in the film's footsteps by seemingly never ending. Finally at the point in the story where Anakin takes to his pod-racer for a race which could grant him his freedom, there are some effective panels showing off the attention to detail here. Black panel borders work well, and the reproduction is flawless.

Without a poster, though, there's a sense that the title has given up on attracting readers. Without even a single text feature, or look into the production of the comic adaptation, we can only wonder at the machinations behind the scenes to bring the project to completion. When looking at Star Wars comics of the late 90s, the striking cover paintings are the most identifiable trait, yet there hasn't been nearly enough written on their creation. Did the artists do versions of the paintings with characters who were later digitally altered, or was the film in the can once work began? It bugs me not knowing.

Anakin's story, which hasn't really felt important, plants seeds for the film, with his mother remarking "I just want to look at you, Annie. Sometimes I have the terrible feeling that I'll never see you again." So subtle. If readers hadn't taken the hint, only a couple of panels later she says (to no-one in particular) "There's a storm coming." Slegehammer-like storytelling aside, there is a real sense of the strip's location being alive with activity, and its ending, while not a surprise, is a suitably grin-inducing moment.

Not a brilliant issue, though given that one story concludes in this issue it is unlikely that latecomers would have been satisfied with the material on offer.

#03

Star Wars Comic

#05