THE IRRESISTIBLE LURE OF STAR WARS
 

It's quite obvious that Star Wars was a very important and prominent inspiration in the creation of Bob's work on HERCULES and his online comic, COLONY.
 

In addition, Bob, as co-plotter and inker, teamed up with his long-time collaborator David Michelinie to produce issue 78 of the Marvel STAR WARS series which began in March 1977 -- a series that lasted 107 regular issues, with three annuals -- 19 of which were written by David (issues 51-52, 55-69, 78, and Annual 2.
 

This month, Bob and David tackle questions related to the George Lucas universe of lovable heroes and artificial life forms, unwavering camaraderie, dangerous villains, life-and-death light saber fights, exotic technology, the quest for personal redemption, and land and space vehicles that go really, really fast.
 

Many thanks, Bob and David!
 

1. Bob, what exactly is it about STAR WARS that really grabs you personally?

1. When we're discussing the Star Wars films, I'm going to presume that you're speaking of Episodes IV, V, & VI and not those disastrous prequels that contained Jar Jar Binks.  Meso gunna puke!

Many people describe Star Wars as the classic struggle between Good and Evil. I don't believe that's what made that universe such a phenomenon.

To me, George Lucas created a rich culture, rife with the mundane, everyday happenings of life and injected an element of the fantastic into it. The brilliance of his fictional universe is that he created a world that was worn, dirty, and occasionally malfunctioning that added a richness that had been lacking in science-fantasy up until that point.

But--don't get me started about Jedi, however. As you know from previous columns, I believe that the Jedi Knights are a collection of space-pussies who do not win fights... merely survive them.

2. Issue 78, "Hoth Stuff!," of Marvel's STAR WARS series (December 1983) featured two major, minor characters, pilot Wedge Antilles and gunner Wes Janson, and what happened to them after their Y-Wing fighter had been shot down following the Rebels' battle with the Empire on the frozen planet Hoth. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Lieutenant Barlon Hightower desperately search for the duo.
 

Note: In THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, Wedge and Wes were made famous for using the harpoon and tow cable in their snowspeeder to hog-tie the legs of an Imperial walker, causing the giant four-legged craft to take a header. In addition, Wedge accompanied Luke Skywalker on his final approach to destroy the original Death Star, and spearheaded the Alliance starfighter attack into the heart of the uncompleted Death Star. Needless to say, Luke and Wedge were very close friends and allies.
 

Bob and David, STAR WARS 78 is another perfect example of great storytelling without the real necessity of a series' lead characters. I'm also assuming this tale illustrates your love of secondary characters.

QUESTION TO YOU BOTH: What was it like collaborating on an issue of STAR WARS, and why did you guys decide on using the battle of Hoth from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK as your springboard and how did you develop the story? How was penciler Luke McDonnel (a noted Iron Man artist) to work with?

2. David's reply: As I recall, Bob was the one who noticed that Wedge was never heard from again after his part in the snow speeder battle. (Our story was plotted before RETURN OF THE JEDI came out and established that Wedge was still around.) At the time, Marvel liked to have one or two completed fill-in stories in the drawer in case of unavoidable schedule crunches -- and as a writer, I liked having one of MY stories in the drawer to keep the tone of the series consistent in case a fill-in had to be used. Bob's idea raised a good question that we thought fans would enjoy having answered, so we opened our imaginations and speculated on what might have happened to Luke's ol' pal, Wedge. I don't remember much about the technical process of putting that particular story together, but I believe we found Luke McDonnel to be a solid storyteller.

2.5 Bob's reply: David answered everything as it occurred correctly. I'm not sure I have much to add to that.

As far as picking Wedge for this particular story, you're right about my love for secondary characters. As a creator, it's always the most fun to find those little 'gems in the rough' and polish them up for the readers.

3. Bob, how did STAR WARS influence and inspire you during the creation of both HERCULES and COLONY?

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3.  At the particular time that I began to conceive of a Hercules series, Marvel was looking to experiment with concepts that had a finite beginning and end.   When I heard that, the notion of developing Hercules as a limited series popped into my head. I’ve always loved tongue-in-cheek adventure movies like the “The Three Musketeers” or “The Adventures of Robin Hood”. The idea came to me to create something in that genre, but capitalize on the science-fantasy craze that Star Wars had created at that time.

I'll have to admit that the technology in Hercules was visually influenced by the Star Wars films.

As far as COLONY goes-- not so much.

In my mind, the saga of Scott Landus and his fellow fugitives is more of a low-tech environment. If you've followed the story, you'll see that I avoid giving them ray guns or robots or anything out of the ordinary. If COLONY is influenced by Star Wars, it's more from the spiritual aspects, where there are greater, unseen forces at work that empower or manipulate the characters.

4. Bob, nods to STAR WARS have popped up from time to time in your work on IRON MAN, such as your Carbon Knight (Carbonite) Iron Man armor design and your interpretation of Goldenblade and Sapper from IRON MAN, Volume 3, No. 25 (February 2000). Can you think of any specific instances while working on IRON MAN that STAR WARS prompted a story, design, or technology element?

4. Absolutely! There are many examples throughout Iron Man where you can see bits of Star Wars technology popping its head up. When you think of the Roxxon Space Station or Justin Hammer's numerous hide-outs, all of them have a bit of that sort of design built into them. As far as Goldenblade and Sapper, I had absolutely nothing to do with their creation. I  was merely one of many artists who interpreted them during their stint in Iron Man.

5. Question 5 is all David's.

David, what were some of the challenges in working with a licensed property such as STAR WARS, during the 19 issues you wrote? What were some of the things you couldn't do with the characters or with storylines?

Question: How easy was it to use characters of your own creation?

Question: How many layers or levels of approval did your ideas, proposals, and scripts have to go through, and what was the chain of command in dealing with Lucasfilm?

Question: In STAR WARS #78, the character of Wes Jenson DIED! How was that handled with editorial?

Question: What research materials did you use in creating your tales?

Question: Overall, was your experience with STAR WARS a rewarding one?

5. David: The only up front restrictions that I was given from Lucasfilm were: don't have a one-on-one confrontation between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, and don¹t get Han Solo out of his carbonite cage -- which effectively removed one of the major characters from the cast. I sort of got around those by having Luke confront a hologram of Vader, but with no actual fighting, and by writing a Han story as flashback in an annual.
 

The only thing I was ever asked to change was in the first two-part story I plotted. I had a second Deathstar being constructed, and Lucasfilm didn¹t want me to do that because, as it turned out, that was something they were doing in the next movie.

I never had any problems introducing new characters. I was a huge Star Wars fan, and was very conscientious about making sure all characters fit the tone and ideals of the movies. One character I introduced, Shira Brie, even went on to be used in other people's stories, and has been included in Star Wars encyclopedias and the like.

I really don't know. I sent my plots in to Marvel and was told when they were approved. So it was really mostly between Marvel and Lucasflm.

Again, no problems that I know of. I assume Lucasfilm had no plans for the character -- had probably even forgotten he existed -- so didn¹t care if we bumped him off.

I had a cassette of the first movie, and I think the second as well. I¹m pretty sure everything in my stories was based on those original sources, and my imagination.

Other than writing SPIDER-MAN and IRON MAN, and creating THE BOZZ CHRONICLES, writing STAR WARS was probably the most fun I¹ve ever had in comics. When I was like 9 years old I'd come home from a Saturday matinee Tarzan movie and spend all afternoon swinging around on a rope tied to a tree branch in the back yard, making up new Tarzan stories (starring me, of course). So actually being paid to create new stories about these wonderful movie characters and their amazing universe was almost like being hired to be a professional kid!

Very cool indeed.