Category: Opinion

Hyperlane to the Danger Zone: Essential Elements for a Rogue Squadron Movie

Posted on April 15, 2015by

Rogue_Squadron_TEA

We don’t really know very much about Rogue One right now. We have a title that may or may not mean something to us, the release date, and the names of one member of the cast (in an unspecified role), the director, the producers, the score composer, the source of the core concept, the person who named it, and the writer. Unless more should be revealed in the time between when I write this article and when it’s published, that’s just about it.

Anything apart from that is nothing more than pure speculation. So, in order for this article to actually contain meaningful content, we’re going to have to treat a certain assumptions as if they were fact: specifically, that the name Rogue One does refer in some way to Rogue Squadron, and that it is a movie focused on the exploits of that particular unit of starfighter pilots.

Now, it’s entirely possible that these assumptions will be proven false in the coming months, especially if one takes the initial report regarding the concept art for the film into account. It may turn out to be something more along the lines of Wraith Squadron, dealing with hybrid commando-pilots.

It may not be a movie about starfighter pilots at all. Even if that ends up being the case, I will have no cause to complain, but I will continue to maintain the viability of a feature film centered around starfighter pilots and their spacecraft. Today, we’re going to talk about what steps might be taken to ensure that Rogue One is the best space ace movie it can possibly be.

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Rebel in the Ranks – Among the Best Novels in the New Canon

Posted on April 13, 2015by

sote-ritrJason Fry’s second entry in the Servants of the Empire young adult novel series takes place concurrently with the Rebels season one episode “Breaking Ranks” and his two books arguably do more to develop Lothal as an interesting place than an entire season of the still-excellent show has managed to do. If you’re still worried about the “young adult” part of that sentence, read our review of the first book in the series and have all your concerns allayed. Fry’s second book in the series continues to provide adult-like depth to the setting explored in the television show, but it also works really well as a YA novel that we would have really liked to read when we were younger.

While the first book in the series introduced the characters and the setting, this book builds on it while changing the tone enough that it doesn’t read like just a follow-up story. The first book featured themes of colonialism and adolescent sports drama that related to each other in surprising ways. By Rebel in the Ranks, the main characters have moved on to different things and the style of the storytelling changes accordingly. Yes, there are two main point of view characters now: Zare Leonis returns as a newly-minted cadet at Lothal’s Imperial Academy, while Merei Spanjaf’s role expands as we see her various undercover attempts to help Zare find out about his sister’s fate. The two characters’ different narrative arcs – and the contrast with the themes explored in the first novel – constitute the true meat of the novel, though part of the novel also overlaps with the story of “Breaking Ranks.”

Though we’re not a huge fan of novelizing television show episodes, Fry does it pretty well: the story of the novel does not play second-fiddle to the television episode, and actually serves to make the action in the episode seem a lot more interesting. As we said in our previous review, the Servants of the Empire books should be essential reading for any fan of the Rebels television show. We can now add an additional recommendation: it’s good reading for any young Star Wars fan not only because the readers might identify with the characters, but also because the audience might learn to relate to people they’ve never identified with before. It’s a book about camaraderie and teamwork, and those themes carry through from the book’s dedication to the very end. Merei Spanjaf, in particular, is a great female role model and Disney should pay attention to her!

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Collaborative Continuity: The Fan’s Place

Posted on April 10, 2015by

gffawide

Star Wars is a vast universe. Look at the galactic map– all that area labeled as Wild Space and the Unknown Regions, all of the new planets… But I digress. The most significant part of that vast universe is just how many people it takes to bring it to life and keep it going. Over the years, Star Wars has steadily absorbed more people. Many thought they might leave after one major event a year ago, many more have been drawn in, and the process of creation has not slowed. It’s not just about authors and artists- all of us as fans have a role in the Star Wars universe, and we can’t just dismiss ourselves as strictly the consumers. Even if I’ll never grow up to be a Jedi, I still feel like I’m a part of Star Wars fandom in a way that’s more than just being a consumer.

One year ago, something happened that shook the foundations of Star Wars. I’m still not always sure how I feel about it, and there are plenty of fans who are having a hard time dealing with it. Suddenly there’s something of a vacuum in the GFFA, and filling it is going to take a good long while. And yet it seems to have been for the better to reshape the Expanded Universe into Legends. The funny thing is, even with the ground-shaking that was the Legends decanonization announcement, it was not without precedent. There are other things within the GFFA that are not canon, even if they are still compelling stories. Entire universes being rebooted is far from unknown, especially in the comics world, and it’s possible to have several versions of the same story. Instead of debating old and new and whether something should be canon, what if we were to embrace the multiverse concept? Or what if canon doesn’t have to matter because fandom exists?

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Vader’s Vilest Villainy: The Best of the Dark Lord

Posted on April 8, 2015by

interrodroid

There is no point to underselling just how important Darth Vader has been and is to the Star Wars franchise. He gave fans someone to boo (or cheer for), an iconic villain who is instantly recognizable, formidable, effective and intimidating. Anakin Skywalker’s past gives him backstory and depth, but it is Vader, with his raspy automated breathing, melodramatic deeper-than-deep voice, and grotesque-like helmeted visage that is the face of a franchise and one of the most venerated film characters of a generation. He is the third greatest cinema villain of all time according to the American Film Institute, behind only Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates. It is small wonder that rumors about a film or project revolving around Vader have been swirling ever since Disney purchased Lucasfilm. When you have a character with that sort of impact, reputation and familiarity, not using them in some way would be far crazier than leaving them be.

While the prospect of a Vader-centric spin-off film is neither here nor there, using him in novels and comics is far from forbidden now and was hardly restricted before (unless you wanted to bring him back to life). Before the prequel trilogy, Vader was an indomitable force who could not be corrupted, turned aside or defeated in battle, the Empire’s foremost military commander. After his past as Skywalker came into better light, searching through his inner space and figuring out his thoughts and feelings became more of the norm, while still leaving him a formidable and deadly martial threat. But which of his appearances were the best (outside of those on film, of course)? Read More

Continuity, or Why Kanan #1 is a Big Deal

Posted on April 6, 2015by Scotch Tape and Popsicle Sticks

kanancoverI have a secret to share with you. Are you ready? Maybe you should sit down. Here it comes: I love continuity.

Crazy, right? We’re all about the new canon here at Eleven-ThirtyEight, so naturally we couldn’t be happier to have ditched all that old Expanded Universe nonsense—that was the point of David’s piece last Friday, wasn’t it? Continuity gets in the way of storytelling? Well, no, it wasn’t actually—but hell, let’s say it was. When David singled out the Legacy of the Force series as something that put off non-diehard Star Wars fans, he wasn’t talking about worldbuilding continuity like the details of the Corellian system or of Mandalorian society, he was talking about backstory—who is Lumiya exactly? Why is Han’s cousin running Corellia? What’s a Vergere?

We’ve previously discussed the post-reboot status quo in terms of worldbuilding (mostly the same) versus plot (mostly different). But now that we’ve settled nicely into that framing, I want to talk about it a little differently: story continuity versus character continuity. Let me note up front that while I’m responding somewhat to David’s piece, this isn’t really a rebuttal or an agreement, it’s just a different angle. That’s important: there’s always a spectrum of angles from which to view an issue, and being able to appreciate at least a range of them will make you, in my opinion, both a better fan and a more contented person. Read More