The Empire Strikes Back (Screen Comix)

The Empire Strikes Back (Screen Comix)

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Every adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back that I've read has cut corners or meshed stuff together, but this one...just wow, not only does it include every single bit of dialogue from the movie, but is super literal with the translation including multiple "Hmmm"s, "Ahhhh"s, and "*sigh*"s. Such a fantastic way to relive the movie and since the entire book is illustrated with panels from the film, it's super easy to use this as a way to flip through and find specific parts of the movie you'd like a refresher on. I love it! I feel bad because there's nobody listed who I can give credit to for laying out the book in such superb fashion and for adding the lettering styles throughout. Neil Erickson is listed as the illustrator on Wookieepedia, but in the book itself, this information was not to be found.

So what is a Screen Comix book? Well, it's the movie in comic book form. Not a graphic novel adaptation, but actual movie stills overlaid with comic book style sounds, dialogue, and laser beams. And the styles used for the lettering of the sounds was bar none! Even taking into account the creepy factor of certain critters. I was super impressed with how they were able to make the movie stills really come alive with these extra comic book style sounds! The laser beams from blaster/armored vehicle/starship fire as well as lightsabers was colored in and enhanced as well. Check out the panels below for some good examples! 

The literalness of the translation made Luke's first meeting of Yoda on Dagobah a bit tedious with all the "heh-heh-heh"s from Yoda. I'm not Frank Oz so I wasn't able to really translate this into Yoda speak in my head. But at least this means they left absolutely NOTHING out!! One line as an example was, "Come. Eh-heh-heh-heh. Good Food. Come. Mm-hmm-hmm-heh-heh-heh." See what I mean??

One cool thing about including literally every bit of dialogue is that the trivia buff now has access to EVERY bit of minutiae from the movie!! Much of which I will detail below, including some pretty gimme trivia that I'm just trying to refresh my brain on.

We also get some incredible looks on people's faces as they're caught with strong expressions in the movie stills. This aspect of the book was super cool! See Han's face after Lando says Leia belongs with them in the clouds below.

There's even a brief interaction between C-3PO and R2-D2 at the very beginning that I do not 100% recall from the movie yet for some reason find familiar. Regardless, it's really funny. 3PO says, "Don't try to blame me. I didn't ask you to turn on the thermal heater." R2 - "Wrrp Wheep" 3PO - "I merely commented that it was freezing in the princess's chamber." R2 - "Fwrrrp Bawheeoo" 3PO - "But it's supposed to be freezing. How are we going to dry out all her clothes? I really don't know." R2 - "Fwrrp Fwrrp." 3PO - "Oh, switch off." This is such a wonderfully humorous conversation and if it is in the movie, it's definitely a blink and you miss it moment that is now immortalized in book form!

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Trivia!!

-During the Hoth evacuation, it is groups 7 and 10 that fly the speeders to attack the AT-ATs.

-Admiral Ozzel was Force-choked by Vader for coming into the Hoth system too close to the sixth planet.

-Admiral Piett was Force-choked for letting the Millennium Falcon escape once the ship exited the asteroid belt.

-When the snowspeeder-driving rebels set out to take down the AT-ATs, they enacted Attack Pattern Delta at the command of Luke.

-Echo Three is Luke and Echo Seven is Han.

-Rogue Two was Zev Senesca.

-The probability of successfully navigating an asteroid field is 3,720:1 according to 3PO.

-I remembered Luke being condescending upon first meeting Yoda, but dang, he even calls him "little fella." Yeesh!

-When Obi-Wan's trying to convince Yoda to train Luke, I love how incredibly defiant Yoda is on the matter. "My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained!"

-The Star Destroyer that was waiting near the asteroid field to capture the Millennium Falcon was the Avenger, commanded by Captain Needa.

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I'd like to leave with a question. Obi-Wan says to Luke, just as the boy's running off to go save Han and Leia, "If you choose to face Vader, you will do it alone. I cannot interfere." But why not?!? In The Last Jedi, Luke interfered. And in The Rise of Skywalker, ALL the Jedi interfered! Why is Obi-Wan so determined to stay out of Luke's fight with Vader? Is it more about his own personal feelings in the matter? Is it to help train and teach Luke? I'd love to know an answer.

So a wonderfully unique visual take on the Empire Strikes Back that was a delight to experience. The lettering was on point and the captured stills were perfection. If you love ESB, I absolutely recommend this book for you!