Imperial Search
Just a couple more strips to go and we will officially conclude the Holiday Special parody. However, before we launch into the next big story arc we do have a mini-story arc intended to serve as a breather. This mini story revolves around Han Solo and the Bounty Hunters and will last 3 or so weeks, covering us while we’re wrapped up with preparations for the comic cons. We will be at Baltimore Comic Con on Sat-Sun August 28-29 and New York Comic Con on Fri-Sun October 8-10. We really want to see you guys, so if you’ll be at the show please stop by our table. We’d like to be overwhelmed by fans rather than left twiddling our thumbs.
Leanne will be doing sketches for those lucky few who arrive early each day. First come, first served. Please, no requests in advance of the show. We will only be doing sketches for those that meet us on the day.
Pencils $20
Inks $30
Inks with graytones shading $45
As I said, we will be buying some time for ourselves with the Han Solo bounty hunter mini story and by New York Comic Con we will either be nearing completion of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, or well into The Empire Strikes Back.
Now… It seems that at least three or four of our vocal readers DO want us to press on with our original plan of a BMS Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. Leanne and I discussed the new costume designs for Luke and Leia yesterday and ran over a few ideas. I’ve had the parody scripted (like the rest) since Christmas 2008 and after re-reading it I can find very little to add. Looks like it will be a lot of fun to put together. The question is, I suppose, if you guys share any of our enthusiasm / interest in SOTME?
Let us know what you think.
PLEASE do SOMI (Just realized that it shares a anagram with monkey island, lol) I just found a copy of it and am waiting for it.
It makes since until you kill 3/4 of the galaxy trying to find them.
You and others will definitely have the time to read it if you get the book in the next week or so. We will be concluding the Holiday Special next week and then filling the next three weeks with our Han Solo / Bounty hunter mini story. So SotME will starting late August, early September. And LOL about the Secret of Monkey Island similarity. 😉
I just realized why you put a “lol” before that… I should probably stop posting comments that early in the morning, not my proudest internet moment…
Will we get to see Biggs again before SOME ?
Ha ha – good one folks.
Yes, please do SOTME. Scripted since 2008? Wow!
December 2008… so technically only 19 months or so ago. But still…
Yes, please do Splinter of the Minds Eye!!
I can’t find a copy of it anywhere! ^_^
I picked up the comic version earlier this year. Wasn’t terribly impressed to be honest. I don’t understand why Lucas instructed Dean Foster to write in a simpler setting so the sequel would be cheaper. Was this BEFORE the first movie was seen to be a smash hit?
Yeah, I’m pretty sure the conception of SotME began before the release of Star Wars and before its success was certain. Ford was not expected to return, so the tools they had to work with were Luke, Leia, the droids and Vader and the Force. Halla was written to fill the formulaic sagely role of Obi-Wan and the Kaiburr Crystal became the mystical “quest” item. George, who did have some basic involvement in the shaping of the story with Alan, also worked on the cartoon segment of the Holiday Special, at minimum as an idea man. In the cartoon a mystical crystal with strange powers is also the plot device of choice and quite possibly a recycling of the Kaiburr Crystal in SotME.
SFX wise, the SotME novel would have still proven a challenge as a film script due to two large monstrous worm creatures that would have to be pulled off effectively in two different scenes. The Wandrella and the water worm in the caves of the Coway. There is very little in the plot that is anything to get remotely excited about unless you find Luke and Leia wandering around a Degobah-style jungle particularly thrilling. Oh yeah, they do briefly stop at a tavern at an Imperial mining colony where they have a fight, get captured briefly by the Imperial commander, and then a couple of monsters are thrown in during their journey in the jungle to keep the ?story? crawling along.
As the book nears its end, the native Coway tribe make an appearance only to reveal themselves as boring and forgetable, meaning that all that’s really left worth remembering is the final confrontation between Luke, Leia and Vader, in which Leia uses the lightsaber. That is pretty bad ass… as is the costume design from the book cover and the comic adaptation. It’s helped by a very very strong cover image which has Vader at perhaps his most intimidating and ghostly as he emerges from the fog towards a trapped Luke and seemingly helpless Leia. Other than this, about the only thing that makes SotME really stand out, apart from the gloomy atmosphere (which I actually do like in an otherworldly way), is Luke and Leia starting to fall in love. Which is highly controversial only because of The Empire Strikes Back throwing a spanner in the works!
BMS’s goal is to not only poke fun at SotME, but do something interesting with it at the same time. You (the readers) will be the judge.
Interesting stuff. Actually only good thing in the graphic novel is Leia. Phwoarrrr!
Yeah, she’s definitely hot. The funny thing about the book is that Luke let’s Leia’s hair down as she would be too recognizable as the princess / former Alderaanian senator, yet in the graphic novel he leaves it alone. Yes, I know… Luke letting Leia’s hair down is something of an intimate moment. But that’s how SotME is. Anyway, what I’m saying is that the way she is drawn in the comic adaptation defies this and keeps her side buns. We’re toying with following the book more closely on this one.
There should definitely be copies on Amazon.com. If not then you could always try Biblio.com
Splinter was a horrible book – you can only make its memory better, so please do!
Thanks. We will try. 🙂
The EU makes my brain hurt, so I mostly avoid it. I’ve heard of SOTME before, but that’s the first time I’ve even seen a plot synopsis. It sounds very different from Star Wars as I know it and I’m glad the movies went the direction they did (i.e. were successful). I’m sure your version will be amusing, but I hope I’m not the only one mostly just waiting for you to get on with ESB. (not a criticism, just my personal taste. i’ll take any sw funny you’ll give me, really)
I’ll definitely be dropping by to bug you in person at NYCC. 🙂
Well, by NYCC the BMS comic should have moved to the Hoth base and Luke should be out of the Wampa cave. 🙂 Definitely looking forward to see you and others at the show!
For those of you who want to read “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” and can not find a copy of it. I was able to order one through Barnes and Noble. It was also recently listed in there online available books.
I just went up to the service desk and asked for a copy (under $10.00). I therefore assume that most major book stores and online retailors could get one.
BTW does anyone feel Luke really got jipped in the siblings deal? First he gets raised on a poor farm, where water is almost as scairse ad Frank herbert’s “DUNE”, while his sister is raised in a lap of luxury in the Aldran Imperial Palace.
Then he was right where Vader (or anyone else who remembered Anikin Skywalker) could have easily found him (he was probably even in the Imperial phone directory) when Leia was at least somewhat more secure (granted being raised by political dissidents is dangerous).
I mean sure he got force abilities and a lightsaber as a birthright, but she was a fricken princess when he was a local piss-boy. Just trying to stir up some more useless discussion.
I think this point got raised on the old BMS site before everything was lost. About Luke retaining the name Luke Skywalker when he is supposed to be hidden from his father… and anyone else familiar with Anakin Skywalker… presumably quite a few people based on Anakin’s reputation. So why is he “hiding” on a farm in Tatooine with no effort to disguise his name? Why also, does Obi-Wan Kenobi change only his first name? Ben Kenobi is still something of a big fat clue.
Well maybe Kenobi is fairly common name in some parts of the galaxy, and is not I don’t think he was interacting with many people during that 20 or so years.
As a bigger smack in the face Leia also gets a lightsaber and force powers and she raises a kid that eventually kills his wife.
Wasn’t Owen and Beru also Skywalkers? It would make some kind of sense to hide him among Anakin’s relatives (his brother???), assuming that he didn’t keep in touch with them enough to know for sure that this new kid isn’t actually theirs. But then again, Luke calls Owen “uncle”, so apparently he knows that he’s adopted. Perhaps no one was really looking for him after all?
And we don’t know how common the name “Kenobi” is. Perhaps it’s common enough that no one is going to bother checking into every Kenobi that could possibly be a Jedi Knight in hiding? Especially if his name isn’t registered in the Imperial phone directory, because he’s a hermit living way out in the desert. (Who mind tricks the occasional nosy neighbour into thinking that whatever they might have heard about an Obi-Wan Kenobi has nothing at all to do with Ben Kenobi.) Nah, I’m just letting Lucas off the hook. His spy novel in space could use a lot more “spy” in it if you ask me. 😉
I’m not familiar with SotME, but it sounds a lot like that awful Ewok movie that I didn’t like as a kid, because it turned Star Wars into some kind of fairy tale with magic. And it had kids starring, as if kids could compare to the real galactic heroes. (Sending out Luke and Leia alone to tangle with Darth Vader is a lot like kids vs wicked witch.) Oh well, I’ll look forward to any part of Star Wars you feel like making a parody of, because the original material doesn’t really matter to me. What matters to me is that you already wrote a script, and therefore I’d like to see what you came up with.
And finally: Being a cold hearted slacker I found this particular strip to be incredibly funny! 😀
No there last name is Lars or something like that. Luke took Skywalker to honor his father (who he thought was a a great man), but I’m sure it was still Lars in whatever directory they have.
Lucas must be inclined to let SOTME disappear forever………………………………………………..
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Yes, please DO skewer SOTME! I never saw the Holiday Special when it aired originally, so this was the first chance I had to see the parody and watch the whole thing….and suppress both the gag and the WTF reflex. Good challenge. X )
I’ve heard of SOTME, and since your initial plan was to take the original trilogy and the connective tissue and make one big long parody, by all means, do! I’d love to see what you come up with!
Really glad we could bring something new to your attention and provide BMS therapy to help you through. 😉
I’d love to see a Splinter of the Mind’s Eye parody included.
Thanks Chtrek. Another vote of confidence. It’s looking good for SotME now. 🙂
You MUST do Splinter of the Mind’s Eye! It’s my all-time favourite piece of EU nonsense, I read it back when it first came out and have re-read it a stupid amount of times since then. Okay, I was 12, but I thought the plot was awesome. Sure, it boils down to wandering around a jungle and being attacked by the occasional monster, but don’t forget, Vader was chasing them all the way, and if Vader had got to the crystal first the consequences for the galaxy would have been horrific! 😉 I can’t wait to see what you do with it.
Agreed about EU nonsense. One of the attractions to SotME, despite it being EU and despite our general feelings towards anything outside the Original Trilogy–being the silly purists that we are, is that SotME was the first real EU novelization, it was intended to be a valid sequel to Star Wars, and, up until TESB, it showed how open the possibilities in direction were right after the first film.
Has Rod ever read your early stab at a sequel?
Haha, probably not, and that’s probably a very good thing!
I want to know more! Carrie, you wrote a sequel to Splinter?
No, me and my friend wrote a sort-of sequel to ESB when we were 13. John’s site reminded me of it, so I dug it out of the cupboard. It’s seriously bad, but if you really want to read it: http://carrie1138.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/star-wars-the-script-1980/
Actually, though … I do write SW fanfiction, and have toyed with the idea of writing a sequel to SotME a few times … but I run out of inspiration when the only plot I can come up with is wandering around a jungle looking for the Kaiburr crystal … again!
Chances are it could be better than Return of the Jedi! 🙂
It would also be nice to see SotME revised to actually HAVE a real plot and make it worthwhile. Heavy changes may be necessary, but we do what we must! Why not give that a shot? And, if I get time this weekend, I’ll check out your 1980 Star Wars script.
Please do Splinter. I have an old copy of it I picked up at either a library sale or Powell’s used book store in Portland (shameless plug: http://www.powells.com/). I think I read it, but i can’t remember the plot as it was laid out in an earlier comment, so I may not have. I like all the topics of SW, so I will gladly read the Splinter parodies as I did the Holiday Special which I had not seen and did not know was on youtube until this parody started. I have now watched it and am glad I didn’t get a hold of it as a teenager b/c it was really terrible and i couldn’t appreciate that back then as I do now.
Keep up the good work.
Good point, John. I think as teens we tend to be looking for the “coolness” of Star Wars, but as we get older we see there’s a lot more to something than just the gloss. The Holiday Special is awful, but sometimes awful has a charm of its own. For me, given the Prequels and Clone Wars, I appreciate the Holiday Special more because its another chance to see Luke, Han and Leia together in something vaguely like SW. Perhaps I’m being too kind?
I said it yesterdy, and I’ll say it again, I’d love yo to do SotME, I’ve also really enjoyed yor take on the Holiday Special, and your take on Star Wars in general, so anything that means more BMS I’m happy with… Any thoughts on Shadows of hte Empire along the way?
It’s possible… but only if we can poke fun at Xisor! 🙂
How can yo do anything but poke fun at Xisor? 🙂
I want Shadows of the Empire parody also.
A Shadows of the Empire parody would be terrific!!! It’s one of the best and funniest books of the EU! …And please do make fun of Xisor!
Wow. I don’t think I’ve read SotME in almost 30 years. I think I still have the book around here somewhere…
I haven’t read that POS for more than 30 years… and it’s still not long enough. I can appreciate, even enjoy, how horribly bad SWHS is, but SotME doesn’t even have the “so bad it’s funny” effect. It’s just bad. It’s worse than Waru. It’s worse than Ken, the Jedi Prince. It may even be worse than Waru and Ken put together.
If you absolutely must do SotME, please, be brutal. Skewer that damn thing. I didn’t bother to look at the EU for years after I read it. It deserves no mercy. Personally, I could do without even a parody of it. Foster deserves to be ignored after writing that, not even given mockery in ackowledgement.
Holy crud, Scourge! SotME is uninspired and has no real saving graces other than a few limp ideas and a handful of strong visuals… yes. We get that. But to not even acknowledge that it HAD potential and to even prefer that it be ignored and thereby confined to eternal obscurity seems undeservedly harsh. I can, however, understand the feeling. That’s how I feel about the Prequels after all.
“That’s how I feel about the Prequels after all.”
Ho ho!
Cool! I was hoping that Splinter would be next on your list. I have fond memories of reading it as a kid, when we were starved for anything Star Wars!
definitely would love to see a send up of Splinter. Actually the thing that sticks out most in my mind (and I was about 8 when I first read it – so I THINK I am remembering this right), in the book, Leia can’t swim, but Luke can. Luke. Who grew up on a desert planet. That seemed weird to me, even as a kid.
But like I said, maybe I’m remembering it in reverse…
AND YES! Shadows of the Empire PLEASE!
Yep, you remember right! Luke from Tatooine *can* swim while Leia from Alderaan, a planet with a ton of water, *can’t*! That’s just one of the many weird things about SotME that makes it so random and amusing! …And then there’s Vader calling Leia a “steel kitten”….
The “steel kitten” line was narrative in the novel, but used as dialogue in the comic adaptation. Bizarre. 😉
I wish I could attend to get some sketches done………..Oh I just got the postcards…….Also Accepted into Rebel Legion Officially today and will be working the RL booth twice thursday (one in costume 5-7 pm) and twice friday (one in costume 5-7 pm).
Don’t worry Paul, you and Joshua are exceptions re: sketches.
I hope to see some BMS fans at CV.
personally, I would love to see you do SOTME. I’ve never read it, but I want to learn more about it.
Don’t forget that Splinter was also adapted into a comic mini-series. You can “steal” a lot of designs from that comic!
Please, please do SOTME!!! It’s an awesome story!! I haven’t read the novel – yet – but the comic’s fantastic! It’d be really great to see the BMS version! 😀