Wondering what’s in the latest issue of Star Wars Insider? We’ve got you covered. Star Wars Insider 144 features Carrie Fisher on the cover and takes a special look at Princess Leia and her role in the films and beyond. That said, issue 144 kicks off with a recap from Star Wars Celebration Europe II including…
- The announcement of John Williams to score Star Wars Episode VII (and Insider does skirt the whole “is he scoring just Episode VII or the whole trilogy” by stating that John Williams will be scoring Episode VII specifically, but they also say he’ll be scoring the “Sequel Trilogy”).
- A quick rundown of the Star Wars Rebels panel with a few pictures of the concept art.
- Some short Q&A’s with Anthony Daniels, Ian McDiarmid, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.
- Plus the details on the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 5 Blu-ray release and the complete five season box set.
There are plenty of interviews in this month’s Insider as well.
- J.W. Rinzler talks about the enhanced Making of Star Wars books, how Richard Marquand was the one who initially came up with the idea of slave Leia, and other insight on the films.
- They have a special The Star Wars interview with J.W. Rinzler, Mike Mayhew and Randy Stradley on the new comic based on George Lucas’ original script which teases fans with artwork from the comic and lots of cool glimpses of what we’ll see. For instance, in this version of Star Wars Alderaan is the seat of the galactic government and it’s a gas planet like Bespin. Star Destroyers are no longer massive capital ships but sleek two-man fighters. Artwo-Detwo can talk. Plus the Emperor is named Cos Dashit and he’s not the mastermind that Palpatine was. They also mentioned that other artists suck as Sean Cooke, Stephane Roux and Killian Plunkett helped created specific items and vehicles for the series.
- Part of an interview with Dennis Muren back in 1986 provides some interesting looks at his viewpoint on the special effects in the Star Wars series. My favorite comment is that the only person who knew Star Wars was going to be huge was the ILM unit driver (the guy who ran errands).
- Following the special effects spotlight, they have a new interview with Douglas Smith who talks about his work on A New Hope.
Special features in this issue range from new fiction to character spotlights.
- This months character spotlight is Princess Leia and there’s a very nice article that shows the events of the films from her perspective. It also shows a little how Leia affected the fanbase and her role beyond the films.
- The first of a three part series by Bryan Young presents the impact of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game and its shaping of the Expanded Universe. It includes quotes from Bill Slavicsek, Pablo Hidalgo and Timothy Zahn. They reveal how the Star Wars RPG had the honor of naming Rodians and Ithorians, creating the Tarkin slave backstory for Ackbar, and creating the Jedi Code.
- The Rogues Gallery spotlights the cantina scene from the Holiday Special.
- Part 5 of Making Star Wars Return of the Jedi Unseen with shows concept art for Imperial Guards, food props for Jabba’s barge and more.
- A special look back at the Knights of the Old Republic video game, which I really enjoyed. It covers how they almost made a Star Wars RPG game in 1992, how KOTOR was almost set during Attack of the Clones, the story behind HK-47′s name (HK is the initials of Drew Karpyshyn’s billiards team and a mash up of AK-47, the famous Russian assault rifle), how Taris was almost named Sleheyron, and the cutting of a Hutt gladiator world that was partially built. They also mention that Zaalbar, Carth, Canderous and Mission were all drawn from a West End Games campaign.
-
Jedi Academy gets some special attention with comments from the author, Jeffrey Brown, plus illustrations from the book that made it in, were tweaked, or sometimes left completely out.
For those looking to snag a free copy of Star Wars: The Blueprints from Titan Books, Star Wars Insider is giving away five copies. Just contact them via their mailing address:
(for US)
Star Wars Insider
Titan Magazines
2819 Rosehall Lane
Aurora, IL 60503
(for UK)
Star Wars Insider
144 Southwark Street
London SE1 OUP, U.K.
Last but not least, the original fiction in this issue is a very funny story by Jason Fry starring Hondo Ohnaka, the enigmatic Weequay pirate from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Entitled “Hondo Ohnaka’s Not-So-Big Score”, the story showcases a kidnapping on a luxury passenger liner. There’s lots of laughs and plenty of Hondo. It includes original artwork by Chris Scalf.
Gallery
Remember, you can pickup your copy of Star Wars Insider 144 on newsstands September 4, 2013 or subscribe right here.
Posted By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.
