A Dapper Rancor For Gorefest Who Knows Exactly Why She Deserves One.

A dapper rancor for gorefest who knows exactly why she deserves one.

ɪᴍᴘᴇʀɪᴀʟ sᴇɴᴀᴛᴏʀ ᴀᴜ - ᴘᴀʀᴛ ɪv (ɪ. ɪɪ. ɪɪɪ)

Scattered across temporary safehouses, the master-padawan structure fell away. Small and street-smart, those old enough to have been padawans (in another life) became essential. A teenage courier could infiltrate the highest and lowest levels of Coruscant without suspicion.

Apprenticeships were replaced by cells, with one master or knight looking out for a handful. Hiding in abandoned warehouses, pipes, and junkyards, they became something closer to a family than the Order at it's height would have ever allowed.

After her master was slain, Talzin sent Ventress to Sidious. Half witch and half Jedi, entirely anger, she was an attractive enough gift to hide that she was revenge on the reneging snake. But the master of deception wasn't fooled long and at the first whiff of her real purpose, Palpatine threw Ventress in with his cache of captive Jedi. Kept below the palace to sharpen the teeth of his Inquisitors and occasionally released to give a young Vader an easy hunt and a very real test. When Obi-wan found what remained of the caged knights, Ventress was the only one to survive the rescue. She tells herself, most days, that soon she'll leave; as soon as there is a good enough opportunity to strike at the Empire, she'll be gone. She isn't sure whats keeping her.

Obi-wan leaves for like five minutes and suddenly everything is on fire. Five minutes, you guys. (Which is also an alternate title for episode 3.) After the last picture on part 3 I gave up on drawing Coruscant for the time being.

For || Royo || on Gaia.

I'm getting out of hand on these prompts but I knew when I started this one I'd go overboard because Ventress.

In trying to explain to someone who asked what I was drawing, I came to the conclusion that Ventress is now pretty much the only significantly recurring entry on an incredibly short list of female Star Wars villains who are still canon. I don't miss too much of the EU most days (and if we were gonna get just one at least she's excellent), but that struck me as a genuine loss.

Either the precursor to this previous set or a direct result of the decisions made in it.

(The soft-shaded style with lines was supposed to be a faster style than my usual one what happened?)

I know I try not to post non-art stuff on this blog but sometimes there are just some things I need everyone to see.

I know anyone who was following me when I used to do a lot of journey into mystery fanart probably knows this but for everyone who came in with my star wars fanart: this guy is my favorite marvel writer, and pretty much somewhere in the top 5 comic writers at any given point (lbr usually still my fav but I try to pretend not to be that kind of obsessed with his writing).

This is the kind of news that makes my week, and the stuff in these interviews has me about to lose it in nerd happiness, and I just want everyone else to be as fucking excited as I am.

As I was leaving my Brother’s wedding, the news broke at SDCC that I’d be writing the ongoing DARTH VADER book. Salvador Larroca draws, Adi Granov on the lovely cover above. In Canon, set between A NEW HOPE and EMPIRE.

(We did talk about maybe doing a live link up from the Wedding for the panel, but clearly midnight at a wedding in Scotland does involve the risk of a lot of men in kilts displaying their wares live to a horrified audience across the Pacific.)

Anyway - I got in last night, and tried to work out what to tweet about it. I ended up saying “So. As announced at SDCC, I’m doing a DARTH VADER book. What can I say? I fear it’s the mainstream comic book I was born to write.”  Which still suspect sounds about right, y’know? I’ve been basically writing Villain books on the sly since I’ve been at Marvel. Time to really go for it.

Let’s pull a relatively restrained quote from the CBR interview which basically explains how the  book operates…

So at the end of the first “Star Wars” film he’s the sole survivor of the greatest military disaster of all time. And more importantly he let the Rebels escape with the plans! He chose to let them escape with the plans. There are lots of people to blame for the Death Star. It’s not like it’s just Darth’s fault, but he certainly foots some of the blame.

Then the next time we see him in “Empire” he’s more powerful than ever. He treats people in “Empire” with more contempt than he treats them in “A New Hope.” So something happens between those two films. There is the question of what the destruction of the Death Star actually created. So this story is basically the fall and rise of Darth Vader and all the things that happen along the way. That’s why it interests me.

When I talk about this I tend to use the film “The Godfather” as a reference in terms of how it worked and that it featured a villain protagonist who we’re still interested in. The second reference I use is “House of Cards.” This is a man who is an incredibly powerful member of an organization and he feels he is being slighted. This is him choosing and being forced to do things he maybe wouldn’t have done originally and to rebuild and change his power situation.

Anyway - lots more interviews, and out next February.

CBR Comics Alliance Marvel.com StarWars.com BleedingCool USA Today

And, yes, this is the one I left Iron Man to do. I think you’ll like it.