It’s been a busy month for Star Wars. Force Friday on September 4 brought the first barrage of merchandise for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and that included books and comics in the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens publishing program. The program includes everything from sticker books, to Aftermath by Chuck Wendig (the first book that dives deep into the post-Return of the Jedi universe), to a trio of middle grade novels about Luke, Leia, and Han. Nestlé has turned two of those books into short, narrated motion comics and posted them online. In theory, you have to use a code obtained from select Nestlé products and enter said code at Nestlé Comics, but we’re going to pass go and collect the videos, thanks to MakingStarWars.net.
These animated comics adapt The Weapon of the Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure by Jason Fry and Smuggler’s Run: A Han Solo Adventure by Greg Rucka. Phil Noto provided covers and interior illustrations for both books, but it’s not clear who is responsible for the art in the motion comics. Both books are set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and they feature prologues and epilogues set after Return of the Jedi. The shorts don’t go scene by scene but instead give a summarized version of both books–which, incidentally, I recommend reading. Watch:
The Weapon of the Jedi:
Smuggler’s Run:
If the name Sarco Plank from The Weapon of the Jedi sounds familiar, it’s because he’s in The Force Awakens. We don’t know much about the scavenger’s role in the upcoming film yet, but Plank is an available action figure.
Have you read The Weapon of a Jedi or Smuggler’s Run? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.
Update 10/1/15: Neil Edwards, Tom Palmer, and Chris Sotomayor worked on the art, animation and coloring for Smuggler’s Run, and Will Sliney and Nolan Woodard worked on Weapon of a Jedi. Rucka and Fry provided the scripts for each of their stories. Since this was under Marvel Special Projects, Jordan D. White (editor of the Star Wars comics) was also involved. Thanks to Carlos Esteban Muñoz Zúñiga for this information.
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