Comments on: Green Leader

Green Leader

EatTheWeak — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 23:29:24 -0800

Green Leader, a comic by Daniel Warren Johnson (Single Link Star Wars)

By: limeonaire

limeonaire — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 23:36:44 -0800

For a second I thought Daniel Johnston. Heh.

By: blueberry

blueberry — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 23:45:13 -0800

Nice. I would read one of these about all of the "bit" players. And it's funny how a few pages of well drawn, wordless images eclipse all of Lucas' attempts at writing characters you care much for in the prequels.

By: MartinWisse

MartinWisse — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 00:38:56 -0800

Excellent.

By: EndsOfInvention

EndsOfInvention — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 00:48:36 -0800

Great stuff.

By: PenDevil

PenDevil — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 01:08:17 -0800

How many deaths on your hands, Calamari?!? HOW MANY!?!

By: D.C.

D.C. — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 01:48:26 -0800

Comic better than the actual Star Wars film it is based on.

By: yerfatma

yerfatma — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 05:24:44 -0800

There are a lot of great Star Wars comic books out there. Too many in fact, so I can never keep track of which I've read and which I have not. Currently enjoying the new Marvel series (and would recommend any SW book drawn by John Cassaday even if the story were crap) and Dark Times.

By: bl1nk

bl1nk — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 06:52:02 -0800

Many years ago, I was in love with a woman who, in an alternate universe, would totally have been a badass X-wing pilot; and we had a good and healthy way of pushing each other to be bolder, stronger, and supporting each other when things got scary or uncomfortable, and then look back on our adventures with fondness and smiles long after the bruises and scars faded. It was a good, important relationship that lasted for years, but had its end, which was sad but necessary, and we're still friends. Now, the woman who shares my life is not the sort who would ever want to fly an X-wing into the jaws of death; but there are many other aspects of her that I love, and many other ways that we support each other. That relationship is magnificent and wonderful and amazing. And at the end of this comic I wanted to go to both of them, hold them close, and not let go for a while.

By: nubs

nubs — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 09:07:22 -0800

And it's funny how a few pages of well drawn, wordless images eclipse all of Lucas' attempts at writing characters you care much for in the prequels. That, so much. Lucas' writing is like the best example of how not to do characterization. Or plot. Or anything. It feels to me like he has no faith in the audience to understand anything, so he has to cram every square inch of visual space with stuff and then provide clunky dialogue about everything that is happening so that we don't miss it. I know the films are aimed at children, but in my experience, children are much more astute at picking up on subtle cues in their stories than adults. How many deaths on your hands, Calamari?!? HOW MANY!?! Don't answer that! IT'S A TRAP!!!!!!!!

By: the man of twists and turns

the man of twists and turns — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 09:18:59 -0800

:'(

By: TheWhiteSkull

TheWhiteSkull — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 10:36:59 -0800

How many deaths on your hands, Calamari?!? HOW MANY!?! I KNOW! They just changed the name of Central Avenue on Coruscant to "Admiral Ackbar Boulevard"! Can you believe it? "Butcher" Ackbar? I can't even call it that- I lost too many friends at Endor.

By: Atreides

Atreides — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 10:56:01 -0800

Gosh, this is a sore subject for me, the A-wing that took out the Executor. First, let me say before I rant, I loved the comic and the art. Very well done. Second, this comic definitely romanticizes what happened in the film (which makes the A-wing's pilot's plight better). Prior to his A-wing flying into the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer, in the midst of the battle, Ackbar commands, "Focus all fire power on the super star destroyer!" (This was after they were forced to engage with the Imperial fleet at cross range to prevent them from being sitting ducks for the Death Star's laser.) Then we have the A-Wing flying along and gets hit, the impact and subsequent explosion causing the small fighter craft to start spinning on its axis as it flies straight toward the bridge of the enemy ship. The pilot screams and then the A-wing plows into the bridge. It comes across, in the best light, as if the A-wing pilot managed to steer his soon to be exploded ship into the bridge in a suicidal attack (because he already knew he was dead). The damage to the bridge then somehow affects the system of the entire ship, causing it to "drop" into a perpendicular impact into the surface of the incomplete Death Star. At the sight of the Super Star Destroyer exploding into the surface, we cut to Ackbar, who gives an impression of exhaling, as if his command was directly responsible for bringing down the Executor. C'MON. The Super Star Destroyer was taken out because, at best, an A-Wing pilot had the skill and time to direct his critically damaged ship into the bridge of the ship. At the very best, he knew from Ackbar's command that the ship was a primary target. At the worse, he simply made the best of a terrible situation, and Ackbar should have ZERO credit for the destruction of the ship. (At the extreme, extreme worse, the A-wing just happened to be on a flight path and out of control and it was pure coincidence that it hit the bridge - SORRY ADMIRAL PIETT). It's always felt as if the film implied that the ship went down based on the incredible generalship of Ackbar...and it's always seemed that was anything but the case. He got lucky because an A-wing pilot managed to kamikazee the ship. Meh.

By: snottydick

snottydick — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 11:12:08 -0800

who gives an impression of exhaling, as if his command was directly responsible for bringing down the Executor. Well, that's certainly open to interpretation. My read is that he's exhaling partly in relief at seeing a significant enemy asset removed from the battlefield, and partly in exhaustion because he knows that the job is still far from over.

By: Nice Guy Mike

Nice Guy Mike — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 11:44:17 -0800

Really? That's how you read Ackbar's behaviour? I don't, and never have. To me, he was always slumping his shoulders in regret at the horrible cost of what just happened - perhaps an element of relief, but only in the sense of maybe we'll live for another minute extra here... Compare and contrast the response of the rest of the Calamari bridge crew around him, whooping and hollering and the victory (which, BTW, I always thought was one of the weakest effects in the space battle, specifically the speed and size of of the gout of flame - it's the length of the Executor - when it hits the Death Star).

By: Atreides

Atreides — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 13:12:17 -0800

Here's the clip, by the way. In the comic, it definitely portrays Ackbar as feeling the loss of the pilot and the sacrifice. And perhaps to be clearer, I see this as how the film portrays the moment, not necessarily as if Ackbar is a glory hound. Perhaps its the celebration behind him, but the close proximity of his order to attack the Super Star Destroyer combined with his leaning back, conveys a sense of, "Look what Ackbar did," to me.

By: mazola

mazola — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 14:35:05 -0800

Admiral Piett escaped that. Just you wait and see when he figures prominently in Star Wars Ep VII.

By: ob1quixote

ob1quixote — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 14:35:45 -0800

Warn me next time. Jesus. P.S. Thanks, EatTheWeak.

By: happyroach

happyroach — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 16:02:48 -0800

Fighter kamikaze charge aside, I figured that when the main bridge was destroyed, control was passed to the emergency bridge, but it did't have any windows so they couldn't tell where they were going. They might not have gotten spotters with sextants out onto the hull in time, or some lieutenant yelled the wrong directions into a voice tube. Yes, Star Wars works much better if you assume a baseline W.W.II era level of technology.

By: nubs

nubs — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 16:59:38 -0800

(film Akbar) Perhaps its the celebration behind him, but the close proximity of his order to attack the Super Star Destroyer combined with his leaning back, conveys a sense of, "Look what Ackbar did," to me. I've always perceived it as a response of general exhaustion, weariness, and sadness - the staff might be celebrating behind him, but Ackbar knows the battle is far from over, they have lost plenty of troops already, and the day is not yet won. Ackbar feels very much distant from any celebration or exhilaration to me. I always find it interesting how perspectives differ on moments like that on film; and it is a rare moment in a Star Wars film because we aren't clearly told how to feel/perceive the moment and every interpretation of Ackbar in the moment is equally valid.

By: Nice Guy Mike

Nice Guy Mike — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 07:00:57 -0800

Ackbar feels very much distant from any celebration or exhilaration to me. Yeah, that distance really screams out to me when I watch the movie. I always find it interesting how perspectives differ on moments like that on film; and it is a rare moment in a Star Wars film because we aren't clearly told how to feel/perceive the moment and every interpretation of Ackbar in the moment is equally valid. Agreed, and apologies to Atreides if my comment came off as disparaging, it wasn't intended to be - it was just a little hurriedly written.

By: Atreides

Atreides — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 07:42:17 -0800

Apologies unnecessary. This is a passionate topic! Slightly back to the main topic, anyone ever noticed how the casualty rates for the Rebel star fighters are generally frightfully high? In the Battle of Yavin, we have two flight wings, one X-wings and one Y-wings. Of the X-wings, maybe two or three survive the battle, including Luke? Of the Y-wings, again, less than half, if not less than 2/3 make it out. At least on the starfighters fleeing the half-constructed Death Star, it seems not many of them accompanied the Falcon before it exploded. (I think Lando commands all fighters to follow him into the DS?) Was Green Leader just an unfortunate statistic of Star Fighter attrition?

By: nubs

nubs — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 08:08:44 -0800

I could be wrong, but I think the only survivors of the Battle of Yavin are Luke and Wedge (plus Han and Chewie, who show up late)? But it is an interesting problem the Empire has - ship to ship/fighter to fighter they seem to do very well against the Rebels. In a straight up gunfight, however, they tend to get their asses kicked. Perhaps they should just do everything from a TIE fighter cockpit.

By: Atreides

Atreides — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 08:20:40 -0800

According to Wookiepedia, you're right, except there's one Y-wing that also made it. It also claims there were a total of 32 star fighters that departed for the battle. OWCH.

By: nubs

nubs — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 08:37:35 -0800

Ah right, I remember the Y-wing now. Wedge Antellies is the only pilot to survive every battle of the films (besides Luke), I think. My head is full of useless trivia.

By: Atreides

Atreides — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 10:09:54 -0800

And to be fair, Luke removed himself from the statistical likelihood of death in a star fighter battle. He only had to worry about two people, both who pretty much wanted to win him over to their side...at least, until he said no. Half points to the Falcon since it was really only around for the last bit of the Battle of Yavin.

By: caution live frogs

caution live frogs — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 10:58:36 -0800

nubs: "Wedge Antellies is the only pilot to survive every battle of the films (besides Luke), I think. My head is full of useless trivia." I know, right? Like the fact that Wedge is also Obi Wan's uncle.

By: snottydick

snottydick — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 14:12:37 -0800

there's one Y-wing that also made it. And, of course, there's a story for that pilot as well.