A Long Time Ago…

I can't imagine a world without Star Wars. It has existed for as long as I have. My parents joke that my first viewing of Star Wars was in utero when my dad took my pregnant mother to see it during the summer of 1977. They suggest that cosmic rays from the film must have somehow influenced my developing brain.

As with almost every other male of my generation, I grew up with Star Wars. I had older cousins whose rooms were full of action figures and model ships. I even remember using one of their AT-AT toys as a stepping stool to reach a light switch.

My first (conscious) theatrical experience was when my dad took me to see Return of the Jedi in 1985. My own collection of toys, books, and drawings shortly ensued.

I went though the normal childhood digressions, of course, and other crass franchises came and went during the late 80's: GI Joe, Transformers (actually Gobots - the wannabe Transformers), Batman.

But none of these had the lasting imaginative and creative influence that Star Wars had on me.

A New Hope

Something awakened in the early nineties. There was – what can only be described as – a subtle "force" at work. In what will be the last time I ascribe genius to the man, George Lucas and his marketing machine were starting to inject Star Wars back into mainstream pop-culture, once again seeding our minds in preparation for the prequels, now in early pre-production.

The first wave of this foray was Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy. It's hard to remember, but at that time there weren't very many Star Wars novels in publication. As direct sequels to the original movie trilogy, these books represented some of the first "new Star Wars" to arrive and served to revive some of that childhood magic.

Shortly after that were the gorgeously illustrated Star Wars Galaxy trading cards. These really appealed to me both as an artist and fan. Again, being pre-internet days, there wasn't the glut of Star Wars fan art that there is now, and these cards were done by popular illustrators and comic book artists.

Then came the remastered THX editions of the original trilogy. We didn't know it at the time, but this would be the last chance to see Star Wars in its unadulterated form. (#foreshadowing)

But the pinnacle of this Renaissance would have to be the 1995 release of a new line of Hasbro action figures. Since its beginning, Star Wars fandom has always found its ultimate respite in the toys. There is something magical about our beloved characters embodied in four-inch plastic figures. (You can't blame us for hoarding them.) To have a new line of toys signified that Star Wars was back and as popular as ever.

Fear Leads to Anger

In 1997 the Special Editions of the original trilogy films arrived in theaters. This was so epic – Star Wars on the big screen again. It came at the perfect time as well, quenching some of the building thirst for the prequels that by this time we all knew were in production.

This also marked an embarrassingly nerdy year for me. I had just discovered the "World Wide Web" and started crafting my own fan page dedicated to customized Star Wars action figures and dioramas. (It served me well, though, as I now make my living as a web developer.)

But something with the "enhanced" movies didn't sit well. The new CGI scenes were kind of stupid. They didn't add to the story at all and in some cases altered major character traits. Many of us successfully ignored these warning signs, but looking back I wish I'd seen it for what it was.

Cartoon Shenanigans

Many fans will point to Return of the Jedi, with its Ewoks and other muppety characters, as the point when Cartoon Shenanigans™ first reared its ugly head in Star Wars canon. I will concede much of the criticism of Return of the Jedi, especially when compared to A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, but the film still holds a dear place in my heart.

However, if you were to take the amount of Cartoon Shenanigans in Return of the Jedi and compare it to the amount added to the Special Editions, you could extrapolate the difference and estimate what was coming with the prequels…

Meesa Have a Bad Feeling About Dis

None of us were ready for Jar Jar. So much has been said about Episode 1 that I don't have the wherewithal to rehash it.

But when the big release finally arrived I tremendously enjoyed it at the time and was ecstatic for weeks afterwards. I was so hungry for it that I again overlooked its many flaws. The only thing that mattered to me was that the Jedi were so bad ass that I wanted to be one of them again. I was angry that some fans, even friends of mine, had the gall to say that the movie sucked. How could you say that about Star Wars? What kind of fan are you? If there were a way to punish this heresy I would have lead the inquisition.

Episodes 2 and 3 came and went – exciting but fleeting. The magic didn't last, and by then I had come to my senses a little more.

When The Clone Wars movie came out, it was clear that Star Wars now consisted almost entirely of Cartoon Shenanigans. And a character like Ziro the Hutt left me dumbfounded.

Anger Leads to Hate

I gave George Lucas the benefit of the doubt for far too long. The evidence has accumulated for quite some time that he has literally lost his mind. Some attribute it to middle age and that he's gotten soft. Other critics say that he perfectly embodies one of the core themes of his films: a young and talented genius loses his humanity when he forsakes empathy and intuition for technological gimmickry. I find that explanation too favorable as it implies a generous amount of competence, however evil. No, of all his creations, I see Lucas most resembling Jabba the Hutt – a vile, greedy, self-indulgent worm who surrounds himself with minions and yes-men.

Like an aging Hollywood starlet addicted to plastic surgery, he keeps tinkering with the original films with no sense to know when to stop. Moreover, he seems hellbent on hindering any efforts at preserving the original versions, regardless of their status as classic films. Every change he makes, no matter how ridiculous, is accompanied by comments along the lines of, "I always meant for it to be this way". He's extremely spiteful to any notion that his previous work outshines his current efforts.

He's insulated himself from criticism to the point where I don't think there's a person in his life that will question his "creative genius", and he seemingly knows no shame.

So when I see Han Solo in a dance off with Lando I shouldn't be angry or shocked.

But I am. Star Wars is finally lost forever. Live long and prosper.

I'm a huge fan of Scott Wills. Here he shares some of the techniques he used while doing background work for Samuri Jack.

Here's the finished illustration.

I'm a web developer by trade but art has always been one of my first passions. Early last year after going through some old artwork I came to the realization that I can do a drawing or painting and throw it in a drawer and still have it ten years from now, while nothing I've done on the web from that long ago is still around. The web has nothing even close to the same longevity – it's an ephemeral medium. Sometimes it feels like ice sculpture that's melting away before it's even finished.

While I enjoy web development and I love programming, if I had to choose a life without painting or a life without coding… well it wouldn't be that hard of a decision.

And so it seemed a better use of free time to get back into doing art on a regular basis. For similar reasons I've also been trying to focus on simplicity: smaller works, flatter colors, and limited details. Some would probably consider my subject matter to be ephemeral or otherwise kitschy in nature, and I'm under no impression that it constitutes "fine art" – whatever that means. But you can seldom go wrong in taking yourself less seriously.

I'm also trying to make physical works without the aid of the computer, both as a way to challenge myself as well as limiting my time in front of a computer – I get plenty of screen time during the day. There's a unique gestalt that happens with analog materials that you'll never get when working in PhotoShop. It's also much more direct and expressive. Mechanical tools look mechanical. Even an innocuous tool like an airbrush has a way of dictating its own style on you such that all airbrush artwork tends to look the same, as does a lot of digital artwork.

Also when it's done, it's done. There's no infinite dials and opacity layers to fiddle with. If you're not happy with something start over or just accept it and move on. Dried paint FTW.

"I had always envisioned Star Wars as a massive line of action figures and accessories. I developed the film and its characters in such a way as to be easily transferred to popular toys. I created the outer space setting for the story in order to be able to produce fantastic and memorable vehicles, ships, and playsets for the toy line. As a child I always enjoyed playing with toys and accessories from popular movie serials like Buck Rogers and I wanted the children of today to be able to have a similar experience with their toys.

As a marketer I was frustrated with the toy making technology that existed at the time. But we released the first line of Star Wars action figures in 1978 and were overwhelmed by their popularity. At that time no other manufacturer had produced a toy line like that. We were very cutting edge in spite of our modest technology.

Then in the early nineties I had a chance to tour a manufacturing facility in China. I was amazed at the breakthroughs they had achieved in toy making. It was then that I decided that the technology was finally available to produce the kind of toys I had originally envisioned for Star Wars.

I was no longer limited by external factors and was finally able to fulfill my original vision."

If I were a billionaire I'd make a customized replica of the Batmobile. Then I'd get a cool Batman suit and some neat gadgets. I'd drive my Batmobile up and down the freeway stopping to help stranded people.

When asked if I was really Batman I'd have to say, "No, I'm actually just one of Batman's helpers. You see, he's busy monitoring crime from his secret layer in the North Pole."