10: “We’re coming out of hyperspace!” (with uninvited guests)
Early 1979? | age 11? I think I was a bit older when I did this, it’s too good for a 10 or 11 year old—despite the older paper it was drawn on.
Has the British TV show, Blake’s 7 invaded Star Wars?
Above: I can’t deny the resemblance to Blake’s 7! Though it’s a show that I’d only seen for 1 episode.
Very odd. I’d only seen 1 episode of the series I think—in someone else’s house. After we came to Ireland in 1977, it was quite a long time before we had the second TV channel, RTE 2. I’m not kidding! It was painful for me to hear the other kids in the schoolyard—who had Eiffel Tower TV ariel arrangements in their gardens, and could pick up the second channel, going on about “last night’s episdoe of Blake’s 7…” When we lived in Scotland we had BBC 1 and 2, and STV (Scottish ITV), a whole 3 channels, with loads of great shows like Space 1999. In rural ireland there was 1, unless you gave over your garden to a 100 foot high mast with an ariel on top, and supporting cables criss-crossing your garden, holding it up!
Is This a Bit… Pythonesque?
Above: Don’t these look very like the Federation Troopers (or whatever) from ‘Blake’s 7?’
In a huge test of scientfic viability, I have these invaders teleporting into the Millennium Falcon’s hold—while the Falcon is still in hyperspace. That’s pretty impressive!
So what was my plan as I introduced this new plot element? Probably non-existent. Usually I made comics, as I’ve said before, in straight-ahead, make it up as you go along fashion. On some whim. I wonder what direction this will take? In other comics that I made, I would either write myself into corners that I couldn’t get out of or develop, and simply forget it ever happened—or even abandon the whole comic!
I love this line: “You take us to planet NRRTHUNG.” It kind of reminds me of Monty Python’s “Castle ARRGGGHH…” So silly. I bet I’d do the Star wars thing with these guys.
“We are the Nrrthung, from the planet Nrrthung, speaking to you in… Nrrthung!”
“And my name is Nrrthung… 2.”
Art Notes
I think it must have occurred to me at the time that it wasn’t obvious that Luke was with them on the Falcon. So I had Leia speak to him. Just so we’d all know he was there all along.
Above: I went through a phase of doing those shadows under the eyebrows. Interesting ‘radial-hatching’
Above: I quite like this pic’s drawing, but the Pythonesque ‘NRRTHUNG’ is a hoot!
Above: Still putting those 2 parallel creases on Luke’s cheek! Pretty sure they weren’t scars, but just laughter lines/creases.
We would be honored if you would join us… and leave a comment below. I love to read them.
Teleportation in Star Wars?
If the rest of the predictions you’ve made in this story are anything to go by, I guess that’s something we can look forward to in Episode IX. 🙂
Hiya Dan.
Well I suppose it *kind of” happened in The Last Jedi -ish in a way sorta.
Not really.
Yes, maybe it will be in Ep X! I mean, the Jedi powers are so awesome at this point, I’m wondering how they can top it all.
John
Using hyperspace to travel to Yavin 7 shows good understanding of the vast distances even within the same system — good job Irish education system! Empire had the Falcon travel from Hoth to an asteroid belt then to Bespin, probably in a whole other system, without it.
Stoopid official Empire Strikes Back! Ha ha ha.
Truth be told though,Phil, this was pure accident on my part (I bet you are shocked).
Our primary school teachers never taught us ANYTHING about Star Wars. I know, I know, it does sound like abuse.
So no wonder I didn’t always enjoy school that much, and had to resort to drawing Star Wars on my copy books, or day-dreaming about it instead of listening to the teachers!
IIRC the original draft of “Star Wars II” had the action take place in one system?
There are shadows of this in SPLINTER OF THE MIND’S EYE. The rebel base is on 9th planet, on the edge of the solar system. They are traveling to a neutral planet closer to the sun, 3rd or 4th out?, when they crash on Mimban, a planet between those two. Mimban is both a swamp planet (like Degobah) and a mining colony (like Bespin).
The Law of the Conservation of Narrative at work here, it would seem.
As a kid, I’d heard of ‘Splinter’ but never read it. I wonder why I didn’t get around to it?
I remember saving up money to buy a paperback copy of SotME. While caching away spare change, I’d ride my bike to the local discount department store, go to the book section, and read a chapter or two from a copy off the rack.