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ROB WILLIAMS ON STAR WARS: REBELLION
by Newsarama
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was the biggest movie last year, yet to some, it was the year that Star Wars ended.
However, as far as Associate Editor Jeremy Barlow is concerned, The Force is with Dark Horse in 2006. “2006 marks Dark Horse's twentieth anniversary, and to celebrate the occasion we're deepening our commitment to expanding the Star Wars saga beyond the films and delivering the highest quality Star Wars comic-books and graphic novels you've ever seen. To that end, over the course of the coming year we're completely remaking our Star Wars publishing line,” he stated in the Star Wars section on DarkHorse.com.
January sees the debut of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, a new, ongoing Star Wars series set prior to the first Knights of the Old Republic video game. It is written by John Jackson Miller, illustrated by Brian Ching and Michael Atiyeh, with covers by Travis Charest.
In April, Star Wars: Rebellion, a series of mini-series set in the Original Trilogy era, just prior to the events in The Empire Strikes Back. Starring Luke Skywalker and characters from the films alongside new characters, Rebellion is written by Rob Williams and illustrated by Brandon Badeaux and Wil Glass.
Both of these new series will be previewed with original stories in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic/Rebellion 25 cent Flip Book in February.
We’ve spoken to Miller about the KOTOR series. So, it’s only appropriate to find out more about Rebellion.
Therefore, we caught up with writer Rob Williams. Williams has previously written some Star Wars stories for Dark Horse in Star Wars Tales and the Empire series. He is best known for his work on the critically acclaimed Cla$$war.
Newsarama: How did you land the Star Wars: Rebellion gig?
Rob Williams: I've done a fair amount of work for Star Wars Tales over the past couple of years. There was Nomad, which was effectively a four-part mini-series that ran within Tales - that was by Brandon Badeaux (Rebellion artist) and myself, and I think we worked well together on that. I'd also done a few short stories with some great artists like Cary Nord and Cully Hamner, so I guess Jeremy Barlow, the Star Wars editor at Dark Horse, was happy with what I was doing and decided to offer me the chance to pitch for Rebellion.
NRAMA: As a fan yourself, what goals had you set for yourself coming into Rebellion?
RW: The fact that we're playing with the classic trilogy characters was really a wake up call. First off there was the pressure of putting words in the mouth of people like Luke and Vader - the realization that I really didn't want to screw this up. And also it made me think back to what I enjoyed about Star Wars in the first place. What was at the heart of Star Wars?
This had to be fun, it had to take the characters to the edge of endurance, both physical and emotional, it had to be epic in scope and it had to have big ridiculous widescreen battles that would give an artist an aneurysm when they read the script (sorry Brandon). The small slice-of-life Star Wars stories have a place, but if we're getting to the heart of the thing - it's called Star WARS and it had better have spectacle in spades. These are character stories but the outcome of the actions affects millions. I think we've achieved all that with Rebellion.
I also wanted to make this an accessible jumping on point for people. You don't have to have read Star Wars comics previously to pick up and enjoy Rebellion.
NRAMA: Is Rebellion tied, in any way, to your "Ghosts of Hoth" tale?
RW: Only as much as they both take place in the classic trilogy era.
NRAMA: Since it’s set prior to The Empire Strikes Back, Luke doesn't know that Darth Vader is his dad and Obi-Wan Kenobi has just died at the hands of Vader. Han Solo and Princess Leia are not an item yet. Tease out your five-issue arc then. Where do things head, and what are you building towards?
RW: The spine of this story is the tale of two childhood friends from Tattooine - Luke and Tank. While Luke eventually joined the Rebellion and blew up the Death Star, Tank joined The Empire and is now Lt. Janek Sunber.
NRAMA: Now, that’s a revelation. Does Luke’s other childhood friend, Biggs Darklighter, show up in a flashback scene or two in Rebellion?
RW: Yes, Biggs appears in flashback in Rebellion, and the fact that he gave his life for the Rebellion becomes a major issue for Sunber and Luke, but the burnt hairs of his moustache remain scattered somewhere above Yavin, I'm afraid. Don't blame me, blame Vader.
NRAMA: Noooooooooooo…
Okay, moving on [ahem!], Lt. Janek Sunber’s appeared in several issues of Star Wars: Empire series since his debut in the three-part "To the Last Man" in issues #16 to #19 of the recently cancelled series. What kind of a character is he, anyway?
RW: Sunber's a good man, he believes in honour and duty; the need to end the Rebellion and bring peace back to the galaxy, but he's begun having doubts about the nature of The Empire. Then, when he discovers that Luke is part of the Rebellion it throws his whole universe into chaos. How can his friend be on the side of the bad guys - and as far as Sunber is concerned, the Rebels are the bad guys. Then Sunber discovers that Luke was the man who blew up the Death Star - that he's the hero of the Rebellion, that Darth Vader himself is desperate to capture this outlaw.
Does Sunber follow his sense of duty as an officer, go to Vader, tell him what he knows about Luke on Tattooine? Betray his old friend and help Vader capture Luke? Or will Sunber decide that his entire adult life has been a mistake and defect to the Rebellion?
And while all this is going on, a spy for Darth Vader has found his way into the heart of the Rebel fleet. And that can't be good.
NRAMA: In our earlier interview in August of 2004, you said that your favorite Star Wars character is "Han [Solo], especially in Empire Strikes Back, where he's a real bada$$, but charming and funny at the same time. I think I relate to how grumpy he is, how he sees the world conspiring against him all the time. It's the indignity with which he hits the Falcon's cockpit when all the lights go out as they are trying to escape Hoth. I've had the same experience with a sputtering Vauxhall Corsa. Harrison Ford is just great in Empire. He's this Humphrey Bogart figure - a hard man with a begrudging good heart. And when Leia tells him she loves him and he replies "I know." I honestly think it's one of the great moments in cinema." Will the readers see Han in this pre-Empire Strikes Back story then?
RW: Han doesn't feature in this arc of Rebellion, although we've got plans to heavily feature him in the next story. He and Chewie are away on a mission when this one takes place.
It's really a balancing act with how many of the classic characters we use in any of these Star Wars stories and how we mix them in with characters from the expanded universe. As much as I loved writing Luke as a central character in this one, I don't think I'm spoiling the ending for anyone when I say that he doesn't die - he's got to appear in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi after all. So there's only so much drama you can get from him. You can screw with him, sure, put him through all kinds of emotional hell in the name of drama, but at the end you've got to return him to the status quo.
Now, the expanded universe characters? They can be a lot more fun. Janek Sunber's become so three dimensional in the Empire series from Dark Horse that he's a great character to write, and we could kill him, if we wanted to. The same with the Rebels Deena Shan and Jorin Sol, who we concentrate on heavily in Rebellion. The drama's greater with these characters, potentially, because you know they're actually at risk. And they're great characters, they're not cannon-fodder like the guy on the Star Trek landing crew that you've never seen before. The readers care about them. So you try and get an even mix between EU characters and the classic cast.
NRAMA: So, no Chewbacca in the first arc as well then?
RW: No hairy Chewie goodness in the initial Rebellion arc, I'm afraid. Although it was fun writing him in “Ghosts Of Hoth”.
NRAMA: What about the droids? R2-D2 and C-3PO?
RW: Again, we've really steered clear of the droids in this one. R2's in one sequence but that's it.
NRAMA: And Leia, since Luke’s in the series? How is Leia keeping her emotions in check following the death of her loved ones and the destruction of her home planet?
RW: One angle we're playing on in Rebellion, that Jeremy has said he's not seen done before between Luke and Leia, is their class difference. They got to know each other in the adrenaline of the Battle for Yavin. At the start of this story, they have a moment to breathe, and suddenly the fact that she's a Princess and he's a farm boy really bothers Luke. There's a line where Leia, seeing that Luke is troubled, offers to listen to him and says whatever it is, she'll understand: "we're not that dissimilar, you and I." And Luke replies, "Leia, we're nothing alike." He can't shake that Tattooine sand off his feet yet. He's not grown into a Jedi. He still feels unworthy of where he is. That's going to make him reach out to his past and Sunber - which may or may not be the right thing to do.
NRAMA: Characters aside, having watched the first trilogy and the prequels as well as having been exposed to the Expanded Universe, what's your attraction to this pre-Empire Strikes Back era?
RW: I like the fact that these characters don't know what their destinies are yet, and that makes it an exciting time. Luke's on a journey here, so is Sunber. They're both questioning who they are, if they're deserving of their role, and they have to decide their future path. You can do a straight adventure story that's fun but has no effect on the greater Star Wars tapestry, sure, but I like to think that this arc of Rebellion is a small but important little step in the overall direction of where Luke Skywalker ends up.
This is part of Luke's growing up process. In A New Hope, when Luke says of Tattooine, "I'm never coming back here again". That's easy to say, but emotionally you don't just throw off the place you grew up in that easily. It sticks with you. Luke still has to let it go. He has to stop being a boy and become a man. Rebellion's part of that process. It's one of those stories that'll contribute to the person Luke eventually is when he turns to The Emperor, throws down his lightsaber and says, "I am a Jedi, as my father before me."
NRAMA: Art-wise, you're teamed with artist Brandon Badeaux. What's it like to be working with him again since your first collaborative effort back in issues #21 to #24 of Star Wars Tales?
RW: Brandon's a fantastic artist - a real up-and-comer. He's got that special kind of Adam Hughes-ish tint to his work, and he's still relatively young. He's going to be a very big name in the industry in the next few years. The fact that Brandon and I worked well together on “Nomad” probably caused Jeremy to think about keeping us teamed up.
NRAMA: Have you seen any pages?
RW: I've seen the pencils for issue #1 and they're pretty astonishing. There's a huge battle sequence at the opening with two armies piling into one another. There's ground soldiers galore, AT-ATs, TIE Bombers, the lot. The amount of detail Brandon's put into this is just gob smacking. I've shown these pages to a few artist friends and they've gone pale at the thought of how long it would take them to include this much detail. And the thing is with Brandon, it's not to the detriment of the storytelling. Everything's clear and easily understandable. It reads great, it looks great. If the rest of Rebellion looks as good as #1 then we've got a stunning looking book on our hands.
NRAMA: What could you tease about the next arc? Are you writing the next chapter?
RW: I'm just about to start plotting out the second arc of Rebellion so, as things stand, yeah, I'm writing that.
Can't say much about the second arc at the moment, I'm afraid, although the plan is to follow the same path as Rebellion in as much as we'll be mixing in some classic Star Wars faces with expanded universe characters, some of whom will be brand new and some will have previously been seen by Star Wars readers. And we'll be concentrating on keeping it true to Star Wars - that means high adventure, Galaxy-spanning scale and epic space romance.
NRAMA: Lastly, what else have you got in the works?
RW: As for other projects, I've got a 12-parter called “The Ten-Seconders” currently running in 2000AD and I'm currently in the middle of a new series of Low Life for 2000AD, which is always fun to write.
Star Wars: Rebellion #1 is scheduled to be in stores in April. Other than this, Knights of the Old Republic and the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic/Rebellion 25 cent Flip Book, Dark Horse’s upcoming Star Wars comics include Star Wars: Boba Fett – Overkill One-Shot, Star Wars: The Return of Tag & Blink Special Edition #1 and Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Volume 5 TPB.
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