SWBC: 'The Art of Star Wars: Visions' review
Plus: A preview of "Star Wars: Revelations," coming next year.
Review: The Art of Star Wars: Visions
When Star Wars: Visions premiered last year, it was lauded as a visual and storytelling marvel. Visions finally brought Japanese anime style to Star Wars after more than 40 years of characters, aesthetics, and stories taking inspiration from the country’s history and culture.
Some of the world’s most famous anime creators came together to produce shorts expanding the world of Star Wars beyond the canon galaxy far, far away. Now, with The Art of Star Wars: Visions, you can bring those visually stunning characters, themes, and locales home.
The artbook, which arrives in bookstores on Nov. 8, is more than just a collection of glossy, colorful pages. The Art of Star Wars: Visions also dives deeper into the inspirations and influences behind key characters and storylines.
The Duel, produced by Kamikaze Douga, is a celebration of legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, whose samurai films heavily inspired George Lucas in the creation of Star Wars. The short is a direct homage to Kurosawa’s classic style of films — from the story itself to the grainy, black and white texture of the animattion.
But other Visions shorts fuse modern Japanese anime style with Western influences to create characters and places with softer and more rounded edges, bright and bold colors, and sometimes cute “kawaii” style eyes and faces — even for some of the darker tales like The Twins.
Some of the best parts of The Art of Star Wars: Visions are the nuggets of behind-the-scenes information from the creators. In the section on The Twins, it’s revealed that the battle between Am and Karre was inspired by a Heian period Japanese story — the battle of Gojo Ohashi. Another interesting detail is that Am and Karre aren’t Sith lords — they are clones trained in the ways of the Sith but created to be unstoppable wielders of the dark side.
For The Ninth Jedi, writer Jack Davisson explains how the short adopts the concept of the sword being the “soul of the samurai” and fuses it with Star Wars lightsabers. Main character Lah Kara was also designed with Western anime fans in mind, taking inspiration from popular series like Naruto Shippuden, director Kenji Kamiyama said.
The Art of Star Wars: Visions is an excellent collection of material that expands upon the beloved series, providing deeper historical context and showcasing the most stunning art pieces, posters, and early sketches.
It’s perfect for fans of Visions and for the art of Star Wars storytelling.
The Art of Star Wars: Visions is available now at local comic book shops and at DarkHorse.com.
Release date in bookstores: Nov. 8
More Star Wars: Visions coverage:
Review: Star Wars: Visions #1
Thank you to Dark Horse Comics for sharing a digital ARC of The Art of Star Wars: Visions for review.
Previewing Star Wars: Revelations
Marvel Comics recently shared an intriguing preview for the upcoming Star Wars: Revelations one-shot comic, teasing what’s ahead for its ongoing titles set post-The Empire Strikes Back.
Revelations is chiefly set on the lava planet Mustafar as Darth Vader is shown glimpses of the future from around the galaxy via The Eye of Webbish Bog — from the leaders of the Rebellion and the Empire to the galaxy’s infamous bounty hunters and Doctor Aphra.
“Well, The Eye [of Webbish Bog] is going to show Vader all of the above, including moments that will be coming into play in 2023 all across the Star Wars line. It’s our clever way of giving readers a preview of what everyone has up their sleeves for next year, but this isn’t a 40-page movie trailer. It’s a real Star Wars story with Vader at the center,” writer Marc Guggenheim said to StarWars.com.
In a blog post featuring pages from the upcoming comic, Marvel said Revelations “will lay the groundwork for the major turning points to come for these adventures as they continue to head towards an unpredictable future.”
One of the juiciest revelations is the introduction of a mysterious and probably dangerous new droid named Aja Sigma — dubbed “a droid unlike any other.”
Star Wars: Revelations arrives on Nov. 23.
Coming soon: Quest for the Hidden City
Heads up, High Republic fans — a new book set in Phase 2 is coming out next week.
Quest for the Hidden City is a middle-grade novel by George Mann, who’s also writing The Battle of Jedha audio drama and script book coming in January.
I’m about halfway done with my ARC copy, and it’s a delightfully spooky and mysterious story so far. No spoilers and my review will publish on release day (Nov. 1), but here’s a little about the book:
Quest for the Hidden City features two main POVs — Jedi Padawan Rooper Natani and a young boy named Dass, who’s stranded on an Outer Rim planet called Gloam with his father. Rooper and her master are sent to investigate what happened to a team of Pathfinders, which leads them to Gloam — a world reportedly inhabited by monsters.
So far, Quest for the Hidden City is a great introduction to the Pathfinder program of Phase 2, which is set 150 years before Phase 1. At this time in the galaxy, the Jedi work with Pathfinder teams to make contact with new worlds and peoples throughout the galaxy and work to establish more reliable communications systems in the Outer Rim.
And, like I always say — don’t skip this book just because it’s written for younger readers. It’s a fun and quick story that adds more depth to the era of The High Republic.
Review: Star Wars: Path of Deceit is an ominous, Force cult-filled start to The High Republic Phase 2
Star Wars books and comics out this week
Oct. 25
Oct. 26
Currently reading
Star Wars: Quest for the Hidden City (ARC)
Star Wars: Convergence (ARC)
Thrawn: Alliances (audiobook)
The Priory of the Orange Tree (audiobook)
The Atlas Paradox (ARC)
Crown of Midnight