Macan also has a knack for telling stories that are poignant without being too sentimental or maudlin, which probably figured into Janes' hiring him to write the upcoming Star Wars: Chewbacca series. The four-part series recounts some of the heroic Wookiee's greatest triumphs in battle, as well as some of his more intimate moments with family and close friends. Here's what Macan had to say about his work on the life stories of Chewbacca.
SE-G: You've structured this series as a collection of memoirs from various people who've had personal encounters with Chewbacca. How did you decide on this format, and what are you aiming for with it?
DM: Well, the original idea was somewhat different. I wanted to do a "young Chewie as a freewheeling disaster" comedy but then Peet mentioned that the series should tie in with Chewie's death, which takes place in Salvatore's Vector Prime novel. That changed the whole approach and, having the set goal of chronicling Chewie's career and paying ho mage to everybody's favorite Wookiee, I opted for a "documentary" approach. That proved the ideal solution for more than one reason: by employing the first-person narrative I was able to get the higher emotional content into the stories and it was also easier to jump over the gaps in the timeline, concentrating solely on the crucial events.
SE-G: How would you compare the writing on Chewbacca to other Star Wars series you've written-say, Vader's Quest, for instance. Your approach to this is so different . . .
DM: The rhythm was different. For some time, I wanted to break with the predictable pacing of the 4-issue mini-series (cliffhanger- bigger cliffhanger - even bigger cliffhanger - solve everything fast!), and the "chapterization" of the story gave me the opportunity to do just that. The downside was that, instead of one story, I ended up doing ten smaller stories, thus multiplying the work but also increasing the challenge and, one hopes, the reading enjoyment.
SE-G: On a similar note, how did you decide whom to "interview" for the memoirs? There's a good cross-section of folks represented here, and it seems like you probably weeded-out a lot of potential "interviewees." What were your decisions based on?
DM: Some choices were obvious: Chewie's wife and father provided an emotional opening to match Han's finale. The others were inevitable: the cast from the original trilogy (Han, Luke, Leia, Lando, Wedge) had to have their say. Then I wanted some enemies' perspectives, hence the Trandoshan slaver and the Wookiee from another clan. And then there's Mala Mala, who's a "writer's darling" and an inexcusable self-indulgence on my part, but I loved the character Dave (Gibbons) and I created for Vader's Quest and wanted to revisit her. In the end, I think she fitted in fine.
SE-G: I might be wrong in my thinking, but I believe this is the first Star Wars series where readers really get a first-person account of, well, anything from a Wookiee. For the chapters by Mallatobuck and Attichitcuk, how did you get into thinking like a Wookiee? How much of the "Wookiee-ness" that comes through in the writing is just you channeling your inner Wookiee?
DM: You got me there! I don't believe there's much difference in getting under a Wookiee's skin as opposed to getting to understand your human characters. It might be even easier because Wookiees value honor, their word and friendship, their whole worldview is therefore simpler and clearly cut, which makes them the quintessential heroes, perfect for comic-books.
SE-G: At this point, you've got a few Star Wars series under your belt . . . as you're writing, how concerned are you with things like continuity? Do you think maintaining strict continuity detracts at all from your experience as a writer, or does it actually give you more solid footing to start with?
DM: The "history" of the Star Wars universe approaches the "real" history in a weirdest way: there are so many sources and they occasionally contradict, just like actual historical documents often do. And even if one manages to cram and sort all the knowledge, there are new stories being published, new facts "discovered" daily, making the task almost impossible. What's a writer to do? My approach is to step gently and avoid overcrowded areas, acknowledging all the bits of continuity that help (and some are right there where you need them) and finding a roundabout way around those that don't fit.
In a word, I'm trying to avoid the twin pitfalls of fan-enraging ignorance and of overburdening the story with in-references. Ideally, the story should be just accessible and, hopefully, entertaining to the veterans of '77 and to yesterday's initiates.
SE-G: I'm curious about other writing you may have done . . . any novels? Criticism? You bring a very educated feel to your comics writing-it's sophisticated without being difficult or boorish. And the conversational segments are particularly fluid. How did you learn to write so well?
DM: Thank you for the compliment! And to answer your question, if there's a way to learn writing then it's by and through writing itself. Any writing. I did write a lot of comics (for Croatian, German, Scandinavian and US market) but I've also written short stories (about three dozen published so far), a pre-teen novel, some TV sketches and animation scripts, and about seven years worth of comics essays/commentary (I quit when I got sick of making enemies). Now, all of this was in Croatian and seemingly not connected with writing Star Wars comics, but actually every little bit helped in honing my craft, making my writing better, enabling me to tackle everything, from Star Wars to Hellblazer, from Grendel to Tarzan or Mickey Mouse.
SE-G: And If I'm not mistaken, English is not your first language. How old were you when you began learning English, and when did you feel like you really had a handle on the language?
DM: I had English all the way through primary school but didn't really learn much. It was when I hit high school and tried to read some Asterix and Tintin books that I became ashamed how little I knew and started pursuing it seriously (finally having a worthwhile goal-reading comics). My English still wouldn't be much good if not for my girlfriend, Tanja, who's got a degree in English, and who proofreads, corrects grammar slip-ups, and otherwise improves all my scripts.
SE-G: Finally, what would you say really compelled you to take this project?
DM: My interest has never been with heroes as much as with "common" people, heavies or comic relief-types. Since I dealt with the first two in X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Phantom Affair and Vader's Quest, the Chewbacca book seemed the perfect choice for my third involvement with the Star Wars universe. Of course, once I started writing, I discovered that a comic relief can be quite a hero, too . . . Plus, I'm as huge and hairy as Chewie, which certainly helped with getting under his skin!
Fans of the galaxy's greatest Wookiee won't want to miss the upcoming Star Wars: Chewbacca miniseries, starting January 19.