Star Wars fans can kick-start this stellar year with Star Wars: Starfighter -- Crossbones, a new three-issue miniseries that builds on the story of the incredibly popular Star Wars<: Starfighter video game. Crossbones is a high-energy, fast-paced story focused on the intimidating pirate captain Nym and his desperate attempt to earn some quick credits by taking a couple of high-risk jobs and joining in a violent clan war on the planet Rodia.
Dark Horse spokesperson Ivana Fanboy visited with Crossbones writer Haden Blackman recently and tapped his thoughts on this great miniseries and how it fits in with Episode II, what it's like to work for LucasArts, and why writing comics can be so much fun. Read on and discover why this is one Star Wars miniseries you won't want to miss!
Ivana Fanboy: I know you work at LucasArts ... what exactly do you do there?
Haden Blackman: I'm currently a Producer on Star Wars Galaxies, a massively-multiplayer online role-playing game due out next year. Before that, I worked as the
Content Supervisor for all Licensed products here, which meant that I was responsible for making sure that all content fit within the parameters of the license and continuity. I've also served as the Project Writer/Researcher on numerous titles (including Star Wars: Behind the Magic, Star Wars Insider's Guide, Star Wars: Starfighter, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, and Star Wars: Battle for Naboo), and pitched in with writing design documents and dialogue as necessary. And I've done some voice directing (Star Wars: Battle for Naboo, Star Wars Starfighter, Star Wars Jedi Starfighter).
IF: Star Wars: Starfighter is a very popular video game, and it's also the basis for the comic-book story you've written. Were you involved with the making of the game? Are there other similar projects there that you've been involved with?
HB: Yes, I was involved throughout development, beginning with early story
discussions and continuing through the voice recording phase. I've also participated in the design, writing and voice direction for Star Wars Jedi Starfighter, the sequel to the original Star Wars Starfighter. Jedi Starfighter takes place about ten years after the first game, and unites Nym (from the original) with Jedi Master Adi Gallia shortly before the events of Episode II. The Crossbones series is intended to help bridge that ten-year gap, while telling its own story.
IF: What is the comic book like compared to the game -- and do you think
non-gaming Star Wars fans will enjoy the comic series?
HB: Both the game and the comic are action-packed. The game is fast-paced, and
so is the series.
I'm hopeful that the situations and characters will resonate with all Star
Wars fans, regardless of whether or not they've played the game. And, we
provide a bit of backstory in issue #1 for readers who haven't played the
game.
I'd also like to mention that, while the games deal primarily with the characters from inside the cockpits of their starfighters, the series lets us see Nym as his own individual, separate from his bomber. We'll see Nym in different environments, and watch him in hand-to-hand combat, for example. And, much of the story centers around watercraft - there's an actual nautical battle at one point, which is something we haven't really seen in
Star Wars before.
IF: For the uninitiated, which characters are in Star Wars: Starfighter, and what are they like?
HB: Crossbones focuses on Nym, one of the characters from both the Star Wars Starfighter and Star Wars Jedi Starfighter video games. When we first meet Nym in the Star Wars Starfighter game, he's a loud and aggressive pirate with a long criminal record and a grudge against the Trade Federation. Eventually, he joins forces with RSF
pilot Rhys Dallows and a mercenary named Vana Sage to help defeat the Trade
Federation on Naboo. But that doesn't make him your classic hero -- in fact, I gravitated towards Nym for the Crossboness series because he is, in many ways, the "anti Han Solo." Like Han, he's offered the chance to stick around with the good guys (as seen at the end of Star Wars Starfighter) and help protect Naboo from future attacks, thereby redeeming himself for past crimes, but he turns his back on his new allies and tries to go his own way. It's not the best choice, and it leaves him down-and-out a few years later (which is revealed at the opening of the comic series). I wanted to take Nym from that point, roughly six years after the Battle of Naboo, and put him in a position to lead a resistance movement, as he's seen doing in Star Wars Jedi Starfighter.
IF: This long after the Battle of Naboo, what sort of power does the Trade Federation have?
HB: Crossbones takes place about six years after the Battle of Naboo, and the
Trade Federation still figures prominently. They have taken over a few
planets in the Karthakk system, including Nym's homeworld of Lok and a water
planet called Maramere, where most of the action takes place.
For his part, Nym starts out in pretty bad shape. Prior to the Star Wars Starfighter
game, he had a hi-tech base on Lok and a pretty sizable army. All that was
wiped out by the Trade Federation in the game. Now, after leaving Naboo
behind and abandoning his chance for redemption, he's doesn't have much -
only a handful of loyal crew members and his starship (a bomber called the
Havoc). The Trade Federation still has a price on Nym's head, and he's not
making any friends when he becomes involved in a Rodian clan war in the first issue.
When Nym takes a job to hunt down a violent marauder known as Sol Sixxa, who
is terrorizing Maramere, he just sees it as his opportunity to earn some credits. But, it will also put him in direct conflict with the Trade Federation again, and just maybe lead him a step closer towards that redemption that he doesn't really think he needs...
IF: In reading the script for the first issue of Star Wars: Starfighter, I noticed that your suggested lay-outs are pretty detailed -- and very well-done, with lots of neat suggestions and directions for the artist and other great details. I assumed that this was your first comics-writing gig, but after reading this script, I wasn't so sure. Is this your first time? And if so, how do you like it?
HB: Thanks! This is actually my second comic story -- I wrote a short story for
Star Wars Tales, again featuring Nym. But, this is my first full-length comic and my first limited series. I'm having a blast writing Crossbones, in part because Nym is such a fun character to bring to life. And it's always great to run around the Star Wars universe.
When I sat down to work on the scripts, I wanted to give as much detail as possible so that Ramon would have enough information to work with. At the same time, I made it clear that he should feel free to depart from my panel or layout descriptions because, let's face it, I'm not an artist and he might have a better sense about how a scene should play out visually.
IF: What are your thoughts on writing comics versus other creative development you do as part of your day job? Do you have more freedom and idea control? Is comics a more difficult medium to work in compared to digital?
HB: I've been really fortunate to have been able to work as a writer in a number of different mediums, and each is vastly different (although there are skills that transfer over).
I would say that, on average, I definitely have more creative control when writing a comic. Both comics and games are collaborative, but the size of your team is much larger when working on a game. Level designers, artists, programmers -- everyone has a say in how the game develops. And, your goals are different -- not only do you need to tell a compelling story, but you need to make sure that story works with the technology at hand, satisfies game design requirements, and can actually be accomplished given your
resources. With Crossbones, the only restrictions were the number of issues,
so I could tell any story that I wanted, with the guidance and advice of Dave Land at Dark Horse and Chris Cerasi and Lucy Wilson at Lucas Licensing.
I do think that writing for games has improved my ability to write for comics, specifically in terms of dialogue. In a game like Star Wars: Starfighter, sometimes dialogue is all you have to develop a character, so it has to have flavor. It's also conveying story points and mission goals at the same time, so it often needs to be short and to-the-point. Trying to cram as much information into as few words as possible -- and make it entertaining -- is
the real challenge, and I think it's one that both mediums share.
IF: What's been the best part about working on this series for you? And do you think you'll give comics writing another shot in the future?
HB: Just seeing the art -- seeing what I put down on paper translated into images. In truth, I've always wanted to write comics. I've collected since I could read, so this is very exciting for me. I hope to do more projects in the future. In fact, there's some stuff with Dark Horse that hasn't been announced yet, so stay tuned.
I'm also really happy that we were able to get J.H. Williams III to do the covers. I've been friends with him for a few years now, and it was wonderful to have him visualize some of things that I described in words.
For extreme action, great space-pirate intrigue, and superb storytelling, Star Wars: Starfighter -- Crossbones can't be beat. Don't miss the first exciting issue of this three-part miniseries by Haden Blackman, Ramon F. Bachs, and Raul Fernandez, on sale January 9 at a comic shop near you!