The saying “We are dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants” has been around since the twelfth century, and is used most commonly these days to describe how much of what we know is made possible by what was established by those who came before us.
For those of us who work every day creating Star Wars comics, there was one giant in particular on whose shoulders we were privileged to stand. Ralph McQuarrie singlehandedly established a baseline for the look and feel of that galaxy far, far away with his awe-inspiring paintings of alien vistas and fathomless spacescapes, and his designs for characters such as C-3PO, R2-D2, and Darth Vader, to name but a few. His contribution to the Star Wars canon cannot be overestimated. We lost a giant this week, but we will continue to benefit from his vision forever.
- Randy Stradley