A&A The Official Jan Duursema Discussion Thread

Jan I looked at the DH website and the preview for an upcoming Legacy book appears to be drawn by a different artist. Whats up with that?

 

#4 is a fill-in issue with a fill-in artist, so Jan can deliver the goods on the Broken arc.

 

Thanks. I was worried there for a bit!

 

Oh, oh--I've been remiss on getting to these for a while. I will try to answer them in order...

>>Excellence wrote: Jan, how do you coordinate John's speech bubbles with your art placement? Or is it the other way around? Is speech quanity and duration limited by what space you make?

Just musing . . . is that why names are short syllabled? There's more room to say Finn Sinn then Drackvarion Andarine?

Was your Maul comic easier then with the reduced conversations?<<

I have the script when I do the breakdown for the pages and I try to leave room where I think they should go--really try to imagine how the page will look with them on it. Then the editor does a placement for the letterer. If I see a large block of dialogue I leave a lot of room for it or break it down into a couple of panels as I do have the freedom to do that. The script is altered accordingly for the letterer.

Names--funny thing that. I remember in one story John made up a name for a Princes that was something like Princess Loojkapalojafollalaala or something. It took up nearly a whole word balloon to say her name. Funny writer...ha hah I like to think we mix the length of names up--Marasiah Fel, Cade Skywalker, Roan Fel, Antares Draco, Ganner Krieg. Rav is probably the shortest name, huh? Maybe his last name is Drackvarion...

The Maul comic presented it's own challenges simply because there was very little dialogue. When there is no talk to explain the story, there had better be some pretty specific action to tell the story. One of my favorite pages from that story was Maul running up a wall, doing a flip, slicing through some droids, to land in front of some other droids he was fighting. Another was Maul putting on his Sith robes. I got real specific on that one by breaking down the components into pieces, shirt, gloves, boots, belt, saber. I wanted the moment we saw Maul fully armed to build. Tricky storytelling and a big challenge for me to get right. I remember how I sweated over those pages.

 

Jan:

How many characters (Jedi, Sith, Imperial, GA, etc) would you estimate you and John have created thus far that we have not scence in the comics yet? Named characters, not just background faces. I would guess that each faction must easily have multiple principle players. I still wait with anticipation for some GA characters, but the wait builds the anticipation.

Sort of like being a kid before Christmas morning. I know that there is good stuff wrapped under the tree but I have to wait until Dec. 25th.

Do you and John create these characters in advance or as you need them?

--Adm. Nick

 

Hey, Adm. Nick!

I'm not sure how many characters we've got created that you have not seen in the books yet, but I'm sure there are more than a few. Most of the time we don't create characters until we need them for an arc.

Characters that you have seen (in LEGACY 0) that have not yet had 'screen' time that I can't wait to get to are Queen Jool, Chak and Kee. They should be a lot of fun being Underworld type characters. But then there is Yage and her squadron of pilots, and some more Imperial Knights and some I just can't talk about yet...

 

Come on, you know you want to. LFL will never know . . .

 

Never mind about that, just tell us how a thing like Queen Jool comes about!! Isn't she a he anyway, from birth, like the mighty banana slug?

 

>>Never mind about that, just tell us how a thing like Queen Jool comes about!! Isn't she a he anyway, from birth, like the mighty banana slug?<<

Are you implyin' Jool's a cross-dressing?

I've seen some tales where the Hutts' sex will change at some point in their lives. Others where there seems to be a distinct male and female thing going on--Hutts getting married and having little Hutts. Gardulla was definitely called 'she'--Jabba 'he'. And I can't imagine Jabba EVER becoming a female. I think Jool is definitely a female. If I could give her a voice? I keep hearing Bea Arthur because I think Jool would require that elegant throaty growl Bea has.

How did Jool come about? Wanted Jool to be the 'Miss Kitty' of SW. (Gunsmoke reference for those not into old westerns...)

>> Jan_Duursema posted:
and some I just can't talk about yet...


Come on, you know you want to. LFL will never know . . . <<

Riiight...

 

Jan:

Will the overall state of who controls what in the galaxy be clarified in the coming issues? I am curious as to whether the new Sith Empire controls most of the galaxy, or if other factions like Fel or the GA have their own little pockets. Worlds like Yichnorr, Bastion, Coruscant, and others are shown Imperial, but what about worlds like Lok, Socorro, and Daluuj? Are these worlds controlled by the Empire or are they fringe worlds without any government controlling them?

Thanks!

--Adm. Nick

 

>>Jan:

Will the overall state of who controls what in the galaxy be clarified in the coming issues? I am curious as to whether the new Sith Empire controls most of the galaxy, or if other factions like Fel or the GA have their own little pockets. Worlds like Yichnorr, Bastion, Coruscant, and others are shown Imperial, but what about worlds like Lok, Socorro, and Daluuj? Are these worlds controlled by the Empire or are they fringe worlds without any government controlling them?

Thanks!

--Adm. Nick<<

This is the kind of info that will be threaded throughout the story as we go. Lok does not seems to be Imperial controlled, but you can bet the Empire under the Sith has a close eye on them. No one there seemed to want any Imperial involvement. Socorro remains to be seen. All we'e seen there are Rav's holdings on Socorro. While he didn't seem to be afraid of the Empire, who knows how close they are. Daluuj looks fringey to me. Not sure if there is enough there for the Empire to care about.

 

Thats sort of my guess. Lok and Socorro seme like the kind fo worlds the Empire could just watch and not bother stationing forces on.

I guess I am wondering if the new Sith controlled Empire controls most the galaxy. Part of me suspects however that pockets are not under their control. If they cannot risk a full assault on Bastion I think that they must be using forces to subjugate other worlds with fewer defenses.

--Adm. Nick

 

>Jan replied to the query--


>Never mind about that, just tell us how a thing like Queen Jool comes about!! Isn't she a he anyway, from birth, like the mighty banana slug?<<

Are you implyin' Jool's a cross-dressing ?

I've seen some tales where the Hutts' sex will change at some point in their lives. Others where there seems to be a distinct male and female thing going on--Hutts getting married and having little Hutts. Gardulla was definitely called 'she'--Jabba 'he'. And I can't imagine Jabba EVER becoming a female. I think Jool is definitely a female. If I could give her a voice? I keep hearing Bea Arthur because I think Jool would require that elegant throaty growl Bea has.

How did Jool come about? Wanted Jool to be the 'Miss Kitty' of SW. (Gunsmoke reference for those not into old westerns...)

>> Jan_Duursema posted:
and some I just can't talk about yet...

So Jool has decided to be Queen, not king, in perpetuity. I envy the species their ability to so decisively choose.

Miss Kitty did a lot of observing as I remember... And if anything can make a Hutt look ladylike, I bow down to that thing.

 

Good news for anyone looking around for copies of Legacy 1 and 2. Dark Horse is going to a second printing with both of these books (Rebellion 1 too!) The issues will be available October 25.

 

>>So Jool has decided to be Queen, not king, in perpetuity. I envy the species their ability to so decisively choose.

Miss Kitty did a lot of observing as I remember... And if anything can make a Hutt look ladylike, I bow down to that thing.<<

Jool is one of those characters who is going to be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to getting to her story. I think Miss Kitty was one of the first independant ladies of TVland. As far as I can recall--she owned and ran that saloon. One tough woman.

 

Thanks, Jan. Always great to get art insight.

 

hey jan -- long time...

i have a question about luke's ghost when he was talking to cade.
obviously this is the first time we see luke as a force ghost... anywhere.

my question is that he looks very young.
i didn't personally agree with the hayden swap for sebastian shaw - for reason obviously discussed all over the net ad nauseum.

ben always looked old as a ghost.

so what gives? was it intentional that luke looks fairly young in issue 2 as a ghost?
and if so, what was your rationale?

thanks!

 

hehe i got mine at con! thanks Randy and Jan hehehe


Jan , Cade is coming along...slowly LOL thanks for all the help definatly will be at the booth if you need me!!!! and ive got the sketch framed now!

-Rion

 

Hi Jan.

This question dates a bit, but in Star Wars: Darth Maul, is the character Whee Tillatch meant to be a Yarkora?

Cheers,

~ Eyrezer

 

Please, help me out, Jan.

When I first read Legacy 0, I was 100% certain that Kee was a Devaronian girl. I really didn't give it a second thought until I saw her listed as a human on Wookieepedia. I tried looking for some proof, but I found was a bunch a fans stating her as human. I still think she looks like a Devaronian. Can you please straighten this out for me?

 

Jan, I have now viewed the preview pages for Legacy coming out end of November, and have a burning need to tell you that Wolf Sazen is the most beautiful Zabrak in the history of Zabraks. And the corellation between Talon's stripes and those of a terrestrial tiger as she lurks is stunning. Cade doesn't look so bad either.

 

Hey Jan, I'm just wondering, was it hard/medium/easy to design Krayt? I mean, his armor looks rather complicated and all, about how long did it take you (and other concept artists?) to finally choose a design, or was it something already clear in your minds?

 

episodenone >>i have a question about luke's ghost when he was talking to cade.
obviously this is the first time we see luke as a force ghost... anywhere.

When talking over the scene John and I both wondered if ghosts had to appear a certain way or if they could change their appearance to suit the occasion. Why should they be spcific to a corporeal form at all? Our thinking was that Luke thought Cade would be more inclined to listen to someone he saw more as a peer and less as an authority figure. Cade has a bit of trouble with authority figures...


>>6934_Ephant Mon
This question dates a bit, but in Star Wars: Darth Maul, is the character Whee Tillatch meant to be a Yarkora?<<

Whee Tillatch is meant to be Yakora.


>>Joser_Kyind
Please, help me out, Jan.
When I first read Legacy 0, I was 100% certain that Kee was a Devaronian girl. I really didn't give it a second thought until I saw her listed as a human on Wookieepedia. I tried looking for some proof, but I found was a bunch a fans stating her as human. I still think she looks like a Devaronian. Can you please straighten this out for me?<<

Can't really answer that specifically yet. Kee should appear on the scene fairly soon. Never saw her as a human though.


>>sonnymyson
Jan, I have now viewed the preview pages for Legacy coming out end of November, and have a burning need to tell you that Wolf Sazen is the most beautiful Zabrak in the history of Zabraks. And the corellation between Talon's stripes and those of a terrestrial tiger as she lurks is stunning. Cade doesn't look so bad either.>>

Thanks! Poor Cade though, having to take second place to his former Master...


>>Hey Jan, I'm just wondering, was it hard/medium/easy to design Krayt? I mean, his armor looks rather complicated and all, about how long did it take you (and other concept artists?) to finally choose a design, or was it something already clear in your minds?<<

Krayt was a LOT of fun to design--and one of the characters I could 'see' very clearly in the pre-design stage. I knew I wanted to make his armor look like a cross between crab shells and Samurai type armor. Speaking of tough designs--I think Cade was probably the toughest of the bunch.

 

Jan! Jan! They've got the many ages of Quinlan Vos wallpaper up at the EU Literature Board and it's gorgeous! Who do we thank?

 

Gone now, but it is one of my favorites!