Author Analysis: John Ostrander

Analyze John's authorial skillz without bashing or gushing. What does he do well? What are his weaknesses? Does he fill a niche in SW writing? So on and so forth.

Previous Author Analyses:
Steve Perry
Brian Daley
Barbara Hambly
Dave Wolverton
Troy Denning
Ann C. Crispin
K. W. Jeter
Sean Stewart
Haden Blackman
Greg Keyes
Michael Stackpole
Kevin J. Anderson
Matthew Stover
Michael Reaves
Aaron Allston

Go at it!

 

Ostrander Rocks!

Best Comics I've ever read/seen/heard/felt

 

First of all, John knows his way about the EU (or at least is willing to incorporate a lot of EU elements). Adding in places like Anzat and Tibrin and Antar 4 into his scripts gives us a visual aid to things we've only imagined in purely written material.

Of course, his EU nods are more than Anzat, and span from the Trandoshan "Scorekeeper" goddess to adding in Rakata temples on Honoghr.

When partnered with Jan, I cannot recall a single instant where he (or they) created a new planet or species, which I consider to be a good thing.

Despite the fact that Anakin was technically the guy everyone should have been interested in, I liked Quinlan Vos and his tale much more than Anakin's, and considered the Anakin-Obi-Wan stuff to be more or less filler among the comic series (Jabiim and Obsession were rare exceptions, but still found the Quin stuff more engaging by comparison).

I'm finding it hard to think of anything critical to say of his work.

 

Oh yeah, I love it when John&Jan bring something in like the Rakata (in Honoghr) or the Ancient Sith (Korriban) and recently a lot more of the Vong (Legacy), it makes it all seem so much more real and connected to the GFFA

 

On Star Wars:

John has a really good grasp of what makes Star Wars Star Wars. Yet at the same time, he's not afraid to go off in new, unexplored directions. He's not afraid to tackle the big questions like the nature of the darkside and its corruption, nor does he fully seem to promote the idea that the old Jedi were perfect. Quin expressing his doubts to Kolar was able to sum up the hidebound nature of the Jedi in a single short conversation. He also has a knack for making more memerable subcharacters than I can count, Vile, Zao and Aayla most of all. On that note, bring back Zao for the dark times! I want to see him open a soup kitchen and run it until he meets up with Luke and makes him try his terrible food.

On his non Star Wars works:

The Spectre is my favorite of John along with Sucide Squad in a photo finish. Even in honest to goodness comic bookdom, he makes his stories serious, funny, tragic, exciting and to be treated with respect. Honestly, I wished more people talked about faith like John does, as I don't think enough people in the world who are 'unbelievers' (and I use that in a purely categorical/technical term so no lynching) understand what its all about for people who do. Faith isn't something that's just for crazy people, it's something that matters, whether you believe what's behind it or not, and it's something I always enjoyed coming out in John's work.

And for the record, Deadshot's coversation with Marie at the end of his four part mini I still find to be the best piece of character driven comic bookdom I've ever read.

"The cards are dealt... let em lie."

 

I'd forgotten that ridiculous Bossk tale. What comic referenced the Trando scorekeeper deity?

 

Republic #81 referenced the Scorekeeper.

 

No wonder. The Endgame TPB. Hasn't come out yet . . . and not half price for me too.

 

I've heard good things about John and would like to check out some of his comics. Can anyone recommend some of the better ones? I also asked this in his thread on the author board.

 

Crox
I've heard good things about John and would like to check out some of his comics. Can anyone recommend some of the better ones? I also asked this in his thread on the author board.

His Quinlan Vos stories are great. Start with the first collection called, "Twilight".

 

I think John Ostrander is the best overall writer in the Expanded Universe.
To me, there simply isn't a writer who understands George Lucas's universe more -- in terms of the rules, tone, and overall sense of excitement. Because of this, he knows exactly what boundaries can be pushed to make his own work fresh and unique.
Of course, it doesn't hurt to have an artist like Jan Duursema working alongside him for most of his entries -- there's also no doubt her creative input has helped push their collaborations to the amazing heights on which they reside.
Legacy of the Force has completely exploded onto the scene, and has laid the foundations to what may be the most profound chapter in the EU.

 

JLA: Incarnations ...

 

I really enjoy John's work. He's got a good grasp of Star Wars, and works in plenty of EU references. Heck, he's probably responsible for 99% of all Clone Wars references to pre-AOTC Clone Wars material. He makes great, creative stories that work well within the comics medium. I'm really impressed by his pacing. He's able to pack in a ton of story without making it feel rushed. From all indications, Legacy is going to be one of the highlights of the EU.

However, I do have one problem with his work. It's a particularly glaring, annoying habit of his: must all aliens in the galaxy speak in Jar-Jar-style pidgin Basic? Not a single thug or smuggler in the galaxy can speak the galaxy's lingua franca properly if they happen to be nonhuman? It strikes me as silly and unneccessary. Still, if that's the worst I can say about him, that's pretty good.

 

Thugs and smugglers aren't very educated people, and even if they once were they don't hang around educated people, so why would they have a proper accent? If you see he chooses "bad" language in places where(judging by their Earth counterparts) you would expect people to talk like that.

 

I unashamedly believe John is the best writer of the "Modern" EU (comics and books), and definately a top 5'er all timer. During Republic I kept wishing theyd drop Anakin and Obi-Wan off a gigantic cliff and just let John do his "Quin Thing". in short. ne plus ultra.w

 

John is the Han Solo of the EU comic world: Bold, daring, clever, ladies man, flys around space with a tall hairy guy, etc etc...

I guess what I'm trying to say is, he's a pretty cool guy. He'll probably end up posting in this thread, which only reinforces that idea.

 

Not accent. Idiot speech. They're not talking like goons, but like the love child of Jar-Jar and Tarzan. How many uneducated immigrants speak like this: "Am being Villie. Vilmarh Grahrk. Am being your best friend also as I am saving your life." Villie's a sharp guy with tons of experience speaking Basic. It's just a gimmick, and it's a gimmick I think backfires.

 

John Shot First

 

In my opinion, John is the best storyteller of the comic medium of Star Wars - ever. He has done exceptionally well at establishing characters that are eminently recognizable (heck, we're getting a Quinlan Vos action figure) and also incredibly sympathetic - even when we hate what they're doing.

Honestly, I think his and Jan's Clone Wars work was the best of it in any medium save Shatterpoint - and the stuff they did with Quin (and for that matter, Obi-Wan in Obsession) is probably the only thing in the CW that rivals the literary depth of that novel, which is pretty impressive when considering they did it all in graphic form. He has little quirks in his pacing that occasionally get me - places where things don't flow that well. But in general he's a very solid storyteller, and creates some awesome characters.

What I've seen so far of Legacy has had the same strengths overall, but the same small weaknesses in occasional jumpiness and slightly unusual pacing (the latter is not always a bad thing, just a slight quirk, and I can't even really describe it).

All in all, he's in my top 5 as well, along with Stover, Zahn, and (though in other ways) Luceno and Allston.

- Keralys

 

>>>Not accent. Idiot speech. They're not talking like goons, but like the love child of Jar-Jar and Tarzan. How many uneducated immigrants speak like this: "Am being Villie. Vilmarh Grahrk. Am being your best friend also as I am saving your life." Villie's a sharp guy with tons of experience speaking Basic. It's just a gimmick, and it's a gimmick I think backfires. <<<

I've noticed this as well. It could possibly be explained away as being a Devaronian thing (something to do with ingrained Devish grammar clashing with Basic sentence structure) but other, non-horny characters speak that way too.

However, the only time I was really annoyed by John's dialog was when Boba Fett simply would not speak in complete sentences in Agent of Doom.

 

non-horny characters speak that way too. thinking

*rolls newspaper*

Bad Mod.. Bad Mod.. look at what you did

 

John didn't write Obsession, that was Haden Blackman.

Just as well, too, in my opinion, since I've enjoyed most of John's work and I thought Obsession was one of the poorer Clone Wars comics we got, if not in concept then in execution.

 

He's in my top 5 EU authors list along with Stover, Luceno, Zahn, and Stackpole. His work on Republic/Clone Wars is just incredible. His characters are so 3-D and unique. Its amazing how he accomplishes what he does in so few pages

 

I'm pretty sure it's something Devaronian because the Devaronian femals we saw in "Jedi:Aayla" also spoke with a slight accent similar to Villie's I think. I'm not too sure.

 

Maybe they're just speaking the Devaronian dialect of basic. Surely there's a few languages floating around out there that sound close to basic, or use basic words with a different sentence structure.

I think it's worse how the aliens are actually treated in the EU as far as character deaths. If a new X-Wing novel or comic came out tomorrow, I could probably read the dramatis personae and cross out all the aliens on it. They wouldn't make it past the third encounter.