Lit The Great River - The problem with the "the new EU"... A haven for Legends fans.

I wasn't sure what thread to put this in... the Ep7 one didn't seem appropriate. But it's sad, a mark of the changing times. Apparently Dave Dorman, who has done the cover and poster art of almost everything major for years (especially the 90s), will not be attending Celebration VII (this being the first Celebration, including the European ones, that he has not attended):

http://davedorman.wordpress.com/2014/11/18/star-wars-celebration-dave-dorman-artwork-rejected/

Really a bummer. His artwork is nothing less than iconic among us Lit fans. Someone who's stuck around with the SW universe as long as he deserves a place of respect at these conventions, regardless of whether he worked for Dark Horse for a time.

 

That's a damn shame and act of disrespect. Next to Struzan he's probably the most iconic Star Wars cover/poster artist there is.

 

Everyone says how 'not kid friendly' that one particular scene was

But scenes in the Black Cauldron, Nightmare Before Christmas, heck even James and the Giant Peach were far more disturbing than that.

Let alone the Headless Horseman animated short.


ALL of which are kids movies.

 

"Kid" is not one age (says someone with an Elsa avatar). Eleven-year old can handle more than a five-year old.

 

While I think many kids can handle this sort of stuff after a fashion, it comes down to should they? I wasn't allowed to see two of those movies you mentioned when I was a younger kid (like < 8), for example, mostly cuz my parents weren't cool with showing us light-hearted violence (like most of Tim Burton's "kid" stuff, for instance). A lot of parents don't want to expose really young kids to that sort of stuff since they're afraid it will give them a cavalier attitude to violence when older. Kids 8 or 9 or above are usually a bit more mature in that regard -- like, they can recognize that a TV show is a TV show and displace it from reality.

So like Rebels for instance -- I think a lot of this show is geared to the 8+ range. They basically stuck an innocent woman in an iron maiden-ish device and let her die. I'm pretty sure a lot of parents would be bothered by the concept behind that and not want their younger tots viewing it.

 

True story of a couple of online mates:

One, dad with a young child, was freaked by the 2D monsters that came to be dubbed the Boneless in Doctor Who. Another, his kid, who's still quite young, got on just fine.

 

Paradoxically, sometimes really young kids cope better simply because they don't process how horrible something is. So an 8-year-old might be traumatized by content that a 5-year-old would obliviously let slide.

The Dorman thing is ridiculous. I actually do like the concept of anonymous judging, but there also should be exceptions. The man is an institution. It's like saying Tim Zahn won't be at Celebration. Pretty sure this is simply Disney/Marvel wanting to stick it to somebody who did a ton of work for Dark Horse.

I would expect no DH creatives at all this go-round. Which makes sense on the one hand, since they won't have current product to promote and presumably DH was paying their way in their past, but at the same time, most were work-for-hire rather than DH employees so it's not like having them in the art show puts them in direct competition with Marvel. Maybe at C8, since Marvel will have had 2-3 years to secure its hold and be willing to allow others to come and play.

On the other hand, I can equally envision DH's go-to creatives not even wanting to attend and thus indirectly feed the Marvel/Disney beast, while Disney may be perfectly willing to have them as long as it makes money. So who knows.

 

Despite Dorman's Saga error, I still love his SW art.

 

I could see it being an additional factor in the decision, frankly.

 

what error was that?

 

See here for the entirely cringe-worthy affair!
http://comicsalliance.com/saga-fiona-staples-dave-dorman-breastfeeding/

 

I suppose, but honestly I think that falls more into the 'overprotective parent" than 'kids not able to handle it' category myself.

Based on the first 5 episodes (all I've seen so far) I would argue its squarely aimed at the average 5 year old. *shrug*

 

It really depends on the individual family what is deemed acceptable when. Not all children can handle the same things at the same time. There's nothing wrong with parents being vigilant.

 

Doctor Who was 'Watched from behind the Sofa' in many family homes - that's what coined the phrase.

 

Darth Maul Lockdown comes out in January and Honor Among Thieves comes out in March. Good to know because I didn't.

 

The only stuff that was mature was the obi-wan/satine/Maul arc. Everything else was Star Wars Droids levels of childishness.

 

So the suicide bomber in Season 2 was childish?

I think people forget that Star Wars was and always has been aimed at both kids and adults. There is a gap that is bridged there.

Yes there were fun aspects to TCW that would appeal to children, no doubt. But there were also a lot of very serious subjects involved beneath the surface. Even something like the recently mentioned Gascon arc at times had things going on that invoked a more serious tone - just look at Gregor working for Borkus as a 'slave' contrasting Gregor fighting and dying for the Republic.

 

Wasn't that part of the Mandalore arc that I specifically singled out in my post?

 

No.

 

Oh that's a shame! I was looking forward to seeing him at CVII.

 

Clone Wars, and Rebels slightly less but still there, definitely had extreme tonal gearshifts between arcs (while Rebels seems to be going for a somewhat different tone each episode). I always loved that. Like you said, Star Wars plays on a lot of levels. The thing about Clone Wars arc structure is that it allowed a specific arc to groove in a certain tone for an extended bunch of episodes. (Season 3 has a near Genocidal Jedi Master fer crissakes!). Rebels isn't really going for that in arcs but I'd say each episode has had a different "mood". The feel of "Fighter Flight" is very different from "Rise of the Old Masters". And even the most recent "Empire Day" two-parter got much more thematically heavy in the 2nd episode. I think that's all good and very much in the tone for Star Wars.

Star Wars has never been about a single age groups however each individual presentation of the franchise may lean more in one direction than the next. (Phantom Menace for example is tonally very different from Revenge of the Sith). But people from all ages can get something out of a Star Wars product. Which is what I think Clone Wars and Rebels are doing.

 

While I disagree that SW hasn't had a distinctly 'kid' aim and focus, I do agree all ages have potential to get something from it.

 

In past EU people news, Haden Blackman is going to be heading a new internal studio for 2K.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/12/04/2k-next-bioshock/

 

Based on the artwork that he seems to have submitted, it makes sense why it was rejected. There are way too many Jedi survivors in that picture. Aside from Yoda and Obi-Wan there were very few survivors, if any. The fact that there are eight Jedi survivors in that picture could have been a contributing factor to it's rejection.