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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

A&A The Official John Ostrander Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Literature' started by The Gatherer, Feb 26, 2002.

  1. jfostrander

    jfostrander Writer: -Legacy -Republic/Jedi/Purge star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 2001
    >>I saw a story called Blaze of Glory mentioned in the solicitation text at marvel.com. Is there any connection between Blaze of Glory and Apache Skies?<<

    In a way. Blaze of Glory also features the Rawhide Kid, was done by me and Leo and takes place about a year before the events in APACHE SKIES. You don't HAVE to read one to enjoy the other but they do work together nicely and BLAZE OF GLORY has just been released as a TPB.

    All the best

    John Ostrander
     
  2. kampilan

    kampilan Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 18, 2002
    Hello there!
    Well, I was attracted by Manco's cool art for BOG but didn't get the series since I'm not a big Western comics guy but I did like Mark Texeira's "Hex" series because it reminded me of Mad Max! For Marvel, I tought the Original Ghost Rider was cool and heard he was in BOG? Reminds me: I never finished Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series and only read the first book back in 1990, actualy it was an "artbook" format. The Gunslinger character sounded intrigueing!

    I love The Gunwitch and am a Nocturnals fan too! He rocks! ;)
     
  3. jfostrander

    jfostrander Writer: -Legacy -Republic/Jedi/Purge star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 2001
    Kampilan

    If you're attracted by Leo's art, take a look at APACHE SKIES 1. Even if you're not "into" westerns, you may like this -- the art is done, by Leo, in colored pencils and water colors.

    And this is not your usual Western, either!<g>

    Aaaaand. . .the story's okay, too.<gg>

    John
     
  4. kampilan

    kampilan Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 18, 2002
    Sure, I'll check it out!

    The Marvel preview soilication in Previews got me interested in it but I didn't reserve it since it one of those titles that won't sell-out in 2 days!
     
  5. episodenone

    episodenone Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 13, 2001
    jon!
    it is awesome that you and jan show up here so often!

    i am just gonna cut and paste my answer to her question of "what we would like to see..." - i hope you don't mind.

    i haven't gotten the chance to read your whole thread but i will right after this post. i promise!

    "my little suggestions of characters i'd like to see (besides quinlan):

    luminara, the dark lady, kit fisto, a'sharad hett!, the (twi'lek?) jedi master from the SW TALES story "Nameless," aurra sing anytime!, and how bout throwing us an OLD EU bone with joruus c'baoth from "Dark Empire" or vima di boda!!!

    to name a few

    even a background sketch somewhere would make those last 2 seem a lot more true to their previous appearances.
    everyone loves it when you see hidden characters in the background - and jorus and vima have a lot of unexplored history from the PT era!!!!!!!

    anyway - thanks again!"

    keep up the good work!
     
  6. episodenone

    episodenone Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 13, 2001
    as promised - i went back and read the whole thread today - let me say once and for all:
    and i know everyone here agrees --
    you and jan are 2 amazing people for coming and chatting with us so often!!! we cannot thank you enough!!!!!
     
  7. cmulligan01

    cmulligan01 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 18, 1998
    Jon, I picked up Blaze of Glory and Apache Skies Friday. I loved Apache Skies. There wasn't a whole lot of story but I think that was better with Manco's art which is just beautiful.

    I liked Blaze of Glory quite a bit too, not sure what to say about it. Sometimes I had trouble keeping track of the characters by sight. I think if I reread it slower I'll have an easier time.

    I wanted to send this before I leave today for the SDCC.
     
  8. jfostrander

    jfostrander Writer: -Legacy -Republic/Jedi/Purge star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 2001
    Episodenone, thank you for your kind words. You asked to see:>>luminara, the dark lady, kit fisto, a'sharad hett!, the (twi'lek?) jedi master from the SW TALES story "Nameless," aurra sing anytime!, and how bout throwing us an OLD EU bone with joruus c'baoth from "Dark Empire" or vima di boda!!!<<

    We have plans afoot for MANY of those characters. I'll be able to talk more come Saturday about what we're doing in REPUBLIC. The SW panel will have happened at SD and they'll unveil the news there.

    We're moving the timeline up effective with 46 to two yerars before AotC. I believe, by this point, that Jorus would have already left on his ill-fated trip so it's unlikely we'll see him.

    John
     
  9. jfostrander

    jfostrander Writer: -Legacy -Republic/Jedi/Purge star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 2001
    Thanks for the kind words,cmulligan, about APACHE SKIES and BLAZE OF GLORY. Glad you're enjoying it. Be sure to see Jan at SD and to go to the DH SW panel where they'll talk about what we're going to be doing. Big stuff coming up!

    -- John
     
  10. episodenone

    episodenone Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 13, 2001
    this is so much fun!
    JO - thanks - i feel like we have a direct phone connection to you!

    how about this:
    dark lady = vima di boda!!!!!!!!

    does that make her past mysterious or what?!?!

    then vima can even be more depressed because of all the jedi her former padawan murders!
     
  11. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    The Dark Lady fell to Darth Vader's blade in Extintion - Part 2, Tales #2. :)
     
  12. Captain Antilles

    Captain Antilles Moderator Emeritus star 4 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 26, 1998
    Apache Skies #1 was excellent, JO.

    While I liked Blaze of Glory, this one is shaping up to be much better. I may have to go and buy The Kents now, if your Marvel westerns are any indication.
     
  13. jfostrander

    jfostrander Writer: -Legacy -Republic/Jedi/Purge star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 2001
    >>Apache Skies #1 was excellent, JO.

    >>While I liked Blaze of Glory, this one is shaping up to be much better. I may have to go and buy The Kents now, if your Marvel westerns are any indication. <<

    Thanks for the kind words. APACHE SKIES has fewer characters overall so it may have a better focus. THE KENTS is more of true historical western. I've called my Marvel westerns more like "movie" westerns. THE KENTS is more like a novel but it is also one of the things I really proud to have done. Let me know if you do pick it up and then what you thought of it.

    John
     
  14. The Gatherer

    The Gatherer Jedi Youngling star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 2, 1999
    Has the big Star Wars anouncement been made yet at the San Diego Comic Con??!!
     
  15. episodenone

    episodenone Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 13, 2001
    the thing is (with vima) - is that although i love that story and especially the artwork in the dark lady story, but i thought that it was considered infinities.

    personally i can see arguments for both sides, but if JO says it's her, i'll believe him!

    i guess we could always see kam solusar's pop, or padawan vergere, or -- even use sharad hett in a flashback story?

    i have tons more suggestions i thought of yesterday... i'll be back
     
  16. jfostrander

    jfostrander Writer: -Legacy -Republic/Jedi/Purge star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 2001
    >.Has the big Star Wars anouncement been made yet at the San Diego Comic Con??!<<

    I believe that happens today. Which should enable me to talk about it tomorrow.

    John
     
  17. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    Here's The Dark Woman's apendix entry in the New Essential Guide to Characters by Dan Wallace.

    Surrendering her name in service to the Force, "The Dark Woman" trained both Ki-Adi-Mundi and Aurra Sing. Her failure with Aurra made the Dark Woman unpopular with the Jedi Council. Two years after the Battle of Naboo she took over A'Sharad Hett's Jedi training. The Dark Woman died shortly before the Battle of Yavin, when Darth Vader discovered her hiding on a Rim world.


    Tales might be Infinities, but the writer of Extintion meant for it to fit within the continuty. And it did, and it shall fit forever because of the referance in a fully canonical sourcebook. :)

    Vergere disapeared around the time of where the Ongoing is right now. With the skip ahead to two years before AotC, I doubt we'd see that. Ranik Solusar though, would be around (as seen in the Jedi Starfighter video game).

    Can't wait for the announcement! :D
     
  18. VILLIEMACE

    VILLIEMACE Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    May 15, 2001
    Hi johno how is everything going.

    I am looking forward to Rite of Passage issue 3 which is coming out next week. Can't wait to see Quinlan, Villie and possibly Dooku again in the next issue.

    For those of us star wars fans like myself who won't be able to attend the Comic Con at San Diego, I was wondering if you are able to announce what this big news is that you have been hinting about in past messages?

    Anyway got to go

    Best wishes

    Tom AKA villiemace
     
  19. Mateo

    Mateo Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2001
    I just got the Darkness TPB, its good to have it at last, which reminds me John do you know or have any idea when The Stark Hyperspace War will be released in TPB? i checked on Darkhorse comics website but it didnt show a release date.

    Cant wait for Rite of Passage 3 and 4,and the Morgukai act almost like Yuuzhan Vong warriors.
     
  20. The Gatherer

    The Gatherer Jedi Youngling star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 2, 1999
    Anyone who is at the SDCC and hears the big announcement today, please post here! :)
     
  21. The Gatherer

    The Gatherer Jedi Youngling star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 2, 1999
    Is this the big announcement?!

    "At the recently-concluded Star Wars comics panel at SDCC, it was revealed that, with the blessing of LucasFilm, Dark Horse will be able to tell the story of one of the most pivotal and mysterious events in the Star Wars cannon ? The Clone Wars.
    Newsarama.com had a chance to chat with DHC?s Randy Stradley just prior to the panel, and he explained how things will shake out for the publisher?s Star Wars comic lines in the coming months.

    ?Starting next month, with issue #46, our ongoing title Star Wars becomes Star Wars: Republic,? Stradley told Newsarama.com. ?It will deal with events during the period of Episodes I-III. We're also launching Star Wars: Empire, which will cover events during the Episode IV-VI time period.

    ?Then, beginning in issue #49 - December of this year ? of Republic, we're jumping ahead of the events in Episode II to show what happens during the Clone Wars. This is the first time in years that the events in the comics have moved ahead of what was seen in the films, and the Clone Wars are the perfect venue. Ever since they were mentioned in the original Star Wars film, the Clone Wars have been the subject of speculation - and an area that has been, up 'til now, off limits to those producing Expanded Universe material for Star Wars.?

    And Stradley explained that Republic won?t be running willy-nilly with the time period, or doing things that run against Star Wars cannon, or contradict events in the yet-to-be-seen Episode III.

    ?In June we had a Star Wars summit here at Dark Horse, with writers John Ostrander, Haden Blackman, and Scott Allie, and representatives from Lucasfilm, Lucy Wilson and Chris Cerasi. As a result of that summit, we've mapped out a number of pivotal events in the Clone Wars timeline and are preparing scripts for comics covering those events.

    ?After twenty-five years, the veil covering the Clone Wars is finally being lifted.?

    Also at the Star Wars panel, it was announced that Judd Winick is currently writing a Han Solo/Princess Leia love story. Untitled as of yet, and still without an artist, the project will be released next year, and will be set between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.

    Winick explained his thinking on the project, saying that at the spark of the Han and Leia relationship has never been fully explained. At the end of Star Wars, Winick said, Han and Leia didn?t know one another, they had just met, and they clearly didn?t like one another. However, at the beginning of Empire the beginnings of a romantic interest was clear.

    Winick said it will be a ?simple story? set as the Rebel Alliance is setting up their base on Hoth. Han and Leia are in the same ship that is caught in a storm and crashes, resulting in the two spending the night together. According to Winick, ?hilarity ensues? as he is approaching the story in the vein of a romantic comedy a la Tracy and Hepburn films, where bickering blossoms into romance."
     
  22. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    I assume so.

    Pretty cool. Around an eight year time span in just three mini-series though. Rite of Passage - Honor and Duty - The Battle of Kamino.

    Hope we can fill in all those unseen years at some point. I know all the buzz is about the Clone Wars, and I'm excited to finally see it after all these years. But I want to see some more lead up stuff to AotC and the 'calm years' before the rise of the Confederacy.
     
  23. MattPeriolat

    MattPeriolat Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2001
    NO, IT'S NOT!!!!!!

    While I agree the ability to tell the story of the Clone Wars and use Anakin and Obi-Wan is big news, it is not THE news. Randy said during the panel that John had been begging him to tell us some news on upcoming stuff, but Randy decided it was too soon to spill the beans.

    Sorry kids, guess we'll just have to wait and see!

    Sorry for the vehamence, but I just had this horrible vision of John getting in trouble with TPTB is he didn't know the announcment had not been made.

    To expand: here is what WAS discussed, in bullet points:

    - Ish 49 will tell us what Quin has been up to between Darkness and Rite of Passage. Set following Episode II and will have Aayla in the ish. Also touch on what it means for the average person to be sacrificed for the greater good. Jedi know the odds and go in willing to give their lives. But what about Joe Schmoe?

    - Ish 50 will be double sized and titled The Attack on Kamino. No other info was given out.

    - As I said, Anakin and Obi-Wan will be in the Clone Wars ishs, but not Padme. Randy also suggested we will see how Obi-Wan earned his General title in the ongoing.

    That's all that was given out folks!
     
  24. AnotherAgentSmith

    AnotherAgentSmith Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 18, 2002
    The bulk of what was said is up at starwars.com. (Upcoming Dark Horse Star Wars issues)

    Only one issue, #49 about Quinlan with only a cameo from Aayla? :(

    I would have loved to see much more of Aayla. A nice 4 issue series again like the current and most awesome 'Rite of Passage'? ;)
    It would be great to see in depth how the battle on Geonosis and the Clone Wars affect Aayla herself too. We see her present at the Jedi Temple and fight in the movie but we don't know what the background there is, how she feels about the ongoing events and relates to it.
    That would be nice to see. While Obi-Wan Kenobi is my second favorite character, he and Anakin are already fleshed out in the movies and are the main characters of Star Wars. In my opinion what is great and an asset to Dark Horse and their Star Wars comics is that they can focus on great characters like Aayla & Quinlan who do not get so much screentime if any in the movies but still have their roles to play in the galaxy.

    Star Wars Issues #46-48 are a story arc about Obi-Wan and Anakin as is up at Dark Horse's website. Now issue #49 has been discussed and revealed as a one-shot about Quinlan. Sad still Obi-Wan and Anakin get 3 issues and Quinlan only one?

    Dangerous and disturbing this puzzle is ... meditate on this I will. ;)

    (Edited: Many many many ... typo's)
     
  25. jfostrander

    jfostrander Writer: -Legacy -Republic/Jedi/Purge star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 2001
    Okay, you guys have the official news. Yes, we're going on to THE CLONE WARS. issue 49 will have both Aayla and Quin in it. It will show what Quin has been up to since the start of the Separatist Movement and set the stage for the part he plays in THE CLONE WARS. aayla IS in it and it is NOT a cameo. The relationship between the two is changed because now she is not only a Jedi knight but has been for a few years.

    Issue 50 WILL be oversized and will deal with the Battle of Kamino. Jan and I are doing 49 and PART of 50. We're also involved in a special project that WILL be tied to the Clone Wars. You'll know more about this in a month or so. Can't talk about it yet.

    We're also NOT doing arcs as we have been. More issues will have complete stories in them. There WILL be tpbs eventually but grouped thematically. Does that mean every single issue will be gathered into a TPB. Don't assume that.

    We are going to be far reaching in the Clone War stories. Obi-Wan and Anakin (obviously) figure heavily into it but so will others, INCLUDING Aayla, Quin, and your other fave characters. And a fellow named Tarkin may show up somewhere.

    Also, not every issue is war/battle. Think of war movies and the different types that you can have. I'm including movies that TAKE PLACE during war time. The Great Escape, the Guns of Navarone, the Longest Day, and Casablanca are ALL war movies of one type or another.

    We won't keep ADAMANTLY to single issue stories. randy has saud that if a story demands more than one issue, we'll use more than one issue. But we have already come up with some many different interesting story ideas that i can't wait for you guys to see them.

    From MY perspective, this is VERY exciting. We all want to know WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. We get to tell you that in Star Wars.

    is there room to go back and tell the other stories? They'll always be there, waiting. But right now we have a unique opportunity to go forward and we're going to take advantage of it.

    i hope you guys will be as excited as we are about this. It's going to be VERY cool, i think.

    All the best

    John