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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. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
  2. Matthew Trias

    Matthew Trias Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 8, 1999
    meep. I'll take s chance here... when planning the series, was there any discussion..of Spaarti clones p'haps? :D
     
  3. Leto II

    Leto II Jedi Padawan star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2000
    I think you'll find that to be very much in evidence in issue 49. Are you willing to sacrifice a life to save more lives? Certainly, we might. But what about a Jedi? Depends on the Jedi? What if the Jedi is Quinlan Vos?

    Interesting, and it'd be quite the thing to see the stories working along the lines that authors like Heinrich Böll and Wolfgang Borchert tried to define, such as innate responses by characters towards human mortality as a species, impending personal death, and even philosophical (although Böll skewed more toward the quasi-theological) musings on the morality of warfare.
     
  4. Ozzel

    Ozzel TF.N Foreign Book Covers Staff star 5 VIP

    Registered:
    May 14, 2001
    Sounds pretty wizard to me! :D
     
  5. kampilan

    kampilan Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 18, 2002
    Hey John!

    Sorry I didn't get to meet you at the Con but it was great to see Jan! I didn't stay the entire DH SW panel but the info here on this site was plenty enough! Looking forward to the Clone Wars and beyond, John...
     
  6. The Gatherer

    The Gatherer Jedi Youngling star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 2, 1999
    Very cool news John. Awesome!

    I asked Jan the same question, and would like to hear your thoughts...

    Is the comic series featuing the Clone Wars as detailed in the planning and forethought as the New Jedi Order series of books?

    Ie: Has a group of writers, artists, Del Rey, LFL sat down and mapped out a high level story line far in advance, plot, characters, etc...
     
  7. jfostrander

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

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 2001
    GATHERER:
    >> Is the comic series featuing the Clone Wars as detailed in the planning and forethought as the New Jedi Order series of books?

    >>Ie: Has a group of writers, artists, Del Rey, LFL sat down and mapped out a high level story line far in advance, plot, characters, etc..<<

    Not having attended any NJO planning session, it's hard for me to compare. Also, we work on a slightly different situation -- NJO doesn't have to concern itself with what George Lucas is going to do next. We do. That said, there was a heavy duty meeting that launched all this and there are constant e-mails and phone calls going back and forth. We have a pretty fair idea of what we intend to do up through the midddle of next year; at that point, we need to re-evaluate based on what we learn from LFL about how Episode III starts -- if, indeed, they can tell us anything. things WILL appear sequentially in REPUBLIC and one events DOES certainly have an influence on another. Del Ray will do what del Ray does but we keep each other informed and, insofar as possible, will feed off one another. But the Del Ray authors have to be working at the same time we do. Are we going to try to be consistent? Oh yes. Will we perfect? SWU is not perfectl;y consistent. having worked in any number of fictional universes, none of them are. But we will TRY to do it. It IS a concern.

    John
     
  8. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    Cool, so that means you are going to try and work, or less than that just fit, with the upcoming Del Rey novels that might be placed in the same area of time that the comic issues are going to be taking place? I'm sure everyone will make it work the best that they can. I'm looking forward to both worlds of fiction with great excitment, as is everyone else here.

    Oh, and the Video Games too. :)
     
  9. Matthew Trias

    Matthew Trias Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 8, 1999
    Hey,what about my question? :p
     
  10. episodenone

    episodenone Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 13, 2001
    a nod to matthew trias...

    MR. OSTRANDER, SIR:
    spaarti clones?
    holocrons?
    kaiber crystal?
    perhaps seeing some TotJ era busts in the archives???
    vader and his noghri?

    [hears JO thinking] "one at a time please!" ;)
     
  11. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    Or how about Aayla, Quin, Villie, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Yoda, and Mace Windu?! ;) :)
     
  12. Matthew Trias

    Matthew Trias Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 8, 1999
    Eh,who cares about them? :p

    Spaarti Clones??!!
     
  13. AnotherAgentSmith

    AnotherAgentSmith Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 18, 2002
    I care about Aayla! [face_love]

    Who cares about clones!? :p Unless we clone Aayla? (I'm just joking people. ;) Although ... nah, just kidding.)
     
  14. kampilan

    kampilan Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 18, 2002
    Waz diz bout dem TOTJ busts?

    Sure, I'd like to get a Master Arca and Ulic Qel-Droma mini-bust! I still think Dave Dorman's cover of TOTJ #1 is my fave EU comics cover of all time...I got like , what, 5 copies!
     
  15. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    Saying you don't care about characters in the creator's thread can be bad news. Bad news indeed.

    Mr. Ostrander, you don't know any martial arts or anything like that, do you? ;)
     
  16. Matthew Trias

    Matthew Trias Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 8, 1999
    Did you notice the " :p " ?
     
  17. jfostrander

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

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 2001
    RE: Sparti cyclinders

    There's been some discussion but I can't report anything per se at the moment. However, keep in mind that,if my (sometimesd faulty) memory serves, even in AotC, they say or imply that the Kamino cloners are not the ONLY cloners in the galaxy. Don't look to see anything with Spaarti cylinders right off. Later? remains to be seen.

    Sorry not to be more definite.

    Some of the other names mentioned have also been brought up and things are being planned. The problem is, right now I can't tell you those plans. Why? it's too soon. As soon as I can, I'll tip what i may. Keep in mind that Jan and I have a secret project tied into the Clone Wars that will be showing up after the first of the year.

    John
     
  18. Matthew Trias

    Matthew Trias Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 8, 1999
    WHEEEEEEEEEEEE! Just the fact that they haven't been forgotten is good enough for me. ;) They really could make for some good stories.
     
  19. AnotherAgentSmith

    AnotherAgentSmith Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 18, 2002
    If I may John, I got have some questions I'd like to ask your opinion of if that's ok?

    It's just issues I was thinking about out of interest and I'd like your opinion since you created so much about Aayla & Quinlan and most likely know them well.

    I am not fishing or looking for spoilers from upcoming issues at all with these, I wouldn't do that. Just a personal opinion or say what you'd like to see.

    - How do you think Quinlan Vos will die? Will he grow an old and wise Jedi or will he perish in battle? During or after the Clone Wars?
    - How do you think Aayla Secura will die? Will she die in the Clone Wars or after, during the Jedi purge? Will she perhaps survive all of these and go into hiding?

    Maybe easier questions without possible spoilers are these:
    - Do you think if Aayla survives -or perhaps inbetween conflicts- she will ever have any children?
    - Do you think if Quinlan survives -or perhaps inbetween conflicts- he will ever have children?
    (Ki-Adi Mundi is married and has children, so.)

    What are your personal thoughts on this if I may ask? I'd welcome the opnion of anyone else too! :)
     
  20. episodenone

    episodenone Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 13, 2001
    JO:
    i agree about the kamino cloners not being the only ones.
    i got the impression from dexter that he spoke of the kamino cloners in a way that inferred they were not the only ones.

    obi-wan's reaction seemed to imply the same thing, at least to me.

    "they're cloners - and damn good ones."

    to matter of fact to mean the ONLY ones.
    and "...good..." - it seems you need a frame of reference to make such an assessment.
     
  21. jfostrander

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

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 2001
    >>- How do you think Quinlan Vos will die? Will he grow an old and wise Jedi or will he perish in battle? During or after the Clone Wars?
    >>- How do you think Aayla Secura will die? Will she die in the Clone Wars or after, during the Jedi purge? Will she perhaps survive all of these and go into hiding?<<

    Jan did a story for SW TALES showing Quin meeting a young Han Solo. I know those are Infinities but I think that's possible. i think it's possible that he survived later than that. HOWEVER -- I'm not going to box myself in. If there's a story where it made SENSE to sacrifice Quin -- OR Aayla -- yes, i would do that.

    Have to be a pretty DURNED good story to get me to do that, though.

    My inclination is to wait and see what GL has planned for Episode III. He's the boss and what happens to the Jedi is primarily HIS decision. We get to do things AROUND him.

    Make sense?

    John
     
  22. kampilan

    kampilan Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 18, 2002
    John,

    I don't want to sound redundant and all but I have to ask: How did you and Jan come up with Aayla Secura? The name, the look, the color, the species ,etc? Was she always planned as Quinlan's padawan/sidekick?

    Same with Quinlan. How much did Lucasfilm let you develop the TPM "drifter in the marketplace"?

    I like how you and Jan came up with Master Zao. Pity nobody else thinks he's a great character...What does the gang at Dark Horse say about Zao?


    Oh, yeah, my boy A'Sharad...I only stayed at the DH panel for about 5 minutes at San Diego but did anyone mention about Hett's team-up with Anakin? Hope Hett doesn't die on me too soon! Wait until after the Clone Wars or better yet: A New Hope! :p
     
  23. AnotherAgentSmith

    AnotherAgentSmith Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 18, 2002
    Thank you for the reply John, I really do appreciate it. :)
    I'm sorry for asking questions that were tough to answer directly since as you said it all depends on George Lucas since he's ultimately in control. I didn't mean to put you in a tight spot with annoying questions, if it seemed that way sorry.

    Maybe if I may be so bold, let me rephrase one question that's of interest to me from a creative point of view.

    Do you think it would be out of character or unthinkable for Aayla Secura to ever have children? (Regardless of when she does die, pre or post Ep III.) Knowing Aayla so well as you do, do you think it would suit Aayla -to have offspring- or be a possibility even if it is never recorded in a comic or in Ep III?

    Thank you again for the efforts John and all the great work!
    (Btw, finally got the last issue from 'The Stark Hyperspace War' that I still missed, wonderful story and expertly told! I loved the 'personal' tie-ins for Qui-Gon, Tholme, Obi-Wan & Quinlans characters and their past. :) )

    Kampilan, I like Zao a lot. :) It's nice to see a wise old Jedi Master who is like Yoda bit but then again nothing like Yoda at all. If that makes any sense. It would be great if he had some future appearances or cameos, maybe counseling our favorite Jedi. ;)
     
  24. jfostrander

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

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 2001
    >>I don't want to sound redundant and all but I have to ask: How did you and Jan come up with Aayla Secura? The name, the look, the color, the species ,etc? Was she always planned as Quinlan's padawan/sidekick?<<

    I have such a swiss cheese memory; I'm sure jan will correct me if I get this wrong. I'm not sure if it she came up with the idea of a Twi'lek or i did but our basic thinking was to take a species that, usually, is treated as "eye-candy" (dancing girls, et al) and make her a kick-ass Jedi, I think I was the one who came up with the name -- Aayla was linguistically based on Oola, the only other female Twi'lek I knew and then Secura to tie her to Nat Secura. Jan decided she was blue and gave her the look. We knew she was going to be Quin's padawan from the start. Little known fact; jan's daughter, Sian, saved her. I was inclined, for dramatic purposes, to have Aayla die. Sian protested, saying she was a girl and a Jedi and really cool and they needed that. I saw the wisdom in that and changed my mind. Boy, am i glad i did! Thanks, Sian!

    >>Same with Quinlan. How much did Lucasfilm let you develop the TPM "drifter in the marketplace"? <<

    LFL always likes it when you tie into the movies and we felt it was better to make our Jedi "spin out" -- however peripherally -- from TPM. It was Jan who spotted him. remember, this was before we had the DVD and could freeze frame it. I STILL don't understand how she spotted him but I'm really glad she did!

    >>I like how you and Jan came up with Master Zao. Pity nobody else thinks he's a great character...What does the gang at Dark Horse say about Zao? <<

    Zao, too, was going to die originally, at the end of DARKNESS. Dave Land, the editor, loved the little guy and asked that we not. i said okay.

    I guess I'm forever trying to kill off my characters and getting talked out of it.<g> I am the Grim Reaper of comics!


    >>Oh, yeah, my boy A'Sharad...I only stayed at the DH panel for about 5 minutes at San Diego but did anyone mention about Hett's team-up with Anakin? Hope Hett doesn't die on me too soon! Wait until after the Clone Wars or better yet: A New Hope!<<


    Hmmm. A'Sharad and Anakin. Yep, I think that's a story needs telling somewhere! <g>

    John
     
  25. jfostrander

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

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 2001
    >>Maybe if I may be so bold, let me rephrase one question that's of interest to me from a creative point of view.

    >>Do you think it would be out of character or unthinkable for Aayla Secura to ever have children? (Regardless of when she does die, pre or post Ep III.) Knowing Aayla so well as you do, do you think it would suit Aayla -to have offspring- or be a possibility even if it is never recorded in a comic or in Ep III?<<

    Well, I've learned never to say never but that isn't something that Jan or I have planned right now.

    John