Starwars.com on The NEW Essential Guide to Characters!!!

JNlit informs us of the update at TOS tonight. Check it.

First Look: The New Essentials.

Cover... a few examples of characters... and the number of entries. Can't wait!

 

I just saw it a few moments ago. Those covers look great! I can't wait until April to get those!

 

130 characters! FULL COlOR DRAWINGS!!! I am really looking forward to this.

 

Too bad I still won't be buying it!

I'm gonna get all those guides & so forth after ALL the movies are out. Until then, I'll check them out from the library.

 

I just go to the bookstore, find myself a perch, and read away.

 

I doubt the library would have this book....I worked in a public library for 9 months and I don't think they ever got the first one.....


I just hope they do a BETTER picture of Mara and maybe we might get to get a glance at what Ben Skywalker looks like?

 

He looks like a baby.

 

My library has most of the essential guides, including the guide to characters.

 

Shoot man, my library aint got nothing. Thats okay though cause i have bookstores.

 

Can't wait for this to come out. April is so far away though.

 

I went and counted the number of characters in the orginal. There are 100. So we get 30 extra. My question is do think the orginals will all be intact but just updated? I wouldn't mind if some of them were replaced.

Cough Ken Cough Callista Cough Hethrir Cough Roganda and Irek Ismaren Cough Nichos Marr Cough Rillao Cough Triclops Cough.

Damn I most have a cold or something.

 

Just because you think they came from sucky books dosn't mean the characters themselves can't be saved and used in intresting, good ways.

 

I'm just saying there are far more interesting characters that have been introduced since the orginal that IMO would be better and more interesting.

I mean let's take into account what new characters will be added out of the possible 30

1.Qui-Gon
2.Padme
3.Darth Maul
4.Darth Sidious?
5.Jango Fett
6.Count Dooku
7.Zam Wesell
8.Nom Anor
9.Nute Gunray?
10.Shimi Skywalker?
11.Sebulba?
12.Mace Windu?
14.Corran?
15.Ki Andi Mundi?

That's just half of the new characters right there. I just think that characters that have not had any growth since the first edition, unless they have a connection to the movies, should be replaced.

 

Put Ooryl in there I say!

 

Corran!

 

I think most of the Tales From... characters should be left out in the new edition. Dannik Jerriko, Davin Felth, Garindan, Muftak, Kabe, Lady Valarian, Dr. Evazan, Ponda Baba, the Max Rebo Band, Yarna, Tessek...They have fulfilled their roles and none of them appeared in a story again(at least I know of).

 

What about the people who write fanfic and want to include some of these characters, but don't want to reread the whole book?

 

They can always use the first edition. What I mean is, there are so many new and important characters created since the first guide that some of the older and semi-important characters must be sacrificed to make room for them.

 

Well, I say keep the first edition and the second edition as seperate as possible, just updating key characters, but replacing uniques with newere uniques, that way you have 2 books with lots of info. without puting the older one in the sidelines.

 

First let me say there was something in the article that turned me off a little. The first article itself sounds like it's folks from all of the EU through the NJO and from the prequels. But then there was something, I believe it was the cover, that suggested it would be everyone from the original, characters from the NJO, and folks from TPM and AotC. Aside from the NJO, there would be no new EU characters added, despite the number of comics and books that appeared after the first one came out. That part has me worried. I hope it is indeed what I orignaly understood and not the last bit.

Now, on to my thoughts. I'd actually like to see all entries from the first return and be joined by new entries. Of course many of the orignal entries would have to be updated do to new info on those characters. If that doesn't happen, then I'd like to see those characters who had new info added on be kept in this one with the new info. That is to say that I'd like to see characters besides the key characters have new entries if they have new info.

The most preferable situation would be for the new Essential Guide to characters actually be multiple volumes. One to merely update characters from the original, and then another one or two (possibly three) to give entries for new characters and characters who got left out of the original. Then sell the volumes seperately, or in a special collectors edition. The collectors edition would include artwork from book covers and comics for each character who has appeared on book covers or in comics, not just the artwork being done for the book.

 

Knight good ideas.

 

Thank you Valiento. I particulary liked the collecters edition thing myself. And by the way, I must same the same to you as your idea of keeping the two seperate and updating key players helped me with my ideas.

 

I'd like to see all the entries completely rewritten in order gel with Wallace's Chronology.
Mangel's book was terrible.

 

Wallace's chronology?

It was shared writing between KJA,and Dan Wallace, and it was mostly KJA project since he was the the one who created it in the first place. Don't forget that.

 

While most people may find it non-traditional, the best way to do this is something like "Factfiles." Or, those Marvel and/or DC character dossiers released several years ago.

Have a beginning collector set, which includes several themed-binders and seperators, as well as an initial series of characters - say movie characters.

Then, at periodic intervals, Del Rey can release more "theme packs" of characters. There's any number of ways to classify them, but the best like DL said would be to combine characters according to chapters (or multiple chapters, if there's not enough) from the Essential Chronology.

That way, after the main set has been finally released, they just have to release "revision" sets like once every year or two.

It would be perfect for collectors but not so perfect for mass market appeal.