A&A The Official John Ostrander Discussion Thread

"Next issue will complete our current storyline and show a transition, mainly for Aayla, but also in a way for Quin. What will be REALLY interesting is when we get to the Clone Wars in issue 49. Some years will have passed between the end of this story and that one and you'll find the characters changed as well."
I can hardly wait! I'm thrilled to see what you have in store for Aayla!

"I want to hear more of your thoughts on the characters but I also have a different question for you all -- as we move into the CLONE WARS, we may be seeing MORE of Obi-Wan and Anakin and perhaps LESS of characters like Quin, Villie and Aayla (not that they're disappearing entirely). Would this be a good thing or a bad thing so far as you all are concerned?"
Honestly in my opinion that would be a bad thing. (Just being honest.)
Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are already -or will be for Episode III- fleshed out in the movies and have character depth and lots of attention there. A lot of novels deal with Anakin and Obi-Wan's adventures, focusing on them.
I do believe these characters are already fleshed out very well and I do not mean they cannot have the necessary attention in the upcoming comics but I feel it would be bad to sacrifice attention and character/adventure development from awesome characters like Aayla and Quinlan. (More Aayla!!! And some Quinlan and Zao. But more Aayla!!! Definately!)

It would be good to have them share the spotlight and have them team up or meet on several adventures. (Perhaps like in 'The Stark Hyperspace War' where Tholme/Quinlan met up with Qui-Go/Obi-Wan.)

I agree with Kampilan, Mastadge and episodeone. Having Anakin and Obi-Wan the center of everything and them being in the middle of it all does rather amke it less realistic. I feel for the excellent Star Wars comics you and Jan make together I feel there should be plenty of Aayla, Quinlan, Zao, Villie next to Anakin and Obi-Wan. (Even more Aayla? Please?)

 

I'd very, very much like to see more Anakin...I'm always all in favor of the Chosen One! And I like the idea of not making him the guy destined to be the greatest villain of all, but the man who in the end defeats old ugly Palpy...

On the other han, I want a lot of Quin and Villie as well - it'd be cool to have Anakin and Quin meet, maybe share a mission? Wouldn't be all that strange...Quin doesn't remember it, but he and Obi-Wan were friends...

So, a great YES for more Anakin and Obi-Wan. Just make sure not to forget the others...

 

JO says:
"I made the point with some of the team that we can't play him as the guy who MUST become Darth Vader but as the guy who eventually RENOUNCES the Dark Side and comes back. I see Anakin as a complex character. In the Clone Wars, he has to be a legit hero. Otherwise, the fall means nothing when it comes.. In my opinion. Hopefully, you'll get a taste of that in issue 50."

episodenone says:
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Matthew

Thanks for your post regarding the ships. What we use and when is ultimately decided by LFL and how bound they feel by the Sourcebooks, I can't say. Forgive me but I don't follow gaming particularly (I assume these are gaming books, right?) but where these Sourcebooks written BEFORE or AFTER AotC? We also get pronoi\uncements from On High (GL or close to him) that we have to deal with as well. We (the artist and/or myself) can propose certain things or sometimes the editor can suggest things but it is ultimately LFL which decides if that's what we can do/use or not. But I'll certainly check up on the use of dreadnaughts. In fact, I may pass your post on to MY masters at DH and ask for clarification. So thanks!

-- John

 

John, dreadnaughts are not mainly from gaming. The big "Dark Force" Katana fleet that was a major plot of the Thrawn books was a fleet of Dreadnaughts. However, for visual reference, they are fairly common, yes, in the rpgs as well as the X-wing games.

 

>>So, a great YES for more Anakin and Obi-Wan. Just make sure not to forget the others...<<

I don't intend to forget them at all! And, even if I did, Jan wouldn't let me! (AnotherAgentSmith might explode if he doesn't get his occasional Aayla fix and i wouldn't want THAT to happen!<g>) We WILL be seeing more of Obi-Wan and Anakin because, let's face it, they ARE the center of the saga at this point and more SW fans will EXPECT to see them. But we'll also see them IN CONTEXT with other Jedi (and other NON-Jedi as well).

You guys/gals are very articulate. Make sure you express your opinions to DH as well, either at the DH SW board on by writing them. Randy is talking about starting up a letter column in SW again; send him stuff to use! Whether I agree/disagree with you, you CAN influence things by making yourself heard. Especially as we go.

All the best

John

 

>>John, dreadnaughts are not mainly from gaming. The big "Dark Force" Katana fleet that was a major plot of the Thrawn books was a fleet of Dreadnaughts. However, for visual reference, they are fairly common, yes, in the rpgs as well as the X-wing games.<<

Thanks, Mastadge. I remember the Katana fleet well. I, for one, enjoyed the Thrawn books. Personally, I'd love to do a story set with the Katana Fleet BEFORE it disappeared, going into how it disappeared, but I don't know if there's room right now to tell that story. I wonder if I can pitch it Dave Land for SW Tales? Hmmmmmm. . .

Anyway, i AM aware of the dreadnaughts. I got to find out if I'm allowed to play with 'em.

John

 

Of course, I don't know if Tim Zahn himself is dealing with that story in his upcoming novels. . .

I feel a headache coming on.

 

I just had a thought here and this will NEVER come off because of the taboos placed by LFL, but a thought...

I'd almost like to see a one-shot story between Aayla and Padme. Since Padme IS secretly wed to a Jedi, but there has to be some aspects of a Jedi she is not famliar with. Interaction with Aayla might give her a sense of perspective.

Again, will NEVER come off because Padme is a hands off character as decreed by LFL, but it would be cool, no?

 

i didn't know she was entirely "hands off!"

that sounds like a great idea for a SW Tales short story.

they just have to be somewhere chatting - which seems to me to be the hard part.

 

Matthew

Thanks for your post regarding the ships. What we use and when is ultimately decided by LFL and how bound they feel by the Sourcebooks, I can't say. Forgive me but I don't follow gaming particularly (I assume these are gaming books, right?) but where these Sourcebooks written BEFORE or AFTER AotC?

The Imperial sourcebook is a pre-TPM/AotCs book. However,since non of the information was truly contradicted,it seems that the majority of the history given for the Dreadnaughts and the Victory was carried over into the newer sourcebooks like Wizards of the Coast's Guide to Starships of the Galaxy or the Rebellion Era sourcebook which just came out last year.

Here's the info from the Imperial sourcebook for the Victory.

From the Imperial sourcebook:

Technological advancement is the byproduct of war. The battle marred era marked by the Clone Wars saw the creation of bigger, faster, more heavily armed and armored combat vessels. The best of this bumper crop was the Victory-Class Star Destroyer. Designed by Republic engineer Walex Blissex,the Victory was commissioned into service as the wars were drawing to a close. Conseqently,though these ships saw little action during the wars,they formed the bulk of the Imperial Navy for years following.

Now here's an entry for the Victory in last year's Rebellion Era sourcebook from Wizards of the Coast.

From the Rebellion era sourcebook:

The Imperial-Class Star Destroyer replaced the original Victory-Class Star Destroyers some years before the Battle of Yavin. The smaller Victory-Class ships appeared near the end of the Clone Wars and were designed as top-of-the-line peacekeeping battleships. The Emperor agreed to fund an upgraded design,and the Imperial version superseded the Victory.

It pretty much says the same thing.

Gaming sources aren't the only place to find info on the Dreadnaught and Victory. The pics I posted are from Del Rey's Essential Guide to Starships and Vehicles. That's a neat non gaming guide for us Star Wars nerds. The Dreadnaught(and the Katana Fleet) is also mentioned in the The Essential Chronology another non gaming sourcebook by Daniel Wallace and Kevin J. Anderson published in 2000 by Del Rey. There's a nice pic of a dreadnaught in action on page 30 of the Essential Chronology. The blisters on its sides open up to reveal the turbolasers within.

As Mastadge said,the Dreadnaught has appeared in many stories. That particular design for the Dreadnaught was in Dark Horse's adaption of the Thrawn Trilogy.

The Victory has appeared in two of the X Wing comics. Issues 2 and 4 of Battleground:Tattooine.

What we use and when is ultimately decided by LFL and how bound they feel by the Sourcebooks, I can't say.

A lot of stuff comes from the sourcebooks!
There's more than just RPG stats and short entries. Many times,a sourcebook will be loaded with pages of pure information with the stats on the side. I guess this is so the books appeal to gamers and non gamers alike.

All the info on the aliens, the REpublic,the Sith, Jedi,the Empire...much of the backhistories are found in the sourcebooks. Many of the authors were given the sourcbooks as referances. Zahn got all the ships that he used in the Thrawn Trilogy from the Imperial sourcebook. From the Interdictor to the Dreadnaught.

We also get pronoi\uncements from On High (GL or close to him) that we have to deal with as well. We (the artist and/or myself) can propose certain things or sometimes the editor can suggest things but it is ultimately LFL which decides if that's what we can do/use or not. But I'll certainly check up on the use of dreadnaughts. In fact, I may pass your post on to MY masters at DH and ask for clarification. So thanks!

-- John

W00T! NO ,THANK YOU!

It would be so cool to see Dreadnaughts in action during their prime! Most of the time we see em,it's in Empire and New Jedi Order EU,and by that time they're pretty much outmoded pieces of

 

Hi John, thanks for the replies, I appreciate it.

"I don't intend to forget them at all! And, even if I did, Jan wouldn't let me! (AnotherAgentSmith might explode if he doesn't get his occasional Aayla fix and i wouldn't want THAT to happen!<g>)"
No! They're on to me!
I wouldn't explode, I would just get really sad. *Just imagine like this poor, cute little labrador puppy just sitting there all alone and cold.*
I admit though Aayla is my favorite character, has been from the start. (And the fact she happens to be a female character is entirely coincidental.)

I sometimes post at the DH SW boards and try to politely voice what I'd like to see more of.
(Still curious about Tholme and Tra'saa's past. )

Kampilan, that's a nice idea actually, a possible meeting between Padme and Aayla.

 

Dreadnaught from Essential Chronology picture

Here's a good picture of the dreadnaught from the Essential Chronology. Note how the blisters on the ship open up to reveal the turbolasers housed within them.

 

Who, me? That was MattPeriolat's idea!

 

People do have good points about Anakin and Obi Wan being the focus of SW since it IS their story BUT they have their light in the movies already. The comics is for other Jedi to get a chance at the spotlight. Back to the Dark Horse site...

 

Oh it's alright! I'm willing to sign on the dotted line if DH does the story, no lawsuit needed!

If they want a setting, I dunno, maybe the aftermath of Geonosis or a scenerio where Aayla has to protect Padme. Somehow I don't think the assassination attempts are going to stop just because Dooku has been outed. And it OBVIOUSLY cannot be Anakin protecting her all the time. Jedi wouldn't allow that.

Then again, they're paying John to think of this stuff, not me, so Ill just be quiet.

 

Oops!

Sorry about that MattPeriolat! (I didn't look long enough at the name but I saw the Aayla avatar Kampilan also uses so. )

"People do have good points about Anakin and Obi Wan being the focus of SW since it IS their story BUT they have their light in the movies already. The comics is for other Jedi to get a chance at the spotlight. Back to the Dark Horse site... "
I agree Kampilan.

Edit: Name typo's corrected. (I just can't get them straight today.)

 

John - Awesome idea about the Katana Fleet story... that would make a fanboys day if you could do a story on that!

 

Hey Jon, I would just like to tell you that I loved Twilight and Darkness. Keep up the good work.

 

I would absolutely love to see the letter column return. It makes the experiance of reading the issue last long, taste better, and all around seem broader. I mean, discussion of these forums never gets that deep when it comes to individual comic issues. I enjoy reading the varied comments people send in.

 

Spacer huh? I want to hear some BOCCE~!

 

What my bud Wedge 88 said. Yay for a possible return of the letter column!

 

Thanks, Mastadge. I remember the Katana fleet well. I, for one, enjoyed the Thrawn books. Personally, I'd love to do a story set with the Katana Fleet BEFORE it disappeared, going into how it disappeared, but I don't know if there's room right now to tell that story. I wonder if I can pitch it Dave Land for SW Tales? Hmmmmmm. . .

It might work pretty well as an mini-series, provided that Mr. Zahn isn't set to cover it in his new book. (But again, given the apparent timeframe of it, it may only be dealt with in flashback-form, and then only very, very briefly. So, it could be something worth looking into, mayhaps...)

 

i think it would be cool if aayla sensed that padme was hiding something ... like a secret marriage!

perhaps she then talks to quinlan about her perception - and he tells her it is another sign of the dark things to come!

i story of quinlan and anakin getting separated together during a misiion would open up plenty of opportunities for fascinating dialogue!!

keep it up JO!

 

Hi group!

Just a quick note and I'll be back to answer questions and comments a little later. I've got the pencils that Jan did for issue 49 and they are INCREDIBLE. Best work yet, methinks. The story is complete in this issue but sets up issue 50 as well. It's the start of the Clone Wars era and Aayla and Quin are both several years older than at the end of RITE OF PASSAGE. If you like what we've done so far, you're going to LOVE this.

All the best

John