Comics The 'Union' comic is one of the most fun, cheesiest, ridiculous SW stories I've ever read

When?

I don't believe that Pellaeon even met Daala until at least 12 aby(if not 13).

According to Force Heretic the story takes place in maybe 30 aby(not maybe 35 like I was thinking), so Vitor might be 18 or even 17 at that point. Could it be true lacking more detailed evidence? Sure.

But thus far we have no evidence that Daala could have been his mother. We have no evidence that Pellaeon & Daala ever had a relationship of that nature.

 

I'm pretty sure Daala would have noticed if she was Vitor Reige's mother. In Ascension she knows him only as Pellaeon's protege and appears vaguely confused why he looks and sounds like Pellaeon.

 

I don't exactly remember, but I thought Revelation said he was pretty young.

Yeah, I don't seriously think she's Reige's mother, because she would...uh...know. But it's fun to think about who his mom is.

 

She could have given him away early and not realised that this Vitor Reiges fellow was her unwanted childe

 

Force Heretic: Remnant says he is young, but he was also an active Imperial officer of some sort.

As Havac mentions, there is a lot of character POV's that don't support this line of thinking. I wouldn't put it past the creative team to toss in this type of curve ball given their recent ideas - but no

 

You know, I only just realized that this might be exactly how Anakin swooned Tahiri. But one massacre too many will disrupt your relationship, as both Anakins found out the hard way.

 

Union was great. The "plot" with the Imperials was mostly added, I think, because there was a general sense that you couldn't market a Star Wars story without some kind of conflict. It's clearly not the focus of the comic; the focus is on seeing our heroes experience a life event that, unlike blowing up Death Stars or slaying Sith, is familiar and understandable to normal people.

I also don't mind the fact that, despite some great all-female scenes, it doesn't quite pass the Bechdel test. Everyone has marriage on the mind, as they should, with the the theme of the comic being the characters exploring both the practical elements and the larger meaning of matrimonial union.

As for the art ... the comic came out at a time when the highly detailed, computer-colored art we're familiar with now was just in its infancy. Terashini's work stands out as a high point when compared with other comics of the same general timeframe.

And as for the implication that this comic is only humorous unintentionally, ... poppycock. From Han and Luke's "give my whiskey to him"/"A Jedi does not know pain" exchange, to the cavalcade of would-be dress designers, to the awesomeness of Booster Terrik the Babysitter, there's no shortage of genuinely funny moments spread throughout the work.

That said, the comic isn't flawless. As others have indicated, the identification of characters is particularly problematic; it could seriously have used a good dramatis personae spread at the beginning. The fact that, in at least one scene, the dialogue bubbles between Corran and Kam got switched up only makes it worse.

But I will happily take those flaws in exchange for getting the only long-form Star Wars slice-of-life story ever made.

 

With regard to the bringing up of Union in the Lost Stars thread:

anyone want to continue discussion of Union here, in order to avoid derailing that one?

 

As I said in that thread, there have always been a couple of very specific things that bothered me about Union, neither of which are its "cheesiness". I don't mind cheesiness on some occasions, but the problem is that:

1. The wedding and the rituals around it come across as very reaffirming of traditional binary gender stuff. The men and women split off into gender-segregated groups and engage in fairly stereotypical activity; Mara's dress is the subject of a lot of drama (played for laughs, but still) whereas Luke's outfit isn't. It'd bug me under any circumstances, but it's especially grating here because Luke is not a very conventionally masculine hero and Mara's not that feminine.
2. While I get that it's partially just an excuse plot for why unreconstructed Imperials are trying to cause havoc - which itself is sort of just an excuse plot because Star Wars stories always need a threat of some kind - the idea that the wedding is being seen as a great symbolic moment of Republic-Imperial reconciliation bothers me. Mara in the HoT duology is not in any meaningful sense associated with the Empire, and the idea that she still is at this point seems tied in a little to Zahn's ever-increasing attempts to walk back the idea that being an Imperial agent is something she should develop away from and that wasn't a good thing.

On a more minor note, while I was generally okay with the art, I have to say that it does not do Luke any favors. He's frequently genuinely unrecognizable.

 

I don't consider gender roles a bad thing however I did find Union incredibly dull.

 

Nuts. The images on page four are broken.

 

I could scan them but.... they're kind of weird. I'm assuming it's the spa scene. Where the gals are all drawn in shampoo ad model poses. And the dialogue is so cheezy it's just begging for a dramatic reading. "As long as love is there, the problems are insignificant." W the royal Alderaanian F.

One interesting line though -- Mara makes a comment that is fairly reminiscent of the Lost Stars plot: "Sometimes I feel like we're marrying the Empire and the New Republic together."

 

It was about time they finally actually attempted to ease the tensions. Too bad nothing really came of it till NJO.

 

Please?

This I gotta see. Nice change of pace from the constant do or die in the Star Wars universe.

 

There's a "spa scene" shot in the article on "what movie characters are being used as the models for SW ones"

 

Oh jeez. Kind of surprised Katarn wasn't modeled off Chuck Norris.

 

I'm guessing "Unknown bar bachelor" may be Kyle. I think Kyle's also the guy who said "When they told me no krayt dragon, I was in" (Kyle being noted for punching dragons (Kell dragons) to death in the Dark Forces series.)

 

Wow - fascinating article. They found the original still shots Teranishi used to create the likenesses and everything. Thanks for posting that.

This thread prompted me to read Union for the first time last night. "Cheesy" and "cute" are apt descriptions. Probably could have worked better as maybe a single double-sized issue than a four issue limited from a story perspective, but as it was it wasn't dreadful.

 

could be kyle or could be streen. Kyle, Corran, and Streen were the only one I remeber with beards among Lukes early students.

 

Streen is quite elderly and graying even nine years earlier (JAT) - I doubt somewhat that it's him.

 

True, most be kyle cause corran is clean shaven in union probably due to new republic military regs.

 

I always thought that was Gavin Darklighter, making a Tatooine joke.

EDIT: The Wook thinks it's Gavin, too.