Customer Reviews

Star Wars: Union

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I usually don't read comic books but I decided that I would try this one. Amazingly I actually liked it. Luke and all the rest looked like they were supposed to-not like in some Star Wars comic books.
I would have preferred a novel about Luke and Mara's wedding like Han and Leia's but I have to admit that this comic was okay. So for those that like comic books or those that just want this because it has Luke and Mara's wedding--get it!

I guess there had been hints and clues about Luke Skywalker's and Mara Jade's potential romance throughout the entire Star Wars series of novels, but it signs didn't get strong until the early part of Timothy Zahn's "Hand of Thrawn" duology. Yet, when the signs started pointing in that direction, it was really exciting to follow the progression over these two books and enormously satisfying once they revealed their love to each other. Once that duology ended, though, the question was "how is the wedding of Luke and Mara going to be handled?" Fortunately, for all Star Wars fans, it was not presented as part of written novel. The decision to present the events surrounding the wedding and the ceremony itself as a graphic novel was the correct one. The artistic renderings of Luke and Mara in this comic book reveal a greater depth of meaning and emotion about this momentous even than 100 pages of writing could. There is somewhat of a disposable subplot involving some angry Imperial leftovers who are looking to disrupt the wedding, but the true focal point is the wedding itself. There are two ceremonies, one Jedi and one general, for Luke and Mara and they are represented beautifully in the artwork. One cannot help but feel nothing but joy for this happy couple that we have gotten to know and love over the years. This type of happiness is well deserved.

Personally, I would have liked that Luke and Mara's wedding be in a novel form, but having a comic like "Union" is, does have its pluses. For one, we actually could see the characters and what they were doing. The dialogue at times can be confusing (like the bar room brawl and the people plotting against the wedding), but overall it makes sense and Michael Stackpole does a good job at it. The biggest problem I have with the comic was the picturing and drawings. Certainly the known characters we know from the movie trilogy look like they should look like (though at times, I think Luke and Han could have been drawn better), but I felt that the drawings weren't as good as some of the past comics, like the comic adaption of the Timothy Zahn book, "Dark Force Rising", which I feel is the best comic version out of almost all of them. With the drawings, Mara herself could have looked much better, which brings back the comic of DFR, which I felt had Mara down to the hilt of the way that Zahn wrote her. Besides that, "Union" was a excellent entry into the Star Wars universe with the marriage of probably the most famous person from the original movie trilogy, Luke Skywalker (duh!). It does have some problems (which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 stars), but it is a refresher before the New Jedi Order book series, which I hate overall (the exception being the birth of Luke and Mara's son Ben).

The wedding of Luke and Mara's something I've been waiting for for years, and I was finally glad to be able to see it. It's still a little hard for me to swallow the tough-as-nails Mara as getting soft and romantic as she was in these comics, but not impossible-- it was well done here. It was far from perfect, though: perhaps I'm spoiled by the art in the "By the Emperor's Hand" comics, but I thought the art in this series was far from above par, especially with the portrayals of previously established characters: they barely looked like them, and the characters I didn't know so well from the other novels all blended together with very little to tell them apart (except in a few select places). And the so-called added 'conflict' of the Imperials crashing the wedding was pretty weak, though to be fair there's really not much room to develop a deep conflict with a four-issue series and half of that is spent on Luke/Mara mush. It really just seemed like a 'token' conflict, just a conflict to stick in there so the whole story line was not a continuous stream of nothing but happy wedding stuff for Luke and Mara. I enjoyed reading it-- as I previously said I loved the romance, it was about time Luke really got some!-- and I don't regret spending the money on it; but it's still definitely not the best SW story I've read.

Our eligible bachelor is about to become ineligible! Yes, Luke Skywalker has finally broken down and is gonna get married (and not to the horrible women like Callista and Akanah, in books past) to the beautiful, former Emperor's Hand, Mara Jade. But wedding bliss and hectic wedding preparations aren't their only concern. In between picking wedding dresses, planning the honeymoon, and remembering the rings, Luke and Mara also have to deflect an attempt by the Imperials (of course the Imperials; standard Star Wars fare: if you want to make someone the bad guy, make the Empire) to destroy the wedding.
Excited? Didn't think so.
There are some beautiful drawings, and the author really tries hard to span the entire galaxy. But the basic plot--that Luke and Mara's wedding is so repulsive that someone would want to ruin it--is trivial. And the ending! It is wrapped up in a few hideous panels, where, after a brief interchange with Luke, in which he bathers some prattling nonsense, the Imperials pretty much go, "Oh, that's what the Rebellion was about! Golly gee, that's so cool! Why didn't I get involved sooner?" Goll dang it, why does every stupid Imperial have to turn over to the Republic with a mere few words from one of our main guys? Why can't anyone just agree to disagree and move on? Why does everyone have to convert to the Republic? (Yes, I am a big Empire fan...was it that obvious?)
The art is pretty atrocious in many spots. Mara Jade, Luke, Han, and Leia can look very beautiful and realistic and in the same page look completely hideous. Secondary characters, like Kam, Corran, Wedge, and the Imperial bad guys, look almost the exact same in each and every frame. Determining who is saying what in any frame is a chore, unless they happen to call out who the other guy is. But this doesn't always help as sometimes the bubbles seem to go to the wrong characters.
Some good artwork and seeing Luke and Mara get married really doesn't compensate for the terrible plot, the indistinguishable characters, and the pat conclusion. The graphic novel wasn't that long, yet it took me a week to finish, because I kept putting it off. I would not recommend.

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*C.S. Light*

If you're a fan of Luke and Mara (as I am!) than this one is definitely a must. Though the storyline felt a bit confused at times, this is probably just because of my relative inexperience with comic books. The characters were well fleshed out and all the scenes (particularly those between Luke and Mara) seemed to capture the essence of every character and varying relationship. The graphics were good, even bordering on excellent. As other reviewers pointed out, a lot of the background characters were hard to recognize, which is saying a lot since I'm a very experienced fan of the EU and should know them all by heart. Still, the good points most definitely outweigh the few bad ones. If you're a Luke and Mara fan, this one should not be missed. Good for all ages.

I give this book a 4 star. This is an average. The artwork is photographic and I give it a 5. Luke looks like Luke, Han like Han, Wedge is Wedge and Leia is Leia. It was fun to see the artwork on the rogues. They do look different than the other Rogue comics, but they look more real here.

The characters get a 4. It was fun to see the authors bring back people from other comics and novel. Because Stackpole was involved they all seemed to be in character.

The way that Mara was presented was completely acceptable to me.

The story was the love story I hoped it would be but I give it 3 stars. This was the part I liked best. I read so many comics with my six year son, and he loved it. I had been hoping that this would be a story that my eight year old daughter would enjoy sharing with me. She did. I did have a problem following the general story line though. I agree with the review done by Christopher Ware below, that the story line was confusing. Contributing to the confusion was failure to identify many of the other characters that were speaking.

It would have been helpful to more clearly identify who it was that was on the page. Many characters were not identified when they first appeared in the story. Too many hansome guys with dark hair. To many beautiful women with dark hair. If I hadn't read all the W-Wing books first I would not have even been able to guess.

I therefore give this book 4 stars, when it could have been better with a little more attention to understandability. I ask the editors... Were you trying to perpetrate a mystery, as in guessing who was who, or just to lazy to do a better job.

Now I would like to see a comic version of THE COUTSHIP OF PRINCESS LEIA so I can read that with my daughter.

As a child, I was sure I was going to grow up and marry Luke Skywalker, but I admit that Mara is perfect for him. Ever since I read Heir to the Empire, I have been waiting for this wedding. The book was fun to read, and the wedding dress part was great. I loved how characteristics of all the main people were captured so well. The only thing I was disappointed with was Mara. She looked too cute, like a high school cheerleader- not at all the picture presented of her in the books. But still, the book was a blast. I highly recommend it.

Star Wars Union is much more than the tale of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade's wedding. Union is easily one of the best Star Wars tales available for a number of reasons.

1: The art is brilliant. Teranishi delivers a style that is a delightful mixture of photo-realism with enough of his own style to make it highly interesting. Not only do the characters from the movies look amazingly like the actors, but the characters that exist in novel form appear as described.

2: The writing is Stackpole's best, and easily some of the best in the Star Wars universe. In some places it is absolutely hilarious. Several times I had to put the book down because I was laughing out loud. Stackpole has a way of capturing the quirky madness that surrounds a wedding and then weaves in the antics of the characters we know and love so well. The sub plot with the disenfranchised Imperials seemed to be a point of contention for other reviewers, but to me, it was insignificant compared to all the comedic delights this story has to offer.

3: The over all characterizations that are a blend of writer and artist, that must be seen to be believed.

Not only does this novel sport appearances by most everyone in the Star Wars universe, it is fun, and funny, with a quick pace and fun rollicking feeling. Not only fans of Luke and Mara, fans of any and all Star Wars characters will love this novel.

Highest recommendations!!!

Ok first and formost-what are you playing at Chuckry? Since when did Kam Solusar look like the exact spitting image of Bruce Willis- not impressive. Apart from that- the graphics are flawless. However, never rely on the sentimentality of a writer like Stackpole to try and manipulate a fragile character like Mara Jade. It doesn't work - leave it to Zahn. Having said, Han and the saboteurs were done excellently. The love scenes between Luke and Mara achieved what they were set out to achieve, but nothing more. None of the irony was there as I think is in the novels. If you're looking for a round up of all the characters and families the extended universe has created, then this is definately the book. It has everyone and anyone- plus plenty of extras.
Round up of this graphic novel would be 'Reunion fest with corny one liners- satisfyingly spoiled by great star wars slang like 'sith spit.' Oh and the ending - well, lets just say that wud be too warming for even in Walt Disney's Oven.

Just buy it- you know you want it regardless.