Saturday, August 8, 2015

Retro Marvel

Darth Vader Retrieves a Cup

Tarkin shook the Dark Lord off, something no one else at the table would have dared to do.  "It is immaterial.  Any attack made against this station by the rebels would be a suicidal gesture, suicidal and useless-regardless of any information they managed to obtain.  After many long years of secretive construction," he declared with evident pleasure, "this station has become the decisive force in this part of the universe.  Events in this region of the galaxy will no longer be determined by fate, by decree, or by any other agency.  They will be decided by this station!"

A huge metal-clad hand gestured slightly, and one of the filled cups on the table drifted responsively into it.  With a slight admonishing tone the Dark Lord continued.  "Don't become too proud of this technological terror you've spawned, Tarkin.  The ability to destroy a city, a world, a whole system is still insignificant when set against the force."

"'The Force'" Tagge sneered.  "Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader.  Your sad devotion to that ancient mythology has not helped you to conjure up those stolen tapes, or gifted you with clairvoyance sufficient to locate the rebels' hidden fortress.  Why, it's enough to make on laugh fit to-"

Tagge's eyes abruptly bulged and his hands went to his throat as he began to turn a disconcerting shade of blue.

"I find," Vader ventured mildly, "this lack of faith disturbing."


Those sentences, from the Star Wars novel, contain dialogue that was modified for the final movie.  The script for Star Wars went through many changes both before and during the shooting of Star Wars.  Additionally, editing played a large role in what ultimately ended up on the screen.  The novel came out 6 months before the movie and differences in the dialogue and scenes from those in the finished movie were inevitable.  The same is true for the Marvel Star Wars comic adaptation.

Star Wars #1 page 10 - Marvel Comics, U.S. (July 1977)
The top 3 panels from page 10 of Star Wars #1 portray the same sequence described in the book.  Darth Vader standing behind Governor Tarkin uses the force to retrieve a cup.  Exactly how would Vader drink from the cup?  It is an awkward moment which thankfully was left out of the movie.

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