In March 2016 Star Wars: The Original Trilogy - A Graphic Novel hardcover was published by Disney-Lucasfilm Press for the U.S. market. The hardcover collects the three original trilogy movie adaptations previously released overseas in graphic novel form. Disney-Lucasfilm Press specializes in publishing Star Wars books for younger readers and the art is reminiscent of a full-length Disney animation feature.
A companion hardcover, Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy - A Graphic Novel, was just released in March. Like the first volume, this volume also collects three previously released graphic novels, but this time for the prequel trilogy movies.
Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy - A Graphic Novel a - Disney-Lucasfilm Press, U.S. (March 2017)
Like the first volume, there are entire scenes from the movies that are cut. As an example, in The Phantom Menace adaptation, Captain Tarpals is not mentioned and the battle between the Gungans and the Trade Federation droid army is summed up in just a few panels. Instead, during this part of the story, the comic spends time on the confrontations going on in Theed and the space battle above Naboo. Despite the deletions, the main beats of the stories are present and the cuts allow the remaining scenes to be told without feeling rushed.
Star Wars: The Original Trilogy - A Graphic Novel - Disney - Lucasfilm Press, U.S. (March 2016) back cover
It is clear these retellings are aimed at kids and I know if my children were younger, I would have no qualms reading this book to them, despite some of the darker parts of the stories. As an adult, I had fun reading these new depictions, so having children are not necessary to enjoy them. Interestingly, my familiarity with the Dark Horse prequel trilogy adaptations are not as strong as my familiarity with the Marvel adaptations which I have read countless times and I found myself re-reading the Dark Horse versions so I could compare them. The Dark Horse versions are superior for packing more of the movies into the comics, but I feel these are a better read because they allow the stories to breath and have a better flow to them.
Star Wars: The Original Trilogy - A Graphic Novel hardcover collects the three original trilogy movie adaptations that were released individually overseas. Featuring new art that is cartoony in comparison to Marvel's adaptations, this book is published by Disney-Lucasfilm Press, which specializes in publishing Star Wars books for younger readers.
Star Wars: The Original Trilogy - A Graphic Novel a - Disney-Lucasfilm Press, U.S. (March 2016)
The pacing of the movie adaptations are not rushed, but this is made possible by judicious cutting of scenes from the movies. For example, when Owen Lars is buying the droids from the Jawas, R5-D4 is not even considered as Owen selects C-3PO and R2-D2 outright. Later, when Luke Skywalker is attacked by Tusken Raiders, the attack is quickly glossed over to make the story more child friendly. While the movie covers this attack quickly itself, in this book, we see a Tusken Raider with a raised gaffi stick in one panel, in the next Luke is shown gasping, and the next panel has the Raiders dragging Luke's body toward the Landspeeder. C-3PO is not involved in the attack, so the story skips the scene of Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi gathering C-3PO and his arm after Obi-Wan chases the Tusken Raiders away. This sequence in the book captures the main elements from the movie, without getting bogged down in the details. Another example of the toning down of the story for children is the cutting of the scene with Obi-Wan coming to Luke's rescue in the Mos Eisley Cantina. It is hard to completely avoid the dark tone of the movies; it is still implied Darth Vader tortures Leia on the Death Star and Vader does choke Admiral Motti. The story uses elements from the Special Edition releases as well. For example, Greedo shoots first and we see celebration in a city when the Rebellion destroys the Death Star II, but Han Solo is not confronted by Jabba the Hutt in the hangar where the Millennium Falcon is parked in Mos Eisley.
Star Wars: The Original Trilogy - A Graphic Novel - Disney - Lucasfilm Press, U.S. (March 2016) back cover
Overall, considering the audience these stories are aimed at, I found this new take on the saga refreshing and the art whimsical. The story does not devolve into the humor used in a Lego Star Wars production, but it adapts the movies faithfully without all the details. I like the simplicity of the sound effects. Explosions go BOOM and laser pistol PEW PEW. The character designs de-age the heroes slightly but they are all easily recognizable. The only character design I didn't like was Chewbacca's; his legs are a little too skinny for my tastes. A nice touch is each movie adaptation is proceeded by the famous opening crawls verbatim. If my kids were younger, I could see this being the book that I would use to introduce them to that galaxy far, far away.
