Sponsored by :01 First Second
We all know the story of 1977’s Star Wars, the visionary film by George Lucas that changed cinema forever. But what about the story behind the making of Star Wars? In Lucas Wars, you’ll be treated to the classic film’s origin story, which is just as incredible as the movie told by the story.
Written by Laurent Hopman with art by Renaud Roche and translated by Jeremy Melloul, Lucas Wars is available now from 23rd St., an imprint of First Second. Here’s everything to know about the biographical graphic novel.
Lucas Wars
In Lucas Wars, you’ll learn the origins of the original Star Wars film. And you’ll discover that, while Star Wars would become a titan of merchandising and a fixture of cinema, the original movie had a long road making its way from conception to screen.
But before diving into the world of the movie, Lucas Wars rolls the narrative back even farther. The story opens with Lucas’ childhood, including a car accident that mercifully didn’t end his story when it had hardly begun to be unfurled. The story follows Lucas as he enrolls at the University of Southern California to study film, where he meets some legendary figures who will shape the evolution of his career. These include heavy-hitters like Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg. In fact, one of his professors, Irvin Kershner, would go on to direct The Empire Strikes Back.
Lucas Wars continues through the early days of Lucas’ career as a filmmaker, including his student film Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB and the successful, Oscar Award-nominated American Graffiti. But of course, you’re here for the Star Wars! The majority of Lucas Wars focuses on the details of the at times deeply troubled production.
In Lucas Wars, readers will get to follow the entire production of Star Wars, from Lucas’ conceptual inception through to the release (and incredible success) of the movie. Along the way, Lucas faces a plethora of pushback against his vision from studio executives and even from certain movie cast and crew members. Given its unprecedented success, it’s easy to imagine that Star Wars was predestined. But Lucas Wars reveals that it was anything but! If not for Lucas’ determination and refusal to quit, the adventures of Luke Skywalker in a galaxy far, far away might never have graced movie screens.
A Long, Long Time Ago…
Fans of Star Wars will most likely find the scenes set during the production of the movie to be the most exciting pages in the book. Naturally, these scenes feature significant roles for the movie’s then-unknown young stars, Mark Hamill (Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and Harrison Ford (Han Solo). And Sir Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi) gets some significant scenes as well.
And of course, while the studio executives may have bogged down progress every step of the way, Star Wars eventually debuted to (mostly) rave reviews and box officer numbers that exploded previous records like they were the Death Star. While a few scenes progress pass the movie’s release, that’s essentially where the narrative of Lucas Wars concludes.
The story is told with a style that skews slightly towards the cartoony. However, the excellent character design ensures that you’re always able to recognize the individuals appearing in the panels. The art also utilizes color to highlight specific elements of the page. Many pages are largely black-and-white, but with one color serving to emphasize certain parts of the image. And in some rare cases, full color images appear. Ultimately the limited use of color serves the story very well.
Finally, in case you are wondering where the details in the book came from, the book culminates with a two-page bibliography. Organized by topic, this bibliography will give you an appreciation of how much research went into this biography. And if you want to continue learning about Lucas’ work on Star Wars, then the bibliography will serve as an excellent jumping-off point for your.
Available Now
By now, we’re sure you’re eager to read the book for yourself. Find your copy of this “stylish and engaging” nonfiction graphic novel at a bookseller near you or online today.
Lucas Wars: The True Story of George Lucas and the Creation of Star Wars is available now.
Sponsored by :01 First Second
