“Star Wars: Chewbacca” Written by Gerry Duggan, Art by Phil Noto. Trade paperback collecting Star Wars: Chewbacca Issues 1-5. 2016, Marvel Comics. (8 out of 10)  

I love Chewbacca. I mean, who doesn’t? Of all the original trilogy characters, he and R2-D2 are the ones that bring more to the table than their dialogue suggests. Loyal, powerful, gentle, skilled, hairy. All of those traits are present in Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto’s “Star Wars: Chewbacca” comic which came out in single issues last year, and in a collected trade paperback volume this spring. 

I was wondering how this story would fit in with Chewie’s history; we know he’s 200 years old, after all. This book fits between “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes Back.” That’s a gap of a few years, and now that all of the books and comics written before 2014 have been erased and relegated to “Legends” status, we’ve got a fresh slate for authors to work with. This does a great job of giving us a little story about the Wookiee we love to love. 

“Star Wars: Chewbacca” opens with a scrolling introduction, just like the movies. It reads in part:

The evil galactic Empire’s greatest weapon, the Death Star, has been destroyed by CHEWBACCA, warrior son of the planet KASHYYYK…with some help from his trusty sidekick Han and his friends Luke and Leia. But Chewie is not one to grandstand. There is still much to accomplish.

That paragraph sold me on the whole thing. Chewie’s the hero. Period. We first seem him near his crash-landed A-Wing Fighter on an Imperial-controlled planet. He’s actually lying in a flowerbed, arms behind his head, looking a few flower petals away from an “American Beauty” poster. But he works it. Chewbacca needs to get the flight stabilizer to repair his A-Wing, so he goes into town to win a few hands of sabacc and earn the credits needed to get back offworld. In the process, he runs into a fugitive. A young girl who escaped the Andelm Beetle Caverns needs his help. The caverns are like mines filled with glowing beetles that can be used as a power source or explosives. They’re glowy, slimy, and an interesting twist on the traditional slave-powered mines that have become cliche in adventure stories. The girl gets Chewie on her side by telling him about her father and the other slaves, reminding him that his own people have also been slaves for the Empire. 

What follows is an adventure story that isn’t necessarily innovative, but is a lot of fun. Chewbacca’s dialogue is all HRAA HRAA HRHR WHRARAAARH etc., but the context of the other dialogue and Noto’s exceptional artwork tells the story as well as Peter Mayhew’s performance and the sound editors do in the films. This world is as dangerous as Tatooine or Jakku (but hey, not a desert planet!), with smugglers, bounty hunters, and monsters, in addition to the usual Stormtroopers and Imperial officers. 

I loved seeing Chewbacca paired up with a child–the girl reminds me both of Ahsoka from “Clone Wars” and Ezra from “Rebels.” When I was a pup I always wanted Chewie to defend me, to fight alongside me, and every now and then to give me a piggyback ride. All of those things happen in this book. The story is good, with some deviations from what I expected. Many tie-in comic books and novels don’t actually grow the characters very much, because they’re not allowed to–Captain Kirk still needs to be the same Captain Kirk at the end of the novel that he is at the beginning, a reset button has to be in place. This one has fun with the character of Chewbacca, lets his world grow, and builds his story more than I expected it would.

The artwork from Phil Noto is stunning — I’ve been a fan of his work for years, so seeing him collaborate on a project like this, about a favorite character, really sells the project. Too often the artists on a story could be interchangeable (and often artists do change, mid-series, even on limited runs like this one); Noto has a distinct style, and it’s one that works well with Chewie. A softness to the characters coupled with great technical drawings of the machines, vehicles, and equipment of the Star Wars universe–it’s pretty much perfect. There are several pages that are frameable artwork–I want him on more Star Wars projects in the near future. Please.

If you’re a fan of Chewbacca the character, you’ll love “Chewbacca” the book. I’ll bet my life debt on it. 

The 2015 Salt Lake Comic Con offered a lot of great panels in the realm of “Star Wars,” but, in my opinion, none of them were as revelatory and fascinating as the “Why We Killed Chewie” panel.

R.A. Salvatore, who was the author behind Chewie’s death in 1999’s “Vector Prime” joined myself Michael A. Stackpole, one of the architects of the “New Jedi Order” series to talk about the decision to kill Chewbacca all those years ago.

There were a lot of fan theories circulating about how the decision was made to kill Chewbacca. The books themselves were labeled that they were approved personally by George Lucas. The book was so important to the expanded universe (now Legendary) that it even got a television commercial:

To say that it made waves would be an understatement. It flew off the shelves and then when people realized what had happened to Chewbacca, they all started to draw daggers with eyes toward Salvatore. This was a massive controversy back in the day, but now we know it’s been undone just by looking at the trailer for “The Force Awakens.”

For the first time ever, the real story of how this came about and why it happened can be told by the men who lived it.

This is seriously one of the favorite discussions I’ve ever had the privilege of sitting in on. It’s a treat for fans and non-fans alike, and if you’re interested at all in the creative podcast, this is a must listen.

You can listen in the window at the top of the page, visit the Full of Sith website, or subscribe to the show wherever you regularly listen to podcasts.

Next month we’re being treated to an all new  comic mini-series starring Chewbacca written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Phil Noto (who knocked the middle-grade “Journey to The Force Awakens” books out of the hyperspace lanes.) It’s five issues of Chewbacca crash landed and trying to get back to the Rebellion.

One thing they’re doing well to remind us in this swell of new content is exactly how much time advances between “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes Back” and it leaves that entire era ripe for storytelling.

Here’s the first look and official synopsis:

New York, NY—September 15^th, 2015 — Known as the skilled co-pilot of the infamous Millennium Falcon, the legendary Wookiee warrior Chewbacca is flying solo for his very own limited series! Today, Marvel is pleased to present your first look at CHEWBACCA #1 – from blockbuster creators Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto! Following the Battle of Yavin, Chewbacca finds himself on his own and separated from the Rebel Alliance. Crash landing on an Imperial occupied planet, Chewie finds himself in the company of a young local girl in need. Together, they may just be enough to take on the forces invading her home and get Chewbacca back to the Rebellion. Don’t call him a fuzz ball. Don’t call him a walking carpet. This is Chewbacca – fierce and loyal warrior of Kashyyyk in a brand new series beginning this October in CHEWBACCA #1!

CHEWBACCA #1 (of 5) (AUG150855)
Written by GERRY DUGGAN

Art & Cover by PHIL NOTO

FOC – 09/21/15, On-Sale 10/14/15

One of the great pleasures of my life has been to share a stage with Peter Mayhew and David Prowse, the men behind Chewbacca and Darth Vader, respectively. Salt Lake Comic-Con this year asked me to host the Question and Answer session between these two legends and who was I to refuse?

Bombad Radio was on hand to record the audio from the panel and we’ve put it up on the Full of Sith podcast feed. 

You can listen to the full panel here as well:

We spoke of getting their parts in the movie, stories from the set, and many other things. A highlight was when David Prowse began telling stories from the set of Return of the Jedi and basically called Richard Marquand a wanker. Peter Mayhew also talked about the documentary film about the recovery from his knee surgery.

I had to pinch myself a few times while I was up on stage. 

It was a wonderful time and not a thing could have made it better. 

Well, one thing could have made it better: The Rebel Legion. They stormed the stage at the very end and inducted me as an Honorary Member:

This was certainly something to cross off the bucket list.

Bleeding Cool News is reporting a cast rumour from the UK that the Star Wars production is on the hunt for the following sort of person:

Tall Man (Male, 21 – 60) Male, 7 ft to 7.3 ft tall with a slim/thin build and upright posture. Not too worked out or too ‘thick set’ especially in the shoulders. Broad facial features would be a bonus.

Well, we all know who fits that description.

Wookiees fit that description. Well, there are plenty of characters in Star Wars that fit that description, but Wookiees are the first that come to mind for everyone. 

And there’s one Wookiee in particular everyone is anxious to see (or not anxious, depending on your feelings about the sanctity of the Expanded Universe): Chewbacca.

I have a hunch, though. I’ve not heard any of this and have zero information, this is just a potential guess. I’m disclaiming the hell out of my wild speculation. But suppose, just suppose, this casting call is for Chewie. 

But what if it’s not a sure thing?

What if Peter Mayhew is indeed still in the running for the part and this is a back up?

Here’s the thing: Peter Mayhew just had surgery on his knees so he’d be able to walk again. He ran a Kickstarter to document the whole process and help raise funds for the procedure. If I’m a documentary filmmaker (and I am), a documentary about Peter Mayhew getting knee surgery isn’t exactly fodder for a complete film. Sure, you’d delve into some of his behind the scenes stories and what not, but it’s not the most compelling. But I’m thinking what about movies like New York Doll? Where the aging entertainer has to get himself back together to get back in the saddle?

What if (and this is WILD SPECULATION on my part) Lucasfilm told Peter Mayhew, “If you can walk you can have the part.”

If you look at the timing of his surgery and his rehabilitiation, the timing lines up with shooting.

But what if something goes wrong? What if he can’t do it?

Then Lucasfilm needs a back up plan. Maybe they don’t want a back up plan. They want Peter. Peter’s a great guy and IS Chewbacca. But the movie has to be made.

Just think about it.

Or, this tall man could be playing anyone or anything. But if I were a documentary filmmaker and was documenting everything from the get go, what better ending to a documentary could there be than Peter back in the costume? And maybe he was tipped off. That’s the sort of stuff that could be filmed for a documentary already. And the filmmaker is just sitting on it, keeping things quiet.

Maybe it’s crazy.

Maybe it’s not.

Only time will tell with all this Star Wars: Episode VII business.