Category Archives: Star Wars
My 6 Favorite Star Wars Expanded Universe Characters
Have you ever wondered what kind of power vacuum there must have been in the Empire after the Rebels blew up the second Death Star, killing Darth Vader and the Emperor? Or who were the first Jedi who discovered the Force and built the first lightsabers? Did Han Solo and Princess Leia ever settle down and have kids? Or if Luke Skywalker heralded the ‘Return of Jedi’, who were the rest? Well wonder no more, because pop culture has you covered. Welcome to the Star Wars Expanded Universe, a collection of books, comics, video games and cartoons that tell the rest of the story.
For the saga of Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance is only a fraction of the larger, grander Star Wars Universe. Dedicated fans, geeks and professional writers have expanded beyond the movies to tell more and more stories. The Expanded Universe is the greatest, geekiest bit of fandom there’s every been – and what’s more, it’s all A-OK’d by George Lucas himself. It’s all licensed and approved!
We're talking Jedi Wookies with lightsabers, people!
I love the Expanded Universe. I think it’s gloriously geeky and riveting. I love that for every single minor or background character that appears in the six main movies, the fans and professional writers have created full and rich backstories. I once read a book called Death Star, about the building of the first Death Star (bad book, don’t read it). Several times in the first Star Wars film, A New Hope, Darth Vader meets with other Imperial agents aboard the Death Star. Well one of the armed guards standing at the door in the background of those scenes is a main character in the book Death Star. So every time I watch A New Hope, I can point to the guard and say ‘that’s Atour Riten!’ Weird name.
But that’s the glory of the Expanded Universe, filling in the cracks and telling the stories beyond the six movies. Allow me to introduce you to My 6 Favorite Star Wars Expanded Universe Characters.
Darth Maul is Coming Back Baby!
It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Darth Maul was the best freakin’ thing about the Star Wars prequels. So the producers of the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon have decided that they’ll mess with continuity all they want to bring that ultimate Sith badass back to life! Behold the badass trailer!
I am a huge Darth Maul fan. So huge, in fact, that I bought both the Darth Maul comic book series and the Darth Maul tie-in novel around the time that Episode 1 came out. I think I even have a first edition Darth Maul action figure still in its original packaging somewhere back in my old bedroom.
I might have to start watching Star Wars: Clone Wars just to see this badass Sith back in action!
6 of My Own Creative Ideas
X-Factor-scribe Peter David once wrote, “One doesn’t decide to become a writer and then go scavenging for ideas. One becomes a writer because the ideas keep coming to you, whether you want them or not. It’s just how your mind is wired.”
And for me, that’s exactly what it’s like to be a creative writer.
Now if only I could find somebody to pay me for my ideas. It’s no secret that I want to be a professional writer someday. I have so many ideas for stories, characters, moments, dialogue and more that it would be a crime against humanity for me to never get discovered. Or it would be a crime against me, at least. But making it big in the world of comic books or novels is just as difficult as becoming a movie star. It doesn’t help that most of my writing these days is just recreational, that I haven’t completed a novel or a script or anything else I can shop around.
If I didn’t have a day job, I’d definitely be a starving artist.
For my 300th blog post, I’ve decided to give my readers a peek behind the curtain that is my mind. What are these stories that I’m so excited about? What wild ideas do I hope to bank my future on? What were the tales I doodled into my notebook in middle school? I’m not going to tell you every single story I’m working on – and definitely not the super important ones I hope to publish someday – but here are 6 different ideas I’ve had and cultivated over the years. Some of them are from my childhood, and only ever existed in my fevered mind. Some are actually stories I’ve written and published online, and you can read for yourself if you’re so interested.
Some are wholly original, and some are based around my favorite movies and video games from pop culture. I hope you enjoy the visit.
George Takei is Our New Nerd King
Some of you may be following the sci-fi spat between William Shatner and Carrie Fisher, or respectively, Capt. Kirk from Star Trek and Princess Leia from Star Wars. I haven’t been, because I don’t like to indulge in celebrity BS. A new chapter of the spat has unfolded, however, one that I have to share. But to set the scene, Shatner started the whole mess in an interview by saying Star Wars was derivative of Star Trek. Then Carrie Fisher did her own interview refuting him. Then Shatner made a personal video message to Fisher. Good-natured snarky fun was hard by all.
Well Star Trek’s George Takei has stepped forward to try and broker peace in a video that must be viewed by all science fiction fans.
The Henchman-4-Hire hereby pledges himself to George Takei’s cause! We must unite, my brothers and sisters in nerd!
Christmas elves, lightsabers and holiday cheer 4 Hire
The elves of Father Christmas bring a bit of holiday magic to the season. And by holiday magic, I mean the Force. But is hokey religion any match for a good blaster? Find out!
Henchman-4-Hire 