As far as I know all the comics, novelisations, etc are proofread by Lucasfilm to ensure that they don't contradict enything that appears in any of the existing or upcoming films, but I don't think it works in reverse. The comics have no impact on the continuity of the films.
basically, yeah. there are two levels of canon in SW: movie canon and expanded universe (EU) canon. everything published in the EU is considered to be part of EU continuity, and although there are some apparent contradictions that float up from time to time, it's actually kept on a pretty tight leash. obviously, though, the movies trump everything, and the EU sort of has to roll with the punches when new movies come out.
Lucas basically tries to honor EU continuity whenever he can, but in some cases he runs roughshod all over things and EU folks have to scramble to keep things in order. so far, things are holding together for the most part, with a few problem areas like Boba Fett's new origin as of Episode II still needing re-working, and EU people are much more integrated into the Lucasfilm orbit than they used to be and Lucasfilm Licensing (LFL) keeping a much tighter rein on things and keeping communication channels open and busy to avoid screw-ups.
right now, that's working most solidly with the Clone Wars. Episode II ends with the first battle of the Clone Wars, and Episode III will begin with the last major battle, basically bookending an era which is being handled entirely in the EU, in novels, games, the cartoon micro-series, and the comics.
basically, the gap between movies is 3 years in real life, and also 3 years in-universe, and LFL, Dark Horse, Del Rey, and everyone else have essentially planned everything out to have the Clone Wars unfold from point A to point B, seamlessly and in as close to real time as production issues allow. the idea is that you walk out of the theater, pick up the comics, novels, etc, and work you way through, putting down the last bridge novel or comic issue, and heading to the theater to pick up write where you left off.
it's working really well so far, mostly because the prequel-era EU sources, especially the comics, had already built up a really solid background during the time between episodes I and II, and so the war storylines are basically tearing through a cast of characters which was developed in a time of relative peace.
The problem with the Star Wars comics is that they aren't about characters I give a damn about. Neither does anyone else. To say that no one cares because they are licensed ignores the fact that Dark Empire I and II got a LOT of attention, sales and fan acclaim.
well, sort of. Dark Empire sold really well, but it's loathed and mocked by most of the fanbase, with the exception of a small, vocal minority, simply because the Clone Emperor storyline, complete with its ever-more-goofy superweapons and the resurrection of Boba Fett, is such utter shit, though the art is admittedly fantastic. it's one of the worst SW stories ever written, IMHO and in the opinions of many others.
to a large extent, it's emblematic of everything that's ever been wrong with the EU: shameless attempts to recycle old villains and out-Death Star the Death Star, and counting on brand loyalty and loyalty to the established characters from the original trilogy (OT) to move the book. it's lazy, and it basically pisses away the great story potential of the SW universe in a shameless attempt to milk fanboys for money.
It's that we don't want to read about Majoleiie Darkejeooo and his troubles. We want to read about the characters from the first three movies, and when they have comics about THEM, they sell.
well, to a certain extent, that may be true, but if so, that's a shame, because, frankly, most of the best stories in the EU do not focus primarily on the OT characters. i mean, i don't really think The X-Men would continue to have any sort of relevance if it had only focused on the original 5 members exclusively, and hadn't continued to develop its world and its cast of characters beyond that, and i'd hate to see SW reduced to the continuing adventures of an ever-less-interesting Luke Skywalker.
the problem, admittedly, is sorting through all the crap to get to the good shit, especially when the amount of crap is pretty high (though not as high as it used to be).
right now, the Clone Wars are the best thing happening, especially in terms of comics. basically, the Clone Wars boil down to this:
the stories focus primarily on the wide cast of prequel-era Jedi, who are leading the Republic's war against the Separatists. however, the whole war is a sham: both sides are basically being manipulated into annhilating each other by the future Emperor Palpatine.
moreover, the Jedi are in a terrible predicament. they are fighting the Separatists to keep together the Republic which they've served for 25,000, and to protect the galaxy from the Separatist leader Count Dooku, whom they know has become a Sith Lord. clearly, they can't let a dark sider conquer the galaxy - that's their whole purpose. also, the upper ranks of the Separatist hierarchy is dominated by various brutal and exploitative corporate factions.
however, the Separatists have a lot of legitimate grievances against the Republic. it's bloated and stagnant and collapsing in upon itself. it's riddled with inefficiencies, corruption, and abuse of privelege. many of the poorer worlds in the backwaters have been totally locked out of the corridors of power by the elite, and have never gotten much of anything out of being a member of the Republic, which is too overstretched to extend protection and services to all the member worlds it demands loyalty from. as such, the Separatist movement is legitimately popular on many worlds, and Dooku is widely regarded as a liberator, which to no small extent, he really is.
this frequently leaves the Jedi in the position of being forced by strategic leading brutal reconquests of worlds and imposing Loyalist governments on them which they don't want. this does nothing to help their already not-so-good reputation, which is tinged with basically legitimate resentment at this weird monastic order of lightsaber-wielding superpeople who steal babies and have taken it upon themselves to decide what's best for everyone else from the top of their Ivory Tower.
plus, the very act of waging war poses difficulties for people trying to hold true to the Jedi philosophy of respect for life. the war is really brutal, and they're basically leading a massive slave army of clones with no respect for anyone's life, including their own. they're constantly forced into moral dilemmas weighing the tactical and strategic requirements of war against their own need to struggle with the Dark Side. there are rebel factions within the Jedi Order, both those who refuse to join the war effort and a few who actively support the other side (which also poses issues for the Council in trying to respect a certain level of freedom of conscience).
basically, it's a war story where the main characters are fighting a war or extremely dubious morality while trying to reconcile that with a set of philosophical beliefs that place a high value on nonviolence, while at the same time the nooses their real enemy (the future Emperor) has placed around their necks continue to tighten. they're getting fucked from all sides, basically, and they don't even really know how badly even as the walls close in on them. they're basically flailing in the dark, realizing how badly botched things have gotten but having no idea how they got that way and having no idea how to fix it.
of course, we know that they're all doomed because we've seen the OT and none of them except Obi-Wan and Yoda are in it.
and, as i said above, these aren't just random characters. there are several years' worth of stories from the prewar era, fleshing out their backgrounds and peacetime struggles with their own issues as well as the shadowy forces operating all around them.
it all makes for very dark, paranoid, good, solid character-driven drama. |
