The Star Wars franchise doesn't really do it for me. It never has, and it most likely never will. I don't dislike it, I've just never seen what the fuss was all about. However, the franchise is such a huge part of cinema and science fiction that even I can name a good handful of the characters, recognize some of the iconic outfits, and a few of the most quotable lines. Star Wars is everywhere and its effects on science fiction and cinema are undeniable. So, I was quite happy to check out Star Wars Insider: Icons of the Galaxy, even with the understanding that as a "Best of" some of this material would be a bit older.
There is a little bit of everything in this book, and I think that Star Wars fans will be delighted at how every character that doesn't get quite as much attention as Luke does gets his or her moment in the spotlight. Unsurprisingly, given the still-recent feeling passage of Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia, Leia is the first focus of Star Wars Insider: Icons of the Galaxy, with articles detailing the role she played in the story, and how important she really was. However, from Lando Calrissian to C3PO to Bobba Fett and everyone in between, it's made clear that there was a lot more than goes into the roles than what you might have expected.
The first thing that struck me was how inclusive this was. For someone who had no clue exactly how widespread the universe was, I was surprised to find articles tying together narratives that extended outside the movies to comic books and novels. There was also a bit of time spent talking about things like the making of the movie posters for the films, as well as some of the memorabilia that is or could have been. There's an excerpt from Roger Christian's book Cinema Alchemist, about the creation of the light saber. The pictures - mostly stills from the movies in the beginning - were a treat that were liberally displayed throughout the film.
Actually, a large section of Icons of the Galaxy is devoted to the Star Wars style, and I thought that was fascinating as well. I think I've always had a bit of a fascination with how costuming gets accomplished on movie sets. This contains everything from pencil sketches to photographs of the actors half in their suits to information on how certain pieces were made. (I liked learned how they made Chewbacca's suit.)
My favorite pieces were the ones with Warwick Davis, Kenny Baker, and Ben Mendelsohn. The conditions that Davis and Baker worked under sounded absolutely miserable, and yet they were still able to bring us adorable characters. Major props for that! With Mendelsohn, I just enjoyed that his piece gave us a good glimpse into the actor's thoughts about the character he played and the actions that were taken. It felt like he put a lot of thought into his character, and I appreciated that. Oh, and Anthony Daniels, of C3PO fame, had a wonderful feature as well.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Titan comics for review consideration.
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Top reviews from other countries
Matt M
Yet another amazing Star Wars book that is a must for any ...
Reviewed in Canada on March 2, 2018
Dacrol
Material muy interesante relacionaod con vestuario y props
Reviewed in Spain on January 14, 2019