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Welcome
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Nathaniel Reed's
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| :: A trilogy of fan-fic set after Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and inspired by George Lucas' historical draft concepts :: |
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| June 2011 |
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Escaping Kessel !
26th June 2011 |
| Last month I presented artwork showing Luke climbing down into the Millennium Falcon's lower gunport ; I also recounted the creative brain-storming I felt was necessary to provide a logical solution to the access to and orientation within the gunports. |
| This time I've created an illustration a little further along in this sequence of the story. Luke is now targetting the canyon walls of Kessel's bungle range in an attempt to swiftly and decisively shake off the pursuing TIE fighters. Drawing on his ally, the Force, he fires the gunnery yoke... |
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| A little earlier in the action, Luke and his friends find themselves pinned down by enemy fire in the junkyard outside the Hutt castle that's now been requisitioned by the Imperials, who are led by Commander Kane. The situation is dire, for although King Oxus and his niece Princess Alana Seren have been boldly rescued, as have Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian, our heroes are surrounded by stormtroopers, who are steadily closing in ! |
| Suddenly, a low roar is heard above their heads ! Looking up, they see the familiar silhouette of the Millennium Falcon above them. The battered-looking freighter unleashes a surprisingly devastating volley of covering fire that effectively but briefly provides a respite for our stricken warriors. |
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| Luke quickly senses that the mysterious pilots are the droids acting in unison. Han is petulantly indignant that the two robots are flying his ship, but Leia gives a sharp retort that they are their ticket out of there ! Amidst the blowing dust cloud, his wife turns for the open boarding ramp, and leads Oxus and Alana on board. |
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| You can see the VE artwork in the 'Kessel' art gallery as well as in the online illustrated story, and you can discuss this in the forum here ! |
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| The official StarWars.com website recently unveiled further details about J.W.Rinzler's next massive tome, 'The Production Blueprints'. The publisher's accompanying website reveals snapshots from the book, from freshly restored and scanned technical drawings to concept sketches and on-set photos to anecdotal interviews. It does indeed look like a lovely book, an insight into an integral chapter in the movie-making aspect of the Saga...... but this large-scale cloth-bound boxed limited edition opus is really far too expensive for the ordinary fan to enjoy. At $500 / £300, one wonders to whom it will be marketed. |
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| Finally, you may have noticed a slight re-design to this editorial page. Back in the misty days of pre-production for Episode 1 : The Phantom Menace, Roderick Vonhögen ran a fan forum for considered and thought-provoking discussion about all things Star Wars and the Prequels in particular. For this reason - I think ! - as well as the fact that it was one of the first such forums, it became very popular. Both myself and Scott, the co-creators of the Sequel Trilogy, were drawn to the forum. With rudimentary Photoshop and Flash skills, Roderick started illustrating the story for TPM based on the rumours that were appearing at the time. This grew into the virtualedition.com, and it even attracted some inquisitive attention from LFL, especially when Roderick was illustrating the podrace - with a little help from me ! However, with Roderick's life and studies devoted to the Catholic Church demanding more and more of his time, he was forced to let the VE slip, and the .com domain was not renewed. |
| Wanting to preserve the uniqueness of the Virtual Edition, I registered the .net domain, and henceforth carried on the good work of illustrating Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. |
| After 2005, Scott and I discussed the possible story trends that could continue into a Sequel Trilogy, and we resolved to write and illustrate the ensuing story, using the VE.net to present it. I elected to retain Roderick's name and presence as a grateful nod to all his hard work in originating the VE project in the first place. |
| In April of this year, I emailed Roderick Vonhögen and asked him if he would mind me taking fuller ownership of the Virtual Edition. He was more than happy for me to remove his name, thanked me for my hard work in perservering with this fan enterprise, and wished me well in continuing the endeavour. |
| To mark this 'changeover', Scott and I have produced new logos for the site, and I present the chosen one as a header to the editorial above. The other logos can be seen in the main portal page for the Sequel Trilogy sub-site. |
| Nathaniel Reed, 26th June 2011 |
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