Book Review: Marvel Comics' hardcover reissue of 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace'

(C) 2016 Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Ltd. Cover art by Mike Mayhew

In May of 1999, Dark Horse Comics (which then had the license to publish Star Wars comics) released Issue No. 1 of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Written by Henry Gilroy and illustrated by Rodolfo Damaggio (with inks by the late Al Williamson, who had worked on the syndicated newspaper Star Wars comic strip with Archie Goodwin, plus Marvel's adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi). the first of four issues covered the first 30 minutes or so of George Lucas's 1999 space-fantasy film. 


Later that year, Dark Horse collected all four issues in a trade paperback edition simply titled Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. 

Like most comic books based on the Star Wars movies, the four-issue series successfully taps into the spirit of The Phantom Menace, even though some of the events are moved around or compressed to fit the requirements of the printed page.


With the success of its "remastered" versions of its Classic Star Wars Trilogy comic book adaptations a year earlier, Marvel decided to reissue the Prequel Trilogy comics in the same hardcover format in the spring of 2016. For editorial unity and coherence, the three new books would be done in the same style (similar cover layouts and design) as the 2015 remastering of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. 

"It's an invasion army...."

The official comic book adaptation of the first chapter in the epic saga of Star Wars! Years before Luke Skywalker would clash with Darth Vader, turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. But when a pair of Jedi Knights - Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi - are dispatched to end the trade conflict that has gripped the galaxy, they make a surprising discovery: the "chosen one" destined to bring balance to the Force - a young boy named Anakin Skywalker! But this new hope may not last long when an ancient enemy returns to threaten the Jedi after centuries in hiding. As the Sith rise again, the small planet of Naboo finds itself in the middle of a power struggle for the ages. Can Queen Padmé Amidala save her people from invasion?  - back cover blurb

Set 32 years before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, this story takes place mostly on three planets - Coruscant, the capital of the Galactic Republic; Naboo, home to the eponymous humans and the amphibian Gungans; and Tatooine, a desert world where a nine-year-old slave named Anakin Skywalker lives with his mom, Shmi....and dreams of a life of adventure among the stars.

Gilroy, Damaggio, and Williamson follow the story told by Lucas in his screenplay fairly closely, even though they leave some scenes on the "cutting room floor" due to the constrains of the printed medium. The 10-minute-long podrace sequence is condensed to fit into a few pages, and a few of the scenes that feature R2-D2 and C-3PO were also left out for pacing purposes.

My Take

In sharp contrast to the 2015 remasters of the original Star Wars Trilogy, the reissue of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace doesn't tinker with the inks by the legendary Al Williamson or the coloring by Dave Nestelle. The style and renderings of the 1999 Dark Horse Comics edition were preserved in their original form; there wasn't any need to give them a 2016 "facelift" by SotoColor, the New York-based colorist who redid the coloring on the older comics from the 1970s and early 1980s.

Even though the classic Trilogy is my favorite set of Star Wars films, I'm not a Prequel Trilogy hater. I enjoyed Episode I - The Phantom Menace when it premiered in May of 1999, and I also enjoyed its print adaptations - the Terry Brooks novelization and this comic book adaptation - when they were published.

I have the 1999 trade paperback edition by Dark Horse, and the content is essentially the same as the material in this hardcover version. Collection editor Mark D. Beazley made some attempts to make this edition visually consistent with the 2015 remasters of the Classic Trilogy, such as the inclusion of the movies' "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" card, similar title page layouts, and a gallery of artwork that includes the original Dark Horse Comics cover art, the "photo variant" covers, and the conceptual designs and final art by Mike Mayhew for the cover of this re-issue.

The features that I wish Marvel had reprised from the 2015 "remasters" but didn't are the introductions by cast members from the various films. I liked reading the reminiscences by Peter Mayhew, Billy Dee Williams, and Warwick Davis and seeing what they thought about both the films they co-starred in and the comic books based on them. Alas, there are no Prequel Trilogy actors' essays in any of the three volumes in this series. Pity, because I would have liked to see what Ewan McGregor, Ahmed Best, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, or Ian McDiarmid had to say about working with George Lucas and their feelings about the Prequel Trilogy.

That aside, I think that this book makes a fine addition to any Star Wars collector's library. The book is more durable than its softcover predecessor, and it does have fantastic artwork.