Amanda's trip to a galaxy far, far away

Let's face it: if you've been alive and old enough to be fully cognisant of what's been going on around you since May 25th, 1977, you know what an entertainment and cultural juggernaut the Star Wars franchise was and is. Even some thirty-four years after the release of the first movie, the Star Wars train just keeps on a-rollin' and one of the more interesting additions to the vast legion of books on the subject is Abrams ComicArts' Star Wars Art: Comics, a gorgeous hardcover compendium of artwork depicting the people, places, and neat stuff found in George Lucas' galaxy far, far away. Loaded to the rafters with art by, among many others, Al Williamson, Howard Chaykin, Adam Hughes, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave Dorman, and many more—as well as new work created exclusively for this book by over 20 renowned artists, John Cassaday, Sam Kieth, Mike Mignola, Paul Pope, Frank Quitely, Jim Steranko, and other comics superstars, it's an Imperial Star Destroyer's-worth of interpretations of that wildly diverse space-scape.

Oh, and did I mention that our girl Amanda Conner was asked to contribute?

Yes, A.C. whipped out her pencils — I wanted to see her etch it with a lightsaber, but such was not meant to be — and drew an evocative, silent two-page narrative that traces Princess Leia's fond memories of growing up on her cruelly destroyed homeworld of Alderaan, following her from childhood up through the tragedy, and onward to her now-legendary role as a hard-as-nails fighter for galactic freedom. It's powerful stuff, as you can see for yourself below:


Awesome, right? Go here for an illuminating review of the book, and if after reading that you somehow need more convincing that the book rules, check out this trailer (in which A.C.'s art shows up at the 4:20 mark!):



So, enough shilly-shallying! You know you want to have this bad boy on your coffee table, so click here to order.

(A brief aside from your humble administrator: When not blogging like a man obsessed, I collect and read a ton of books and many of the art volumes by Abrams ComicArts have a place of honor on my shelves. Abrams puts out a truly spectacular product that's everything the fan of a given book's subject of focus would possibly want to see in a printed edition, so if you see their brand on the spine you can be assured of the highest quality in printing, paper, overall package and content. I've had the opportunity to peruse Star Wars Art: Comics at length and it's friggin' stunning.)