While there were a fair number of good dramatic stories in “Star Wars Tales” (1999-2005), the series’ most notable contribution to the franchise was its comedy stories, particularly those from Kevin Rubio. His 1978 lawsuit against “Battlestar Galactica” notwithstanding, George Lucas has traditionally been open to fans doing their own works inspired by “Star Wars,” realizing that most of them are done out of love and it’s essentially free advertising. Lucasfilm even hands out annual Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards.
Rubio’s “Troops” (1997), which followed Tatooine stormtroopers in the style of a “Cops” episode, was a groundbreaking fan film, and “Star Wars Tales” then broke new ground by bringing him into the franchise on an official basis. Rubio wrote four “Tales” yarns before going on to write the “Tag & Bink” comics, and even pen an episode of “The Clone Wars” (Season 1’s “Bombad Jedi”), but “Tales” was the launching pad for him and other “Star Wars” scribes and illustrators with a funny bone.
Here is my countdown of the 10 best comedic stories in “Tales”:
10. “Failing Up with Jar Jar Binks” (Issue 20, written by Peter Bagge) – This is Jar Jar – during his period as a Naboo representative in the Senate — dialed up to 11, as his eyes pop and his head spins when aides try to explain political concepts such as taxation. From the same issue, I give a nod to Tony Millionaire’s “George R. Binks” (Jar Jar’s frustrated dad), because I think the title is funny.
9. “Skreej” (10, Mike Kennedy) – The “Return of the Jedi” novelization tells us that Lando used the alias Tamtel Skreej in order to land the skiff guard job. Francisco Ruiz Vellasco’s cartoony art gives us the image of an actual Skreej who looks kind of like Lando, just shorter and fatter. When the real Skreej threatens to blow Lando’s cover, Lando pushes him into a rancor pit.
8. “Lunch Break” (16, Jonathan Adams) – As stormtroopers talk like American cubicle workers on their breaks, we get a peek inside the mind of Darth Vader via his journal. It turns out he’s a lonely, work-centered man who just wants to be liked by his employees. The lump-in-your-throat kicker is when Darth thinks his stormtroopers are throwing a birthday party for him, but nope: A trooper happens to share the same birthday.
7. “A Wookiee Scorned!” (10, Jason Hall) – As Han starts spending more time with Leia in the days after “Return of the Jedi,” Chewie is the snubbed best friend. The snort-worthy highlight is Christina Chen’s panel depicting Chewie in a “Kiss the Chef” apron, presiding over a huge feast he prepared for his distracted buddy.
6. “The Revenge of Tag & Bink” (12, Kevin Rubio) – It’s hard not to giggle at Rick Zombo’s panels of hapless good-natured stormtroopers Tag and Bink tied to a stick that’s jammed in the Sarlacc’s craw as the various thugs from Jabba’s entourage go screaming past them.
5. “Skippy the Jedi Droid” (1, Peter David) – This tale not only brought parody to “Star Wars” comics for the first time, but it set the bar fairly high. R5-D4, “the red one” as Uncle Owen calls him, is reimagined as being Force sensitive and the central cog to the galaxy-shaping events of “A New Hope.”
4. “The Emperor’s Court” (14, Hall) – In this “People’s Court” riff, Han Solo is on trial for the murder of Greedo. It soon becomes clear that this is a parody of the controversy raised by the 1997 “Star Wars Special Edition” change that finds Greedo squeezing off a blaster bolt before Han guns him down through the tabletop. A highlight is the repeated panels of Han’s head moving “Back, and to the right,” a parody of “JFK” that “Seinfeld” fans will also recognize.
3. “The Princess Leia Diaries” (11, Hall) – Even having not seen “The Princess Diaries,” it’s easy to tell that Hall is following that Disney film’s plot of a gawky kid learning how to behave like a proper young woman, just inserting Princess Leia for Anne Hathaway. Artist Chris Brunner portrays Leia’s various pouting expressions impressively, considering that there wasn’t any reference material from the films, where Carrie Fisher always looks refined and proper. A highlight is the young princess dropping a water balloon on Grand Moff Tarkin’s head.
2. “Force Fiction” (7, Rubio) – Hall isn’t the only one who mashes up other movies and TV shows with “Star Wars,” as we see here when Rubio (who also did Issue 24’s “Fight Club” parody, “Fett Club”) logically links Samuel L. Jackson’s Mace Windu with his “Pulp Fiction” character. Mace and Yoda debate the meaning of the phrase “The Chosen One,” playing out a discussion that many fans engaged in throughout the run of the prequels. Artist Lucas Marangon is the ideal complement to Rubio due to the details in his backgrounds. The restaurant here includes Jar Jar Binks, George Lucas, Buzz Lightyear and Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, to name a few.
1. “A Death Star is Born” (4, Rubio) – When Darth Stewie asks Tarkin to get more estimates from contractors to cover the thermal exhaust port with plywood, it’s a highlight of “Family Guy’s” 2007 “A New Hope” parody. But Rubio and Marangon got there seven years earlier in this imagining of a budget meeting for the Death Star. The Emperor wonders if safety rails around the various bottomless pits would be too much to ask. Director of operations Tol Sivron says “It’s not too much to ask, as long as you don’t mind an overall budget increase of 36 percent.” The Emperor replies: “Oh, in that case, I’ll just be careful.” Along with quick little jokes like Tarkin choking not from Vader’s Force choke but rather because his coffee went down the wrong pipe, “A Death Star is Born” is a 12-page masterpiece that will especially be appreciated by people who know the film inside and out.