From: Dark Horse Publisher: Dark Horse Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Dark Horse Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 224 Publication Date: February 20, 2002
Product Description: Collecting the first four issues of the quarterly anthology smash sensation, Star Wars Tales contains thrilling stories featuring Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, Emperor Palpatine, C-3PO, R2-D2, Lando Calrissian and a cast of thousands! Tales explores every corner of the Star Wars galaxy and keeps readers coming back for more! Star Wars Tales Volume I is sure to delight fans both young and old!
Only one good story for the most part I was disappointed with this graphic novel. There was only really one good story, I thought and one comical one. The rest were just weird and made me think they were outside the Star Wars universe (though one can clearly see they used creatures familiar to that universe). But the whole feeling to the majority of the stories were so outside my field of Star Wars enjoyment. I'm glad I was able to get this used for a decent price because I would have been upset if I paid full price for it.
Variety of stories/Excellent artwork - Pricey Let's start with what this book comes down to: an over-priced comic book...but a good one! The quality of book itself, from the glossy sheen of the pages and the thickness of the paper tell the reader that this is well-made; it won't be falling apart anytime soon.
There are a variety of stories within, each from the point of view of a different artist and writer, giving the reader a sense that the next story is something unique and interesting.
Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone because even with Amazon's awesome prices, this series of comic book collections is still over-priced. When you finish reading it you'll realize that the stuble on your chin hasn't even STARTED to re-grow since you shaved last! In other words, it is a very short read for the price.
I thought I would delve into this "TALES" series, as it caught my eye at the nearest "giant bookstore," but after series two (2) I decided to stop and continue with the cheaper (and longer reads) $7.99 Star Wars novels.
Get yer Star War Fix Here! Other reviewers go over the stories in their reviews so let me simply say that as a fan of Star Wars since 1977, this compiled comic and the others do not dissappoint. They provide interesting glimpses into the galaxy far, far away beyond the movies. The quality of the stories and the artwork vary from tale to tale, but overall very good and I like the variety. And they are the perfect length for reading to my son at bed time. Win win situation! :oD
Recommended for fans of the franchise.
Great comic, but poor binding Great comic, some tales are very interesting, I loved especially 2 or 3 of them. However, I must say the binding it's not the best possible: I couldn't finish my comic the first time and it just fell apart. Globally, it's 4 star for me.
good... but bad (4 for Star Wars fans) These types of anthologies can sometimes be a mixed bag. The stories here range from great to bad, but thankfully never reach terrible. Very few of them get to the excellent stage either.
The book suffers from bizarre choice of flow, where sometimes one story ends on the left page where another picks up on the right, without any aesthetic insertion so as to break the stories up a bit for a smoother read. The covers for the most part are just at the back of the book, and I don't see why they couldn't have just inserted them between the stories, since now we just have to go on the difference of artwork between pages or a clumsy 'the end' bubble ridden in the bottom corner.
This problem is just multiplied when stories seem to end suddenly or without much warning, or its only just gotten intriguing and ends, leaving you tantalised but still hungry.
At times the slick post 90s artwork really kills the story, the Jar-jar Binks story being a prime example where it is near impossible to read because of its extremely cluttered artwork.
The comedy stories are a highlight, particularly the Moff Tarkin piece which references all of the bizarre film discrepancies fans have poked fun at for years (no handrails on the deathstar?), and was a real joy to pick out all of the in-jokes. Theres also a lot of great expanded universe stuff here, which is a real joy for fans (theres even a pretty obscure reference to the old Dark Forces videogame, which was nice to see, and I always like Mara Jade stories).
Another review mentioned the poor binding, and I would have to agree that some of the volumes I saw were actually close to coming un-stuck, but they'll survive for a good two-dozen reads at least.
For die-hard fans of Star Wars and the EU, this would have to be a 4 star recommendeded, but as a comic of its own quality, it rates a 3 and probably not worth the time of those who don't know much about Star Wars, or the EU. I probably fit between the two, being a former Star Wars freak, but it was still satisfying read, and I will pick up another volume down the track.
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