Billed as ten tales from the Revenge of the Sith concept artists, Star Wars Visionaries could also be seen as Star Wars Tales vol 7 (since volumes 1-6 collect that entire comic book run). Because of the nature of this volume coming from concept artists, at times this TPB is a little more focused on the pictures than on telling a story – but is there enough worthwhile material within to be worth a read. Click on the link to check out my entire review.

The book starts with Old Wounds, a story set 3 years after Revenge of the Sith. As Owen Lars and the toddler Luke watch the setting suns on Tatooine, a strange figure approaches on the horizon. When Owen attempts to defend himself, his gun is lifted out of his hands by the power of the force. We learn that this hooded creature has been tracking Obi-Wan for years – and has only just now caught up with him by tracking down the son of Anakin Skywalker. And when Obi-Wan appears to defend Luke – the hooded figure reveals himself as a half cybernetic Darth Maul. The fight that follows is well choreographed, though Owen does a fine job in ultimately ending the duel and sending Obi-Wan on his way. It’s an enjoyable start to the book, even if the return of Maul is getting to be a little trite at this point.

The Artist of Naboo is an odd little story of an artist who probably has some mild Force perception but was never identified as such. Mostly the story is told through the watercolor art style, as we’re told he painted suns and moons until the day he saw Padme in Theed. From that day on, he painted dark pictures of Padme and her twins – not knowing what it all meant until he painted a place he recognized. He sets out to meet his destiny there – and I’ll leave you to discover the rest. The art was of a very different style in this one, though very beautiful. I also liked the sun/moon becoming twins thing – it made for an interesting parallel.

Next comes Wat Tambor and the Quest for the Sacred Eye of the Albino Cyclops – what a title. I’ll be honest – I didn’t really understand this story, and I hated the art. It’s a very surreal style for a very surreal story – where Wat Tambor is sent on some kind of inner journey to get a replacement eye for himself. Best skipped and one of the worst in the book.

Sithisis on the other hand, has a really great art style even if the plot is also a little on the surreal side. This would be the story for someone who doesn’t know Palpatine is the Emporer/Darth Sidious – kind of a mini bridge story to be read just before Revenge of the Sith. It starts with Darth Sidious in a chair like Vader’s from The Empire Strikes back – sitting before a crystal. Using Sith alchemy, he creatures and visions from this crystal – and we see the reactions from some of the heroes from the Saga (similar to how Obi-Wan knew the fate of Alderaan in ANH) – as he gains power. And the story ends showing his transformation into Palpatine – all without ever using a single word. It’s a powerful tale actually, very well done and a highlight of the book.

But the best story of the volume is found next, called Entrenched. I’m really not sure I even would have thought another story about Hoth could be interesting – boy was I wrong. The story here is mostly told through a letter written by a Rebel trooper to his mother. As we read the letter, we see him on the ground defending Echo base from the Imperial invasion – helping to defend the transports as they retreat. There are even a few moments from the movie that are more fully explained by reading this story – and the twist at the end where we discover who is mother is, is not to be missed. A powerful story, well written and integrated into the existing cannon – and fantastically drawn – this one alone is worth the price of admission.

I don’t really get The Forth Precept. It starts out looking pretty interesting – like two Jedi duelers lining up in protective armor – but then each page just seems to be showing them fighting in various locales. It ends showing what looks like a galactic big bang, and the two characters with Alpha and Omega like symbols near them. Is this all supposed to be representational of the never-ending fight between light and dark from the dawn of time until the end – damned if I know. The art is nice, but I’ve never been good with this representational type stuff (and concept artists seem to love it).

Prototypes delves into the origins of Durge and Master Jaing – how they got their armor and who they first fought (Mandalorians). I was confused by this story, not helped by the fact that it seems to me the point of the end is to set up a ‘war between Mandalorians and Sith’ that never emerges. The art was only ok – for me the best part was seeing a team of Mandalorians working together to take down these cybernetic men.

Deep Forest is the story of how the Separatists attempted to get the Wookies to come over to their side in the war – and completely fail because they try to coerce the result they desire and it ends in tragedy. I liked the art here, and use of proto-type probe droids, not to mention the cameo of General Grievous – but considering how little story there is, it’s probably too many pages long.

Celestia Galactica Photografica is not a story at all. It’s a collection of drawings showing various scenes from the Galaxy Far Away – some of which were probably concept drawings from Revenge of the Sith, some of which obviously were not. They’re all beautifully done – from Alderaanian Refugees to the Death Star Drydock, a Jedi Museum, a green Coruscant that makes me think of a post Vong invasion world, and a bridgeworld that might have been a location for the film. There may be no story, but the art doesn’t need it.

And it ends with The Eyes of a Revolution, the origin of General Grievous. I really wanted to like this story, as I love the character – but things are left a little too murky for my taste. The Sith set up Grievous to be nearly killed so that they could rebuild him as a weapon they could use – and they made it look like the Jedi did it so he would desire revenge. We see how Grievous got his body and some explanation for his prowess – but ultimately it didn’t give me quite enough. The art was of a more realistic style throughout, with a near photo level of drawing.

I think the last tale is a symptom of an issue through most of the book – while it’s great that the artists were given a chance to show their stuff – it’s also obvious in many cases that they are not storytellers. Throughout the book there is artwork done by various artists – concept art from Revenge of the Sith for the most part, although there are some “Join the Imperial Forces” posters as well. In the introduction we’re told that these artists had lots of interesting ideas that ultimately couldn’t be used in RotS – so the artists were given a chance to make the concepts work in other parts of the saga. Guessing what was a concept is part of the fun of the book. I imagine the cybernetic Maul was an early take on Grievous, and the drop pods on Hoth show both AT-ATs and Turbo Tanks being discharged – so I assume the pod was drawn up for battles in RotS but just couldn’t be added in. Even bridgeworld, which seems to have both concept art as a world and it’s own destruction at the hands of a Star Destroyer type craft seems to have been an early location concept (and ripe for use in the EU). So visually there’s lots to like, but from a purely story driven perspective, there’s only a handful of worthy tales in this volume (though the Hoth one truly is worthwhile). You’ll have to decide on your own if the pluses outweigh the negatives on this one – though I don’t regret reading it for myself.