Star Wars Omnibus: Wild Space, Vol. 1

Star Wars Omnibus #28

by Mike W. Barr, Alan Moore, John Tartaglione

This wild omnibus features rare and previously uncollected stories from UK publications, toy pack-ins, cereal boxes, Star Wars Kids magazine, and even issues that were originally published in 3-D! A treasure trove of unexpected gems for the casual Star Wars fan - and a completist's dream - this volume contains work from some of comics' most famous writers and artists, including Alan Moore, Chris Claremont, Archie Goodwin, Walt Simonson, and Alan Davis, plus stories featuring the greatest heroes and villains of Star Wars! Stories you never knew existed - that you can't live without!

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Fiction, Marvel

454 pages, Paperback

First published May 29, 2013

About the author

Mike W. Barr is an American writer of comic books, and mystery, and science fiction novels. Barr's debut as a comics professional came in DC Comics' Detective Comics #444 (Dec. 1974-Jan. 1975), for which he wrote an 8-page back-up mystery feature starring the Elongated Man. Another Elongated Man story followed in Detective Comics #453 (November 1975). He wrote text articles and editorial replies in letter columns for the next few years. By mid-1980 he was writing regularly for both DC and Marvel, including stories for Marvel Team-Up, Mystery in Space, Green Lantern, and various Batman titles.

Legion of Super-Heroes #277 (July 1981) saw him take on editorial duties at DC, while writing issues of DC's Star Trek comic, for whom he created the native American character Ensign Bearclaw and a pacifist Klingon named Konom. In December 1982, he and artist Brian Bolland began Camelot 3000, a 12 issue limited series that was one of DC Comics' first direct market projects. In August 1983, Barr created what may well be his most enduring work, the monthly title Batman and the Outsiders with art by Jim Aparo. Barr wrote every issue of the original series, and its Baxter paper spinoff, The Outsiders.

His other comics work includes Mantra and Maze Agency as well as the 1987 OGN hardcover book Batman: Son of the Demon (with art by Jerry Bingham), proceeds from which reputedly "restored DC Comics to first place in sales after fifteen years." This title, and Barr's work on Batman with artist Alan Davis have been cited by Grant Morrison as key inspirations for his recent (2006) run on the Batman title.

In 2007, he wrote a two-part story for the pages of DC's JLA: Classified (#47-48, Jan-Feb 2008), returned to the Outsiders with Outsiders: Five of a Kind—Katana/Shazam #1 (Oct 2007), contributed to Tokyopop's Star Trek: The Manga, and relaunched Maze Agency at IDW Publishing. He has also scripted many of Bongo Comics' Simpsons titles, including a Christmas story for 2010.

In May 2010, the Invisible College Press published Barr's science fiction/fantasy novel, Majician/51, about the discoveries of a scientist working at Area 51.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a hit-or-miss collection of a bunch of odds and ends, including stories written for UK publications and toy companies. Of particular note are the five stories here written by ALAN FREAKIN' MOORE, which are also noteworthy because it shows how little Moore understood the Star Wars universe. He may be the master at deconstructing popular culture, but that means you have to know that culture. His stories show a clear misunderstanding of the force and the whole mythology around the universe.

This is a collection of curiosities, and not much else.

[kesseljunkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical Curio and Nostalgic Treat

Some of this I had never read before, and some of it I had. But it's a fun way to remember how naturally Star Wars fit the comics format like its pulp storytelling ancestors. The format of this omnibus is a positive in the sense that it's like finding an old comics stash someone forgot about. It's a negative in the sense that you have stories from a random grab bag of forgotten anthologies and mini comics that have a completely different vibe from anything else; its not so much a reading experience as a random assortment.

Still, worth reading for both old and young fans.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly from the days before the term continuity had any meaning.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of these the weekly stories were ok. The Chris Claremont ones were the best. The "Star Wars Kids" and others at the end were a bit disjointed and didn't flow well.

[tony dillard jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clocking in at 454 pages, there is a ton of adventures from a galaxy far, far away. However, if you happened to own Star Wars: The Marvel UK Collection already, then you already have over 250 pages of material already. If you're like me, you've also already read it as well.
Now you might think that being the case, I'll be selling this book. Or I'll be taking the UK Collection to the used book store. However, when it comes to the latter, there's still over 500 pages of material that wasn't published in this book. And when it comes to this omnibus, there's nearly 200 pages of stories that are darn near impossible on the wallet and wish list to locate easily.

Along with material previously printed in various British Star Wars publications, there's material from Star Wars #0, Star Wars 3-D, an American all-ages periodical called Star Wars Kids, and mini comics that were packaged with Kenner Shadows of the Empire action figures and Kellogg's breakfast cereals. Again, due to scarcity and exorbitant prices of the Star Wars action figure sets and Star Wars 3-D back issues alone, I really don't think I can complain about how things overlap. Besides, I didn't pay anywhere near the original MSRP of $100 for the UK Collection and I'm pretty sure I either got this book for my birthday or with trade credit.

If you're looking to get your hands on this out of print collection from Dark Horse Comics for a great deal- forget it! Amazon's cheapest print copy is priced at almost $65 right now. You could get a Kindle version for less than $20. However, if your a true old school comic collector, why on Earth would you want to go digital?

A lot of enjoyable Star Wars action that is a cheaper alternative to shopping for all the original material. However, this book in of itself isn't all that affordable on the back issue market these days either.

[Juanluis Díaznoriega · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars Wild Space is a collection of stories published in UK, some of them as advertising for some productos or toys. Mostly taking place between Episode IV and V, and the last of them between V and VI. It’s nice to see stories with Carmine Infantino art (As in the original SW Marvel comics), Alan Moore’s scripts and other recognized names in this collection. You have to acknowledge that this stories were printed before the continuity of the SW cannon had been stablished, so don’t expect much coherence with the original trilogy. A let down is that great part of the collection is printed in B&W.

[Clayton Barr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 2013 Dark Horse Star Wars Omnibus series, not the more recent years' Marvel omnibus series. This Wild Space omnibus features hard to find stories from the UK Star Wars Weekly series, which have been reprinted in the Marvel omnibuses, but also stories I had never seen before from mini-comics packed in the Shadows of the Empire toys, to Star Wars Kids magazine comics, and even one from the back of a cereal box! Also included, the Blackthorne Publishing Star Wars 3D comics (though not in 3D this time). A fine package!

[Mati · Rating 3 out of 5]

The compilation of short stories which were definitely something I would reread. The plot line was sometimes hard to find or it was plain stupid all I could think about was "does Leia have bra"? If you are hardcore Star Wars fan it is must have, but if you are not into old comics and typical EU stories skip this one.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Dark Horse omnibuses were released with the intention of collection stories that might otherwise fall out of print. This omnibus serves that purpose... but doesn't do much else for readers. The stories included in Wild Space Vol 1 are not great or memorable (even if a couple of them are fun and tie into Star Wars Missions). Alan Moore's attempts, unfortunately, are terrible.

[Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting reading early Alan Moore and Chris Claremont in Star Wars comics of all things. But there’s an awful lot of forgettable stuff around that.

[Jaime K · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This is a compilation of old Marvel comics as well as random Dark Horse and other stories. I did not include all of the stories in my review.


Star Wars 0: The Keepers World and Pizzazz #10-16
- The art was /okay/ but Leia's makeup makes her look evil.
-Luke, Leia and the droids land on an uninhabited planet after being pulled into an Imperial fleet. There, they find kids with odd powers.
- Then they make their way to the Akurig base where there are snow creatures and Rebel impersonators.


Weeklys: These are all in black and white, which isn't so bad, except the art is so bad (as it was in most of the old Marvel comics) that the characters look even worse....and sometimes even more evil. However, the landscapes were good.

Weekly #94-96
Before ANH, Han and Chewie take that ill-fated spice shipment from one of Jabba's men. It was a nifty story.

Weekly #97-99
The day after the Death Star, there are too many thoughts in Luke's head and he mindlessly makes his way into space.
But UGH why is Leia kissing everyone? It's just disturbing.

Weekly #104-106
Luke, Leia and the droids fly away from the Imperials and Leia recalls past shooting lessons and fights/battles. This leads into:

Weekly #107-115
- A world thought to be dead and abandoned happens to be just the opposite - and not [just] because of Imperials.
- Luke, Leia and a woman named Mici go to Alashan after they complete their own mission of taking a WIP ship of the Imperials.
- A truce between Imps on Alashan and the Rebels leads them to an underground city and aliens who hate intruders.


Empire Strikes Back #149
Different b&w art which is really neat looking. Luke is on a planet of skulls and nightmares.
I love the Christian notion of submitting oneself to the Force (God) and let it (Him) guide us in times of utter trouble.

Devilworlds #1 & #2
Random compilation that are non-canon and a bit too sci-fi (and less space fantasy) but still fun to read - especially the darker ones.

Star Wars: 3D #1-3
- Black & white (so not 3-D), the art was good.
- In the first, Han and Chewie bring Luke back to Tatooine to tie up loose ends.
- In the second, at the Yavin base, those in the Falcon realize the moon's been evacuated because the Imperials are there. At the rendezvous, Han suggests Hoth - an old smuggler's hideout.
- In the third, Luke and Leia go to Dantooine for supplies, and Luke encounters some weird Force vision.


Star Wars Kids: The art was so much fun!

Star Wars Kids: The Rebel Thief
Han and Chewie go on a treasure hunt in a section of Yavin IV to pay off debts. The end is a bit of a surprise.

Star Wars Kids: X-Wing Marks the Spot
The trio goes to find Voorhorian, the maker of X-Wings. Luke does some crazy Force and lightsaber stunts against Imperials. Vors is found.

Star Wars Kids: Imperial Spy
A spy's been sabotaging things, including the new X-Wing. Is it the Alderaanians, Han, or someone else?


Shadows of the Empire (Galoob) & (Ertl)
-Xizor, and some of the other art, looks odd.
- Vader sets a price on Luke's head while Dash Rendar tells Lando & Leia where Fett is

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvel Comics' Star Wars was the first comic I ever collected and one of Marvel's best selling titles of the late 70's. Other than the two or three novels published in that period, they were the only continuation of the story between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.

This book collects a number of stories originally published by Marvel outside of its main SW title, including stories from Pizazz magazine, and from the British Star Wars Weekly, which included stories not published in the US (or in some cases, published much later). These are similar to the main Marvel Star Wars, often written and drawn by the same people. And like the US comics, they run the gamut from exciting and creative to cheesy and cliched. The UK stories written by Alan Moore (!) are particularly notable: strange and creepy additions to the Star Wars universe, unmistakably Moore's work.

Beyond those two main sources, this volume also collects other oddball comic stories published in various places, like a 3D comic series and bonus comics that were included with toys or in cereal boxes.

The stories all show lot of enthusiasm, but at times the story quality is lacking. Some writers "got it" and some, not so much. You'll start to notice just how often Luke's ship gets hit by a "lucky shot" and crashes on a strange planet. We also see two different versions of what happened immediately after the Death Star was destroyed, and two conflicting versions of how Hoth was selected as the new Rebel base (I believe the Star Wars newspaper comic strip told a third version of that story).

For someone like myself, who has fond memories of that era, this is a fun, nostalgic look back. A mixture of solid, entertaining stories, with some that are not so great, but interesting for their novelty.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the greatest Star Wars comics, but we already knew this. Some of these stories are very rare and it is great that Darkhorse was able to collect them. The Omnibus collections are great and they really started to push them out more often. I wish they would have started earlier since there is little time left before the license goes back to Marvel.

[Memphis Evans]

Can anyone explain why only about half the pages in this book are in color?

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bad. Really bad. As in someone didn't proofread dialog bad. But it is more 1970s Star Wars!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the story about Lando becoming a guard for Jabba.