Star Wars: Tales, Vol. 1

Star Wars: Tales #1

by Dave Land (Editor), Peter David, Dave Cooper (Illustrator)

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!

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

220 pages, Paperback

First published February 18, 2002

Reviews

[Nat · Rating 1 out of 5]

meh... Star Wars isn't really my thing.

[Kelly Lynn Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series that, like "Infinities", explores "what if?" It allows the authors and artists some license to be creative without having to worry about continuity. There are some truly moving stories in "Tales," such as the one about the stormtrooper who has to take point when they board the Tantive IV, and the Darth Vader vs. Darth Maul duel, and the story that shows Vader with 3PO on Cloud City during "Empire".

[Drew Ck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting SW comic with several interesting tales, including the tale of R5 the Jedi droid!

[Jaime K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of these stories are mediocre. Having everything not in chronological order annoys me less now than it used to, but I still don't like it.

"Extinction" is about Vader and Mara Jade. I don't like some of the art and how it focused on certain things because I couldn't tell who or what we were looking at. They're looking for the Dark Woman, and the end is interesting.

"Senshi" is a single image that made me laugh

"Life, Death, and the Living Force" is a disappointing shot of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan is self-serving and haughty, even more caustic against others ("this non-entity") than in TPM. Qui-Gon shows how even "evil" or natural acts can be treated with kindness. Random mythical creatures are brought up. The art is great. The story is near-pointless.

"Skippy the Jedi Droid" is a cute TALE about a droid in the movies with the Force.

"Mara Jade: A Night on the Town" is about Mara and Madine and then I got confused with a lot of things.

"Routine" is pre-ANH with Han smuggling for Mako.

"Incident at Horn Station" is a very interesting story of a Jedi versus an outlaw.

"Stop That Jawa!" includes some known information on the Max Rebo Band and then a little side jaunt. And a lost van. I didn't like the van piece, but whatever.

"The Death of Captain Tarpals" pertains to Jar Jar being the death of Tarpals with his shenanigans. We see Jar Jar being banished here.

"Deal with a Demon" is about Villie. Oh, Villie...

"Lady Luck" is how Lando got Cloud City. I like that it shows how corrupt leaders can be ousted by their people.

"Three Against the Galaxy" is a neat focus on one of Jabba's Gamorrean's after his death. He saves a woman named Arista from being killed by her uncle. Then the story falls to the wayside, where it is too fast-paced and the writing becomes awkward.

"Moment of Doubt" is about Vader and some assassin. The story was quite odd and I didn't care for it, but the art and paneling is AWESOME.

"A Death Star Is Born" is such a silly story! Tarkin, Vader, and Palps meet with some Death Star engineers about the station's name and some of it's specs.

"Spare Parts" is weird.

"Sand Blasted" is about a dark trooper bursting into a Rebel ship on Talay. The ship crashes on Tatooine where a few years later some of Jabba's swoop gang come across it...and the dark trooper. They save a Jawa and some craziness ensues.

[Druss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixed bag. Didn’t read one, Jar Jar. Rest on the whole strong. Some continuity

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Various stories throughout the Star Wars timeline, not only the Skywalker era but from the Old Republic era too, some good, some mediocre some forgettable.

[Jedi Sunni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extinction:

This was a great start to Star Wars Tales. I love the art work done on dark woman. She looks elegant, regal and powerful, but also aged and weathered. The dialogue stood out to me as well. I really enjoyed this story. My rating for this story is 4.9 out of 5.0. Great story!

Life, Death and the Living Force:

This story was very spiritual, which allowed me to connect with the subject matter very well. The art was was not as smooth as I would have liked but this did dig a little deeper into who the Jedi are. My rating for this story is a 3.8 out of 5.0.

Skippy the Jedi Droid:

Talk about unique, I thought this was an magnificent story that really appealed to my sense of humor. I don't want to say to much being careful not to spoil this gem. My rating for this story is a 4.8 out of 5.0.

Mara Jade: A night on the town

Kind of a slow start but really picked up towards the end of the story. Just to think one of the rebel allience greatest almost lost their life. The ending made this story worth reading. My rating for this story is a 4.0 out of 5.0.

Routine:

How about that! A very cool Han Solo story and I bet you can't guess what he's getting himself into. The only negitive about this story is that I was expecting it to be longer. My rating for this story is a 4.3 out of 5.0.

Incident at horn station:

A very unassuming story which took me on a bit of a ride. I wish that I could say it unfolded like I thought it would, but I would be lieing. This was a pleasent surprise and I truly enjoyed this story. My rating for this story is a 4.6 out of 5.0.

Max Rebo and his Jizz Wailers in "Stop that JAWS!":

This one was worth a laugh and had some funny lines in it. I especially like the beginning which I feel ties into return of the Jedi. My rating for this story is a 3.8 out 5.0.

The death of captain tarpals:

I thought this story linked to episode 1 perfectly. I'm not the biggest Jar Jar Bunks fan but I thought it give me some perspective. My rating for this story is a 3.5 out 5.0.

Deal with a Demon:

This was a nice little expanded universe story. I liked how the characters were used and I would like to see more of Vilmarh story. The art was also pretty good. My rating for this story is 4.3 out of 5.0.

Lady Luck:

This is a Lando story and a very intriguing one at that. This story has empire strikes back written all over it. It was very thought out and put together. My rating for this story is a 4.5 out of 5.0.

Moment of doubt:

I really enjoy earth baser stories and this is a really good one with excellent art. The protagonist was a worthy adversery and looked amazing. My rating for this story is a 4.5 out of 5.0.

A death star is born:

Wow! Really this was a good spoof on how the death star came into existence. For what it's worth I did chuckle a few times while reading this. My overall rating for this story is 4.0 out of 5.0.

Spare Parts:

Not much to say about this story, very short and really not much of a story at all. I will say R2 and 3po can but entertaining. My rating for this story is 3.3 out of 5.0.

Sand Blasted:

This is some what of gem, while the story was not great we still got a good look at a Dark Trooper. This has to be a rare appearance. The other characters chosen were pretty cool as well. My rating for this story is 4.1 out of 5.0.

Now for the wrap-up. I have to admit that being a true star wars fan there may be some bias in my review. I rate each story to try to avoid this. Overall I really enjoyed this book and I can see why tales is so popular. This was a quick easy read. The overall rating of this book is 4.171.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun compilation to read. It was fast; it was short; it was entertaining. I definitely liked some of the stories more than others; I was surprised to see 'how much humor' there was in the compilation (three stories, at least). The artwork was hit-and-miss; some of it I liked and some of it not so much. I had quit reading comics around the time these issues came out, otherwise I might have bought them individually; as it was, it was nice to read them all at once in this nice compilation volume.

I liked the two stories involving Mara Jade; I would not have minded reading a book-length story or two had they been written in the original Star Wars EU, myself. She cameos in the first story she appears, and the second one focuses more on her (when she is on the run after the Emperor has died and the second Death Star destroyed). The second one was an interesting story, to be honest. Even though the Emperor had been destroyed, she still remained loyal to his memory and sought to fulfill the 'remaining' missions that either had been assigned or would have been assigned to her. So, in this one, she is seeking justice for a member of the Imperial Senate who had been embezzling by siphoning off wealth and precious items from what was sent to the Emperor. She ends up making a deal with Crix Nadine that allows her desire to seek 'Imperial justice' and his desire to obtain the desired information and finances to support the New Republic to find a satisfactory meeting point.

The story about the 'bounty hunter' who attacked Vader just prior to Vader's heading to Cloud City on Bespin was also an interesting story. It is about a 'man' (alien male) who allows his body to be transformed into a weapon in order to satisfy his desire for revenge; his plan is to attack and kill Vader. Vader nearly succumbs but ends up winning the fight due to his Dark Side abilities, but it is a close call. I think the ending was meant to be somehow ironic (ironic in itself, as 'heavy-handed' as it was in it's 'message' and somewhat misrepresentation of Vader's character at this point . . . well, prior to Return of the Jedi, anyway).

The story where Vader goes to attack and kill one of the few remaining Jedi was equally poignant, powerful, and beautiful. Mara Jade is actually the one who discovers where this Jedi has remained in hiding; she (the Jedi) must have been somebody important to Vader from his Jedi past, based on their conversation(s). He goes the planet where she is hiding to kill her and is successful, in one respect, in the end. On the other hand, this Jedi also spouts the 'nonsense' as to how she is 'more powerful' now that she is dead than when she was alive. I do find myself wondering how these dead Jedi become 'more powerful' after they lose their lives and become Jedi Ghosts. It makes no sense to me, and it would be nice of it would ever be explained (perhaps it has been, and I merely missed the story, be it in the comics, cartoons, or books). The artwork in this story is beautiful and haunting, and I enjoyed it.

Another story that I enjoyed involved a young man (who, by the end of the story, reminded me of Anakin Skywalker, to be honest), who 'crash-lands' onto a planet and is instrumental in overthrowing the criminal 'overlord' who has taken over the primary spaceport and thus controls the planet. It was a short, 'simple' story that was fun to read. I honestly was not quite expecting it to turn out the way it did, but it was still a fun story to read (sucks how the Jedi can 'never get the girl' at the end! Or, 'the boy,' as the case may be). I also found myself chuckling over the villain's comments as his world falls apart around him; I read it in a 'dry voice' which made it more amusing to me.

I also enjoyed the story about how Lando Calrissian came to acquire Cloud City (a la winning it in a Sabaac game). It was a fun story to read, and I actually thought the 'potential love interest' was going to become his actual love interest. In any case, it was an interesting and fun story to read, and I loved the artwork in it as well. It was an interesting take on Lando and helped give him more character and personality, building upon what had been presented in the movies.

The story about how Han Solo was actually smuggling space ships past an Imperial blockaded was fun to read. I did not know how that story was going to end, and it surprised me thoroughly. In any case, it was an amusing story to read as the Imperials were thoroughly confounded by Han and Chewie's actions until the very end. It was also an interesting take on Han and how he was presented, and it was enjoyable to read.

The story about Moff Tarkin and his visit to the Emperor was actually pretty funny (even though the artwork was not my favorite). I laughed when I saw the original Enterprise (from Star Trek) flying in traffic over Coruscant as well as various "Easter Egss" scattered throughout the book (such as the large number of Mickey Mouse heads scattered throughout the book, how the Emperor picked apart the Battle Station's deadly weaknesses yet allowed them to remain because of how much money was saved, and Yogi Bear appearing as a holographic projection as well).

I guess I did like most of the stories in the compilation. The story involving the Jawa and Gamorrean was fun to read; I did not expect that one to end the way it did (in fact, I did not expect the story to go the way it did, either).

Overall, it was a fun compilation to read. I could see myself looking for the rest of the volumes in the series to read. I enjoyed how some of the stories were not necessarily a part of the 'canon,' which allowed some of the authors to have quite a bit of fun with the stories. I am glad I took the time to read it.

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extinction
What?: Darth Vader hunts down the Dark Woman.
When?: Before A New Hope
Could be Canon?: Yes
Thoughts: This was an interesting example of Vader's dedication to wipe out the order to which Anakin was once a proud member. Although the outcome was inevitable, it was well told.
Life, Death, And The Living Force
What?: Obi-Wan learns some lessons about the living force from Qui-Gon Jinn
When?: Before The Phantom Menace
Could be Canon?: Yes
Thoughts: In interesting art style and a nice examination of Obi-Wan's dislike of 'lesser beings'.
Skippy The Jedi Droid:
What?: R5-D4 (the red one) turns out to have Jedi powers.
When?: Before and during A New Hope
Could be Canon?: No
Thoughts: This was a fun take on why R5-D4 spontaneously blew its motivator.
Mara Jade: A Night On The Town:
What?: Mare Jade goes on a missing
When?: Sometime during the Empire
Could be Canon?: Yes
Thoughts: This was a good mini story following Mara Jade as she does what she does best.
Routine:
What?: A patrol keeps stopping Han Solo but can not find any evidence of his smuggling.
When?: Before A New Hope
Could be Canon?: Yes
Thoughts: This is more like a joke being told, but was enjoyable enough.
Incident At Horn Station:
What?: A no-named figure rolls into a town suffering under a criminal organisation.
When?: Anytime
Could be Canon?: Yes
Thoughts: This is very much a Spaghetti Western, Star Wars style. Good stuff.
Stop That Jawa:
What?: Max Rebo and his band have their musical instruments stolen.
When?: Before Return Of The Jedi
Could be Canon?: No
Thoughts:A silly adventure much lighter in tone than most of the stories in this book.
The Death Of Captain Tarpals:
What?: Jar Jar Binks gets banished.
When?: Just before The Phantom Menace
Could be Canon?: Yes
Thoughts: Paints Jar Jar Binks is a much more sympathetic light and shares a friendship with Tarpals.
Deal With A Demon:
What?: Devaronian mercenary Vilmarh Grahrk takes on a job and does it in his own indomitable way.
When?: Sometime around the Clone Wars
Could be Canon?: Yes
Thoughts: Another fun Villie adventure.
Lady Luck:
What?: Lando plays a game of Sabacc that could win him an impressive prize: Cloud City
When?: Before The Empire Strikes Back
Could be Canon?: Yes
Thoughts: This was an unnecessary 'origin story' but was nice to read.
Three Against The Galaxy:
What?: Three unlikely beings team up to right some wrongs.
When?: After Return of the Jedi
Could be Canon?: Yes
Thoughts: A fun extra adventure featuring none of the major characters from anything.
Moment Of Doubt:
What?: An assassin posing as a bounty hunter attempts to kill Darth Vader.
When?: During The Empire Strikes Back
Could be Canon?: Yes
Thoughts: An explosive altercation between two skilled combatants.
A Death Star Is Born:
What?: The Emperor questions Bevel Lemelisk about the design of the Death Star
When?: After Revenge Of The Sith
Could be Canon?: No
Thoughts: This is an anachronistic and silly sketch that is so much fun.
Spare Parts:
What?: R2-D2 and C-3PO attempt to escape from their Jawa Captives
When?: During A New Hope
Could be Canon?: No
Thoughts: A very short and silly story.
Sandblasted:
What?: A trio of thugs fall foul of an experimental Imperial war droid.
When?: During the Empire.
Could be Canon?: Yes
Thoughts: This was a brilliant action piece.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifteen stories from the Galaxy Far, Far Away, mixing the serious and the comical. Among the characters featured in these short adventures are Darth Vader, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Mara Jade, Han Solo, Jar Jar Binks and Lando Calrissian.

To get the bad news out of the way first, the 'comedy' stories here are absolute garbage. They're not funny, not clever and, mostly, not well illustrated, making them feel like a waste of space that could've been taken up by better serious Star Wars stories.
The one possible exception is Kevin Rubio's 'A Death Star is Born', which does make some amusing observations (such as Palpatine requesting safety rails around the reactor cores in case he falls down one).

The good news is that there are some genuine gems of Star Wars storytelling here by some of the franchise's best creators.
Those highlights include; a story in which Vader confronts the fugitive Jedi known as the Dark Woman, Tim Zahn recounting a tale of Mara Jade from after the death of the Emperor, John Ostrander and Jan Duursema giving us a standalone adventure for their villainous rogue Devaronian Villie and a brilliant little story written and illustrated by Killian Plunkett which features Spiker and Gizman from 'Shadows of the Empire' facing a malfunctioning Dark Trooper from the 90s FPS game 'Dark Forces'.

Thankfully, overall, this is a book where the good outweighs the bad by a fair margin.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Collin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Star Wars enough that just being reminded of Star Wars is usually enough to make me happy, but boy, sometimes Star Wars loves to remind you that Star Wars can get pretty bad.

Favorites: "Three Against the Galaxy," "A Death Star Is Born" (the ominous Mickey Mouse ears everywhere sends me - how did they guess the Star Wars-Disney acquisition in 2002???), and "Lady Luck" (Lando <3). "Skippy the Jedi Droid" is funny, too.

Biggest Bummers: all of the others tbh? "Sandblasted" is by far the worst but "Extinction" really goes in for Women Drawn By Man downvotes, and "The Death of Captain Tarpals" is about Jar Jar, so. (I do have a weird soft spot for Tarpals so it wasn't as bad as it could be. But reading the Gungan "accent" is almost worse than hearing it.) "Life, Death, and the Living Force" wins the award for Most Disappointing Obi-Wan Kenobi Characterization ever.

[Mirjam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immensely enjoyable. I liked all stories, found the various illustration styles very attractive. There wer probably a ton of jokes I missed but a fair few I got too and those made this a lot more light-hearted than I'd expected. There were even some brilliant female characters, which also surprised me. I will definitely read more in this series.

[Chris W · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun collection of little Star Wars stories that range from Prequels to the original trilogy. They vary in quality of story and artwork but all have an angle or a focus on a character that you may like (both major and minor characters). It's an enjoyable read especially if you're a diehard Star Wars fan

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mixed bag with this one. The only story I really enjoyed was Lady Luck, which was about how Lando Calrissian became governor of Bespin through the support of the people via sabaac. Life, Death, and the Living Force reminded me why I dislike the prequel trilogy. Everything else was either uninteresting or so-so.

[Joey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of mixed short stories like this will obviously be hit-or-miss. Of the fourteen stories though, roughly half are worth reading.

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun diving back into these classic stories. A nice blend of humor and action. Really loved Lando's return to Cloud City after ROTJ

[Roz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting mishmash of tales. The one about the Death Star was especially good campy fun. As with an anthology, the quality varies, but overall it was decent.

[Nathan Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection of stories from the Star Wars universe. Some are great, some are hilarious, and very few are outright boring.

[Dustin Merriman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely different from mainstream stories. These are bite size stories with no particular order. A fun read.

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bunch of wee snippets all around the Star Wars universe. Some good, some total crap and then there are hidden gems like the Sergio Aragones one.

[Jade]

Collects Star Wars Tales #1 - 4

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reprints Star Wars Tales #1-4 (September 1999-June 2000). A long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away, the Force was strong and danger lurked behind every corner. Stories of the battle between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance still rise up and stories of Jedis run deep.

Written by a large collection of some of comics best writers, Star Wars Tales: Volume 1 was a collection of the quarterly Dark Horse Comic Star Wars Tales. Each issue of the series was oversized and contained a number of stories of different lengths.

I love Star Wars, and I love anthology series so Star Wars Tales was a natural. The idea was solid and smart. Every character of Star Wars can have a story. From Sy Snoodles to R5-D4 aka Skippy the Jedi Droid all get their chance in this series…with some great art.

This collection has a lot of great stories. Some of the serious stories like “Extinction” by Ron Marz in Star Wars Tales #2 (December 1999) involves the hunting of the Jedi by Vader and though it was written before the release of Star Wars—Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, it still is in continuity with the film series. Other stories are more directly tied to the movies by presenting events either occurring before or after the films. Something like “The Death of Captain Tarpals” by Ryder Windham in Star Wars Tales #3 (March 2000) leads directly into Star Wars—Episode I: The Phantom Menace by showing how Jar Jar Binks was exiled. Others like “Three Against the Galaxy” by Rich Hedden in Star Wars Tales #3 (March 2000) shows the story of one of Gamorean Guards after the destruction of Jabba’s palace in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

Despite having fun with serious stories, Star Wars Tales also employs a lot of comic writers for lighter stories (usually balancing the serious stories). In this volume I particularly like “Skippy the Jedi Droid” by Peter David from Star Wars Tales #1 (September 1999) which tells how R4-D5 discovered he was a Jedi and destroyed himself to ensure that R2-D2 and C-3PO would help lead Luke to destroy the Empire. Another favorite in the humor department is “A Death Star is Born” by Kevin Rubid in Star Wars Tales #4 (June 2000) which points out construction flaws in the Death Star.

Star Wars Tales: Volume 1 is a great start to a fun series. If you don’t like one story, you surely will like one of the tales in the individual issues or in the collection. I generally favor the humorous ones since I feel there is a lot of room for parody in the Star Wars series and the comedy stories often get it right without being condescending to the original content. Star Wars Tales: Volume 1 was followed by Star Wars Tales: Volume 2.

[Neville Ridley-smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun for the most part.

Following are the story names followed by my thoughts on the author and artist. (This is mostly for my own reference to know if I should check out other Star Wars comics by these people.)

Extinction
Ron Marz: ok story, not much to it
Claudio Castellini: great art

Life, Death, and the Living Force
Jim Woodring: meh
Robert Teranishi: not my favourite style

Skippy the Jedi Droid
Peter David: fun idea - amusing
Martin Egeland: ok

Mara Jade: A Night on the Town
Timothy Zahn: it was ok
Igor Kordey: dark and ugly - not my thing

Routine
Tony Isabella: yeah this was fun
John Nadeau: quite good

Incident at Horn Station
Dan Jolley: kind of alright
Sean Phillips: alright but not my style

Stop that Jawa
Dave Cooper: some funny bits but overall meh

The Death of Captain Tarpals
Ryder Windham: yeah, Ryder knows how to structure a story
Tom Fowler: pretty decent

Deal with a Demon
John Ostrander: pretty funny, neat little story
Jan Duursema: pretty good

Lady Luck
Rich Handley & Darko Macan: fun story
Chris Brunner: not my thing

Three against the Galaxy
Rich Hedden: neat story
Rick Leonardi: pretty nice

Moment of Doubt
Lovern Kindzierski: rather vapid
Robert Teranishi: ok but smudged look not my favourite

A Death Star is Born
Kevin Rubio: oh yeah, this one is funny
Lucas Marangon: appropriate style

Spare Parts
Mark Evanier: very definition of filler - pretty dumb
Sergio Aragones: hm, ok

Sandblasted
Kilian Plunkett: nice to see pod race arena but was bored with the story
Vickie Williams: not my favourite

That's a whole lot of average.

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anthology of short stories set in the Star Wars Universe is an excellent idea. Does the execution pay off? The short answer is in some places. There is a mix of good, average, and bad stories in this collection. The size of the graphic novel (200+ pages) for the cost do help offset this however. Some of the stories that I enjoyed the most were:

Extinction - Darth Vader hunts down a Jedi at the height of the Empire's power. This idea has undoubtedly been explored in more detail since the time of printing, but it is a satisfying story nonetheless.

Routine - Han and Chewie use their smuggling guile on the Imperials. Short, but clever and entertaining.

Incident at Horn Station - A good old fashioned, Western/Sci-Fi story. This story feels like a Clint Eastwood movie. Excellent plot twists and art really help bring this one to life.

Lady Luck - Tells how Lando won Cloud City. The cartoony art is nice and the story really captures the wit and appeal of Lando's character.

Three Against The Galaxy - A band of misfits story set on Tatooine. The unlikely cast of down on their luck characters make this one work for me.

Sand Blasted - If you like down on your their luck characters then you will love this one. Big Gizz and Spike return in another story where nothing goes right for them and yet they survive. I love these two characters and have only seen them in a one-shot Dark Horse put out a while ago. If only they could get their own series!

[David Caldwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of short graphic novel stories. The characters range from major players like Darth Vader to very minor like the robot with the bad servo that Luke's uncle almost buys. The stories also range from serious to parodies.

For the most part, I preferred the serious stories that added to the overall story. The little bits of information just add that nice feeling of getting to see behind the curtain of the main stage show. The exception for me was the Jar Jar Binks story. It wasn't a bad story and it did add to the mythos. The problem was it was just so annoying reading the pigeon speech that they use.

The parodies and humorous stories tended to be just silly. There is plenty of room for humor in Star Wars stories, but they still need to have a focus to them. They need to be more than just a joke.

The artwork also had a wide range naturally. Usually, the more serious the story was meant to be, the better the artwork was. For some of the humorous stories, the artwork was very cartoony.

I would have to say there are some very good stories with excellent artwork in this collection. But there are also some stories that just weren't that good with artwork that was fairly bad as well. So for the whole collection, I can only give it an average rating of three stars.

[Khairul Hezry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Star Wars Tales trade series (six volumes in total) is probably my personal favourite of all the Star Wars comic trades. The reason being that the writers clearly had fun writing the stories and they never bothered with continuity. Star Wars fans who insist on that should stop reading now. This series is clearly not for you.

With continuity relegated to Sith hell, we get stories where Vader duels with Maul, Han Solo gets sued by Greedo's mom and a history professor/adventurer named Prof. Jones discovers a crashed Millenium Falcon in the jungles of South America, to name but three*.

Star Wars (the movies) was fun until it got all bogged down with its own history and continuity. Star Wars Tales brings back that fun albeit in comic book form.

*these stories do not necessarily appear in volume one. There are another five volumes. Collect them all and enjoy.

[Murray Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Wars tales Vol.1 is pretty good, some of the stories are better than the others. Overall enjoyable.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn't sure at first how I felt about this odd assortment of tales in the Star Wars universe. They were varied, some cute, some serious, some better than others. I particularly enjoyed the tale of how Lando Calrissian came to control Bespin, "Lady Luck," and also "A Death Star is Born," a tongue in cheek story about the concept origins of the Death Star where the Empire symbols all have Mickey Mouse ears (in pre-Disney Star Wars days) and the Emperor himself remarks on the appalling lack of guard rails.

Not what I was expecting (not sure what I was expecting) but enjoyable nevertheless.

[Wesley · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very mixed bag of good stories and really horrible ones. The stories all had different writers and artists so the tone varied wildly from one to the other. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it was a bit jarring because they didn't really have any clear delineation between stories. Turn the page and it's something wildly different....

It does have an early appearance of the infamous Mara Jade written by her creator, Timothy Zahn. She was much taller than I expected.

[Marko · Rating 2 out of 5]

A hefty collection of more or less average short story comics shedding light to the lives of various denizens of the Star Wars universe. I mainly wanted to check this out for Timothy Zahn's story featuring Mara Jade, which turned out to be a story of mediocre interest, but decided to read the rest of them as well. None of the stories are something that you will remember after you've closed the book and set it aside, but most of them do entertain you for the time you spend reading them.