Star Wars: Myths and Fables

Posted by James on 09/22/19 at 07:05 AM Category: Comic Books

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Introduction

Star Wars: Myths and Fables was written by George Mann with illustrations by Grant Griffin. It was published by Disney-Lucasfilm Press on August 6, 2019.

Synopsis

Nine stories from across the Galaxy. Nine tales that range from heroism to horror: a brave knight faces down a dragon; a calculating droid with compassion; a Sith whose ambition is turned back on him; a vengeful wraith who punishes children who misbehave; and more. These are the stories that people tell each other within the story we call Star Wars.

Review

The Dark Wraith

Myths & Fables is labeled as a middle grade book, but I can see it appealing to anyone from intermediate/middle school age to…God only knows. The prose is rich, but not dense; and takes on a sort of old fashioned affectation that really works in this context. When I began reading it, I was a little wary because the first story is clearly about Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi (though he is never named); then the second story is, at least tangentially, about General Grievous. I started to worry that every story was going to be about an already well known character, but those fears were soon allayed. With the exception of Darth Vader clearly being “The Dark Wraith”, the other six stories are about characters that are either new or as yet unexplored. Even the ones with the familiar characters are told in such a way that you don’t really think of them as a “Darth Vader story” or a “Ben Kenobi story”; instead, the meaning of the story takes the foreground. In fact, the meaning, or lesson, is the real point to all of the stories (as it is meant to be with Star Wars in general). Myths and fables are meant to convey important life lessons to the hearers/readers; lessons that help to integrate them into the larger world, to understand their place and their responsibilities in it, to navigate the many dangers it has in store. I normally buy new SW novels for Kindle, but I made a point of getting a real copy of this one. The presentation is very nice. The illustrations are beautiful and done in such a way that they could serve as cover illustrations if each story was its own book. My only real complaint is that there is only one illustration per story; they are full page pictures, but another full page or even half page illustration would have greatly added to the value.

The Black Spire

At 192 pages, the hardcover edition of Myths & Fables retails for $17.99. That’s a very reasonable price when you consider you pay the same amount for a comic trade paperback. The kindle price is $10.99, and I suppose if you download it to a Kindle Fire or other tablet you will still get the effect of the illustrations; but I recommend the real thing in this case.

Notes

Even though this book is part of the “Galaxy’s Edge” media project, it isn’t just a shameless tie in; two of the stories use Batuu as a back-drop.

The Sith master from the story “Gaze of Stone” is Darth Caldoth. He was previously mentioned in Dooku: Jedi Lost as having lived many years before Dookku’s birth.

Comic Pack Wish List:

Darth Caldoth, he is a Duros Sith. Darth Vader in his “Dark Wraith” appearance.

Score:

This really feels like something different; not your run of mill tie in product. 4 Skulls.