I Find Your Lack of Waiters Disturbing (3)
Last Updated (Monday, 20 September 2010 12:39) Written by Administrator Wednesday, 08 September 2010 00:00
Art Notes: Tiniest of Details
Have a little look in the bottom left panel. Notice anything - odd?
What's Vader holding?
I posted a comment to Blue Milk Special's webcomic some time ago because I'd discovered a peculiar and amusing panel in Howard Chaykin's Marvel adaptation of Star Wars. Have a look at it on the left. Over on Blue Milk Special Vader drinks coffee: for comic effect. It’s a parody of the film. I mean, honestly: how on earth could he possibly drink coffee? Well look what I found the other night in a box of old comics in the attic (left).
A Mystery
Yep, in the Howard Chaykin Marvel comic adaptation of 1977 – Vader is actually depicted holding what looks like a paper cup of latte - or milk! Even weirder: in the top left panel, the cup seems to float in mid-air, steam rising from it, then in another panel it’s in his hand! All those mighty powers - and look what he uses them for: parlour tricks.
Honestly, I wonder sometimes if the team working on the earlier Marvel issues had actually even seen the film. Rod Hannah of Blue Milk Special was as surprised as I was!
Seriously though… did the studio not even give them a few production stills to work from? Yep - that's pretty much what happened, take a look at this excellent and fascinating article from Roy Thomas - the Editor of the adaptation.
Roy Thomas (left) and Howard Chaykin (right) discuss the Marvel adaptation at the 1976 San Diego Comic Con.
Solved!
Lucas the genius beats everyone to it - again.
But… do you know what? The origin of ‘Vader Levitating and Drinking Coffee’ has been found. There it is - in the 1977 novel! Lucas must have omitted it from the film because of budgetary constraints.
(Not because it was silly or anything - obviously)
"A huge metal-clad hand gestured slightly, and one of the filled cups on the table drifted responsively into it."1977 Novel
Gary Kurtz: “Jesus George, Fox are going to pull the plug if we don't get the film finished - on budget. So which one will we do? The floating coffee cup with all that expensive black thread – or – the Death Star exploding?
Coffee cup – Death Star – Coffee cup – Death Star. Agh… I can’t decide!”
Finally, the Bean Counters at 20th Century Fox prevailed. The coffee cup was axed. And poor John Dykstra wept because he’d never wow audiences with cinema's first levitating coffee cup.
The Coming Threat
Now I’m worried: If I read the rest of the novel, will I find that some of my other comically-genius additions actually came from the Novel too? Do I really want Lucas to take all the credit for those masterstrokes? Like the bit about 'ducks' for example. Confused? You will be.
On Friday: She's beautiful!
Comments
Aw, WTH, we know he was trying to stay awake in those meetings.
Do you think when he got bored he'd do sneaky force chokes at people, with his hand under the table?
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