Words to Ponder: Words to Live By

Put aside those philosophy and self-help books dear reader. All the wisdom you'll ever need is before you - right now. Read on... This is, without a doubt one of the pages that was the main spur for me to publish the comic online. When I read this after 30+ years I was speechless! Only a child could come up with this stuff. Daft!

Text: Why a Duck?

"THATS ? A
KRAYT
DRAGON CALL!"

But this is classic stuff. Better than the Marx Brothers.

"Oh well a duck can quack"

Former General Kenobi has seen more things in the universe than poor simple Luke, the young farm-hand, could ever dream of. You know, DUCKS for instance. If George Lucas ever sees this he'll be kicking himself: "Dammit! If only I'd been able to come up with that! Words to live by indeed!"

Do you know what? Luke - the simple idiot - doesn't even pause for a moment to fully absorb the import of this mighty philosophical nugget. He immediately blurts
"WHAT'S A DUCK!"
Not even a question. What's-a-duck-exclamation-mark. You absolute fool!

Or... was there a page - now lost - that followed this rhetorical question? Perhaps Luke meant:

"After all Ben, (he shrugs). What's a mere duck? (big grin)"

Yes, I think we can absolutely accept that this was not what happened. Luke's a simple idiot. Ben offers up to him his greatest ever life-lesson and Luke just blurts nonsense; slack-jaw idiotically.

Pearls before swine, my friends. Pearls before swine.

Text: Laggards - indeed!

And "Laggards - laggards?" Surely not. Does Ben really say that? Is he trying to put working-class cockney chappie Luke in his place? "Oh yes, I went Oxford doon't yoo know! I like nothing better than to prang a few clay-womp-rats with me shotgun before ahh-fternoon tea."

Art

Luke does a double-take - long before I ever heard of double-takes. His hair flies up making him look like one of the PUNKS that were scandalising Britain at that time in the '70s.

Film Notes

Mark Hamill was most impressed with Alec Guinness during these early Desert shoots. Not only was he very giving - in the best possible way - of his advice to the young actor; but Hamill recalled how old Sir Alec, Knight of the Realm - when just made-up and outfitted for his scene, laid himself down on the ground and rolled about in the dust.

Oh, those loveable, eccentric old English actor types. He was peculiarly sane compared to some of his contemporaries though. Guinness worked opposite Sir Ralph Richardson at the Old Vic. Richardson was bonkers.

--------------------------

Robin McKie, The Observer, 26 September 2004:

"...Ralph Richardson (...) knocked on the dressing room of his old pal Alec Guinness and flattened him with a punch to the jaw. Stunned, the floored thespian demanded a reason for the attack. 'Who can one hit,' Richardson replied calmly, 'if not one's friends?'"

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