The Protocol Offensive

Story: Anthony Daniels and Ryder Windham (based on outline by Brian Daley)
Art: Igor Kordey
Editor: Bob Cooper

Artoo and Threepio must save a planet without the use of violence. Reviewed 09/13/97 Background Dark Horse approached the late Brian Daley (author of the Radio plays and the original Han Solo novel trilogy) to work with Anthony Daniels (you guys know who these people are, why am I wasting your time on this stuff?) on a comic script. After Daley's passing the script was finished by Windham. His script had Artoo's lines in English and 3P0's blank. Anthony Daniels then came in and wrote all of 3P0's dialog. Story I remember watching the Droids TV series as a kid, so while the Dark Horse 'Droids' series provided some nostalga, I didn't get into them like the more "serious" comics. Forget every other 'Droids' story you've seen... this one's different. The tone is darker and the story has a little bit of depth. Don't think that this means there's no humour. There's comic relief, just not a silly tone. Daley truely knew how write a story in the SW universe. 3P0 has a lot of lines, but considering Daniels was a co-author that's to be expected. They're done well, but comics is a tough medium to have one of the two co-stars not speaking. The subtleties of R2's emotions that work in his on-screen beeps don't happen here. I'd just as soon 3P0 not have had to ride on a swoop bike. Art This 48 page issue is fully painted. If you haven't seen this comic, you should at least pick it up in the store and flip though. This is a first for Star Wars comics and the results are very impressive. Not only do the droids and known species look great, but I quite liked the design of the two warring species. There's something about painted comics that lends a unique a sense of realism. Summary The story is the best I've read in the Droids series, but is only average as general comic stories go. However, the art is a refreshing change from the uninspired fare of the recent SW efforts. 7.5/10. Recommended.
"EnsViews" are copyright ? 1997-8 by Paul Ens. They are posted to rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc, emailed to Dark Horse Comics and archived on theForce.net. With the exception of Dark Horse Comics Inc, they may not be reprinted without permission. Titles, Cover images, Dark Horse Comics, and the Dark Horse logo are trademarks of Dark Horse Comics Inc. and its respective Licensors.