Editor's note: Some of the information in the first few FAQ questions is lifted pretty shamelessly from an interview with David Stroup and Mike Russell that appeared in the Jedi Council forums.

1. Just who the hell IS this "Jaxxon," anyway?

Jaxxon was a seven-foot-tall green rabbit that fought alongside Han Solo and Chewie in a few of the early issues of Marvel's "Star Wars" comic book in the 1970s. (The Marvel issues are all being collected right now in an awesome seven-volume edition by Dark Horse, BTW. The first six volumes are out at this writing.) Jaxxon was a mercenary like Han, had a ship called the "Rabbit's Foot," wore a bright red spacesuit, ate meat, flirted with this female human called Amaiza, and hated being called a "rabbit" like it was some kind of racist epithet.

There is, incredibly, biographical data on Jaxxon on the official "Star Wars" Web site. You can read about the character here and here.

2. Where did you two get the idea for "Jaxxon's 11"?

Mike Russell and David Stroup work as journalists covering Milwaukie -- the same town that's home to Dark Horse Comics, coincidentally. Mike had long entertained the idea of doing a story about Jaxxon, and mentioned this one day to a Dark Horse editor (an editor now helping re-package those Marvel comics) in a Milwaukie coffee shop. David Stroup was sitting at the table when this exchange occurred -- and it sparked a discussion that led (with astonishing rapidity to the "Jaxxon's 11" storyline. As Mr. Russell put it in the Jedi Council forum interview:

"I knew I wanted to do a story where Jaxxon got together a bunch of old Marvel characters for 'one last job'; but David broke it wide open when he said, 'They should steal something from Jabba's Palace Hotel and Casino,' I remembered the Kaiburr Crystal from 'Splinter of the Mind's Eye' and suggested that they try to steal that, and it sort of snowballed with terrifying speed from there."

3. How often will "Jaxxon's 11" be coming out? How will it be posted?

In direct contradiction to earlier statements in the Jedi Council, we'll be posting "Jaxxon's 11" scene-by-scene -- in other words, when a five- or six-page scene is ready to go, we'll throw it online. (It reads better that way -- trust us.) Readers can probably expect a new "scene" every week to three weeks, depending on the writing and illustration demands.

Also, for readers who prefer to read their comics in handy print format, we'll be offering downloadable, high-rez PDFs of each "scene." Fans can print all the PDFs out, and they'll have a longish comic book when the story concludes. Mssrs. Stroup and Russell will be happy to sign these printouts should you encounter them "at the con."

You can download those PDF files here.

4. Where does "Jaxxon's 11" fit into the official Expanded Universe timeline?

Let's pause for a hearty laugh, shall we? For legal reasons, "Jaxxon's 11" is nothing more than needlessly elaborate fan fiction, which shall profit us nary a penny, and it's also a spoof -- which means that it fits about as well into the Expanded Universe timeline as the average episode of "ElimiDATE."

However, if they must, continuity geeks can comfort themselves by placing "Jaxxon's 11" somewhere around three years after the Battle of Endor -- only in the apocryphal Marvel "Star Wars" timeline. But with elements (such as the Solo twins) from the official Expanded Universe. Or something like that. Call it the ?Dark Marvelverse? if you like.

5. Why isn't the comic in color?

Who's got the time? Putting it another way: David and Mike have extremely demanding day jobs; they can either produce the comic on a regular basis or they can produce it in color.

That said, we may have a "coloring contest" down the line, so sharpen those Photoshop skills.

6. I have a Frequently Asked Question that isn't addressed here, blast you!

E-mail it to us at jaxxon@theforce.net. If we find it sufficiently amusing, we'll answer it here.

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