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The Lightsabre Interview Dan Wallace
Welcome
to Lightsabre. Hes the author of
numerous Essential guides, including the latest Essential Guide to Droids, as
well as a glut of Superman Returns books including the Art of Superman
Returns. And hes written articles on
gaming for Star Wars Gamer. Please
welcome Dan Wallace. Q -
Dan, welcome to Lightsabre. A - Thanks for the offer! It's great to
be in such good company. Q
During your career youve written articles and books on two major subjects
the DC Universe and the Star Wars Universe.
How exciting is it to inhabit both of those great universes? A It's a kick for me, since -- although
I've been a fan of both universes since forever -- I've only been working
professionally on the DC Universe guidebooks for a couple years, so I'm still
discovering some of its nooks and crannies. Star Wars feels like a
well-worn, perfect-fitting glove. And I also contributed to this fall's
Marvel Encyclopedia, so that's a third fictional
universe I've been lucky enough to visit in print. Q
Tell us something of your career. How
and where did you begin and what led you to where you are today? A - I started writing professionally with
Lucasfilm in 1995, after a fan resource I had written -- The Star Wars Planets
Guide -- came to the attention of Lucasfilm Publishing. They invited me
to participate in a writer's runoff, and I won the assignment to write Del Rey's Essential Guide to Planets and Moons. I would
not be where I am today if it weren't for the Internet. Q -
Youre the acknowledged master of the Essential guides, writing and detailing
snippets of knowledge and bringing them together in handy, useful official
guides to droids, characters as well as planets and moons. What process do you have to go through to
research these guides? A Fortunately, I have the ability to keep
large amounts of this information compartmentalized in my brain, so there's
not as much prep work involved as you might think. It also helps that I
have a gigantic Star Wars library. Q
What has it been like to be a part of the Star Wars phenomenon? A - For me, the highest of high points was
the summer of 1998, when I was invited to Skywalker Ranch to read the script
for Episode I as prep work for a little mini-book published by Running
Press. It was mind-numbingly surreal to be 1) walking around the
Shangri-La of my fanboy dreams, and 2) seeing
top-secret production art and story summaries for one of the most anticipated
movies in history. Q
Being a part of the DC Universe must have been thrilling, especially working
with a character such as Superman, with a history stretching back to the late
1930s. How has it been coming from a
rich and detailed universe like that into the equally diverse and busy Star
Wars universe? A Superman is a little different in that
there are multiple continuities involved. With Star Wars, everything
ties to everything else. With Superman, things like the animated
series, Smallville, and the mainstream comic books all exist in distinct, mutually-exclusive
universes. So preparing for "Superman Returns" is mostly a
matter of reacquainting yourself with Superman I and II (which I did,
happily). Getting involved in the mainstream comic book continuity of
Superman, as I did with the DC Comics Encyclopedia,
is trickier and a bigger challenge. The "Crisis on Infinite
Earths"-type reboots sometimes help! Q You
have been heavily involved with the Superman Returns project, writing three
books on the film including the expansive Art of Superman Returns book. How thrilling was it to see Supes fly
again? A I'll tell you after tonight! I haven't seen it yet except for the trailers, but I've been hugely optimistic ever since I visited the Superman Returns set in Sydney last summer. Everybody seemed genuinely excited about the work they were doing, and I think that will translate into quality on-screen. And I was bowled over by the production designs, from the white crystals of Krypton to the Norman Rockwell prairies of Smallville, to the art deco fabulousness of Metropolis.
Q
What were your feelings on Revenge of the Sith? Having co-written the excellent Essential
Chronology you must have a whole batch of thoughts on how the final film
impacted on Star Wars history. A What Revenge of the Sith really did was
leave me hungry for Episode III and a half! As you know there's a Star
Wars television show in development that will be set during the "dark
times" of the Jedi purge and Imperial rule. I'm dying to see what
that will look like. I'm a fan of Lucas's previous TV show, "The
Young Indiana Jones Chronicles," so I'm optimistic for this one. Q You
were involved with a number of RPG articles and projects for Wizards. Do you miss the table-top RPG days? After all, West End Games Star Wars game
back in 1987 played a huge role in the revitalisation of Star Wars. A I do miss it. The thing that was so
great about West End Games and Wizards of the Coast is that they could
publish roleplaying manuals that delved insanely deeply into the workings of
the Star Wars universe, to a degree that never would be tolerated among a
mainstream audience (e.g. an entire book on star freighters and cargo
shipping!) Although I didn't PLAY the rpg, I would always buy these
books as a fan, and eat up the detailed info contained within.
Eventually I got to write some of these books for Wizards, and they're still
some of my favorite bits of writing set in the
Star Wars universe. Q If
you could make any alterations to the Star Wars story, what would it be? A I hate that Vader speechifies
with "Alert my Star Destroyer to prepare for my arrival" in the
Special Edition of The Empire Strikes Back, instead of biting out
a terse, pissed-off "Bring my shuttle." Thankfully, this
fall's release of the original theatrical cuts on DVD is a step in the right
direction. Q
While attending conventions and shows do you enjoy the interaction with Star
Wars fans? A I love meeting fans! I had some of
the best times of my life at Star Wars Celebrations 2 and 3 in Indianapolis.
This July I'll be at San Diego ComicCon
International to promote The New Essential Guide to Droids, The Art
of Superman Returns, and the Superman Returns Visual Guide. Q Is
there a dream project that you would ultimately like to undertake? A - One of my dream projects is to rework the
Essential Guide to Planets and Moons from an "atlas" perspective,
with lots and lots of National Geographic-style maps. Maybe someday. Q -
What lies ahead for you in the future? A I hope to continue to contribute to both
Star Wars and DC in the future, but don't have anything to announce just
yet. Q A
quick question about our site, Lightsabre.
Any comments? A I'm honored to
be included among famous actors, artists, writers, puppeteers, and
designers. It's a great site, and thanks for inviting me. Q -
It's been a great interview, and thanks for being our guest on
Lightsabre. Just one final
question. Anakin Skywalker, Superman
and George Lucas are at the front row of a rock legends gig. Jimi Hendrix is on guitar, Keith Moon on drums, John Entwhistle on bass and John Lennon is screaming out the
songs. One of them is dragged onto the
stage to join in, but which one is it? A Anakin, of course. Jimi,
Keith, John, and John all have a self-destructive streak that
make them fascinating musicians, even if they flame out in spectacular
fashion. Superman is steady as a rock -- he's more of a Paul McCartney
fan. And I don't know about George. |
