Goodbye Carrie Fisher

I don't usually do obituaries for Star Wars folks or anybody else for that matter. Other people do them much better than me. Star Wars is a massive family that began 40 years ago so it's natural that we will lose people along the way and we have - Peter Cushing, Kenny Baker, Christopher Lee are just some the actors who come to mind and we've lost plenty of crew members too. Also, 2016 has been brutal, we all know that.  

But this one hit me hard.

Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) has died. I was worried by her recent heart attack and, for a moment, thought she might pull through, but she's gone. I really wasn't prepared for losing one of the 'big three' (i.e. Luke, Han and Leia) so soon. I'm not going to go into the effect her death has on the upcoming movies other than to say that Episode IIX is more or less done which hopefully burdens only the concluding part of the new trilogy with her absence. That's all I'm going to say on the matter. They're movies. This is a person's life I'm talking about.

Princess Leia was always something of a double-edged sword for Carrie Fisher. Star Wars made her and yet, as with so many involved in the franchise, it dominated her life. I've seen her laugh it all off in interviews but you could always see that her smile was a little thin. While I like seeing her in other roles and wish there had been more of them, it was her off-screen personality that really made me like her. She was tough, cynical and very funny. I like to think that this was something she brought to the role of Leia and am grateful that she gave us such a powerful heroine in the late seventies - a time when popular culture really needed one. Star Wars gets a lot of flak for its female representation but I think it's easy to take that first movie for granted. Sure, Leia is a princess to be rescued but she proves to be just as tough as the boys in a fight, gives orders to rebel pilots and faces down slimy politicians into the bargain. For a light-hearted space romp made in 1977 I think this was really something.      

Carrie embraced the character more in recent years, seemingly accepting her fate. She once joked that 'Princess Leia' will be on her gravestone, not 'Carrie Fisher'. I sincerely hope that won't be the case. However, it was a defining role in every sense of the word and, while I would have liked to have seen more of her in The Force Awakens, I was immensely grateful to have her back. Episode IX is going to be strange climax to the whole shebang without her.

This isn't much of an obituary. Find some others that cover her career in better detail and read those. The way I'm feeling right now, I just had to write something. I'm watching Rogue One tomorrow (for the first time). Knowing how it leads into the iconic opening of my favorite movie ever, It's going to be a bittersweet experience to say the least.

The Wookiee Storybook

I've touched on the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special before and, apart from a never produced line of wookiee action figures by Kenner, there was never really any merchandise for it. Apart from this.

Random House did several kids books based on Star Wars including four activity books and a couple of stories - The Maverick Moon and The Rebellious Robot. This one is in a different format (hardcover) but the style is more or less the same. Tying in with what we saw of the Wookiees in the Holiday Special, Chewbacca's son Lumpy, heads down to the lower levels of the forest (against his mother's warnings) to collect wasaka-berries. Chewbacca is returning home after a three-year mission with Han Solo and there is to be a big celebration for his bicentennial. This word is mentioned quite a  lot throughout the book and the author was no doubt cashing in on the fresh memories of America's own bicentennial that was a big thing only a couple of years before this book was published. Needless to say, things don't go to plan and Lumpy finds himself lost and pursued by a series of frightening creatures on the forest floor.

Cue Han and Chewie! Now apparently adult Wookiees have the ability to think messages to each other (at least in this obscure book). This spiritual way of communication comes in handy right about now and Lumpy's mother (Malla) thinks a message to Chewie who is on board the Falcon. Arriving at Kashyyyk, Chewie takes the Falcon's 'explorer craft' down to the surface to look for his son. Take a look at that little craft exiting the Falcon!

Chewie of course rescues Lumpy and they all head home for a big party. Mission accomplished. Happy days. 

Topps Stickers: Series 3

The border of the stickers in series 3 changed to a black film strip.

Pizzazz #9 - June 1978

Shaun Cassidy is the mug on the cover for this issue but there's no article on him, just a series of photographs. There is however, an article on the mechanical shark of the upcoming Jaws 2 which was pretty sweet. I like that movie. Not a patch on the original of course, but as far as sequels go it's not bad at all.

On to the Star Wars strip, and I've not really any clue as to what's going on story wise having not read the previous installments. Luke, Leia and the droids seem to be escaping from some high tech planet with the aid of 'the keeper'. I'm looking forward to getting all issues of this magazine and putting the strips into chronological order to make sense of them.   

Topps Stickers: Series 2

Here is series 2 of the stickers included in Topps trading card packs. Quite similar in style to series 1, they are mostly portraits with a couple of nice spaceship shots. Again, I have lost the border on one of them, leaving it white, but at least it's just one card this time.

Pizzazz #5 - February 1978

Now isn't that just the coolest cover ever? Linda Rondstadt backed by Dr. Strange on lead guitar with Captain America on bass and C-3PO on drums. Linda Rondstadt was the cover story for this issue and boy was she hot stuff in the '70s. Widely regarded one of the top stars of the decade, she was regularly alluded to as 'The Queen of Rock' with sell-out shows and chart topping albums. This year she is seventy. Just let that sink in for a while.

No teen mag is complete without an 'agony aunt' column and some of the old ones can be pretty hilarious. In Pizzazz's case it's 'Write Wendy' who, when contacted by a kid who's two-timing a pair of girls actually tells him its the perfect set up and not to get caught! I have a feeling 'Wendy' isn't taking her duties all that seriously here. I also have a feeling this agony 'aunt' is actually and agony uncle.









Anyway, on to the Star Wars strip. Luke and Leia have found some sort of Mayan style temple and the Empire is hot on their heels. In true Scooby-Doo fashion, Threepio inadvertently gets them out of the scrape.

A few choice advertisements here, including one for Peter Pan book and records for such decade stalwarts as Kojak and the Six Million Dollar Man. Also a nifty CB set for kids (the late '70s was when this was a massive craze) and a 'logic' computer game form MB which, although wonderfully retro, would likely have bored me to tears.

Topps Stickers: Series 1

Well, it's been over a year since I blogged last - apologies to anybody keeping tabs on this site. Life has been hectic with kids, work etc (usual excuses). I have a little more time now and have a few posts lined up so I'll kick off with the first of Topps's sticker sets. Each wax-sealed pack of trading cards contained a sticker and there were eleven stickers for each series.

Series 1 was more or less a collection of character mugshots against a starry backdrop with the occasional spaceship. You can see in the photo above that some of the backgrounds are white. This means, unfortunately, that I have lost the background/border as it has peeled off which is a shame. I may try to get replacements for these cards.