Darths & Droids | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CID: | 10777 | Subscriptions: | 78 | Readers this Week: | 8 |
| Frequency: | Semi-Weekly | ||||
| Url: | http://www.darthsanddroids.net/ | ||||
| Genres: | Action-Adventure, Gaming, Parody or Satire, Science Fiction | ||||
| Description*: | Same vein as DM of the Rings - a screencap webcomic of The Phantom Menace, as if it were being run as a Star Wars roleplaying campaign. One of the creators is David Morgan-Mar, of Irregular Webcomic and Infinity on 30 CR a Day. So good, you'll even love Jar-Jar Binks! | ||||
* Descriptions are user submitted and might not express the views of the admins of this site, or of the comics creators themselves. | |||||
| Flags: | People who read this, also tend to read these:
(25%) i Ingrid the Plague Doctor
Higher percentages are more closely related. | ||||
| Entry Added: | Tue, Oct 2, 2007 | ||||
| Entry Modified: | Thu, Aug 3, 2017 | ||||
Reviews: 2 Average Rating:
Darths & Droids confronts me with the same paradox as Alicorn's Luminosity: fan fiction that one wishes was the canon, yet could not exist without its (much poorer) inspiring work. For Luminosity, it was the Twilight series; for D&D, it was the Prequel Trilogy.
Darths & Droids began on a simple premise: imagine the Star Wars universe as a table-top roleplaying game. It has since become a radical reinterpretation of the entire story, turning the Prequel Trilogy into a respectable saga. The early comics were fairly simple, isolated gags, with a few modified character personalities; humour mostly tailored to roleplayers and Star Wars fans. Even if the reader was neither, it was still enjoyable as a comedy strip.
But, whether it was the team's goal from the project's inception or simply a product of circumstance, by the time they reached Episode II, they were consciously subverting the story even as they acted out the same scenes. Palpatine, rather than the evil Sith mastermind, is a conflicted senator elevated to emperor through bittersweet accident; Jar Jar Binks, far from depressingly trite comic relief, becomes one of the Republic's most respected senators. Finally, Anakin Skywalker is completely remade, his fall from grace the product of a ruthless Machiavellian ambition that offers a much more believable segue into his later role as Darth Vader. The political power-plays are so delicately orchestrated, it feels as much like a le Carré novel as a Lucas film.
Like all great parodists, the D&D team has a thorough understanding of its source material, which it uses masterfully to counteract the audience's expectations; indeed, so many Original Trilogy phrases have been used in the prequels that there might not be any left in their original context. Already into Episode IV, iconic scenes have been reworked in innovative, sometimes truly surprising ways. However the story ultimately charts out, the reader is guaranteed to find the comic both familiar, and refreshingly original.
Darths & Droids began on a simple premise: imagine the Star Wars universe as a table-top roleplaying game. It has since become a radical reinterpretation of the entire story, turning the Prequel Trilogy into a respectable saga. The early comics were fairly simple, isolated gags, with a few modified character personalities; humour mostly tailored to roleplayers and Star Wars fans. Even if the reader was neither, it was still enjoyable as a comedy strip.
But, whether it was the team's goal from the project's inception or simply a product of circumstance, by the time they reached Episode II, they were consciously subverting the story even as they acted out the same scenes. Palpatine, rather than the evil Sith mastermind, is a conflicted senator elevated to emperor through bittersweet accident; Jar Jar Binks, far from depressingly trite comic relief, becomes one of the Republic's most respected senators. Finally, Anakin Skywalker is completely remade, his fall from grace the product of a ruthless Machiavellian ambition that offers a much more believable segue into his later role as Darth Vader. The political power-plays are so delicately orchestrated, it feels as much like a le Carré novel as a Lucas film.
Like all great parodists, the D&D team has a thorough understanding of its source material, which it uses masterfully to counteract the audience's expectations; indeed, so many Original Trilogy phrases have been used in the prequels that there might not be any left in their original context. Already into Episode IV, iconic scenes have been reworked in innovative, sometimes truly surprising ways. However the story ultimately charts out, the reader is guaranteed to find the comic both familiar, and refreshingly original.
05:21am 02/11/2010
by
5 stars for fans/haters of roll playing and star wars
If you have strong feelings either way about roll playing or star wars, check this out. I was disappointed when episode 1 came out. Now I realize it had a grander purpose. This strip is hilarious.
