It’s March and the Official Star Wars Fact File brings us another file full of action, technology, heroes, villains, far-flung worlds, deadly weapons and superior fighters. The Clone Wars era is well represented, as is Revenge of the Sith, which of course missed out on the Fact Files treatment over a decade ago. Let’s seal the hatch and dive, dive, dive.
This week the Official Star Wars Fact File kicks off with some very familiar heroes before giving us some in-depth details on background characters, worlds and technology. As always it’s an enthralling read.
Battles and Events looks at the rescue of Princess Leia from A New Hope as Han, Chewie and Luke break into Detention Block AA-23 and try to rescue the princess. It’s a welcome sight to see Lieutenant Childsen (as played by the late Malcolm Tierney, the Imperial Officer who could barely hide his contempt when uttering the words “Where are you taking this…thing”) and interesting to dip into the lives of the men that the trio blasted their way through as they hauled the Princess out, before she rescued them in return. Droids and Machines takes a look at C-3PO as we first saw him in The Phantom Menace and learn a bit more about his life on the desert world, as well as the workings of protocol droids. We’re also given the inside on another The Phantom Menace droid, the PK-Series Worker which you will remember from scenes on the Trade Federation ship and on the ground during the Battle of Naboo.
Humans and Aliens focuses on a trio of politically important characters. The legendary Admiral Gial Ackbar, who’s story we follow from his appearances in Star Wars: The Clone Wars right through to his inspired command in Return of the Jedi. We once again look at Rush Clovis and his deceptive alliance with the Separatists and finally a look at the Pau’an leader Tion Medon. Proving that one should never judge a book by its cover, Medon was a peace loving administrator who took a stand against the tyranny of the Separatists and aided Master Kenobi in his hunt of General Grievous. Planets and Locations plots an astrogation solution to the pod-racing world of Malastare, home to both the Gran and Dug species (and giving us some vivid artwork in the process) while Weapons and Technology turns its sights on the Geonosian Sonic blaster, the beam weapon that the Geonosians used to try and take down Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. We finish the issue looking at Starships and Vehicles and a pull-out schematic of the Alpha-3 Nimbus Class V-Wing Starfighter, first seen in Revenge of the Sith.
Another top issue, and if there’s one minor sticking point it’s the tricky task of removing the glue from the edges of the pages. Some issues are easier than others but it always requires Yoda-like concentration to not tear the edge of the page. If that could be improved it would be a bonus.
If you wish to check out our reviews of past and future issues click here.
