Star Wars, Episode I - The Phantom Menace (Graphic Novel)

That being said, I still feel able to judge the Graphic Novel for Star Wars: Episode One against my general Star Wars knowledge. Jar Jar haters will be pleased that his role was reduced a little, and that he doesn't come off as goofy as he does in the movie.

This is graphic novel is fairly true to the spirit of the movie. In places, the dialogue has been shortened, or a scene shortened, but for the most part, the book covers the movie.

However, there are places that if you did not know the story from the movie, you might get a little lost. For instance, the battle between the Gungans and the Droid Army. All of a sudden, the droid infantry just shows up with no real explanation that they were deployed from the troop carriers.

In other places, the novel fails to capture the drama, adventure, or feel of the movie. This is most apparent during the Pod Race. None of the speed, danger, or implications of the race are apparent. If this weren't a novelization of a movie, one would have to wonder why it was even included.

Overall, it is still a fun read, and a nice visual reference to the movie. Some additional narrative comments between panels to direct the action would have made up for some of the deficiencies, and the art could have been more inspiring. It'll stay in my collection as a reference, but it probably won't be reread much.


Too literal   April 26, 2000
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

The Star Wars film-to-comic adaptations have been notoriously bad, and this one is no exception. Oh, the art isn't as drab as the previous adaptations, and it's not as hard to follow, but it's judt boring. It follows the film much too literally, and even though from some of the pictures it's clear the artists didn't have the complete movie to work from, even the poses and facial expressions like copied from the film.

This would have been a much better comic if it had been combined with the Episode I Adventures story into one big, comprehensive graphic novel, but as it is, it's just boring.

Also, the art, which as I said isn't dull, still isn't great. I feel that there was a lot of unexploited potential in this comic, and I don't understand why such a visually-oriented film should be so hard to convert to the comic medium.

Stay away from this one.