Ever since I was little, this has been, by far, my favorite scene in Star Wars:
For some reason, this A wing pilot MOVED me. Everything about this part of Return of the Jedi made me want to DRAW and CREATE. This is a fan fiction comic I made in April, just because I love this scene and I love comics. I was originally going to only have this story in print with me at shows, but I want as many people to see it as possible. There’s a big part of me in these eleven pages, I hope you can see it.
Love you guys.
That was really good. I am seriously impressed with how masterfully you get emotion across in your sequential art. Well done.
Hey, this scene in ROTJ also stuck with me, but I went a different way with it in this little animation… shield generators are the thing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5Jp0Srd0nY
wow… amazing how much you can squeeze into so few pages… amazing indeed…
My favorite work of yours!
Really loveley vignette. I like your line ‘Everything about this part of Return of the Jedi made me want to DRAW and CREATE’ As a designer myself I can totally empathise. Please continue creating.
Wonderful! This has to be the best thing Star Wars has ever inspired.
Man such a powerful short. I love the effect that the lack of dialogue has. Great stuff Daniel! Getting my heart racing and all.
Amazing. The power of love works in mysterious ways.
Nicely done, Mr. Johnson. That panel where the A-wing escapes the confines of the cell is wonderful.
I only wish the drawing on page eight was larger, like a diagonal splash across the page.
Still, wonderful. Page seven is pure energy. Love it.
just beautiful.
Amazing. Wonderfully told. And I just don’t know how you do so MUCH with inks, man. You are truly a virtuoso. Each page is a work of art. Thanks for sharing.
(And when you publish Mullet, make sure to include this as a bonus!)
This is great. However when the girl gets blown up it looks like a dude’s face. Might want to make it more feminine so the reader is sure it’s his girlfriend blowing up.
Wow
I literally, physically, had chills viewing this. Just incredibly awesome.
Touching and brilliant.
Well done, sir.
Excellent Work. I foresee you getting a call very shortly to do a Starwars comic. Heed my words!
This is excellent, emotionally-compelling and succinct. Well done, sir. May this be remembered as *the* backstory of Green Leader.
Beautiful work. Thank you.
Amazing.
Simply, wow. Very, very well done.
wow. thank you.
Absolutely incredible and very moving. That scene has always touched me as well, and the way you brought the character to life, gave him an entire emotional history in just a couple of pages is simply awesome. Your artwork is FANTASTIC! I would love to somehow get this in print. Is there anyway it can be ordered?? Again, amazing.
Every kid back in the day had their favorite Star Wars ship, and mine was always the A-Wing. Whenever I had the option, I always selected it in videogames, because I remembered this scene from Return of the Jedi. A nameless soldier sacrificing all to take down the Emperor. Even as a kid, when I saw that, I thought “…damn”
Nicely done, sharing it with all.
Amazing. This has always been one of my favorite scenes as well and this pretty much made me tear up like a school girl over a squashed kitten. Well done sir, well done.
This is a masterpiece.
It’s an awesome little piece. Thanks so much for sharing!
Great stuff!!
Sir. I have no words (pun not intended).
This is one of the most powerful works made by fans for the SWU that I have ever had the privilege to see.
I give you the Djem So salute with as much respect as I can muster.
Wow, man. Wow. I am near speachless. This moved me! Absolutly phenominal work in every way!
This is my favourite scene in ROTJ. Thank you for such an a amazing and powerful backstory. I’m going to watch it again soon and shed a tear for Arvyl…
Wow, this got to me. This is the most amazing Star Wars related thing i’ve seen in a long while. I’d shake your hand.
This is it. This is what Star Wars’ all about. It’s not about what’s in the screen but what lives on in our hearts and pushes us forward to extend this rich universe than bases his grounds in one thing: redemption.
Ugh. Typo… that*
This was really powerfull. I felt i have to tell you your art really moved me…!
Nice work man, i was really touched…
wow, Fantastic. That really moved me. Beautiful art.
Saw the write up on FP Blog and am really impressed, this is a superb piece of comic work and an amazing exploration of an unknown and unseen part, and so damn sad. Great stuf thanks.
Last page seals the deal. Congrats! Well done!
Absolutely. Amazing. Similar feeling to how I picture Wedge at the end of Episode 3. Everyone parties and cheers as he slips away to his small room and hangs his head in his hands.
Awesome! .
That was moving. Brilliant work well done. thank you ever so much for sharing that with us all :]
This is amazing!
Wow. Very, very well done.
Damn, this gave me goose bumbs
1 word. Beautiful.
This is beautiful work on so many levels. I never leave comments on these things, but you really moved me with just a few frames! Well done and thank you!
AMAZING! Also, be nice if the inner structure of image of the super stardestroyer on the cover page was made up of his corpse, as a coffin. Symbolic.
Fantastic piece. That scene has always stuck with me as well. Its one of my favorites. Is this available for purchase anywhere?
In the scene this artists expands on; I have always fixated on Akbar’s reaction to the Executor going down. In the EU there was some explination on his history with that ships construction and crew. Where some may have seen relief that the ship went down other might see a momement of reflection or grief. However, because I was wrapped up in Akbar never pay too much attention to the other show of emotion with Green Leader’s reaction to going all in and heading right in to the command deck. You could argue he was going kamikaze on purpose, or that he lost control and his eventual impact point was random. I flew nine years (as a crewmember) and understand how a good pilot can control a craft that should be out of control through flying by wire (see the EP-3 incident from April 2001). After seeing this I contend he had good intel on the SSD weakspots, knew the deflectors were out, and since he had a ship that was in critical condition and would not last long went in for the greater kill. The post – battle loss is moving. without dialog and exposition this piece says more than the original scene could have. Awesome, I hope you continue.
A challenge for you:
Listen to Sheryle Crow’s “Safe and Sound” while reading this comic
I love this! It is simultaneously beautiful, inspiring, and heartbreaking. I have always loved Star Wars, but it has never hit me in the feels like this. Wow.
I’m shedding a tear, at work, over a fanfic comic about a 30 sec scene on a sci fi movie. Is THAT good!! congrats!!
You, jimmy1, are a bigot and an idiot! Seriously one of the stupidest comments I’ve ever seen.
Comment deleted! Thanks for pointing it out to me. Sorry it got through the filter!
Fine work DWJ.
“The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic.” – Joseph Stalin
Very nice
Amazing. Wonderful. I home that I’ll can, someday, write and draw a story like this. Cheers from France
Bravo. This is CANON material. I was moved. Thank you.
Dammit, you made me cry.
wow… I’m speechless; Simply amazing
Awesome work! Very inspiring. thanks for sharing. Keep up the great work.
This is awesome. I will never see that scene again the same way. there’s only one thing I thought that was a little bit weird… In the hanger, why are the A-Wings & X-Wings gigantic?
They are to scale… This, my friend, is a call for watching the movies again !
this is awesome. good work.
From the first time I saw it in the theaters, to every time I watch ROTJ now, that scene really hits me. Your story makes it even more powerful. Amazing work.
Dude, this was gorgeous. That final page focusing on the photo… powerful. Nice work.
Incredible simply incredible. This connects with the military I work with and my own feelings toward the photos and emotions left behind.
Amazing work! I truly hope you have a bright future!!
i was moved. i remember that scene too. i also remember feeling for the pilot, but it was such a chaotic part of the film, that i think those feelings got lost in a sea of excitement. it’s intense to have it taken out of the context of the film. we spend so much time building relationships, it’s just too much to consider how quickly it can all go away, how we can just disappear. very sad.
Damn it, man. Them feels. I keep coming back to this comic several times a day and it gets me every time.
I can only say:
:'(
So cool you made a comic abour Arvel Crynyd !
His name was Arvel Crynyd. The Crynyd Award, distinguish extraordinary feats of bravery in space combat, was posthumously created in his honor.
Great art – you honored him too !
Death of Roy Folker all over again. Beautiful and full of emotion.
Great storytelling.
Loved this work man. I would totally buy this as a full color comic now. You’ve turned me into a fan.
Brilliant. The most touching piece of fan fiction Ive seen.
A friend just sent me this link. I had to excuse myself from a meeting at work to go cry in the men’s room. Thank you for this. Just, thank you.
This is cool. When i was a kid, I bought one of those paperbacks in the discount bin at the bookstore that was called “Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina” that took random people/aliens in the background in the Cantina and fleshed out their stories further. This was that + great art work. Well done!
Chills……….. Thank you for creating this sublime piece of art.
I know it’s a minor set of characters, but Disney ought to make this story canon. It has the right amount of action and pathos, and fully explains why Ackbar seemed to react with sadness when the Excutor was destroyed. He knew them both, and knew they were a couple.
If you guys like this, you should check out Daniel’s “Space Mullet” comic.
Wow… this.. just… wow.
This is now officially part of my head-canon.
Kudos to you.
simply amazing,
thanks for this!
Well done. I always thought that the little stories going on during a major event fleshed out the intensity more than the main characters. This story with Return of the JEdi is a great example. IN the Movie Titanic, there were lots of examples of reactions around the ship that fleshed out the despair, terror, and acceptance that the main characters could never have added. THis scene will forever have a deeper meaning for me thanks to your little story here. Well done, Johnson…well done.
It’s been a long time since I read the Star Wars comics, but of all those that I’ve ever read, Green Leader is the one that moved me the most!
What an amazing piece of art. Touching, emotional, powerful, realistic even.
Now I too care about this character. Lucasfilm should use this Arvel Crynyd somewhere! You’ve interpreted him as such an amazing character!
Again, great work. I can’t believe I’m in tears because of a fanfic comic. I’ll be sure to check out your other works!
Marvelous, you have the feeling.
Thanks.
dude…amazing how u captured so much in just few panels…i was speechless..why the heck didnt Marvel contact u yet for there star wars comics?? MARVEL U BETTER STEP UP AND HIRE THIS GUY
Awesome and sad too….after seeing this never thought of that Green Leader and the x wings that was destroyed and it make sense! Keep it up.
Really awesome and emotional, I am very impressed
Story, Art, …whoa. Great job.
I have always struggled to get emotionally invested in black and white comic artwork (I don’t know why I just never have). But this is absolutely superb and hits all the right notes perfectly. Well done
incredible. just incredible. emotional beyond words.
A powerful visual reminder of the cost of war – not just a bunch of cool looking explosions, but irretractable losses of precious life. Beautifully done.
Darren, is there any chance of an actual print of Green Leader being released? Also will you be attending NYCC?
and by Darren i mean Daniel! Teaches me to not pay attention to what i’m typing while trying to stop my baby daughter from punching me in the nuts!
Arm hair standing straight up. Brilliant
I held it together until page seven. The look of peace, albeit tarnished by the soul-shattering pain of loss, cut me to the quick.
Damn fine work.
This is great – glad to know I’m not the only person who thought that part of ROTJ was unique. Nice work. I especially like the absence of dialogue.
Wow – truly awesome!
If you ever make a printed copy…I so want. Thank you for sharing.
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