Star Wars: A New Hope: Manga Volume 2

In the first volume we were introduced to an impressive retelling of the classic Star Wars trilogy. As it is pretty much word for word the same as the Star Wars Special Editions, whether or not you enjoy this manga will largely depend on how much you like the art and action. I'm glad to say that in this volume neither disappoint in the slightest. The action highlights include Obi-Wan's dispatching of two thugs in the cantina (no one can do swordplay action like manga artists), the Millennium Falcon's escape from Tatooine (with the stormtroopers filling the page with blasterfire and masive amounts of speed lines for lift-off and jump to light speed), and one of my personal favorites from the movie, Luke's first practice against a training droid with his lightsaber. The characters continue to go through cute, exaggerated facial action to denote emotion, and it gives the whole thing a Saturday-morning-cartoon feel as opposed to the grittiness that some associate with Star Wars. I still have to say that I largely love the character designs, with some of my favorites being Luke, Leia, and Boba Fett (gotta love how his short moment from the Special Edition of Star Wars allows him a REALLY cool pose in this book. The best part of this book by far though, and undoubtedly the main reason to buy it, is the destruction of Alderaan. When the Death Star fires upon the unsuspecting planet, not only do we see the giant laser blasting through space, but we also see crowds of people with a huge light descending upon them, a nuclear-looking explosion upon impact, a giant white flash, and (with I had a poster of this) Grand Moff Tarkin with a wicked smile upon his face and Leia with tears coursing down her face! This book ends with the Millennium Falcon being captured in the tractor beam of the Death Star and Vader sensing the presence of his old master... If you like the first volume in this Manga, you definitely should get this one too.

It's like seeing the movie. Incredible drawing and a story line taken for the original script of George Lucas. A must- buy book for all fans of Star Wars.