By Various (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN 1-84576-110-3
In most creative endeavours, there’s a bittersweet edge that comes from what’s been made but which is left out of the finished piece, whether it’s a comics script or a motion picture. The fascinating premise here is that a group of talents involved with the pre-production of the Star Wars films have been asked to turn those inevitable runners-up concepts into comic strips.
Ranging from the magnificent to the just plain weird, Visionaries is a pictorial treat for fans of the franchise and simple science fiction followers also. Twelve creators from the Lucasfilm art department and from Industrial Light and Magic make a seamless transition to the sphere of graphic narrative in nine stories and two visual essays, based on the events of the Star Wars universe, concentrating particularly on the time between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
By far the most memorable are Aaron McBride’s “Old Woundsâ€, “Entrenched†by Alex Jaeger and M. Zachary Sherman and the balletic, wordless, splendidly dark exercise in the nature of evil “Sithisis†by Derek Thompson.
As much a coffee-table art book as graphic novel, there’s plenty for all readers to digest here.
 © 2004 Lucasfilm Ltd & ™. All Rights Reserved.