32 BBY: The Phantom Menace by John Whitman

John Whitman’s adaptation of The Phantom Menace was one of the sources I bought begrudgingly for this project.  Before I received it in the mail I considered it another fluff piece added to the cacophony of sources surrounding the release of The Phantom Menace; however, after going through it I’m glad I bought it.  It has two neat qualities to it that make it a little different than everything else concerning The Phantom Menace that was released at this time. 

Firstly, its size is very small. Measuring four and a quarter inches in both height and length, and one and a quarter inches thick, it was not at all what I imagined it to be when I ordered it on Amazon.    When I received my tiny little package in the mail I was confused.  When I opened the package to find a tiny yellow version of The Phantom Menace sitting in the palm of my hand I was both irritated and intrigued.  As I flipped through its pages, its second remarkable quality jumped out at me: Brian McKinney’s art.

By far the best aspect of this book is McKinney’s art.  Every other page has a simple and elegant piece of art concerning the action in the story.  My favorite piece was on page 293, where Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi come up against Darth Maul in the hanger.  I’ve included a picture from page 7 of the book below.  I wanted to scan the picture I just mentioned, but my scanner quit right after I managed to capture this image.

Story wise there is nothing to comment on.  It’s a simplified adaptation of the film.

For my next post I’m going to look at Luceno’s latest addition to this part of Star Wars history, End Game.  Until then my friends, may the Force be with you.