Posted in: Comics | Tagged: 9-11, brian wood, Comics, death star, entertainment, marvel, star wars

The Destruction Of The Death Star – A 9/11 Allegory?

Published Thu, 09 Jan 2014 13:30:23 -0600

Last updated Thu, 09 Jan 2014 13:43:48 -0600

Brian Wood shows us why Marvel should just hire him for their books and be done with it. He fits the book like Dan Slott slots into Spider-Man, like Mark Waid wades into Daredevil. And Brian Wood would do a great job on their Star Wars too.

Like in this issue, with a young Empire graduate getting seconded to work with Darth Vader and… well, frankly, a textual comparison with the attack on the Death Star and the attack on the World Trade Center. And the actions by the US and its allies afterwards, and that of the Empire.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. That a different perspective can transform events. In the wake of Nelson Mandela's death, a number of people questioned the sainting of Mandela, as he was a terrorist. Which, you know, he was. But then so were the French Resistance. But it was a path that he later rejected and prevented the country descending into Civil War by forgiving his captors and suppressors on behalf of his nation.

It was Kevin Smith who famously asked those difficult questions about the destruction not once, but twice of the Death Star, about all the contractors who were killed in its destruction. And for some, the World Trade Center, the Capital building and the Pentagon were just as much a threat, or a target, as a moon-sized planet destroyer.

It's important to note that Brian Wood isn't saying that perspective is a correct one. It's just noting that it is a perspective, asking the reader to try it out, and maybe consider their own perspective in that light. All while being a Star Wars comic book.

This series will end next year, Dark Horse losing their license to Marvel Comics.

Thing is, will a Disney Marvel Star Wars comic ask these kind of questions, make the audience feel uncomfortable and question their own preconceptions about the very black-and-white, dark-and-light version of morality that the movies showed?

It might if they hired Brian Wood.

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