May the Force be With You, Ralph

Deak Starkiller versus Darth Vader

I’m sure most of you have heard by now that Ralph McQuarrie, one of the chief visioners of that Galaxy Far, Far, Away, died  on Sunday.

Death Star Attack!

McQuarrie was a key concept artist on the original trilogy. He wasn’t the only one responsible for creating the look of the Star Wars Galaxy (there’s also John Mollo, Joe Johnston, and Nilo Rodis-Janero, to name a few very others), but McQuarrie’s designs are so iconic you can’t crack an “art of” book these days and not find at least a dozen homages to his look and style. I mean, the guy pretty much gave us the look of Darth Vader — you can’t get much more iconic than that!

McQuarrie helped design the look for a lot of other famous universes, too. He did extensive work on the original Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, and even a proposed

Battlestar Galactica
"Good God!" "Yes, that's just what the Hebrews thought."

Star Trek reboot that never got off the ground.  Oh, and you might recognize the drawing on the left. Dr. Jones did.

I’m an avowed Star Wars geek. Other kids had posters of rock bands, basketball players, and swimsuit models on their walls — I had Ralph McQuarrie prints on mine. In the days before Wookiepedia, iPhones, and Blu-Ray discs, if I wanted to revisit the Star Wars universe, I pulled out one of McQuarrie’s paintings and it brought the galaxy to life in vibrant hues. (I was also a huge fan of Al Williamson’s large-format The Empire Strikes Back comic adaptation from Marvel, but that’s another story.)

The thing about McQuarrie’s Star Wars art that fascinated me was the glimpses it gave of the “rest of” the Galaxy – the one you’d no doubt see if you could just get George to swing

Alderaan in happier days

the camera the other way. Stormtroopers with lightsabers? Check. Boba Fett in white armor? Yes! Monumental cityscapes that cover planets and moons? Check! In fact, we got to see Alderaan’s lush cities and Coruscant’s imperial architecture in McQuarrie’s art long before they appeared on screen in the prequel trilogy.

In the years after Return of the Jedi, when there was a dearth of any new Star Wars adventures, I turned to roleplaying games to get my fix (true confession, sometimes I still do). McQuarrie’s designs illustrated those early books, and intrepid game designers statted out those heroes, creatures, and spaceships. His work lent an authenticity to the almost bootleg feel of the “Expanded Universe.”  Of course, Many of McQuarrie’s unused designs eventually did make it into the novels, the prequel films and now especially the TV show The Clone Wars. The team there seems to delight in turning old concept art into new iconic images, and I love them for it.

Speaking of authenticity, there are times when McQuarrie’s visions of Star Wars seem to me more real than the movies themselves. I’m a big fan of his original look for Chewbacca.

The Mighty Chewbacca
We could take on the whole Empire!

I love his designs for the snowspeeders — they are smaller and have a bit more of a deathtrap feel to them. His painting of stricken soldiers in the trenches of Hoth as AT-ATs tower overhead is one of those quiet moments  where you feel the real impact of the battle. His paintings often capture those little moments as well as the frenetic action and sweeping vistas we’re accustomed to from the Star Wars galaxy.

The Battle Passes By

Rest in peace, Ralph. I hope you’re discovering new worlds to draw.