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View Full Version : Looking for info on Episode I Adventures and Star Wars Adventures



El Chuxter
08-30-2005, 06:19 PM
I'm slowly putting together all the holes in my Star Wars book collection, and these two series are causing me a little bit of confusion. I've not been able to find any really good info on either, aside from the books I've actually tracked down, and even the Cargo Bay at starwars.com has some big holes and inaccuracies in it.

Episode I Adventures were available by joining a club that was advertised in the Jedi Apprentice novels. Each month, or however often they sent out new books, subscribers got a novel (similar to the JA books, but without Jude Watson's touch) and a game book that accompanied the novel. The novels were stories carried over in serial fashion from book to book and were pre-TPM adventures of the characters. From what I've been able to figure out, there were three story arcs. One dealt with several Jedi trying to rescue Adi Gallia from captivity after her discovery of an order of droid starfighters, and Darth Sidious' wacky attempts to thwart the do-gooders. The second starred Anakin Skywalker, who rescued some slave children and incurred the wrath of Sebulba, Jabba, and Djas Puhr. (Wha? Actual EU info for Djas Puhr? :eek: ) The third, well, my guess is it has something to do with Jar Jar, as the titles refer to Bongos and such.

I'm not even sure how many there were, though. The Cargo Bay has listings for 13, but looking over the internet, I've found sites selling the game book for #15 (The Final Battle). I've found absolutely nothing for any #14. I'm not even sure if there's a novel to accompany #15, since it seems to deal with the Gungan/Trade Federation ground battle at the end of TPM.

My guess is that, for whatever reason, #14 and #15 only had game books. This still doesn't explain the complete dearth of info, though.

Star Wars Adventures were essentially the same thing, sold through the Jedi Quest series and dealing with pre-AOTC stories. (Why they didn't continue the trend and call them Episode II Adventures, I don't know. Maybe they wanted to keep it going long enough to cover ROTS without requiring another name change.)

There were eight of these, from what I can tell. I think they were handled similar to the E1 Adventures, with a game book and a novel. I'm not sure of this, though, since I've not seen individual listings for both books.

It appears there was one story arc that lasted six of the eight issues. The last two repeat the titles and cover images of the first two books of the Anakin storyline from E1 Adventures (The Ghostling Children and The Hunt for Anakin Skywalker), so I'm guessing they're reprints. Since there's no "Star Wars Adventures #9: Capture Arawynne," it seems to me that interest was waning, Scholastic reprinted the earlier books to satisfy current subscribers, and the series completely died before the entire story was reprinted.

A lot of this is guesswork. I've only actually found the novels for #'s 1-2 and 4-6 of Episode I Adventures so far. If anyone knows more about these series, or even if anyone can find a link to a site with more info (repeated searches just give me extensive lists of used copies), I'd much appreciate it.

Rocketboy
08-30-2005, 10:44 PM
Interestingly enough, TFN (http://www.theforce.net/comics/darkhorse/cp_tales03.asp) posted a review of Star Wars Tales #3 (playing catch-up on old reviews, I guess).
Here is the text that applies:

"The Death of Captain Tarpals"
Story: Ryder Windham
Pencils: Tom Fowler

SUMMARY
Jar Jar Binks is caught stealing food in Chef Marshoo's eatery, but he is saved from a beating by the chef when Captain Tarpals arrives to arrest him. Turns out Jar Jar is held responsible for a recent incident at Boss Nass' mansion with his heyblibber, and this time the boss decided to banish Jar Jar from Otoh Gunga. So Tarpals escorts Jar Jar to the surface, where he is left on his own.

THE STORY
Although this story can be enjoyed on its own, it is really the missing chapter of Windham's novel The Bongo Rally (http://www.theforce.net/books/reviews/ep1adventures-12.asp), the twelfth book in the Episode I Adventures series from Scholastic and the last of four books which forms one continuous story about the events that lead to Jar Jar's banishment. However, I thought that the story was better when the book was read first, so I enjoyed it more on my second reading. It takes place right between the last two chapters of the book, and in fact there is a big gap in the narration where this story should be.

Furthermore, a lot of characters and events from the books are mentioned here; Brass Marshoo was introduced in Festival of Warriors (#10) as Jar Jar's boss when he worked in the kitchens; the accident at the zoo was recounted in Rescue in the Core (#9) and was the reason Jar Jar was put on probation for one year; and the accidents with the "gasser" and "da boss' heyblibber" are described in The Bongo Rally (#12) where he obviously broke his probation.
They also have reviews of #1-14 (and many more) here (http://www.theforce.net/books/reviews/br_young.asp).
No, it's a way to actually get them, but I hope the info helps.