Hi everyone!!! Thank you so much for your patience- this really is a dream project for me, and I’m so excited for you all to be able to watch it. I apologize for any audio errors or minor details that I may have missed while reviewing this behemoth. Again, I am so grateful for your time. EDIT: I have indeed forgotten to discuss Catalyst- with att of course by Scott Biel! I knew I’d forget something!
I actually remember that there was a lore reason for that. Apparently, being attuned to the light side makes you age gracefully, and because Luke and leia were jedi, they had that. As for han and Lando, apparently that's because they were just in close proximity to Luke and leia all the time and because they followed the light, they also aged nicely. Very neat tidbit of legends lore. Also reflects how as you use the dark side more and more, you become more sickly, pale and necrotic, like palpatine or bane.
@Ruune__ obi Wan aged pretty well honestly. The dude was in his 50s and looking good. Different actors aside, Ewan McGregor as he is can easily play an elderly ben kenobi.
I actually think they look a lot better, even though they've aged worse. Personally I much prefer Mark Hamill's beard and natural dark blond hair over, for example, Tsuyoshi Nagano's depiction of Luke with sideburns and slicked back hair. As fun as this art often is, a lot of the make-up and hair styling has aged poorly.
Gotta admit, I'm not much of a reader, especially a Star Wars reader, so I didn't expect to enjoy this video. But what I got delightfully tuggled my imagination, made me remember all my childhood memories with my favourite books and expanded my understanding of Star Wars. Truly a beautiful video about beautiful art. Thank u for consistently giving me motivation to read, even if I fail to use it most of the time.
The ralph mcquarrie piece for the new hope novelization is my favorite piece of star wars art ever. Its so visually pleasing to me. I love those gradient purple and pink skies with the glow on Vader's helmet
Nagano is truly the successor to Drew Struzan’s painterly 80s style. The way he renders the Solo children (who, to my knowledge, had never been portrayed in live-action) and aged-up main cast defined how I visualized them while reading their stories. Like peering into an alternate sequel trilogy where everybody didn’t look so tired and miserable.
What an incredibly thorough video of Star Wars novel art. 10/10, no notes. I love that you highlight and acknowledge the underappreciated artists, all the good, bad, and ugly covers we have seen!
Great video! It is gonna be so fun to return to it in a decade or two. In my opinion, NJO is probably the best in terms of the Legends continuity, but my favorite all time are the covers for the Aftermath and Alphabet Squadron trilogies. Another nice one is the cover for Bloodline. I am hopeful that at some point, it might become a trilogy of its own.
Gosh I wish Bloodline would become a trilogy… Thanks for watching man!!! I greatly appreciate the support :) this was a real labor of love and I’m glad people enjoy it
This was amazing to see the timeline of book art especially getting to see the covers I loved looking at as a kid. Id love to see a video comparing the comic arts with the differing eras (marvel, dark horse, etc…)
Some of the new covers for the Essential Legends Collection (Reprints of older books) are truly amazing. Especially the ones for Darth Plagueis, Shatterpoint, the X-Wing books, and Darth Maul Shadow Hunter!
Wow, I mean the cover art of legends books, specifically NJO onward, are forever burned into my skull. They held the only “official “ art of the cast in their later years and I cherished that as a kid lol. Last thing my favorite cover to this day is Legacy of the Force: Invincible. It’s just the only image we have of the most impactful duel in Star Wars imo. Anyways im leaving this comment long before I finish the video but so far, im deeply impressed great work
Honourable Mention: The Princess and the Scoundrel - it's beautiful, but while it brings up beloved memories of Han and Leia, it also churns up my intensely bitter feelings about what the new continuity did to them, and why I just can't get into the new OT or ST, and that really keeps it out of my top ten for the negative associations. Han's eyelip also lives in my head rent free, so perhaps it should now live in the readers of this too. 10: The High Republic: The Rising Storm - Even though there's not a drop of water on this book's cover, it somehow feels wet, like a looming flood. It's a very good use of lighting and negative space and it captures the eye so very well to imply its themes. 9: Secrets of the Jedi - An omission from your vid (don't blame you with this many books to cover lol), it has this glossy, slightly reflective sparkly aspect to its rays, and I adore the composition. It also evokes my favourite era with a very romantic quality. Would be higher if Siri matched the live action style of the rest. 8: Planet of Twilight - More or less agree with everything you said, it's such a striking orange tone that subtly varies just enough to showcase its diamond heads and give a sense of vista without vista. It even calls back to Children's cover with Leia's hair fanning into the background similar to Callista's hair. That it also melds into the fire and dust and smoke to reinforce its tone earns it an award too. 7: MedStar II: Jedi Healer - More than anything else, this understands its assignment. What it needs to convey, to suggest, and it draws together healing synergy in such a beautiful way. It feels grand but humble at the same time, as impossible as that seems, and in the process suggests opposing forces within Barriss. 6: The High Republic: Convergence - Just so electric and energetic and visually connects to its heroes and villains alike. I nearly put Cataclysm on too but something about its character composition doesn't quite click in the way Convergence's does. It has this unknown, mythical yet modern quality to it, and I am particularly fond of its colours. Helps that the book itself is hands down one of my favourite SW books. 5: Children of the Jedi - The trancelike, dreamlike state this one brings up to me always lingers in my mind when I think of Star Wars. It might be slightly cheating by using visual links with System Shock's Shodan to imply certain plot details, but it executes it so well, and the colour palette is so savvy... from stars to horizon it's a picturesque, flowing vision. 4: The Living Force - having this one in hand over just seeing it digitally is really something. The painted strokes just veuve in a way that doesn't really come across in pictures, it has this depth to it that feels both at home in the early 00s Prequel style, but also the 90s Struckman style. The final version also correctly has Adi's face instead of the Stass image it's modelled after. 3: The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness - There's a kind of rich charisma to this cover that draws in, and it particularly knows how to use subtleties and contrasts in their best places. On top of that, it even uses its palette to indirectly link into and hook into some of the Phase 2 books and in particular motifs of the Path of the Open Hand to imply so much about its principle antagonist. 2: Legacy of the Force: Invincible - It strikes me as quite remarkable how a book series I cannot abide and had such a poor experience with, has such an unwarrantedly perfectly gorgeous cover. The radial spiralling flow of the whole thing circles around into a beautiful impending clash. 10/10 no notes. 1: Splinter of the Mind's Eye - There's something about this one which compells. Haunts, speaks to the raw primal formative times of Star Wars. It may never be defeated in my heart.
Really wonderful comment!!! And yes I did forget Secrets of the Jedi… I mentally grouped it with the whole series- should’ve communicated that! I love your list too! Medstar 2 I totally agree with!!!
Okay, Nagano might be my favorite traditional artist for these covers hot damn! The anime stylized art of 5health's Star Wars art is also a massive influence on me with the lighting and dynamic posing. If I ever get to do a SW book art, I'd want it to look the lovechild between an album cover and comic cover art lol
“Sorry mom can’t go, new Star Wars centralized video just dropped.” My new favorite Star Wars channel CONTINUES to cover the topics that I thought only existed in brief conversations at conventions or in my mind. Excellent work
Haha unfortunately not a real quote, but I do quite enjoy them. For me it’s the rare synthesis of the entirety of the Saga, so much of fan discourse is often devoid of the nuance that I think is demanded by the almost incomprehensible amount of content that has existed. I’m one of the mega fans who loves it all, and I love seeing that kind of appreciation for the totality of the franchise.
@@StarWarsCentralizedim almost done with it, i noticed that you didnt talk about catalyst? The rogue one lead up book, still a fantastic video regardless!
My personal favorite Star Wars book cover would be the one for Labyrinth of Evil. I picked it up at a library booksale a bit over ten years ago, when I was getting started reading Star Wars novels.
I predicted this would be absolute cinema..... I was not wrong. This was a fantastic watch! You did such a wonderful job here! I hope more people come out here to watch this, because you deserve it for all the effort you put in to this channel
This was such a fun video, what a wonderful celebration of all these beautiful covers and artists. Thank you for putting this together and making me relive so many great memories of reading these books and loving their covers.
While I'm not a fan of disney star wars, I have to admit, the covers are a huge improvement. Almost all of them, are original and have some interesting idea behind them. Old covers suffered from overreliance on photoshop/paintover of movie characters. Most of them is just Luke Han and Leia in dfferent lighting. Also, a constant theme seems to be that books about non-movie characters seem to be the best ones, as artists couldn't just use a photo as basis. Still, the absolute top for me are the Japanese versions of NJO. While they are also "floating heads" the colors and compostion is amazing, and really differentiates them from the other books of that era.
What makes the use of posters even worse is that they're not genuine art like what the prequel trilogy had. I'll never understand why they went with standard floating heads for the sequel trilogy. Great video! I always love to read fan's reactions when covers get revealed. Corey Brickley's work got a lot of people in awe.
What a wonderful video! Great to find something about Star Wars on Yputube that still can get me to learn something (usually I either am already knowledgable, or the material is full of misinformation and half truths). The reason why covers got cleaner and more simplified in the late 2000s is actually the rise of online shopping: covers need to strike you no longer from a book shelf, but as a thumbnail in an online shop. Some artists still manage to make incredible pieces, but I miss the impressive compositions of old.
another awesome video as usual. great to listen to while doing art and other things. people like you remind me just how much more star wars i need to read... but your videos give such wonderful insights in the meantime. you're also making me want to dive into subjects of more personal interest on my own channel. cheers, and keep it at. may the force be with you!
I wish the modern era had a more uniform style of cover, I respect your opinion on liking it but I hate the Aftermath covers. Also picture books are probably a little out of the scope of this video, but the upcoming picture book adaptation of The Princess and the Scoundrel (called Someone Who Loves You) is so beautiful. And Leia and the Great Island Escape is a really adorable cover too. I tried to list my top ten without mentioning Tsuyoshi Nagano or Drew Struzan to make it harder/easier for myself haha but I still couldn't get below 14... (my top five Struzan are The Crystal Star, Children of the Jedi, The Courtship of Princess Leia, The Lost City of the Jedi, and The Paradise Snare). I love the prequel era covers. Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter/Saboteur Shatterpoint Coruscant Nights II Jedi Trial Cloak of Deception Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina Young Jedi Knights: Lightsabers Jedi Apprentice: The Rising Force Jedi Apprentice: The Dark Rival Jedi Apprentice: The Ties That Bind The Approaching Storm The High Republic: Light of the Jedi Queen's Hope US paperback cover The Princess and the Scoundrel (and Someone Who Loves You)
Great topic and awesome to see a Star Wars channel celebrating all eras of Star Wars publishing. I hope you consider producing a history of Star Wars comic book cover art as there is a lot to love there, much of it rivaling the best that the novels have to offer.
Incredibly well done video!!! I was a young reader when A New Terror came out and was not aware at the time that the cover had the Grievous concept art. I remember the differences between this depiction, the Tartakovsky Grievous, and the RoTS Grievous really impacting my understanding of artistic interpretation.
My favorite covers are definitely the young readers for the high republic. I l love Petur Antonsson's work. The alphabet squadron trilogy is also a favorite of mine.
What a great watch! This must have been a beast to edit so thanks for the hard work! Curious why you didn't include any of the recent Essentials redesigns (such as the Rogue Squadron series)?
To be honest, they mostly just slipped my mind because of the sheer volume of other things… and I didn’t cover reprints as much anyways so I thought it worked when I later realized I don’t talk about the ELC versions
Fantastic video! I do think some of the comments came off as a bit repetitive towards the end but I LOVED how it wasn't just all praise for the legends era covers and no love for the newer eras. It was a perfectly balanced critique and praise of all eras and it was great
The Cover of NJO:Onslaught has been the background wallpaper of my phone for the past 3 years now, I love it so much! Thank you for this video! This is exactly my kind of content!
I have never had any interest in Book cover art, nor have I every payed any attention to it for more than a few seconds, This video has given me a whole new perspective on the topic and am completely fascinated!
BANGER video!!! My top five covers in no particular order: - Han Solo's Revenge - Shadow of the Sith - The Eye of Darkness - The Last Command (2010 reprint version) - X Wing: Solo Command I loveeeee how old sci-fi and fantasy book covers look and Han Solo's Revenge + Solo Command are the peak of that for Star Wars for me!!
This is such an interesting video, I really love it, you've done it justice here. I was put off by the video length but before I knew it the video was over.
Oh god I’m blanking on the name but one of the last legends novels in like 2014 and one of the regional variants that had old luke han leia on it right before the sequels came out and it looked like a modern movie poster lol that was cool
I just picked up the 1976 Star Wars novel partially because seeing its cover art greatly intrigued me. Since then I've been walking through my novel collection to compare their cover art.
Dark Tide I: Onslaught has my favorite Star Wars cover. Great use of colors, immaculate framing, and most impressively, the way it portrays the looming threat of the invasion in a... quiet, yet dread-inducing way. It's just perfect. Other favorites include Han Solo's Revenge, The Crystal Star, Planet of Twilight, Lyric's World (nostalgia!), Iron Fist & Isard's Revenge, Remnant & The Final Prophecy, Labyrinth of Evil. Shoutouts to Nagano's Traitor, as well.
Hell yeah, time to watch a video about star wars book covers at 1 am In all seriousness, this is such an interesting and unexplored topic, so I'm glad you made this video
Love the book cover arts, especially that original 1976 cover, though the copy i had as a kid was the plain black one using the same movie art as the 2004 DVD release. Death Troopers is also one i liked, as well as having a special place in my heart for the Dark Forces art
Bravo! We can see all the hard work you put into this video! I would have added the variants of Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy by Magali Villeneuve because they're gorgeous and so different from the rest. ❤
I know why it wasn’t covered, but the recent Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire’s cover is one of my absolute favorites. The crimson red imperial cog at the dead center shattering into pieces is such striking imagery, clearly evocative of the iconography seen in the Thrawn origin trilogy
The Journey to the Force Awakens books (specifically the ones with Smuggler's Run, Moving Target, and A Jedi's Weapon) had a different cover before they were made into Journey To Force Awaken books. I think they were made by Dave Seeley
I finish the obi wan book it meant a special place because it my first novel I ever finished without help and it encouraged me to check out more Star Wars books in the future
Great video it was always a universe of imagination from this book covers to me. Would love to see another one of these video with video games, or comics if you dare risk it hahaha (by the way, trawn trilogy brazilian covers were amazing)
"But the films weren't adaptations of books?" Was half expecting "Yes they were...Alan Dean Foster is the true creator of Star Wars. George Lucas just made the film version"
My favorites covers are both Darth Plagueis, and Light of the Jedi especially the latter as the cover really Screams this is the golden age of the Jedi. I also the Lando and Han adventure book Covers as they gave off pulpy science fiction vibes. Something straight out of the 1950s or the 30s.
I remember the back cover of the Jedi Quest series having a rougggghhh Jake-to-Hayden animorphs-style image. Wish I could describe it better than that.
Amazing Video! Im curious as to what your thoughts would be on the Legends essentials Collecions Book covers are? Cause they take many of the old books and redo the art for the covers.
Question, wat do u mean by imperial lighting techniques when it comes to the cover of rogue one? Also wat do u mean on the color change for branding purposes when it comes for the cover of the legacy of luke skywalker?
Hi everyone!!! Thank you so much for your patience- this really is a dream project for me, and I’m so excited for you all to be able to watch it.
I apologize for any audio errors or minor details that I may have missed while reviewing this behemoth.
Again, I am so grateful for your time.
EDIT: I have indeed forgotten to discuss Catalyst- with att of course by Scott Biel! I knew I’d forget something!
Finding a non toxic star wars channel is really hard in the current state of youtube so you have been a massive breath of fresh air!
I love how Han, Luke and Leia are in their 50’s in later novels but the cover art makes them look straight out of A New Hope 😭 good old legends books.
Yup LOL
I actually remember that there was a lore reason for that. Apparently, being attuned to the light side makes you age gracefully, and because Luke and leia were jedi, they had that. As for han and Lando, apparently that's because they were just in close proximity to Luke and leia all the time and because they followed the light, they also aged nicely.
Very neat tidbit of legends lore. Also reflects how as you use the dark side more and more, you become more sickly, pale and necrotic, like palpatine or bane.
@@silverprimus321boi9 unfortunately Obi-Wan didn’t get the memo
@Ruune__ obi Wan aged pretty well honestly. The dude was in his 50s and looking good. Different actors aside, Ewan McGregor as he is can easily play an elderly ben kenobi.
Tackling the topics no one else has the balls to take on
Or topics no one has the desire to take on… 😭
I've been waiting for someone to truly discuss the awkwardness/lacklusterness of some of the CGI covers from back in the day.
I feel bad for the original trilogy actors who could never age as unrealistically gracefully as their book cover counterparts
I actually think they look a lot better, even though they've aged worse. Personally I much prefer Mark Hamill's beard and natural dark blond hair over, for example, Tsuyoshi Nagano's depiction of Luke with sideburns and slicked back hair. As fun as this art often is, a lot of the make-up and hair styling has aged poorly.
@@mphylo2296tbf that art is based on an actual look Mark rocked in the 90’s iirc.
@@Mal-sg6zc Oh really? That’s pretty cool. Still kinda funny looking but it makes sense.
@@fenixfelixx what a cruel thing to say
Gotta admit, I'm not much of a reader, especially a Star Wars reader, so I didn't expect to enjoy this video. But what I got delightfully tuggled my imagination, made me remember all my childhood memories with my favourite books and expanded my understanding of Star Wars. Truly a beautiful video about beautiful art. Thank u for consistently giving me motivation to read, even if I fail to use it most of the time.
Thanks so much for watching though! Glad you enjoyed!
The ralph mcquarrie piece for the new hope novelization is my favorite piece of star wars art ever. Its so visually pleasing to me. I love those gradient purple and pink skies with the glow on Vader's helmet
The Japanese New Jedi Order covers are some of the best Star Wars artwork out there.
100%!!
Nagano is truly the successor to Drew Struzan’s painterly 80s style. The way he renders the Solo children (who, to my knowledge, had never been portrayed in live-action) and aged-up main cast defined how I visualized them while reading their stories. Like peering into an alternate sequel trilogy where everybody didn’t look so tired and miserable.
What an incredibly thorough video of Star Wars novel art. 10/10, no notes. I love that you highlight and acknowledge the underappreciated artists, all the good, bad, and ugly covers we have seen!
Thank you so much!!! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Great video! It is gonna be so fun to return to it in a decade or two. In my opinion, NJO is probably the best in terms of the Legends continuity, but my favorite all time are the covers for the Aftermath and Alphabet Squadron trilogies. Another nice one is the cover for Bloodline. I am hopeful that at some point, it might become a trilogy of its own.
Gosh I wish Bloodline would become a trilogy…
Thanks for watching man!!! I greatly appreciate the support :) this was a real labor of love and I’m glad people enjoy it
The new Jedi Order nook covers are peak art
So facts
Especially the Japanese ones. Some of the best Star Wars art out there
the 2000s have my favorite covers ( probably bc i love the clone wars era ) but it’s some nostalgic about them
This was amazing to see the timeline of book art especially getting to see the covers I loved looking at as a kid. Id love to see a video comparing the comic arts with the differing eras (marvel, dark horse, etc…)
Thanks so much! Yeah comic covers would be a fun topic to cover as well!
28:57 shatterpoint goes hard, great novel too
Some of the new covers for the Essential Legends Collection (Reprints of older books) are truly amazing. Especially the ones for Darth Plagueis, Shatterpoint, the X-Wing books, and Darth Maul Shadow Hunter!
Yes they are!
Wow, I mean the cover art of legends books, specifically NJO onward, are forever burned into my skull. They held the only “official “ art of the cast in their later years and I cherished that as a kid lol.
Last thing my favorite cover to this day is Legacy of the Force: Invincible. It’s just the only image we have of the most impactful duel in Star Wars imo.
Anyways im leaving this comment long before I finish the video but so far, im deeply impressed great work
Thank you so much!
Honourable Mention: The Princess and the Scoundrel - it's beautiful, but while it brings up beloved memories of Han and Leia, it also churns up my intensely bitter feelings about what the new continuity did to them, and why I just can't get into the new OT or ST, and that really keeps it out of my top ten for the negative associations. Han's eyelip also lives in my head rent free, so perhaps it should now live in the readers of this too.
10: The High Republic: The Rising Storm - Even though there's not a drop of water on this book's cover, it somehow feels wet, like a looming flood. It's a very good use of lighting and negative space and it captures the eye so very well to imply its themes.
9: Secrets of the Jedi - An omission from your vid (don't blame you with this many books to cover lol), it has this glossy, slightly reflective sparkly aspect to its rays, and I adore the composition. It also evokes my favourite era with a very romantic quality. Would be higher if Siri matched the live action style of the rest.
8: Planet of Twilight - More or less agree with everything you said, it's such a striking orange tone that subtly varies just enough to showcase its diamond heads and give a sense of vista without vista. It even calls back to Children's cover with Leia's hair fanning into the background similar to Callista's hair. That it also melds into the fire and dust and smoke to reinforce its tone earns it an award too.
7: MedStar II: Jedi Healer - More than anything else, this understands its assignment. What it needs to convey, to suggest, and it draws together healing synergy in such a beautiful way. It feels grand but humble at the same time, as impossible as that seems, and in the process suggests opposing forces within Barriss.
6: The High Republic: Convergence - Just so electric and energetic and visually connects to its heroes and villains alike. I nearly put Cataclysm on too but something about its character composition doesn't quite click in the way Convergence's does. It has this unknown, mythical yet modern quality to it, and I am particularly fond of its colours. Helps that the book itself is hands down one of my favourite SW books.
5: Children of the Jedi - The trancelike, dreamlike state this one brings up to me always lingers in my mind when I think of Star Wars. It might be slightly cheating by using visual links with System Shock's Shodan to imply certain plot details, but it executes it so well, and the colour palette is so savvy... from stars to horizon it's a picturesque, flowing vision.
4: The Living Force - having this one in hand over just seeing it digitally is really something. The painted strokes just veuve in a way that doesn't really come across in pictures, it has this depth to it that feels both at home in the early 00s Prequel style, but also the 90s Struckman style. The final version also correctly has Adi's face instead of the Stass image it's modelled after.
3: The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness - There's a kind of rich charisma to this cover that draws in, and it particularly knows how to use subtleties and contrasts in their best places. On top of that, it even uses its palette to indirectly link into and hook into some of the Phase 2 books and in particular motifs of the Path of the Open Hand to imply so much about its principle antagonist.
2: Legacy of the Force: Invincible - It strikes me as quite remarkable how a book series I cannot abide and had such a poor experience with, has such an unwarrantedly perfectly gorgeous cover. The radial spiralling flow of the whole thing circles around into a beautiful impending clash. 10/10 no notes.
1: Splinter of the Mind's Eye - There's something about this one which compells. Haunts, speaks to the raw primal formative times of Star Wars. It may never be defeated in my heart.
Really wonderful comment!!! And yes I did forget Secrets of the Jedi… I mentally grouped it with the whole series- should’ve communicated that! I love your list too! Medstar 2 I totally agree with!!!
Okay, Nagano might be my favorite traditional artist for these covers hot damn! The anime stylized art of 5health's Star Wars art is also a massive influence on me with the lighting and dynamic posing. If I ever get to do a SW book art, I'd want it to look the lovechild between an album cover and comic cover art lol
“Sorry mom can’t go, new Star Wars centralized video just dropped.”
My new favorite Star Wars channel CONTINUES to cover the topics that I thought only existed in brief conversations at conventions or in my mind. Excellent work
Thank you so much!!!! It means so much that you enjoy my videos that much.
Haha unfortunately not a real quote, but I do quite enjoy them. For me it’s the rare synthesis of the entirety of the Saga, so much of fan discourse is often devoid of the nuance that I think is demanded by the almost incomprehensible amount of content that has existed. I’m one of the mega fans who loves it all, and I love seeing that kind of appreciation for the totality of the franchise.
@@levibond9755 I'm so happy you've found my channel, then! That's my goal- centralize it all to one place!
I just bought my first SW book, the HC edition of RotS!!
No way! Great buy!!!
You continue to impress with your level of quality on your content!
Thank you so much!
@@StarWarsCentralizedim almost done with it, i noticed that you didnt talk about catalyst? The rogue one lead up book, still a fantastic video regardless!
CRAP well I guess I realized which one I forgot!
Thrawn Alliances? It’s in there. Allegiance is also in there if that’s what you mean
@@StarWarsCentralizedI could've sworn allegiance released earlier than survivors quest. My mistake!
This was awesome. Seeing it was over an hour was a very pleasant surprise.
Thank you so much!!
My personal favorite Star Wars book cover would be the one for Labyrinth of Evil. I picked it up at a library booksale a bit over ten years ago, when I was getting started reading Star Wars novels.
This is a video i never knew i needed. You did a wonderful job!
Thank you!
Thank you so much for covering this topic. There’s so much fantastic art in these covers
Glad you enjoyed it!
I predicted this would be absolute cinema..... I was not wrong. This was a fantastic watch! You did such a wonderful job here! I hope more people come out here to watch this, because you deserve it for all the effort you put in to this channel
Thank you so much!!
I appreciate it Joe!!!
A few of my favorites:
LotF: Invincible
NJO: Rebel Dream
Republic Commando: True Colors
FotJ: Outcast
Great picks!!
i was thinking you weren’t going to cover the Japanese covers but later you came in clutch and did whew
Yep!!
Love this video, hope it gets the attention it deserves!
Thanks so much!!!
This was such a fun video, what a wonderful celebration of all these beautiful covers and artists. Thank you for putting this together and making me relive so many great memories of reading these books and loving their covers.
Thank you so much for watching! So glad you enjoyed it!
Fantastic video your ability to find something to love in every cover is so admirable
Thank you!!!
While I'm not a fan of disney star wars, I have to admit, the covers are a huge improvement. Almost all of them, are original and have some interesting idea behind them.
Old covers suffered from overreliance on photoshop/paintover of movie characters. Most of them is just Luke Han and Leia in dfferent lighting.
Also, a constant theme seems to be that books about non-movie characters seem to be the best ones, as artists couldn't just use a photo as basis.
Still, the absolute top for me are the Japanese versions of NJO. While they are also "floating heads" the colors and compostion is amazing, and really differentiates them from the other books of that era.
Yeah Nagano’s NJO work truly is peak
What makes the use of posters even worse is that they're not genuine art like what the prequel trilogy had. I'll never understand why they went with standard floating heads for the sequel trilogy. Great video! I always love to read fan's reactions when covers get revealed. Corey Brickley's work got a lot of people in awe.
Thank you for making this video. It's nice to see someone who also appreciates star wars' book covers!
You’re welcome! Im glad you enjoyed!!
I really love most of these Covers. Great video, something i always wanted to see
Thank you so much for watching!
What a wonderful video! Great to find something about Star Wars on Yputube that still can get me to learn something (usually I either am already knowledgable, or the material is full of misinformation and half truths).
The reason why covers got cleaner and more simplified in the late 2000s is actually the rise of online shopping: covers need to strike you no longer from a book shelf, but as a thumbnail in an online shop. Some artists still manage to make incredible pieces, but I miss the impressive compositions of old.
Interesting tidbit! Thanks for sharing- and I’m glad I could entertain!
another awesome video as usual. great to listen to while doing art and other things. people like you remind me just how much more star wars i need to read... but your videos give such wonderful insights in the meantime. you're also making me want to dive into subjects of more personal interest on my own channel.
cheers, and keep it at. may the force be with you!
Please do dive into those personal interests! The world is better having passion projects in it!
I wish the modern era had a more uniform style of cover, I respect your opinion on liking it but I hate the Aftermath covers. Also picture books are probably a little out of the scope of this video, but the upcoming picture book adaptation of The Princess and the Scoundrel (called Someone Who Loves You) is so beautiful. And Leia and the Great Island Escape is a really adorable cover too.
I tried to list my top ten without mentioning Tsuyoshi Nagano or Drew Struzan to make it harder/easier for myself haha but I still couldn't get below 14... (my top five Struzan are The Crystal Star, Children of the Jedi, The Courtship of Princess Leia, The Lost City of the Jedi, and The Paradise Snare).
I love the prequel era covers.
Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter/Saboteur
Shatterpoint
Coruscant Nights II
Jedi Trial
Cloak of Deception
Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina
Young Jedi Knights: Lightsabers
Jedi Apprentice: The Rising Force
Jedi Apprentice: The Dark Rival
Jedi Apprentice: The Ties That Bind
The Approaching Storm
The High Republic: Light of the Jedi
Queen's Hope US paperback cover
The Princess and the Scoundrel (and Someone Who Loves You)
Wow I love your takes!! Such a fun list, very different from mine!
@@StarWarsCentralized
Thanks so much!!!
I haven’t finished it yet, but this video is great. You’ve earned a subscriber!
Thank you so much!!!
genuinely one of my favorite videos on youtube. good work man!
Thank you so much!!!
@@StarWarsCentralizedyou’re welcome dude. also i am here again, a month later, to watch your video again :)
Great topic and awesome to see a Star Wars channel celebrating all eras of Star Wars publishing. I hope you consider producing a history of Star Wars comic book cover art as there is a lot to love there, much of it rivaling the best that the novels have to offer.
Thanks so much! I’m definitely considering it!
Incredibly well done video!!! I was a young reader when A New Terror came out and was not aware at the time that the cover had the Grievous concept art. I remember the differences between this depiction, the Tartakovsky Grievous, and the RoTS Grievous really impacting my understanding of artistic interpretation.
Thats so awesome! Thanks for watching too!
My favorite covers are definitely the young readers for the high republic. I l love Petur Antonsson's work. The alphabet squadron trilogy is also a favorite of mine.
Antonsson rocks!! Thanks for watching!
Wonderful video. It was so nostalgic seeing all the covers from my childhood.
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it!
What a great watch! This must have been a beast to edit so thanks for the hard work! Curious why you didn't include any of the recent Essentials redesigns (such as the Rogue Squadron series)?
To be honest, they mostly just slipped my mind because of the sheer volume of other things… and I didn’t cover reprints as much anyways so I thought it worked when I later realized I don’t talk about the ELC versions
Wonderful job! So happy you appreciate all of the hard work that goes into making these covers.
Are you the real Scott Biel?? I absolutely adore your work and everything that you do for the Star Wars galaxy!!!
I am! Great virtually meeting you.
Great virtually meeting you too!! Thanks so much for watching!
Fantastic video! I do think some of the comments came off as a bit repetitive towards the end but I LOVED how it wasn't just all praise for the legends era covers and no love for the newer eras. It was a perfectly balanced critique and praise of all eras and it was great
Thank you for the honest feedback! I’m so glad you enjoyed my video!
Great video, and analysis of the art. I hope it gets popular on the algorithm suddenly in the next years like many deep dive videos.
I really hope so too :)
The Cover of NJO:Onslaught has been the background wallpaper of my phone for the past 3 years now, I love it so much!
Thank you for this video! This is exactly my kind of content!
Amazing choice of background! It’s a delightful cover. Thanks so much for watching!!
Oh the nostalgia seeing some of these. Keep up the great work.
Thanks so much!! Glad I could bring some nostalgia!
Yeah, I was really hoping someone would discuss this!
I'm becoming a fan of this channel despite your love for the Sequel trilogy I genuinely enjoy your content and interesting topics new sub for sure
Hey I’m glad you’re finding enjoyment here! Thank you!
I have never had any interest in Book cover art, nor have I every payed any attention to it for more than a few seconds, This video has given me a whole new perspective on the topic and am completely fascinated!
Thank you so much!!
BANGER video!!!
My top five covers in no particular order:
- Han Solo's Revenge
- Shadow of the Sith
- The Eye of Darkness
- The Last Command (2010 reprint version)
- X Wing: Solo Command
I loveeeee how old sci-fi and fantasy book covers look and Han Solo's Revenge + Solo Command are the peak of that for Star Wars for me!!
Thanks so much Jace!!! Great picks yourself!
@@StarWarsCentralized 😎
Appreciate your video here, been wanting to do something like this but with Thrones for quite sometime.
Thanks so much!
This was incredibly well put together and edited
Thank you so much!!
This is such an interesting video, I really love it, you've done it justice here.
I was put off by the video length but before I knew it the video was over.
Thank you so much!!! Glad you enjoyed it!
What a brilliant deep dive! I have been binging your other videos and really enjoy your channel, amazing job!
Thank you so much!!!
Congrats for completing the video. If I were you, I would do a sequel of all the comic book covers even can compare to canon ones as well.
Good idea! And thank you!
No problem just pointed it out
Oh god I’m blanking on the name but one of the last legends novels in like 2014 and one of the regional variants that had old luke han leia on it right before the sequels came out and it looked like a modern movie poster lol that was cool
That’s the Brazilian cover of Crucible!
@@StarWarsCentralized YES THAT ONE! I LOVED THAT ONE HAHA
I just picked up the 1976 Star Wars novel partially because seeing its cover art greatly intrigued me. Since then I've been walking through my novel collection to compare their cover art.
That’s awesome!!
I wasn't gonna watch the whole thing, but somehow I stuck around lol
Glad you did!!!
I've always found the covers of the legends books so interesting, it's nice to see an hour long video about it lol
Oh me too! Thanks so much!
Really Good Video. Appreciate the hustle it must have been
Thank you so much!
Dark Tide I: Onslaught has my favorite Star Wars cover. Great use of colors, immaculate framing, and most impressively, the way it portrays the looming threat of the invasion in a... quiet, yet dread-inducing way. It's just perfect.
Other favorites include Han Solo's Revenge, The Crystal Star, Planet of Twilight, Lyric's World (nostalgia!), Iron Fist & Isard's Revenge, Remnant & The Final Prophecy, Labyrinth of Evil. Shoutouts to Nagano's Traitor, as well.
Wow, amazing picks!!! Thanks so much for watching!
Hell yeah, time to watch a video about star wars book covers at 1 am
In all seriousness, this is such an interesting and unexplored topic, so I'm glad you made this video
Thank you so much for watching!! Glad you enjoyed it!
Love the book cover arts, especially that original 1976 cover, though the copy i had as a kid was the plain black one using the same movie art as the 2004 DVD release. Death Troopers is also one i liked, as well as having a special place in my heart for the Dark Forces art
All such great art!
The effort here is amazing bro keep it going 🙌🏼🙌🏼
Thank you!!!
This video was awesome! Makes me want to go out and buy every single book.
Oh my friend the urge is REAL… I’m addicted to used bookstores!
Very cool video! Great job, man.
Thanks so much!
Bravo! We can see all the hard work you put into this video! I would have added the variants of Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy by Magali Villeneuve because they're gorgeous and so different from the rest. ❤
Oh yes those are gorgeous!! Thank you so much!
this was an amazing and captivating video, Keep it up!
Thank you so much!
Nice video!
Thanks so much!!!
I know why it wasn’t covered, but the recent Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire’s cover is one of my absolute favorites. The crimson red imperial cog at the dead center shattering into pieces is such striking imagery, clearly evocative of the iconography seen in the Thrawn origin trilogy
Not a narrative book, also published by DK so technically it’s a reference book :)
Though I do agree it’s a book that definitely evokes those modern sensibilities!!!
Legendary video, thanks for doing this
Thanks so much for watching!
The Journey to the Force Awakens books (specifically the ones with Smuggler's Run, Moving Target, and A Jedi's Weapon) had a different cover before they were made into Journey To Force Awaken books. I think they were made by Dave Seeley
Woah really? Can I get a source on that? Because that’s a fascinating tidbit!
@@StarWarsCentralizedmy comments keep getting deleted. Please fix this.
I’m not deleting anything
I finish the obi wan book it meant a special place because it my first novel I ever finished without help and it encouraged me to check out more Star Wars books in the future
That’s awesome! So glad you enjoyed it!
@@StarWarsCentralized yes
This is such a brilliant topic idea
Thank you!!!
i really love the Eu cover arts there’s something special about it
You should make a video about the history of Star Wars animations in this same style.
I could do this all day, do the foreign covers
im glad that, not only Darth PLagueis Brazilian cover is way better than the original, but its also one of the best SW book cover ever
Great video it was always a universe of imagination from this book covers to me. Would love to see another one of these video with video games, or comics if you dare risk it hahaha (by the way, trawn trilogy brazilian covers were amazing)
Hey, this is great content. Very nice work!
Thank you!!!
As an avid Star Wars EU reader, I truly appreciate this video.
Thanks so much!!!
17:00 The Vader Helmet's reference is clearly the Don Post children's mask.
"But the films weren't adaptations of books?"
Was half expecting
"Yes they were...Alan Dean Foster is the true creator of Star Wars. George Lucas just made the film version"
This vid is so specifically targeted at me it hurts
Im glad I could target!
Fantastic video! I’ve always loved looking at book covers I think I reckoned I’ve seen 50% of these read like 10 of them lollll [not 10%]
Thanks so much for watching!!!
@@StarWarsCentralized to the very end!
Chat Darth Vader in the first novel looks like its taken out of anime.
My favorites covers are both Darth Plagueis, and Light of the Jedi especially the latter as the cover really Screams this is the golden age of the Jedi.
I also the Lando and Han adventure book Covers as they gave off pulpy science fiction vibes. Something straight out of the 1950s or the 30s.
You’re so right!! Thanks for watching and commenting!!
@@StarWarsCentralized You're welcome. Can't wait for future subjects for you're channel!
Path of Vengence is my personal favourite.
It’s a gorgeous cover
I remember the back cover of the Jedi Quest series having a rougggghhh Jake-to-Hayden animorphs-style image. Wish I could describe it better than that.
I know what you’re talking about! So funny!
What a wonderful video ❤ subbed 🎉
Thank you!!!
Awesome vid
Thank you!
Amazing Video! Im curious as to what your thoughts would be on the Legends essentials Collecions Book covers are? Cause they take many of the old books and redo the art for the covers.
I like a lot of those!
You've got to do one about comic covers!
Good idea!
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it!
Question, wat do u mean by imperial lighting techniques when it comes to the cover of rogue one? Also wat do u mean on the color change for branding purposes when it comes for the cover of the legacy of luke skywalker?
I mean the bar-like Imperial lights seen on the walls of the Death Star and other imperial facilities :)
And for branding purposes I mean to make it all red to match TLJ’s red/white branding consistency!
@StarWarsCentralized oh I see, I understand now!!! Loved yur vid by the way. Been watching yur other videos since yur cover art. Yur talented!!!
Thank you so much !!!
great video!!! I love star wars novel covers! my favorites are the covers by Tsuyoshi Nagano = )
Thank you!!! I love Nagano’s work too!