This is such sad news.
Tom Veitch on The Rise Of Skywalker film featuring elements from his Dark Empire comic books: “I kinda like the idea that I wrote a billion dollar movie!”
Man, it is surprising to not see more Tom Veitch’s passing on here, given you guys are one the last torchbearers for acknowledging the real history of Star Wars. And not that ret-conned + highly selective version George and his hoards of one-eyed acolytes are so fond of repeating and spreading as gospel (Is TFn still a thing, or have they spread their wings since?!).
People often forget it was Tom who persuaded George Lucas himself & also Lucasfilm that bringing back Star Wars would work, both artistically and financially, for the 1990s. And when it Tom proved it did work within only a couple of years, with what became the EU (books, comics and video games) as well as boxed home video re-releases of the Original Trilogy - which were all flying off the shelves, it was only then did George begin working on the Star Wars Special Editions in 1993 and hurriedly writing the Prequel Trilogy films on the back of that Star Wars revival a year later in 1994. Tom’s “Dark Empire” series offered us fans something we all desperately wanted: the story of what happened after Return of the Jedi. In effect, a Sequel Trilogy.
A handful or articles for anyone wanting to know a little more about the man who persuaded George Lucas that Star Wars could once again be popular, have artistic merit and also make money, who alongside Timothy Zahn, re-popularised and brought back Star Wars after the “Dark Times” fallow period of post-Jedi content:
https://starwarsinterviews.com/reviews/exclusive-16-pages-of-dark-empire-author-tom-veitchs-new-star-wars-book
https://www.starwarsunderworld.com/2016/08/interview-with-dark-empire-writer-tom.html
https://www.denofgeek.com/books/dark-empire-the-rise-of-skywalker
https://gizmodo.com/dark-empire-tom-veitch-star-wars-cycles-1848585214
https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-easter-eggs-and-references.html
https://www.bobafettfanclub.com/news/fettpedia/veitchkennedy-brought-back-fett
https://masterjitips.com/tom-veitch-the-comic-writer-who-helped-revitalize-star-wars-has-died-at-age-80
https://downthetubes.net/in-memoriam-comics-writer-and-poet-tom-veitch-family-seeks-support
It is a very sad day for Star Wars Fans (EckhartsLadder video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLEWSgDg9o8
There is also much more besides. Not just inventing holocrons, bringing back Boba Fett into the universe, being the first to be allowed to dig into the history of the Sith (upon George’s final approval), the two-bladed lightsaber, having Jedi fighting with a lightsaber in each hand. But so much more.
Tom’s later “Tales of the Jedi” series project offered a completely new Star Wars story set thousands of years before the Original Trilogy - way before projects such as Knights of the Old Republic, Darth Bane, and The High Republic. Tom Veitch was at the forefront of exactly what the Star Wars fans wanted at the time. Many stories have been told since his work in the Star Wars universe was unceremoniously ended. But as a major part for the foundation of the Expanded Universe, his projects and contributions remain among some of the most important in Star Wars.
Tom Veitch on stating the Tales Of The Jedi project: “I feel pretty good about it. It was an opportunity that arose, and I proposed it, found the artists, and pretty much put the whole thing together myself. It was a great time to be doing Star Wars.”
When asked “what led you to make the decision to hand over control of writing Tales Of The Jedi to Kevin J. Anderson?”
Tom, classy as ever, replied: "Well, that’s a long story. Ultimately, in any collective business enterprise, the creative side begins to suffer, in one way or another. Let me sum it up by saying, “As Star Wars once again became a cultural phenomenon, I felt my freedom begin to slip away, and so it was time to do other things.”
Lightsider (Tom’s cancelled short novel) and the unceremonious ending between Tom and Lucasfilm:
Even in the early 1990’s George had long become what he himself had hated, the movie studio system of control. And like that system, if George couldn’t have full control of something, then that was the end of it. Including Tom’s projects, as Tom is quoted on below.
Lightsider was a proposed short novel by Tom set between the events of Dark Empire I & II, and focused on another adventure with Luke Skywalker. George had once again read the book and liked it. George then later found out this novel he had approved was without a contract (giving more control, rights and any licensing share to the author), and so George terminated the project.
Tom Veitch: “I can tell you the book was written and well-received by LucasArts. George read it and approved it. But due to the stodgy side of the business, we never received a contract! When George found out that he had approved the book without a contract, he killed the project. There was a tremendous uproar at that point and the axe fell in a number of ways. One of the major consequences was that a proposed third series of Dark Empire was cancelled, Cam (Kennedy) resigned, and I was told to wind up the whole plot-line in the two-issue series that Jim Baikie drew. It was a sad day, but it shows you how the business side can hurt the creative side, even on a popular project. The legal beagles were slow to get out the contracts, and “1000’s of Bothans died”, so to speak.”
And so the very project that revitalised and made Star Wars popular again never got the full six-part conclusion it so deserved. Instead it was condensed into 2-part end of the story, and that was the end of Tom Veitch’s involvement in Star Wars. George and Lucasfilm have since rarely acknowledged Tom’s work or contributions, bar the odd rare article on the official site, and when discussing that era of Star Wars history instead push and highlight the works of the more malleable Timothy Zahn instead. As many fans on places like here know, that happens a lot in the George’s whitewashed version for the official history of Star Wars.
If anyone hasn’t done so already, please go hunt out and read a copy of “Dark Empire”, you won’t regret it. If you like it then go pick up “Tales Of The Jedi”, or the “A Hunter’s Fate: Greedo’s Tale” part of Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina book. Cam Kennedy’s excellent work too. And maybe more of Tom’s work outside of Star Wars.
RIP Tom Veitch.