Columnist Christy Blanch speaks for all of us.
—
ROGUE ONE is here! So we’re celebrating with some personal thoughts on what Star Wars means to us. Since we’re fans just like you, I think you’ll dig what we have in store… For the complete STAR WARS WEEK Index, updated daily, click here.
—
By CHRISTY BLANCH
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Which means … ROGUE ONE!
I’ll be in the theater shortly with my kids and my best friends (most of them — some are traveling or live too far, far away) and get to see what happened before Star Wars. Yes, I call that movie Star Wars. That’s what it was called when I saw it and fell in love. In other words, I am old.
My friend Evan Dossey always tells me that he loves it that I call it Star Wars and not Episode IV or A New Hope. I love it, too. I love the entire Star Wars franchise. It has had a profound impact on me and in 1977 it changed the direction of my life. I went from the Muppets to constantly thinking about science fiction and fantasy. I always loved comics, but once the Star Wars bug hit me, Star Wars is all I could think about. I still quote it every day at least once. At least. In fact, in our shop we have this sign:
One of our customers at Aw Yeah Comics said I bet that’s not true. And while I said, “That’s not true. That’s impossible,” my employee Kyle said, “Stay on target.” They just shook their head at us and laughed.
Star Wars memories make up the bulk of my childhood. When I was little, I would walk down to Lindner’s, the local convenient store and ice cream shop that was right down the street from me. That’s where I would buy my packs of Star Wars cards and my Starlog magazine. The employees there were really nice to me.
Christy and her special droid friend
When it was a Star Wars cast member’s birthday, I would make a sign to celebrate it and ask them if I could put it up in the window. They always said yes. I know they probably thought I was a crazy, obsessed child but they never let on if they did. They were kind of right — I was, and still am, obsessed. I just loved Star Wars so much.
One lady felt so bad when I opened my pack of cards and instead the sticker — for you young people out there, every pack had cards and one sticker — there was a Monster sticker. I opened all four of my packs and they were all Monster stickers. I was so distraught. The entire sticker set was hard to get and it wasn’t like we could go to eBay and buy the whole set. However, the next time I went in she gave me a few packs that she bought for me. For the record, they had Monster stickers, too, but I got a few cards I needed for FREE so that was a pretty big deal.
For the holidays, I have a Star Wars Christmas tree in addition to the “other” Christmas tree. It’s what I call the “normal” tree, which has ornaments on it that most people wouldn’t think were normal. The Star Wars tree has all of the Star Wars Hallmark ornaments from the very beginning. My mom and dad have gotten me those ornaments every year for my birthday (I’m a Winter Solstice baby). I think they kind of regret that now because they thought they would probably last a few years and then stop. My mom laughed this year and said she will have to get them for the foreseeable future. That also makes me happy but next year, as Sheriff Brody would say, “I’m gonna need a bigger tree.”
It’s a beautiful tree and looking at it makes me happy. There is no Poe ornament yet. I have his ship but no Poe, so Hallmark please get on that (and I’m still waiting on Oscar Isaac to give me a call). And soon, I will sit down near my tree and read The Princess Diarist — an early birthday present from my friend Cailin — by my hero Carrie Fisher, and the new Rogue One book, Catalyst, another early present from me.
Christy and her special princess friend
It’s an exciting time not just to be a nerd, but especially to be a Star Wars nerd. It’s great to see so many people so ready to see this movie. When I was young, I used to feel alone as a Star Wars fan. I mean I had friends that were fleeting fans, but not FAN fans. I used to buy every Star Wars thing I could find. I can’t anymore because Star Wars stuff is everywhere. But I love it.
When I start to feel like the Grinch, thinking of Star Wars is my holiday cheer. That the Force is with us.
Always.
—
Columnist Christy Blanch writes LAST WEEK’S COMICS TODAY for 13th Dimension. She also operates Aw Yeah Comics in Muncie, Ind.
Check out our complete STAR WARS WEEK INDEX of stories! Click here.
—
Trackbacks/Pingbacks