Star Wars: The Legends of Luke Skywalker - The Manga

by Akira Himekawa (Adapted by), Ken Liu, Haruichi (Adapted by)

The manga anthology inspired by Ken Liu’s hit Star Wars novel, Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi: The Legends of Luke Skywalker.

Luke Skywalker? I thought he was a myth.

– Rey

Who is Luke Skywalker? Across the galaxies many have heard his name, but few have met the legendary Jedi. There are those who call him a merciless war criminal, others say he’s not even a human, but a droid! Whether he is myth or man, those who claim they’ve encountered the elusive Luke Skywalker all have an unforgettable adventure to share.

Star Wars: The Legends of Luke Skywalker pairs powerhouse Japanese manga creators with inspiring myths about Luke Skywalker, originally written as a prose novel by best-selling author Ken Liu.

Genres: Star Wars, Manga, Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 14, 2020

About the author

Akira Himekawa is the collaboration of two women, A. Honda and S. Nagano. Together they have created nine manga adventures featuring Link and the popular video game world of The Legend of Zelda, including Ocarina of Time, Oracle of Seasons and Four Swords. Their most recent work, Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, was serialized in Shogaku Rokunensei.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Luke, I have a bad feeling about this." -- oft-used line of dialogue from the Star Wars series, here appearing in the final story 'Big Inside'

Quartet of Luke Skywalker-centric or-themed short stories, illustrated in the manga style, with - in either a smart editorial decision or just by sheer luck of their placement - the first and the final of them being the best of the bunch. 'The Starship Graveyard' has Luke taking protective custody of an injured young Imperial officer P.O.W. on a desolate desert planet (no, not Tatooine) and treating him humanely and with the utmost care. The next two stories - 'I, Droid' with its point-of-view from an enslaved robot, and 'The Tale of Lugubrious Mote,' which seemed a little too cutesy plus leans too-heavily on (and sort of messes with established canon) the Jabba's palace segment from Return of the Jedi - were both odd and/or forgettable. However, the book concludes on a stronger note with the 'Big Inside,' featuring the charming and capable duo of our titular young Jedi and a similarly-aged female biology student (who, oddly, is not given a name . . . and she narrates it!) in a very dramatic adventure tale that is pleasingly built on a plot twist moment from The Empire Strikes Back.

[Димитър Цолов · Rating 5 out of 5]

Много, много благо се оказа това томче, съдържащо четири истории - сюжетни адаптации върху едноименния роман на Кен Лиу, издържани в манга стилистиката и дело на различни художници:

1. "Гробището за космически кораби" / Акира Фукая & Такеши Кисаки
2. "Аз, Дроидът" / Харуичи
3. "Историята на Лъгъбриъс Моут" / Субару
4. "Голямото отвътре" / Акира Химекава

Безапелационни пет звезди!

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and in some cases a much better version of the Legends of Luke Skywalker novel. Unlike the novel this contains 4 of the stories. I would have given this book 4.5 stars but it definitely deserved a round up.

The first story supposedly takes place during the battle of Jakku. According to the Aftermath books Luke was not at the battle, but using a trick familiar to anyone e watching the Last Jedi, he might have been involved. The account comes from an injured Imperial.

Droids are being "kidnapped" all over the galaxy, but who cares they are droids right? Why do these droids know or care about Luke Skywalker? This is the most action packed story in the book.

The retelling of the beginning of the Return of the Jedi from a different perspective. I might be a little biased as this is my favourite movie of all time. Just reliving the scenes from the movie manga style would be 5 stars for me.

The final story is an expanded version of the "this in not cave". In the novel it was never explained why or how Luke was there in the first place, and I do not think it was fully explained what Luke found like it was here.

A great collection of stories if I had one complaint it is that the Tide story is not included. That was my favourite story from the novel. The way these stories are shown visually and expanded on is awsome.

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Ken Liu's short story collection, and I enjoy manga, so I was looking forward to this manga adaptation of four of Liu's stories. I'm disappointed that the four stories selected didn't include my favorite from the original book, "Fishing in the Deluge," and instead includes "The Tale of Lugubrious Mote," my least favorite. But it's still fun to see the manga version of that story, along with "The Starship Graveyard," "I, Droid," and "Big Inside." The stories have a pretty consistent look and tone, despite each one being done by a different artist or team. Overall, the post–Return of the Jedi stories fit in well with my ideas of what Luke did after the fall of the Empire (and there's little to suggest what happens to lead up to the sequel trilogy, which I prefer to ignore.

I like seeing Star Wars expanding beyond its usual boundaries and inviting different creators in to tell stories. For most of the artists in this collection, this is their first English-language manga publication, and I think that's really cool for SW to be the means of introducing their work to a wider audience. It was strange, however, to read a manga that flows left-to-right, though!

I hope this is an indication of Lucasfilm encouraging new directions in SW books—I enjoyed seeing that galaxy in this format.

[Utena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review can be found at The Book Review

[Brandon Oatsvall · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork is 😍 (especially “The Tale of Lugubrious Mote”). Kinda bummed the other tale/legend about “the Tide” didn’t make the cut though 😕

[Path Kittinat · Rating 3 out of 5]

เอาเรื่องสั้น 4 เรื่องที่ ken liu เขียนมาทำเป็นการ์ตูนญี่ปุ่น อ่านได้เพลินดีๆ ถ้าเป็นแบบสี่สีน่าจะเยี่ยมกว่านี้

[Ula · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[☮ morgan ☮ · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Gathering knowledge in the face of certain doom kept us sane and motivated… step after step, fight after fight”

[Ardyth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyable, as far as it goes... but this manga adaptation omits what, for me, was the most compelling part of Liu's original: people on a journey, sharing stories and discussing what they mean for them in life.

Without any of that framing -- who is telling this tale, where did they hear it, how does the tale reflect the teller's character / values / etc -- the stories themselves are just random okay adventures.

I don't hate it, but I can't really recommend it, either. Get your Skywalker fix from Liu's original book, instead.

[Sean Humphrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, this book is not cannon. Not in the new cannon, not in the legends cannon, not anywhere. Second, if you're looking for serious adventures of Luke Skywalker, this is not the book for you.

This manga is a set of mostly light-hearted, very entertaining stories about Luke Skywalker. I liked all of the stories and would recommend this to anyone looking for a spin-off not-quite-gag manga about our favorite rebel hero and Jedi master.

[Ciara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an entertaining read, although a little strange. It felt like an odd choice of stories to put together, and the storylines were a bit weird. The art was awesome though!

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The artwork is fluid and detailed, and actually helped me see several more details in Ken Liu’s “Legends of Luke Skywalker” stories than I noticed during a recent listen. I liked revisiting Liu’s collection in a visual medium.

This collection of stories omits a few of the other stories in Liu’s work (particularly my favourite, “Fishing in the Deluge”), and also omits the framing story of a cargo ship crew sharing stories and dreams with each other. I missed those characters’ interactions in this interpretation, but still enjoyed this book.

[Ariya · Rating 1 out of 5]

This collection of manga is adapted from a short story collection written by Ken Liu, but it proves that the famous writer's talent has nothing to do with writing Star Wars fanfics. I called this fanfic because there are tons of good writing, fanfics included, out there not written by a famous novelist that has much more potential, more stories to tell especially when it comes to portraying the most beloved character. Luke Skywalker here is a one-dimensional character who happened to possess god's power and that's pretty much it. The idea of Luke Skywalker in the story is nothing but a much larger than life mystical hero. The legend with songs praising his name everywhere in the galaxy. What a pointless story. What a waste.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the different visual styles between stories and how the adaptation created new ways for the story to be interpreted. While this collection is missing my favorite story from the original collection (Fishing in the Deluge), I still really enjoyed it!

[KimiCat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the mini stories in this one instead of it being Luke’s story through his perspective, it’s through the perspective of a few people who have encountered him when he was younger. My favorite stories are the droid one and funny enough, a bug!

[Sebastian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nie chcę rozmawiać o tym co widziałem w tej mandze.

[Katsuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bunch of good stories. I appreciate the fact that, despite the plots all being written by Ken Liu, each story got its own artist.

[Haley Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why did I read this? I have no idea. I was sitting at the library and picked it up randomly.
But I did enjoy it! It was fun to see some stories about Luke set between The Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens

Content:
Mild violence

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This really should have worked, but it just didn't. The I, Droid story was the standout, but overall thsi was a letdown.

For more tune in to Comic Book Coffee Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zikuP...

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well-presented but odd collection of manga stories, almost like a collection of really awesome fanfics. Each story had interesting and (mostly) unique takes set in the Star Wars universe, with the myth of Luke as a central theme. Fun, hopeful and quick read.

[Brannigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t like the story’s selected to use in this Manga. I also didn’t care for the art.

[Haydyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

"We're all Luke Skywalker" isn't a message that hits home for me.

[Ashleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really my thing…

[Gladimore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bleh. Story bleh. Illustrations bleh. Disappointed. Hopefully someone else liked this.

[Jaime K · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's pretty much like the book but, instead of enhancing the stories like I hoped, the art was mediocre. I liked Subaru's work, but the others distracted me for some reason.

[Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustration in this was phenomenal!! And the stories were great as well! I've also read this book 3 times because of how amazing it is!!

[Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was just so boring.

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really enjoy any of these stories, but the second one was okay.

[Enairolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Après m’être attaquée au manga concernant Leia, je me suis attaquée à celui ci qui concerne son frère jumeau, Luke. Mais ce manga est différent de celui de Leai. En effet, ici il s’agit d’une anthologie, plusieurs mangakas ont décidés d’adapter le célèbre roman de Ken Liu. C’est donc un enchaînement de petites histoires qui racontent les extraordinaires aventures de l’iconique Maître Jedi : Luke Skywalker. Alors en étant honnête, d’habitude ce genre de recueil de nouvelles, je ne suis pas hyper fan. Ce format me déçoit très très souvent parce que le format nouvelle est beaucoup trop court à mon goût. Après, bien évidemment, ce n’est que mon avis. Mais ici, aussi surprenant que ça puisse être, j’ai tout simplement adoré découvrir chaque aventure de Luke. En tout on a 4 histoires et elles sont tout de même hyper bien développés donc ça c’est vraiment cool.

Luke Skywalker va rencontrer, à différents moments de sa vie, plusieurs personnes ou droïdes, à qui il va venir en aide. Et c’est souvent du point de vue du sauvé qu’on a l’histoire. J’ai particulièrement aimé l’histoire où Luke par sauver Han et Leia qui sont chez Jabba le Hutt. Ça fait même plaisir de redécouvrir ce moment de l’histoire, avec quelques modifications bien évidemment. Mais j’ai adoré retrouver cette histoire. Les trois autres m’ont vraiment beaucoup plu également. Elles nous montrent à quel point Luke Skywalker était un Jedi incroyable. Il vient en aide à tout ceux qui se trouvent sur son chemin, humains comme androïdes, voit toujours le bon chez les gens. C’est vraiment un sacré personnage en tout cas.

J’ai beaucoup aimé également de voir la différence entre les styles de mangakas. Chaque histoire à un style différent et ça nous permet de découvrir ou redécouvrir le trait des mangakas. Chaque histoire est merveilleuse à lire. Visuellement parlant c’est vraiment très beau et j’ai adoré me plonger dans cette anthologie. Étant fan de Star Wars, je ne pouvais pas passer à côté. J’avais un peu peur au début n’étant pas fan de ce genre de recueil manga, mais je me suis laissée tenter par le fait que c’était sur Luke et au j’ai vraiment eu raison. Je serais passée à côté d’une excellente lecture, ça aurait été vraiment dommage pour le coup. En tout cas c’est une très belle découverte qui m’a fait passer un excellent moment!