I very rarely say I “love” anything (unless I’m trying to score) but this is one case where I can openly say I LOVE THIS GRAPHIC NOVEL.

Taken from the 4 part comic series of the same name, Chewbacca is a tribute to the great Wookie himself who recently died in the novel Vector Prime. In fact, it’s not just considered a tribute for us, but the story actually follows C-3PO and R2-D2 travelling around the galaxy getting stories for their own tribute. As well as a few stories from the main set of characters, there are also tales from other characters including a variety of Wookies who knew him, and some of the galaxies scum who had “bumped” into him. There is also an introduction by Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the films, which helps keep the book’s feel of a tribute.

That’s the secret to the book I think. Not only do we get loads of great short stories charting the largely unknown history about Chewbacca, but we also get to see the people he had touched throughout the years. Still in a state of mourning and shock following Chewbacca’s death, this makes their stories more poignant and touching, lifting what would normally be mediocre short stories to heartfelt classic tales.

Also, the use of short stories allows you to read it bits at a time if you wish. It doesn’t seem like a big deal right now, but once you’ve read it through once or twice you’ll notice that you keep going back to the book to just read the odd story now and again.

As a rule for any review I do, I have to find a problem to report on. It’s been really hard to do with this graphic novel, as it is one of the best I have ever read, but I did find something. Each of the ten chapters was drawn by various different artists, which made the book seem patchy. It wasn’t really a problem when this was a comic book series but when the series was turned into a graphic novel it became more noticeable. While having different artists on different stories can alter the mood from one story to another, it doesn’t quite work the majority of the time. You find yourself thinking, “This artist is way better than this other one, why couldn’t he do both stories?”

Anyway, that is only a minor quibble, and you probably won’t even be bothered by it, as this is generally a great book and should be owned by everyone.

I LOVE THIS GRAPHIC NOVEL!