publishing – T-bone’s Star Wars Universe

Shadows of the Empire: The Movie-Without-the-Movie Extravaganza of 1996

February 9, 2023February 10, 2023 T-bone 6 Comments

In 2015, I conducted a series of interviews with some of the people who worked on the Shadows of the Empire project concocted by Lucasfilm back in 1996. I loved the project, warts and all, from the moment it was released so it was a joy to conduct these interviews and gain multiple inside perspectives on what it was like to create such an expansive project. The essay was written for the Expanded Universe anthology called A More Civilized Age: Exploring the Star Wars Expanded Universe (2016) from my friends Rich Handley and Joe Berenato. I’ve decided to reprint the essay here on my site because I feel it sheds some more light on the nearly 30-year-old project and ended up revealing a few facts that were previously unknown to me about the inner workings of Lucasfilm at the time.

I’ve slightly edited this essay for the Internet by removing footnotes and changing them to links, and other small things like that. All quotes, unless otherwise indicated, are from my interviews. For more fun, head over to Facebook and like my Shadows of the Empire fan page.

I hope you enjoy the essay.

Interview with Jon Bradley Snyder
(Original posting: February 09, 2001)

April 27, 2022April 27, 2022 T-bone Leave a comment

Jon Bradley Snyder grew up in Spokane, Washington. He attended The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington in the late 80’s where he was very involved in the music scene. “I did some intern work the music labels K Records and Sub-Pop before I returned to Spokane and was a PA on the MGM movie Benny and Joon, which filmed there on location in 1992,” he stated. He moved to San Francisco in late 1992 to work in publishing and helped form co-op small press imprint called “High Drive Publications” which was the imprint under which his first Star Wars publication Report from the Star Wars Generation was published. During this time he worked at a variety of jobs including BBDO advertising agency, Maverick Magazine Consulting, and wrote for various magazines including Rocktober, The Stranger, and Topps’ Batman Forever movie magazine. He also edited the first issues of Megan Kelso’s Girl Hero comic book. In 1995, he created the imprint Dodecaphonic Books for the express purpose of publishing a collection of Nickelodeon cartoonist Sam Henderson’s work entitled Humor Can Be Funny. In 1996 he moved to Denver, Colorado to work full time for Fantastic Media after working for them offsite for two years. “In May of that year I went to Tunisia with David West Reynolds on a Star Wars location trip that was the grand prize of the first Decipher Star Wars CCG tournament. I launched Star Wars Kids magazine for Scholastic in 1998. I then co-produced the Star Wars Celebration in 1999, and I almost forgot to mention that I was a contributing editor for Sci Fi Universe for 5 years,” said Snyder. Currently, he’s is working off-site for Fantastic Media in North Carolina where his partner, Heidi, is teaching art. They live with their 15-month-old son named Jackson. Jon took some time out to chat with old T-bone about life before and after The Insider.
(Original posting: February 09, 2001)

A Long Time Ago…Exploring the Star Wars Cinematic Universe

November 13, 2015November 13, 2015 T-bone Leave a comment

As some of you know, this site was launched in 1996. That means it’s been alive for 20 years; a pretty big accomplishment. In that time, I’ve written in my bloggy, informal style here on the site, with the occasional magazine article or sidebar here or there. It gives me great pleasure to announce today that the wonderful Sequart organization has released the first in a trilogy of Star Wars books called A Long Time Ago… Exploring the Star Wars Cinematic Universe. Inside, you’ll be treated to some great writing by some well-respected writers, one of them being me! Read More

Interview with Steve Perry
(Original posting: February 8, 1998)

May 27, 2015May 5, 2022 T-bone 2 Comments

Steve Perry, author of Shadows of the Empire, was the first author to pen a Star Wars novel that took place between two original trilogy films: The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Most of the books that came out since Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire in 1991 were set after the theatrical trilogy’s finale. Shadows of the Empire is a fantastic piece of work and accurately reflects the action, adventure, and excitement of the original trilogy. It was launched as part of a huge multimedia extravaganza including a CD soundtrack, video game, action figures and toys, comics, and more. Some aspects of the project were even referenced in the Star Wars: A New Hope Special Edition. Steve was kind enough to answer a few quick questions about his work. (Original posting: February 8, 1998)