Old Horizons

In January, 1998, the staff at West End Games prepared what they thought was to become the next addition to a growing body of work called The Official Star Wars Adventure Journal.   Each of the fifteen former volumes were comprised of novellas, short stories, RPG articles (that's roleplaying game material to those of us who've been around awhile) and lots of great illustrations.  Though many new writers (and illustrators) appeared in these pages, luminaries in the Star Wars pantheon, authors like Tim Zahn, Kathy Tyers, Kevin J. Anderson, Barbara Hambly, John Whitman and Michael Stackpole, would often contributed new tales and help make the Adventure Journal a popular title amongst the West End Games' canon of ever-growing Star Wars material. 

The Adventure Journal ran from 1994 to 1997 when the company's financial woes cost them the Star Wars license (due in no small part to the fact that they were tied into a failing shoe distributor) just as the Star Wars franchise was gearing up to launch into the prequels.  Fans bemoaned the loss of the magazine as it often presented smaller stories of unknown characters and places far removed from the Heroes of Yavin (you know them as Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie and the droids.)  In truth, the magazine filled a nice niche in the market that catered to a more specialized Star Wars reader.  And at a nearly 300 pages of material for $12.00, fans got a lot of bang for their buck!  In truth, the Adventure Journal's stories weren't always stellar.  It may be that the editorial team – while always striving to make the magazine as professional as they could (and succeeding) – favored stories that read rather too technical or dry.  The "hard sci-fi" aspect may have been appealing for some readers, but others found the style off-putting and not in keeping with the space-opera milieu of Lucas' creation, and without the known cast of heroes and villains to root for or against, simply stopped buying. 

Despite these criticisms, there were quite a number of gems to be found in the Journal's vast pages.  "The Galaxy-Wide Newsnets" were an in-universe news report from across the galaxy, which eventually gave birth years later to the Holonet News which broadcast Clone Wars news in the pages of the Star Wars Insider and on the Official Site.  The interior artwork was often a fantastic grab-bag of styles of various artists, and it's always been classy to read a story interspersed with illustrations (a tradition that goes back to before the paper shortages of WWII.) Del Rey should take note.  Among the roster of writers, it wasn't uncommon to see works by now-famous Star Wars freelancers and employees, Pablo Hidalgo, Dan Wallace, Rich Handley, and others from the editorial staff, Bill Smith, Peter Schweighofer, Eric Trautmann, Paul Sudlow, etc.  And aside from the big names in Bantam's roster who often contributed a story or two, some of the Journal's best works came from the female branch of fan-turned-author, in particular Charlene Newcomb and Patricia Jackson who consistently supplied excellent stories (often involving the same milieu or characters) in each issue.

It's gratifying to see the tales of the Adventure Journal find a new home in the Official's Site's Hyperspace section.  This way both old and new fans can enjoy these off-the-beaten path adventures from over a decade ago.  For with the publication of issue #15, the Adventure Journal was to be no more.  The presentation you see here on this site is part and parcel of what would have become issue #16.  The materials that were given me were in a rough state, and I've done my best to present them in as readable a form as possible.  But it's hardly perfect, and you'll have to forgive me for slightly slanting, mismatched-sized pages.  I've eliminated most of the ads and tried to clean up obvious problems with the limited tools at my disposal.  Both the cover and the Table of Contents page are of my own design (there is no remaining materials indicating what they would have looked like.) 

With issue 17, while a mock-up cover in b&w was provided (and is presented here for the first time albeit in rough form), much of the Journal's back-up features and ancillary material is no longer extant.  And of the four main stories provided, only Jean Rabe's "Shifting Gears" is presented here exclusively for the first time.  ("Love is a Warm Blaster" has been available on the SWFA's site for some years now.)  Nevertheless, this is the only place you'll find the stories presented as they would have appeared, with the original artwork intact.  Enjoy!