Whitbrook: On your prior Star Wars books, you were working with characters and iconography so established that, even simplified, they’re immediately recognisable. But drawing Star Wars is always fun, I was starting to get ideas, and after wrapping up my middle grade Lucy & Andy Neanderthal series, a new Star Wars book was the perfect palate cleanser before starting my next series. Jeffrey Brown: I had a good break from making Star Wars books, getting to watch the new movies as a fan. Whitbrook: Why was now the right time for you to tackle the sequel era in this line of books?

We recently got to speak to Brown about his process bringing his cartoony aesthetic to the era of the Star Wars sequels, about writing for characters whose arcs we won’t fully realise until The Rise of Skywalker hits theatres later this year, and perhaps the most important debate of our times: BB-8 or porgs? Check out the interview below, as well as a look at some of the art from the book. What, you thought these kiddie versions of our heroes would be out fighting a galactic civil war? Absolutely not! Rey and Pals is concerned less with wars among the stars and more with the sorts of things we expect kids to be concerned with: adults being boring roadblocks on the way to fun, dealing with the almighty power of the finders keepers rule, and playing games of red rover. Honestly the most adorable little book cover I’ve seen in ages. Releasing later this month from Chronicle Books, Rey and Pals marks the first time that Brown’s Eisner Award-winning Star Wars cartooning breaks out of the original trilogy of movies (and a brief sidestep into the prequel era for the Jedi Academy kids books) and into the worlds and time period of the sequel movies, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.Ĭollecting a gallery of new artwork from Brown, Rey and Pals follows along as Rey and her friends-Rose, Finn, Poe, BB-8, the porgs, and yes, even an angry little boy named Ben, and a few of his villainous mates from the First Order-deal with the biggest threats the kids of Star Wars can face. But Brown’s latest dive into Star Wars wants to bring that approach to its next generation. Across Vader & Son and its three follow ups - Vader’s Little Princess, Goodnight Darth Vader, and Darth Vader and Friends - cartoonist Jeffrey Brown has given us a treasure trove of heartwarmingly funny insight into the weirdest parent/child relationship of the galaxy far, far away.

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