“There were different directions I could have taken these ideas and really made things extreme,” Brown says. Brown’s signature organic, somewhat unpolished approach emphasizes the human elements his charming art and clever jokes never mask a genuine affection for the movies. The result: 64 pages of full-color illustrations that cover the joys and frustrations of fatherhood, all within the delightfully absurd context of Darth Vader and little Luke’s relationship. In Vader-speak, the synergy was complete. Although Google ultimately went with a different Doodle for its Father’s Day logo, a captivated Brown pitched the premise to Chronicle Books, which has an existing relationship with Lucasfilm. “Right away it clicked,” says Brown, who lives in Lincoln Square with his wife and son, then four years old, who inspired his sketches. One of them-a fan of Clumsy, Brown’s autobiographical self-published 2002 debut-enlisted the artist to do some sketches. Two Google employees conceived of an awkward family dinner with Darth Vader and Luke, but they needed an artist. The project started in 2010 as a Father’s Day Google Doodle. Each page depicts some slice of Darth Vader’s typical fatherhood, from heartwarming bike rides and shared ice cream cones to young Luke’s awkward questions (“Dad, why is it called a Death Star?”).
That’s the premise of Darth Vader and Son, 36-year-old Chicago graphic novelist Jeffrey Brown’s humorous new picture book. But he was also just a dad, raising a precocious four-year-old boy named Luke. Once upon a time, there was this hyperventilating, all-powerful Lord of the Sith who was obsessed with hunting Jedi, obliterating the Rebel Alliance and force-choking any questioning sycophants.
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