As I scoured by way of it for the primary time in a few years, I used to be blown away not simply by Rusty’s intensive Star Wars data but additionally by what the e-book mentioned about how fandom, franchises, the idea of canon, and Star Wars itself has modified through the years.
Questions like “Who did Bend fend off on the Cantina?” and its reply “Snaggletooth,” the identify of the character that was packaged with the Kenner toy of the character, are an incredible instance of how some issues by no means change. Toys have all the time performed an enormous half in figuring out and revealing canon. That’s one thing that readers, followers, and filmmakers all nonetheless cope with as we speak. However whereas the struggles of making artwork underneath capitalism are the identical, the reply to Rusty’s query is completely different. Now Snaggletooth is nothing however the nickname of the Snivvian male named Zutton.
This was many years earlier than the web, so Rusty diligently explored what existed on the time: Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Again, and any information he might discover concerning the upcoming third movie, in addition to the burgeoning Star Wars publishing initiatives. In one other pleasant time capsule, as many Star Wars lovers know, Return of the Jedi was then going to be referred to as Revenge of the Jedi. That’s what Rusty put for his reply as a result of the title hadn’t but been modified because of the choice by Lucas that Jedi can’t really feel or search revenge. Therefore that phrase was saved for many years till we bought Revenge of the Sith.
That notion of the ever-shifting nature of canon and even titling is current all through the e-book. But it surely additionally reminds us that regardless of all of that, some issues by no means change, or a minimum of they modify sufficient to return again to the place they began.
When Miller was collating the Jedi Grasp’s Quiz E-book, Marvel Comics was behind the favored Star Wars comics, one thing Miller included and that which is a factoid that proves true in 2025. Nevertheless, as somebody who has lived by way of virtually 4 many years of Star Wars fandom, I can inform you that hasn’t all the time been the case. Lots of the most well-known and well-known Star Wars comics as an illustration had been printed by Darkish Horse. However because the tides go out and in, so do publishing traits. After the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney, Marvel—itself a brand new Disney subsidiary on the time—took the Star Wars comedian e-book license again from Darkish Horse, just for it to at the moment be shared by each publishers within the current.
It’s an unwritten rule, however in 2025 to make a Star Wars mission is to make a narrative by committee, with many years of canon and continuity to cope with. Conversely, in The Jedi Grasp’s Quiz E-book Miller appeared virtually to be the only holder of the canon of Star Wars, one thing most followers might by no means dream of. His dedication and dedication to a galaxy far, far-off meant that for a lot of children rising up, they too bought to open up this tome and turn into keepers of all of the details and canon inside it. In an period earlier than Wikipedia and the web generally, Rusty Miller grew to become one of many earliest in a grand custom of followers to take canon, type it, and outline it along with his personal palms.