Jade Crusades

Blast from the past Mara Jade fansite

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Jade Crusades logo illustrated by Brandon McKinney.

For five years, I co-operated the Mara Jade fansite Jade Crusades under the alias Mazzic. Jade Crusades had enjoyed a long and successful run under ArchJedi Sarah before our time, and my partner Shada and I were happy to continue that tradition. This was at a time when Del Rey had taken over the Star Wars license from Bantam, and Mara Jade was appearing (newly wed to Luke Skywalker!) in nearly every publication: novels, short stories, role playing games, comic books, card games, action figures – Mara Jade was everywhere!

Jade Crusades enabled us to meet many incredible authors, artists, and creators who were happy to share their stories with us. Most importantly, Shada and I met many fans that shared a love for a particular fiery red-headed Jedi. Without them, Jade Crusades would never have been possible. Jade Crusades, under the leadership of Mazzic and Shada, closed its doors in July of 2005.

Although she’s now nothing more than a Legend, I’m hoping you’ll join me in this walk down memory lane, remembering one of the Expanded Universe’s most beloved characters: Mara Jade.

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Preliminary art by Carlos Ezquerra. “Star Wars: Mara Jade: By the Emperor’s Hand” comic series. January, 1998.

The late Carlos Ezquerra penciled and inked the “Star Wars: Mara Jade: By The Emperor’s Hand” comic series by Dark Horse Comics. Seen here is preliminary art of Mara, by Ezquerra, who had these memories to share in an exclusive Jade Crusades interview from 2002:

“I wasn't [familiar with Mara Jade] until I was offered the series. Then, the more I read about her, the more I loved the character. She has many points in common with characters that I usually draw. I love characters where you can't tell exactly if they’re the hero or the antihero – good or bad. She is such a strong character! I had to show her strength graphically, and at the same time she had to have continuity with all the work other artists had done with her previously. It was quite a challenge. I started out by reading all the other comic issues she had appeared in - she had to have continuity with earlier comics. Plus all the usual documentation about the Star Wars machinery, aliens, and locations. But Mara came to my mind in a very clear way. I knew how she had to look from my first reading of the scripts. My only hope was that it would coincide with the image fans had of her.”

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Illustration by John VanFleet. “Star Wars: Allegiance.” January, 2007.

Timothy Zahn expanded upon Mara Jade’s time as the Emperor’s Hand in the first of the Hand of Judgement series, in 2007. The first edition hardcover of “Star Wars: Allegiance” displayed a spread of the Hand of Judgement stormtrooper squad and Mara Jade, as depicted by artist John VanFleet. In an interview with StarWars.com, Zahn spoke about his inclusion of Mara in the novel:

“This is Mara's earliest story (at least by me) - all the others I've written take place during or after Return of the Jedi. One of the reasons I wanted to write Allegiance was to be able to show her in her role as the Emperor's Hand, and to show how she could serve the Empire without being corrupted by it. Palpatine wants to keep Mara under his control, but as something other than a Sith. I see her as a grand experiment: if he's limited to one Sith apprentice, perhaps he can still extend his power by having a single apprentice plus a group of lower-power non-Sith Force users like Mara.”

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Cover art by Tsuyoshi Nagano. “Star Wars: Allegiance” Japanese edition. January, 2007.

Timothy Zahn expanded upon Mara Jade’s time as the Emperor’s Hand in the first of the Hand of Judgement series, in 2007. The Japanese edition of “Star Wars: Allegiance” displayed a beautiful spread of the book’s protagonists, as depicted by artist Tsuyoshi Nagano. In an interview with the Rebel Legion Japan from 2021, Nagano spoke about his adoration of Mara:

“[Mara Jade] is a character that doesn't appear in the movies. She has a stylish image. Originally, she was the one who served as an assassin for Palpatine. She gradually became attracted to Luke and eventually got married and even had a child. I like the fact that she has a tumultuous worldview. I think Mara Jade is the kind of character that could make a movie. She's fun to draw. Usually, I have a set of actors for my characters. But Mara Jade is the only one that doesn't have a specific model for the movie.”

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Carlos Ezquerra and James Sinclair. “Star Wars: Mara Jade: By the Emperor’s Hand” Issue #1. August, 1998.

Page 5 from Dark Horse Comics’ “Star Wars: Mara Jade: By The Emperor’s Hand,” Issue #1, written by Michael Stackpole and Timothy Zahn. The panels depict several of the missions and adventures of a young Emperor’s Hand, including an appearance of Imperial Intelligence Director, Ysanne Isard. I like to imagine how these stories might have unfolded.

The late Carlos Ezquerra penciled and inked the artwork, with production color by James Sinclair, and lettered by Michael Taylor.

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Illustration by Gonzalo “Gon” Flores. “Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition: Jedi Academy Training Manual.” May, 2009.

In 2009, Wizards of the Coast released the “Jedi Academy Training Manual,” a Saga Edition sourcebook exploring the Jedi from all eras of the Star Wars saga. Cover art by Gonzalo Flores prominently featured Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker, along with other Force users from Star Wars Legends.

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Cover art by Munehiro Uchimichi. “Star Wars: The Last Command,” Japanese edition. May, 1993.

The Japanese edition of “The Last Command” boasted original cover art by Munehiro Uchimichi, featuring a bad-ass Mara Jade! Until recently, only sub-par thumbnails could be found online. I managed to track down a physical copy of the book and scan it, so we could all enjoy!

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Cover art by Tsuyoshi Nagano. “Star Wars: The New Essential Chronology,” Japanese edition. February, 2006.

The Japanese edition of “Star Wars: The New Essential Chronology” depicted a saga-spanning collection by artist Tsuyoshi Nagano. In the Christmas 2015 issue of ImagineFX magazine, Nagano had these memories, “I like Mara Jade a lot, so my drawings of her tend to be full body. Her costume was created using the comics as a reference. Grand Admiral Thrawn’s skin and Mara Jade’s lightsaber match, while Qui-Gon Jinn and Yoda’s lightsabers are the same green, to keep the painting engaging.”

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Olivier Vatine, Fred Blanchard, and Isabelle Rabarot. “Star Wars: Heir to the Empire” Issue #1. October, 1995.

Page 11 from Dark Horse Comics “Star Wars: Heir to the Empire” Issue #1, adapted by Mike Baron. This is the first comic book appearance of Mara Jade donning the infamous catsuit. Also note that the preliminary lineart depicts Mara as bald. Art by Olivier Vatine and inks by Fred Blanchard. Production color, by Isabelle “Isa” Rabarot, was created in watercolor over printed blue lines, with a black line art acetate overlay. The original lineart and color work were created on 16.5” x 13” bristol board. The final page was lettered by Ellie de Ville.

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Carlos Ezquerra and James Sinclair. “Star Wars: Mara Jade: By the Emperor’s Hand” Issue #1. August, 1998.

Page 8 from Dark Horse Comics’ “Star Wars: Mara Jade: By The Emperor’s Hand,” Issue #1, written by Michael Stackpole and Timothy Zahn. The late Carlos Ezquerra penciled and inked the artwork, with production color by James Sinclair, and lettered by Michael Taylor.

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Illustration by Doug Alexander Gregory. “The Dark Side Sourcebook.” August, 2001.

In 2001, Wizards of the Coast released “The Dark Side Sourcebook,” a roleplaying supplement that explored all things evil in the Star Wars galaxy. Written by Bill Slavicsek and J.D. Wiker, the sourcebook outlined rules for roleplaying dark side characters, and information on dark side equipment and traditions. In addition to the cover art, Mara Jade was featured in a section called “The Emperor’s Minions.” Illustrator Doug Alexander Gregory had these memories to share with Jade Crusades in an online interview:

Mara Jade was easy as I had what I felt was a good handle on her personality for my own needs. I’m definitely a fan of the comics version, as that is where I came to know her in the Vatine-drawn adaptation of “Heir to the Empire.” I love the art in that book and her character was lots of fun. I thought it read pretty well too as Mike Baron's writing kept me well into the story. Vatine’s version of Mara is so striking, it was my chance to draw a well designed character. I did my sketch, WotC approved it, Lucasfilm approved it, and I painted it in watered down airbrush paints with a little acrylic and colored pencil at the end.

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Edvin Biuković and Pamela Rambo. “Star Wars: The Last Command” Issue #5. April, 1998.

Page 10 from Dark Horse Comics’ “Star Wars: The Last Command,” Issue #5, adapted by Mike Baron. The late Edvin Biuković penciled and inked the artwork, with production color by Pamela Rambo, and lettered by the late Ellie de Ville.

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Star Wars CCG Players Committee virtual play card. “Light Side Mara Jade.” December, 2021.

Although photographs of Shannon McRandle wearing the green “Light Side” Mara Jade costume were taken during the initial Decipher photoshoot in 1998, the card never made it into an official Decipher deck release. A play test version of the card debuted during Match-Play Championship in 2008, after being discovered in Decipher image archives by the Players Committee. But the infamous unproduced card had remained “lost” until recently. 

A virtual card was created by the Star Wars CCG Players Committee, and they recently unveiled it alongside interviews with two Decipher game designers that Jade Crusades conducted in 2002. Read the interviews here!

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Star Wars Trading Card Game play card. “The Empire Strikes Back.” October, 2003.

The Star Wars Trading Card Game, produced by Wizards of the Coast after acquiring the Star Wars license from Decipher, featured Mara Jade in a new image. The card was produced after Mara overwhelmingly won the “You Make the Card” competition, and Wizards used Shannon McRandle as the model for Mara Jade in response to voter demand. The image was shot by photographer Ric Fogel, edited in post-production by Mark Goetz, and debuted at Gen Con in 2003. In an interview with Star Wars News Net from 2015, McRandle had these memories to share:

I was 40 weeks pregnant with my second child and Wizards of the Coast called one night and asked if I wanted to do a promo card. Of course I did, were they nuts?! I was so sick and exhausted from the pregnancy, we shot it in my basement in like an hour, and they used it on a card. That was the last time my image was taken for anything of the kind.

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Illustration by Mathieu Lauffray. “Star Wars: The Last Command” Issue #2. December, 1997.

In 1995, Dark Horse Comics released the Thrawn Trilogy in comic book form, adapted by Mike Baron. French artist Mathieu Lauffray depicted Mara Jade on the cover of “Star Wars: The Last Command” Issue #2. According to Lauffray’s art book, “Axis Mundi by Mathieu Lauffray,” the original artwork is 37cm x 50cm and was created with acrylic paint and colored pencil on gessoed illustration board.

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Star Wars Customizable Card Game promotional and play cards. “Reflections II: Expanding the Galaxy.” January, 2001.

Decipher’s Reflections II: Expanding the Galaxy series brought a handful of Expanded Universe characters to life including Mara Jade, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Talon Karrde, Corran Horn, Mirax Terrik, Dash Rendar, Prince Xizor, and Guri. Decipher also created an exclusive 5”x7” Promotional Oversized “Signature” Card depicting Mara, Talon Karrde, and Corran Horn for the summer ‘01 convention circuit. Model Shannon (Baksa) McRandle portrayed Mara Jade, while Timothy Zahn was made up to depict Talon Karrde, and Michael Stackpole was costumed to resemble Corran Horn. Stackpole had these memories to share on his blog:

The stuff done in a photostudio is really magic. At first glance, the guys they got for Corran and Karrde were right, in general. Good on the overall dimensions, hair color, eye color, etc., but they were just guys off the street. Then the hair and makeup folks went to work. Karrde got a wig and a full makeup job, which sharpened his features and totally changed him. By the end of the process - during which Tim's camera was clicking almost incessantly - I was believing the guy was Talon Karrde.

Once Karrde was made up and costumed, he was taken onto the photostage and lit. That's a fascinating process. If they put a yellow filter on a light, the light is considered "hot." A blue filter makes it "cold." The art director, photographer and photographer's assistant all discussed and debated, pulling lights this way and that, setting them up at angles, getting the model to look here or there. Then they took test Polaroid shots and digital shots and finally agreed that things were right. It was almost anticlimactic when the shooting got done, but the results were great. Talon Karrde lived.

Shannon Baksa actually did Corran's makeup, then he got lit and shot. One of my concerns had been that the model was a bit older than Corran would have been at that point, but the makeup and lighting slashed 15 years off him. And the models, they put up with a lot. At one point, while folks were off debating how Corran should be lit, the guy who had done Karrde's makeup commented that Corran was just sitting there rock-still. Corran said, "I'd move, but I'm afraid they'd have to re-light me."

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Convention Sketch by Sean Gordon Murphy. New York Comic Con. October, 2010.

Sean Gordon Murphy has long been one of my favorite artists, and I was lucky to meet him in 2010. Well, “meet” is an overstatement. I am such a fanboy I stood there dumbstruck and my boyfriend at the time had to push me forward and coax conversation out of me. In addition to signing a stack of comics, Murphy was kind enough to tackle a Mara Jade sketch for my collection.