DR. EVAZAN
Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love Wedge Antilles
Commentary by Jim Fisher
Fact: Most fans can easily identify Boba Fett but will look at you funny when you mention the name Wedge Antilles.
Why is this? How can someone easily recognize a character who not only had the distinction of first popping up in the dreaded Star Wars Holiday Special, but whose name was spoken only twice -- in the space of about five seconds -- in the entire trilogy? How can fans recognize a character whose only job was to stand around looking cool, while practically ignoring Wedge, who saved Luke's (in case you're forgetting, he's the protagonist) life at Yavin, and is addressed by name quite often during the trilogy -- 3 times at Yavin, 2 times at Hoth, and 2 times at Endor.
So, how do we account for this discrepancy? The answer is quite simple, actually. Merchandising. Boba Fett was offered as an exclusive mail-in action figure prior to the release of The Empire Strikes Back, whereas Wedge had to wait in line behind such essential characters as "Walrus Man" and "Ree-Yees" to get an action figure. Of course, Wedge doesn't merit a carded figure -- true Wedge fans must shell out over $20 to get the figure and the Millennium Falcon carrying case. And of course, you can't even buy the case outside of the United States -- Canadian Wedge fans have to pay exorbitant fees just to get ahold of one. Not to be outdone by their past performance, Kenner has insulted Wedge fans once again, by recently replacing the Wedge figure with an Imperial Scanning Crew member. Yeah, they were much more important to the the Trilogy than Wedge was.
Kenner has made an effort to reconcile for ignoring Wedge for twenty years. Although the Falcon case originally shipped with a Wedge figure with the wrong helmet design, they quickly fixed this error. Additionally, Kenner has released a 12" deluxe Wedge figure. Unfortunately, Kenner still doesn't believe that Wedge can sell on his own -- they packaged the figure with a 12" Biggs Darklighter figure and are selling it only through FAO Schwartz toy stores. Additionally, either FAO or Kenner (it is unclear which), placed Wedge's helmet on Biggs' head, and have Wedge holding Biggs' helmet in all the advertisements for the figures. The set is also pricey -- around $70 for two figures (that's about $500 Canadian). Normally the 12" figures retail for around $20 a piece.
Applause has also been fairly good to Wedge -- they released a nice 10" Wedge vinyl figure and a 3" Wedge figure. Galoob has released an action fleet "Wedge's X-wing" with a little Wedge figure, as well as including a teeny Wedge figure in various playsets (although this figure is really too small to be identified as anything but a guy in an orange suit).
At this point the non-Wedge fans will say: "Well, gee, Wedge has plenty of toys and stuff!" My response? Too little, too late. Why no classic Kenner Wedge figure? Why no carded Wedge figure? Why not an original sculpt for a Wedge figure? The one included in the Falcon carrying case was simply a repainted Luke-in-X-wing pilot uniform's body with a new head sculpt for Wedge. Why do characters who are on screen for less than 10 seconds merit multiple figures, all on cards? It simply doesn't make sense. Yes, Kenner has made two Wedge figures in two scales -- but neither one has been available in a standard, mass market environment. The first shipped with the carrying case, causing it to have a hefty price tag, while the 12" figure is only available at the always pricey FAO Schwartz toy store chain.
Wedge has fared better in the novels and comics. Both Timothy Zahn and Kevin J. Anderson included Wedge and Rogue Squadron in supporting roles in their novels, and other authors have included what I consider to be "token Wedge appearances" in their novels. Roger MacBride Allen has Wedge evacuating a planet in one novel, while Kristin Kathryn Rusch has him commanding a Mon Calamari cruiser. Of course, we can't overlook Mike Stackpole and Aaron Allston's series of X-Wing novels, which feature Wedge prominently. Dark Horse comics has given us the X-Wing: Rogue Squadron comic series, and Wedge has popped up in some of their other series.
Unfortunately, X-Wing: Rogue Squadron is ending with issue 35. The reason? Dark Horse needed a space in their publishing schedule for other series, so X-Wing got the axe. Never mind the fact that it was probably Dark Horse's best Star Wars series to date, they needed to make room for Crimson Empire II, Crimson Empire III and who knows what else.
So, what do Wedge fans have to look forward to in the future? Two more novels and a mini-series from Dark Horse sometime next year. Perhaps Wedge fans should just give up and start devoting all our time to Dr. Evazan (or, as I prefer to call him, Roofoo). We'd certainly have more to look forward to. After all, we can no longer sit back and allow Imperial infiltration, Imperial indoctrination, Imperial subversion, and the intergalactic Imperial conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious Wedge Antilles merchandise.
(Jim Fisher is ECHO STATION's resident Wedge fanatic and archivist. He spends entirely too much time thinking about Wedge -- as evidenced by his Wedge Antilles Home Page)