Ever since I was a little kid I have always loved Star Wars. In fact, it was one of the biggest experiences of my childhood having my dad show the movies to me at home when I was about 6 or 7. I automatically fell in love with not only the characters, but this story of good and evil set in space. After the special editions of the original trilogy were released I found out that they were going to release the first of the prequels in two yrs and I was so excited, but when it happened I was a bit disappointed with the first prequel movie — Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace — itself.

Flash forward to present day. It has been 13 years since Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released and now since everything is going 3D, I guess creator George Lucas had to jump on the bandwagon and convert the film to 3D — the 3D reversion was released in theaters this weekend.

Some of you may remember last year about this time, just before Christmas, we wrote about an awesome Doctor Who and Star Wars mashup video done by Rick Kelvington. The video got a lot of attention online, quickly becoming a favorite among fans, and was even mentioned in Doctor Who Magazine. Now, Kelvington is back, with a brand new mashup of the two universes, where Jedi Knights and Time Lords meet.

Star Wars: Episode I Adventures
Written by Henry Gilroy, Mark Schultz, Timothy Truman, and Ryder Windham
Art by Chris Chuckry, Steve Crespo, Martin Egeland, George Freeman, Harold Mackinnon, P. Craig Russell, Galen Showman, Howard M. Shum, Lisa Stamp, Robert Teranishi
Cover Art by Hugh Fleming
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: December 21, 2011
Cover Price: $7.99

With the Star Wars 3D Movie logo on the cover of Dark Horse’s Star Wars: Episode I Adventures, it is clear that the comic company (along with many other licensees) is now gearing up for the 3D Re-release of The Phantom Menace scheduled to be released on February 10, 2012. Despite the negative outlook on the prequels by vocal movie fans, I am sure there are some, almost 13 years after its first release, nostalgic enough and looking forward to the 3D screenings — and prequel fans will undoubtedly be excited too. However, this collection of Episode I-related narratives isn’t quite for everyone, although there are some positive elements to the book.

In conjunction with the upcoming 3D re-release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Lucasfilm Ltd. and 20th Century Fox are teaming up with Variety the Children’s Charity to create a Star Wars-themed pin for their annual Gold Heart Pin Campaign. Every year since 1991, Variety has worked with a major Hollywood studio to sell special pins based on a certain film or character in theaters across the United States in order to raise money to provide much-needed assistance to disabled and disadvantaged children around the world.

This year, the Gold Heart Pin will feature the Star Wars franchise’s lovable droid duo C-3PO and R2-D2. The pin will be sold in over 1,000 theaters from November 2011 until April 2012 and will be priced at $3.00.

It’s no mystery that when the Star Wars Prequels were released, opinions were divided. On one hand you had fans that seemed reasonably happy with the films, and on the other, you had a very vocal group of fans who despised the movies and believed them substandard to the Original Trilogy.

There’s been a lot of Star Wars buzz on the web lately. From the planned re-release of all six films (if they perform well) in 3D format, to the upcoming release of the films on Blu-Ray with deleted scenes and other bonus materials, to latest news bytes about the developing live-action series, it seems that there’s always stuff out there for Star Wars followers.

Unfortunately, when it comes to reporting a lot of Star Wars content, it seems that facts of projects or news as they come to light continue to get tainted by the negative opinion some writers have of the prequel trilogy.

Don’t get me wrong. You are welcome to have your opinion on the Star Wars prequels. I’m not saying that’s the problem.