Star Wars Chibi

I look at this image and I can't help thinking to myself: this artist has caught the complete joy I used to feel when playing Star Wars on the playground or in the backyard of my house in the backwoods of that small Ontario town.
You can find more Star Wars Chibi at http://ericmerced.posterous.com/ -- including Luke and Vader. Normally, Luke would be my favorite because to me, when I watched Star Wars, Luke was the guy I felt a connection with. He WAS me, being drawn into a strange world he didn't understand, discovering it along with me, the viewer. (This element is something that was sadly lacking from the prequel trilogy.) But I just stared at Han solo for a while as I realized what this image really was. Eric drew a perfect melding what I SAW in my mind's eye when I was running around blasting Stormtroopers and what PEOPLE SAW with their own eyes when I was running around blasting Stormtroopers!

I'm excited to see what he does next in his series . . .

I will admit some bias: Eric was hired by my publisher, Zondervan, to illustrate the final two graphic novels in my TimeFlyz series.

But that doesn't change the fact that he's awesome.

~ Ben

UPDATE, July 20: Eric just added Chewbacca . . . and it's loads of awesome.