Welcome... to a double whammy!

Every great space opera franchise called Star Wars has a classic feud. That’s just fact! And in anticipation of The Force Awakens, we’ve put it all on the line and printed a ‘split run’ (media jive for ‘two covers’ – I know, we’re idiots), featuring our best guess at who the two new feuding characters will be: the potential young padawan Rey and the possible Sith badass Kylo Ren who, quite frankly, we’re just hoping isn’t Yoda dressed up on stilts playing a prank on everyone… actually that would be pretty sweet. But I digress.

After his fine Game of Thrones workshop from issue 125, it was Andrew Theophilopoulos who came to mind for these two covers. I had a good idea of what it should look like, so sent him a stockpile of photo references of me in my pants, depicting the exact dynamic stance each character should hold. Like any professional, Andrew thanked me, set fire to his computer, washed his eyes with industrial-strength soap and, after some intense therapy, started work on his own photo shoot... Whatever. He’s the artist, I guess.

The result (page 62) makes for two amazing covers. Its quality is also befitting an issue that boasts exclusive interviews with film art director Aaron McBride (page 40), card art connoisseur Terese Nielsen (page 46), as well as the specially extended sketchbook of Mr Film Art himself, Iain McCaig (page 54). Have a root around, and if you feel the need for any reference photos, ping me an email!