Somewhen I read a quote by George Lucas which I can’t find again—little wonder in the face of the tons of quotes of him published. It might have been in connection to the ephemeral sequel trilogy or the then upcoming ‘The Clone Wars.’ Anyway, if I remember correctly he stated that he wanted further material in the franchise to follow darker, grittier storylines. Immediately I thought that finally ‘the ↵mellow fairy tale mythology of this space operas disguised as science fiction’ are subjected to the cyberpunk discourse, too. Well, now it indeed may happen—at E3 LucasArts demonstrated a new Star Wars game called ‘↑Star Wars: 1313.’ Hothardware’s Joel Hruska ↑knows:

The 1313 moniker refers to a specific level of Coruscant that’s a haven for criminals, bounty hunters, and crime lords. You take on the role of a bounty hunter looking for information on an unspecified criminal conspiracy who descends to 1313 in search of data. This will be the first Star Wars game to be rated “M” for mature, and it focuses on the seedy underbelly of the universe. That decision alone could open up a wealth of gaming experiences. To date, we’ve only seen flashes of the poverty and desperation that exists within the Star Wars timeline; the games and movies may take quick trips to places like Nar Shadaa or the slums of Mos Espa, but these have always been pit stops on the way to glittering skyscrapers and grand cathedral-like buildings.

Kotaku carries some ↑concept art of 1313 … and ↵again I am reminded of ↵Jean ‘Mœbius’ Giraud‘s visionary artwork in the seminal ↑Incal series and sense the ↵french connection. Compare the 1313-screenshot above with the panels from ‘L’Incal noir’ (Jodorowsky & Mœbius 1981) below. Both are taken from near the end of the first album of the series. They finally reveal to the reader that the vast metropolis, within most of the plot took place till now, is underground, located inside a huge shaft. The first one (Jodorowsky & Mœbius 1981: 48) shows the presidential ship arriving at the city-shaft’s surface opening. Heavy fighting is going on in the city, hence the smoke and missile trajectories. In the second one (Jodorowsky & Mœbius 1981: 50) the ship nearly has landed and sealed the shaft. Through the narrow gap still open the ↑Meta-Baron makes his escape, his airplane soaring into the skies.