Compiled by Carl Slaughter:

• Bootleg Star Wars comic book in China takes liberties

• Baylo:  the officer who stood up to Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine

More items follow the jump.

• Star Wars animated shorts

“Disney introduces Star Wars to kids with a series of animated shorts” at Engadget.

If you’ve wanted to bring your kids into the world of Star Wars but weren’t entirely sure if they were ready for the movies, Disney’s upcoming animated shorts might be your answer. On November 30th, the company will debut six animated shorts on StarWarsKids.com as well as a new Star Wars Kids YouTube channel, with the goal being to introduce younger audiences to Star Wars stories. More shorts are set to follow in December and throughout 2019. Collectively called Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures, the shorts will pair new animation and scenes with dialogue, music and sound effects from the original films.

• Mandalorian live action Star Wars series

• Males in Last Jedi

Pop Culture Detective theorizes that fan anger at Last Jedi is rooted in dashed expectations of male heroes who are challenged and changed by female heroes. 

• Anakin Skywalker, The Jedi, and Stoic masculinity.

• The Galactic Empire versus freedom

For the vast majority of residents of the Star Wars galaxy, daily life is unaffected by the Sith, the Jedi, and the Rebellion/Resistance.  But what about life under the rule of the Empire?  What exactly makes the Empire evil?  What exactly are Emperor Palpatine’s policies and practices that Princess Leia finds so odious, besides destroying her home planet?  Disbanding the Senate?  Executing child Jedi?  Martial law? Excessive commercial regulation that results in the black markets and smuggling and gangs that receive so much attention in the series?  Commandeering natural resource to supply such a massive military force?  Drafting children into military service to fight and oppress and die for the empire?  Princess Padme sums it up:  “So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause.”  The Empire is a terrible place to live because its citizens’ individual freedom has been suppressed in the name of maintaining galactic order.

• Understanding the Star Wars backlash

Wise Crack compares the Star Wars backlash to the Protestant Reformation and Disney to the Catholic Church.

• Mark Hamill’s famous pitch

“Mark Hamill Confirms Crazy Pitch He Once Made For Infamous ‘Star Wars’ Character” at Yahoo! News.   

Actor Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker, confirmed an off-the-wall idea he had for 1983’s “Return of the Jedi” regarding the identity of infamous “Star Wars” bounty hunter Boba Fett: He thought Fett should be Luke’s mother.

Hamill replied to a fan’s theory Friday, confirming that he had actually pitched the idea to “Star Wars” creator George Lucas. This was before he knew that Leia, played by Carrie Fisher, was Luke’s sister.

“I once suggested it to George as the only way we could top Vader being my father. I envisioned her as a double-agent working clandestinely for the Rebels,” Hamill said. “SPOILER ALERT: He didn’t like my idea.”

• Mark Hamill reveals what killed Luke

• Mark Hamill versus William Shatner

• Mark Hamill:  Best Star Wars fans are UPFs