Mara Jade: Flesh and Blood

Mara Jade: Flesh and Blood is a six-page feature by Scott Chernoff in Star Wars Insider 47 (January 2000, pages 52–57). It is the magazine's behind-the-scenes story of Decipher's photographic Mara Jade, The Emperor's Hand for Enhanced Jabba's Palace — the first flesh-and-blood image of the character. Model Shannon Baksa (later Shannon McRandle) is on the cover and throughout the shoot.

The feature is part of Decipher's promotion of Enhanced Jabba's Palace, of which Mara Jade was the heavily marketed premium.

Shannon McRandle as Mara Jade. Photo: Mark Atkinson, Otto Studios.

Two-page spread

The feature opens with a two-page spread (pages 52–53): Chernoff's article on the left, Baksa in the black Emperor's Hand costume on the right.

Star Wars Insider 47

Star Wars Insider 47 is the January 2000 issue of Lucasfilm's official fan magazine, on sale from 3 January 2000. Its 82 pages were edited by Jon Bradley Snyder and published by The Fan Club, Inc. / Fantastic Media (ISSN 1041-5122).

On 27 October 1999 StarWars.com previewed the upcoming cover as the first official flesh-and-blood image of Mara Jade. Mara would appear on her own Decipher CCG card, but Insider would print those images first, with an interview about her rise to popularity by creator Timothy Zahn. The issue was scheduled for late December.

StarWars.com's 3 January 2000 street notice said Chewbacca and Mara Jade (the new Mrs. Luke Skywalker) share the spotlight, and that Mara "graces the cover of Insider #47." The cover story has exclusive interviews with Zahn and "the woman tapped to become the first 'flesh and blood' version of Mara, Shannon Baksa."

The issue's contents blurb:

Finally, an all-out look at the most popular character in the Star Wars Expanded Universe! Scott Chernoff goes behind the scenes at the photo shoot for Mara Jade's new Decipher card—the first "life-action" rendering of the new Mrs. Skywalker—and talks to character creator Timothy Zahn about the evolution and future of the former Emperor's Hand. It's a Mara Jade blow-out!

The article

The subhead reads: "The most popular character in the Expanded Star Wars Universe leaps from the page as Decipher releases the first-ever real-life version of the Emperor's Hand."

Pages 52–53

Page 52, the article opener.

Page 53, full-page pose used on Mara Jade, The Emperor's Hand.

It opens:

"SHE IS AN ENIGMA. DARK AND LIGHT. ASSASSIN AND ABANDONED. Reserved but powerful. Graceful as a cat, yet tough as nails. A journey from the Emperor's hand to taking the hand of Luke Skywalker as a wife and Jedi Knight. Nobody ever said being Mara Jade was easy."

Chernoff dates Mara's first appearance to Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel Heir to the Empire. In Insider’s 1998 favorite-character poll (issue 38), Mara placed #20, the only non-movie character on the list. One fan wrote that Mara is "by far one of the coolest characters ever to be associated with Star Wars."

"Until now. For the first time, Jade fans who have spent the last eight years assimilating various drawings from books and comics with action figures and video game renderings finally have a human face to put to the mysterious character. The face is that of Shannon Baksa, a 30-year-old model from Virginia, and the unlikely occasion is the release of Decipher's newest expansion pack for its Star Wars Customizable Card Game, the Enhanced Jabba's Palace pack, which was scheduled for release in November, 1999."

Enhanced Jabba's Palace reached stores on 12 January 2000.

Decipher creative director Dan Burns, to Chernoff:

"We were working on the Enhanced Jabba's Palace, and Mara was one of the characters in it, a Power Card, so I thought, 'What about the possibility of fleshing her out?' She's been depicted so many different times in so many different ways, but she's never been filmed."

Burns and the creative team used comics, book covers, and action figures, then searched for someone athletic and agile, with "a kind of inner vulnerability that's briefly glimpsed, and a strength, too." With project photographer Mark Atkinson of Otto Studios they found Baksa. Burns: "She seemed to have the agile, catlike quality that Mara Jade has."

Page 54: the shoot and the printed card

Page 54.

Baksa told Chernoff she had not known the character until she heard Decipher was looking for someone, then "went out and grabbed the comic book and the first three books." She read one and "got hooked," bought green contacts (her eyes are gray), and learned to use them before the interview. "And from the little bit I was able to read before the interview, I could learn to carry myself like her."

"What I got out of what I read was that she was kind of quiet and more observant rather than jumping into the middle of everything, and that she was a very strong woman, physically as well as mentally. I tried to carry myself as if I was very certain of myself, and be quiet and listen to everything they had to say, and then make my remarks about it."

She then wore Mara Jade's black leather catsuit and "a different green outfit meant to depict Mara's light side." Baksa: "They had it made to fit me exactly, so when I put it on it was easy to become the character. I could completely see Mara Jade walking around in this, so I immediately felt like her."

Chernoff adds that the Light Side version "will be issued later as another Power Card in the game." Decipher never printed that card. The Players Committee later used the green-costume photograph for the Virtual Set 17 Mara Jade. See Unreleased cards.

Burns worked with costume designers from the Virginia Stage Company, across the street from Decipher's Norfolk headquarters, to match what fans had seen in various depictions of Mara. Page 54 also prints the finished Mara Jade, The Emperor's Hand card.

The lower half of page 54 is Chernoff's interview with Zahn ("When Tim Zahn Met Mara Jade"). Zahn calls a hired actor for a character he created unique in his experience: "cover art turns them into pictures, but not into a real live person." He would look for green eyes, red hair, and a dancer's figure, "and that's about as far as I've ever really visualized."

Page 55: Who is Mara Jade?

Page 55.

Burns had a lightsaber made "based on some sketches used in the Dark Horse comics, so we could get it as close to accurate as possible." The lit blade in the photographs comes from a film still of Luke Skywalker.

"It was a really big production for just a little card, but I felt it was very important to get this one right."

Baksa said she saw the original Star Wars 15 times as a kid and had a huge crush on Han ("sorry, Luke"). She was thrilled with her weapon: "Oh, please—they had a lightsaber made for me!" "That was the coolest thing. I felt like a little kid when they handed me that. I had to practice for a few minutes—that thing was heavy. We played with it all day. I had fun knocking over the lights."

A model since age 12, she said the project meant more than most of her previous jobs. "When they told me my picture had to pass through Lucasfilm, that kind of told me, OK this is big."

Its portrait of Baksa in the green military jumpsuit, with a blue blade, is captioned "LIGHT SIDE: Mara Jade, Jedi Knight." A "Who is Mara Jade?" fact box lists her name (Mara Jade Skywalker), affiliation (Empire, then New Republic), rank (Jedi Knight), weapon ("magenta lightsaber; Luke's blue lightsaber from The Empire Strikes Back"), vehicles (Jade's Fire, Hunter's Luck), and quote ("Ask me if I care", Heir to the Empire).

Page 56: Saber Rattler

Page 56. Chernoff's closer, plus the rest of the Zahn interview.

Baksa's quote continues on page 56: "It's just so cool with how much Star Wars meant to me when I was young. I collected those cards for years—and I can't believe I ever let them go. I had every single one!"

Now that she is a card, Baksa said she is glad she was introduced to the Emperor's Hand:

"I like that she's a no nonsense character—she's taking care of business. I like the fact that she's a bad guy but not really. I think she has a really good heart, she's just been taught poorly. She's beautiful, she's strong, she's a character that has a long way to go. She started out being one thing and you're going through this big life change with her. Even though she starts as a bad guy, she's really likable—I liked her right away."

Burns:

"In the first three films, there are so few women except for Leia, so I think that's the appeal to her—plus the fact that she is struggling with her own duality of nature, such as Luke has."

"It was exciting, because everything else has been an illustrated or figure depiction of her, so to have a photographic depiction of her is the top of the canon. You never know—she might be appearing at a Con near you."

Baksa: "I would love to do that. It sounds like the greatest fun—to become Mara Jade for a day." Chernoff's closer: "Hey, nobody said being Mara Jade was easy, but we didn't say it couldn't be fun."

She did appear at conventions as Mara Jade, including DecipherCon 1999 and DecipherCon 2000.

Page 57: Superstar bibliography

Page 57. "Mara Jade: Superstar!" bibliography.

The last page is a Mara Jade bibliography (novels, comics, short stories, games, action figures). Under GAMES the magazine lists:

STAR WARS CUSTOMIZABLE CARD GAME: JABBA'S PALACE ENHANCED (1999, Decipher)

Enhanced Jabba's Palace promotion

Decipher marketed the set around Mara. The publisher's summary read:

Can you say Mara Jade? Finally, the fabled character (from the Timothy Zahn novels and 'Tales From Jabba's Palace') comes alive as one of the 12 new Premium cards for this enhanced set.

Each of the four Enhanced tuck boxes contains 4 booster packs from the original Jabba's Palace expansion set plus 3 new Premium cards. You'll know exactly which 3 Premium cards you're getting in each EJP tuck box because the die-cut front will reveal the face card (one of the four different face cards).

On 17 December 1999 Justin Pakes's Decipher Product Spotlight "Are You Ready To Return To The Palace?" opened the card-by-card preview with Mara:

"Where else could you start your examination of EJP but with the renowned Mara? Our first meeting with this lethal lady is after her training with The Emperor, and on assignment to track down and dispatch Luke Skywalker. She infiltrates Jabba's Palace and awaits her prey..."

Pakes called her "nothing less than a Dark Side main character" on statistics alone (ability 5, power 6 with Emperor, forfeit 7, deploy 5), then walked duel text, spy/Undercover, and the first Dark Side dual Alien/Imperial persona so she would not suspend Scum And Villainy. The same article spoiled Mara Jade's Lightsaber. Attendees at DecipherCon 1999 had already seen some EJP cards in the Art Gallery.

On 10 January 2000, two days before the 12 January street date, Pakes listed all twelve premiums. Mara Jade, The Emperor's Hand is the visible facing card of her die-cut pack, with You Can Either Profit By This... / Or Be Destroyed and Bossk With Mortar Gun.

Oversized convention cards

Decipher later printed two 5×7 convention premiums with Baksa's likeness. See Oversized cards.

5×7 Mara Jade, The Emperor's Hand signed by Baksa. Photo: CategoryOne Games.

5×7 and regular-size cards. Video still: The CCG Collector.

The Dark Side oversized is a 5×7 of the Enhanced Jabba's Palace card, a CCG show premium licensed by Decipher (copyright 2000).

Unsigned 5×7 •Mara Jade & •Corran Horn & •Talon Karrde.

The Light Side group oversized (copyright 2001) is unique among the 5×7s: it has no normal-sized counterpart. Baksa is Mara. Michael A. Stackpole portrayed Corran Horn and Timothy Zahn portrayed Talon Karrde on the Reflections II: Expanding the Galaxy cards. The three were shot together at that session for a possible later card.

On Radio Free Decipher of 22 June 2001, Decipher announced it would attend Origins, San Diego, GenCon, Wizard World, and DragonCon with Baksa, Stackpole, and Zahn among the guests. It would offer a special oversized card for their autographs:

Corran Horn & Mara Jade & Talon Karrde Destiny: 3 / Power: 8 Ability: 5 Deploy: 8 Forfeit: 9 / Pilots & Warriors / No Game Text (you'll need room for autographs!)

The printed card matches those stats, is Force-Sensitive, and leaves the game-text box blank. Its lore reads: "Each driven by a dubious past, these scoundrels now plan for the greater good of the New Republic. Found in the strangest places." The back has the Rebel Alliance symbol with decipher.com and starwars.com.

Signed by Zahn, Baksa and Stackpole. Photo: Noble Knight Games.

Back of the group oversized.

The group card is a CCG show premium from 2001.

See also

• Shannon Baksa
• Enhanced Jabba's Palace
• Mara Jade, The Emperor's Hand
• Mara Jade
• Unreleased cards
• Oversized cards
• Mara Jade & •Corran Horn & •Talon Karrde
• DecipherCon 1999 · DecipherCon 2000
• Reflections II: Expanding the Galaxy

Sources

• Star Wars Insider 47, Wookieepedia. Preserved copy: Wayback, 20 June 2017
• Mara Jade: Flesh and Blood, Wookieepedia. Preserved copy: Wayback, 18 April 2025
• Star Wars Insider 1 to 153 plus specials, Internet Archive (issue 047 scan, pages 52–57)
• Mara Jade: Flesh and Blood, StarWars.com (27 October 1999). Preserved copy: Wayback, 3 July 2011
• New Star Wars Insider #47 Hits the Streets, StarWars.com (3 January 2000). Preserved copy: Wayback, 5 December 2005
• Are You Ready To Return To The Palace?, Justin Pakes, Decipher (17 December 1999). Preserved copy: Wayback, 5 February 2001
• "Take me to Enhanced Jabba's Palace now!", Justin Pakes, Decipher (10 January 2000). Preserved copy: Wayback, 5 February 2001
• Enhanced Jabba's Palace, Wookieepedia (publisher's summary "Can you say Mara Jade?"). Preserved copy: Wayback, 29 March 2019
• Yarua's RFD Report (6.22–6.28), TheForce.net (23 June 2001). Preserved copy: Wayback, 15 February 2015
• SWCA 11259, oversized Mara Jade, The Emperor's Hand. Preserved copy: Wayback, 21 June 2013
• SWCA 11260, oversized Mara Jade, Corran Horn & Talon Karrde. Preserved copy: Wayback, 21 June 2013
• CategoryOne Games, oversized Mara Jade signed by Baksa. Preserved copy: Wayback, 9 October 2026
• CategoryOne Games, oversized Mara Jade & Corran Horn & Talon Karrde. Preserved copy: Wayback, 9 October 2026
• Noble Knight, oversized Mara Jade & Corran Horn & Talon Karrde. Preserved copy: Wayback, 9 October 2026
• Guide - SW:CCG Collection - Oversized/Undersized Cards, The CCG Collector (29 November 2015). Preserved copy: Internet Archive
• Virtual Set 17 spoiler. Preserved copy: Wayback, 3 March 2023