Yeah, that's right, I'm putting it out there knowing full-well no one can argue at this point, since there's been so little story or footage revealed thus far. But from what I've seen - a couple episodes here, a sequence, shot, or design there - I can say that I'm genuinely excited about this series.

And this isn't a company line - I've been pretty hardcore since I was 8 years old in '77, and have intimately followed the saga over the years - even co-authored a couple books on the subject. I've been writing a blog series in the Clone Wars section now for several weeks (you can see those here) and with each interview I get more and more pumped up about this series and where it's going to take the Star Wars saga.

I sat in on a meeting at Big Rock a couple months ago and got to hear producer Catherine Winder and supervising director Dave Filoni talk casually about how the series is progressing. I gotta say, I'm so impressed with how they are handling the property - Dave really knows his Star Wars, and the look and feel of the show is absolutely true to the spirit of the saga. There's a reason Lucas is so intimately involved with the series - because he truly loves it, and I can see why. With every flash of artwork and insight the creators have shared, I've grown more and more confident that Clone Wars is going to be something special. It may, in fact, even eclipse my love for a couple of the films.

Blasphemy? Hardly. But I have a feeling the Clone Wars cult might just morph into full-blown fan religion someday. Let's check back in a year and find out...