During the Cup o’ Joe panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel finally announced some new series for their recently acquired Star Wars comics license. While more exciting than the pricey reprint of their original Star Wars run from some decades ago, Marvel’s three new series all take place in-between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, ground well-traveled for the saga in comics. This has a lot of people worried and/or uninterested, but the creative teams behind each series, Star Wars, Darth Vader, and Princess Leia all seem enthusiastic about working on the license, are fans themselves, and will be under the eyes of the Lucasfilm Story Group, all of which means not giving these a chance seems like a mistake.
There’s also all the new and on boarding fans to consider, so what better place to start than in an era which most people can easily recognize and are familiar with? And since they’re playing it so close to the vest with Ep. VII‘s plot, they’ve likely been told to keep their distance without looking like they’re keeping their distance and will be flying casual for the time being.
The series simply titled Star Wars will be a broader look at our heroes and their continuing struggle with the Empire. Everyone from R2-D2 to Han will get their chance to shine, while Vader will swoop in from time to time like the fearful villain he rightfully is, giving this series an expansive appeal and feel more like the movies. You can read more about this series and the creative team behind it, Jason Aaron and John Cassaday, with interviews at both USA Today and Marvel. It’ll be an ongoing series and the first to launch in January 2015.
Princess Leia will obviously be focused on the titular heroine, but it’ll look at the effects the destruction of Alderaan have on Leia now that the event has had some time to sink in. Seeing as she first compartmentalizes it in ANH and we skip to the dealing with the grief period by TESB, this series is already gaining my attention for taking the chance to explore her mind-set during this most pivotal time. We’ve certainly gotten some of her state-of-mind in a few Legends books (like Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge, where she met Alderaanian pirates…which is as interesting as it sounds) and comics (Dark Horse’s Star Wars), but another look at her dealing with the event and trying to reunite those Alderaanians still alive in the galaxy is a great idea. Check out the interviews at both USA Today and Marvel for more from Mark Waid and Terry Dodson about Princess Leia. It’ll be a mini-series, five issues, and out in March.
Lastly, but not least, Darth Vader tries to explain the fallout between Vader and the Emperor after the Death Star’s destruction. And more specifically, how even after such a giant military loss Vader goes from being on a leash in ANH to killing subordinates at will and seemingly having more power than ever in TESB. I won’t lie, I never even considered or tried to imagine how Vader wasn’t canned from the Empire after losing the big ol’ 20-years-in-the-making Death Star to some Force wielding amateur. While Vader will still cause havoc in the Star Wars series, what the creative teams call his “Tuesdays,” we’ll be seeing what he’s up to on the other days of the week, like building up some bounty hunting buddies. Read the interviews of Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca at USA Today and Marvel for more of Vader’s state of mind. Darth Vader will be an on-going series, starting in February.
The official Star Wars site also has interviews with all three creative teams, plus some sneak-peaks of panels from the upcoming Star Wars on-going series. The only other canon content currently slated for the in-between of ANH and TESB is the novel Heir to the Jedi, staring Luke. How these will all interact will surely be part of the fun for the upcoming canonical era of the saga’s storytelling.
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth.
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