While July could’ve celebrated Independence Day by finally breaking away from having Darth Vader in comics, it chose against it, but at least Tom Taylor will be free to go to the Age of Resistance as we get closer and closer to The Rise of Skywalker. Also in July, the new Star Wars comic creative team of Greg Pak and Phil Noto takes over from Kieron Gillen and, as we always should, we get a double dose of Doctor Aphra! Check out July’s Star Wars comics below!
MARVEL
Star Wars #68 (on sale 7/10)
Greg Pak (Writer), Phil Noto (Artist/Cover Artist)
Greatest Moments Variant Cover by Kaare Andrews | Action Figure Variant Cover By John Tyler Christopher
REBELS AND ROGUES!
“The evil lord Darth Vader, obsessed with finding young Skywalker, has dispatched thousands of remote probes into the far reaches of space…”
That’s right — you remember the opening titles of The Empire Strikes Back. Now find out what happened just before, as Luke and his friends launch a desperate, three-pronged mission of deception to keep the Empire from finding their new rebel base in a brand-new epic from the new ongoing team of Greg “PLANET HULK” Pak and Phil “POE DAMERON” Noto! Featuring Han and Leia undercover in a noir world of romance and danger! Luke and R2 facing off against the Executor in a single X-Wing! And Chewie and Threepio, the greatest team-up you never knew you always needed!
Star Wars #69 (on sale 7/24)
Greg Pak (Writer), Phil Noto (Artist/Cover Artist)
Action Figure Variant Cover By John Tyler Christopher
TRICKS AND TRAPS!
- The REBELS AND ROGUES epic continues as our heroes deploy their plans to trick their Imperial pursuers… and everything falls apart!
- CHEWIE and THREEPIO face moral quandaries — and mortal danger — when they learn the uninhabited planet they’re supposed to destroy isn’t quite so uninhabited.
- Will the FORCE be with LUKE in a bar fight? And who is DAR CHAMPION… and what does he have to do with Leia’s past?
The big comic news from Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019 was the continuation of Star Wars with the creative team of Greg Pak as writer and Phil Noto as artist (and cover artist to boot!)! This should be a rather dynamic team and has helped assuage my disappointment at the series not going into a new era/ending. But it seems like this arc is at least taking us up to practically the start of The Empire Strikes Back, so could this be the final arc or two before they do finally change up the series a bit? Regardless, the idea of this arc, Vader shooting out probe droids to find the rebels and our heroes splitting off to misdirect, sounds like it’ll be full of excitement and action, while raising some intriguing stakes. I also am really happy to see Threepio and Chewie put into a situation normally only their human counterparts seem to deal with, as they have just as much agency and importance, and it’s time for them to get a little more limelight again. More brewing Han and Leia romance leaves me shrugging a bit, but a noir world is right up my alley. And Luke flying his X-wing and getting into bar fights? Sounds like a Skywalker to me. Pak’s takeover of the series feels a little more like Jason Aaron’s beginning but has the feeling of a longer planned Gillen arc, while Phil Noto’s work is pretty damn incredible so all this fun and action will be brought to our eyeballs in exquisite detail.
Doctor Aphra #34 (on sale 7/17)
Si Spurrier (Writer), Wilton Santos & Caspar Wijngaard (Artists)
Cover by Ashley Witter | Greatest Moments Variant Cover by Caspar Wijngaard
UNSPEAKABLE REBEL SUPERWEAPON CONTINUES!
- Hiding out on the world where she grew up, everyone’s favorite scoundreless, DOCTOR APHRA, takes a trip down memory.
- NB: Turns out memory lane is a hellhole covered in the agonizing thermal landmines of emotional honesty and family dysfunction.
- NB (2): Also bounty hunters. Lots and lots of bounty hunters.
Is Black Krrsantan coming back?!?! The cover HEAVILY suggests so and I am so ready to see the bloodthirsty Wookiee again! Last we saw him, he was heading up his own fighting pits, whipping his former masters aka generally being the exact opposite of all the Wookiees we’ve seen before. And going to Aphra’s home world?!? This arc sounds like it has it all, as I can’t wait to see what happens as Aphra goes down such an explosive memory lane. Celebration teased this arc deals with her mother’s influence on her, and we’ve yet to see if that mysterious PR head in the current arc isn’t her mother (I know she died, but I love the theory too much to let it go), so maybe she does make a surprising return. But motherhood does seem to rear its head due to Aphra taking a younger woman under her wing, so I’ll be curious how that pans out for both of them. I was excited when artist Wijngaard revealed he was helping out on interiors for the Aphra series for a while, as his art in Annual #2 was easily some of my favorite on her series, beating out the current mainstays. And while there’s not another issue of Aphra this month, it’s not the last we’ll see of her in July…
Galaxy’s Edge #4 (on sale 7/31)
Ethan Sacks (Writer), Will Sliney (Artist)
Cover by Tommy Lee Edwards | Variant Cover by Stacey Lee
THE GREATER OF TWO EVILS!
- As the elite RED FURY stormtroopers of THE FIRST ORDER edge closer, KENDOH and her crew are running out of time to run their heist.
- But what does the mysterious score have to do with a DOCTOR APHRA mission 30 years in the past?
- Only Dok-Ondar knows the secret, and he may have to kill to keep it!
That’s right, the galaxy’s favorite rogue archaeologist appears in July’s issue of the comic tie-in to the upcoming Disney Park expansion, Galaxy’s Edge! I hope there’s a little hint of Aphra’s presence to be found by visitors to the park, and I can’t wait to see another writer/art team tackle my favorite character (yes, I’m still grumbling it isn’t a female writer/artist yet…). And who or what are these “Red Fury” First Order troopers? Wonder if they’ll be involved in some aspect of the park as well, the upcoming Rise of Skywalker, or a little combo of both? No matter, I’m just happy to see Aphra continue to expand her presence across the GFFA, as she deserves. Now just waiting on that live-action show reveal…
Age of Resistance – Finn #1 (on sale 7/3)
Tom Taylor (Writer), Ramon Rosanas (Artist)
Cover by Phil Noto | Puzzle Piece Variant Cover by Mike Mckone | Movie Variant Cover Also Available | Artist Concept Variant Cover Also Available | Promo Variant Cover by Giuseppe Camuncoli & Elia Bonetti
A LITTLE REBELLION!
- Before he was a rebel hero, FINN had another calling. He was…a janitor.
- But how could this lead FN-2187 to question everything? How much action can someone see mopping floors and dealing with a pest problem?
- It turns out, a whole lot.
The 2015 novel Before the Awakening already gave us a story about one of Finn’s earliest impulses to question the First Order’s doctrine, but some time with Finn as a janitor, in a little more serious place than IDW’s Adventures where we saw him deal with a pest problem previously, could be intriguing enough. Celebration’s Marvel panel revealed most of the stories about the Big Three of the sequel trilogy (Rey, Finn, and Poe) won’t go beyond The Last Jedi, so enjoy this one (and theirs) for what they are: more time spent with our favorite new characters!
Age of Resistance – Captain Phasma #1 (on sale 7/10)
Tom Taylor (Writer), Leonard Kirk (Artist)
Cover by Phil Noto | Puzzle Piece Variant Cover by Mike Mckone | Movie Variant Cover Also Available | Artist Concept Variant Cover Also Available
ANOTHER GUN!
- STORMTROOPERS don’t get a name. They are simply a tool of the EMPIRE.
- But PHASMA has a name, and one young soldier wants what she has.
- One stormtrooper has ambition. And this ambition is on a collision course with CAPTAIN PHASMA.
Speaking of tales that can’t go past The Last Jedi, but this time it’s because Phasma’s dead; or at least from what John Boyega confirmed at The Rise of Skywalker panel at SWCC 2019. I’m a little confused about the whole “Empire” thing since we know Phasma was never a part of the Empire, so I’m assuming this was just a typo. Anyways, I don’t imagine this will end well for anyone not named Phasma, as it always seems to go beyond Finn.
Age of Resistance – Special #1 (on sale 7/31)
G. Willow Wilson, Tom Taylor And Chris Eliopoulos (Writers), Elsa Charratier & Others (Artist)
Cover by Phil Noto | Greatest Moments Variant Cover by Patch Zircher
A ONE-SHOT SPECIAL FEATURING YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTERS FROM THE NEW STAR WARS TRILOGY!
- Star Wars fans first met Resistance leader and confidante of Leia Organa VICE ADMIRAL AMILYN HOLDO at the end of her story in 2017’s The Last Jedi—now, witness her triumphant beginning! This July, Hugo Award-winning writer G. Willow Wilson (MS. MARVEL) explores a pivotal conflict in Holdo’s early career that will start the young woman down the path to heroic infamy for the rebellion! With her ship at the mercy of a dangerous enemy, it’s up to Holdo to outsmart their foe and win the confidence of her compatriots in the process. With art by Elsa Charratier!
- The infamous “pirate queen” of Takodana, MAZ KANATA, thought she’d seen everything in her thousand-plus years of running a bar and hiring smugglers. But it turns out that the criminal underworld is always full of new surprises…especially when she hires HAN SOLO and CHEWBACCA for a job! Story by Tom Taylor (AGE OF RESISTANCE)!
- And Poe Dameron’s loyal companion, the astromech droid BB-8, just can’t seem to stay out of trouble. His missions always seem to escalate into a full-blown adventures! And if it means a win for his friends and the heroic Resistance freedom-fighters the little droid will stop at nothing to get the job done! Story by CHRIS ELIOPOULOS!
And then speaking of getting to spend more time with our favorite characters, here’s a Special issue highlighting three more characters! For starters, an Amilyn Holdo story is extremely exciting, as she was a really enjoyable character in Leia: Princess of Alderaan and her leadership/ultimate sacrifice was one for the ages in TLJ. I hope this is the Battle of Chyron Belt we’ll get to see, though any tale expanding on her past with the Rebellion/Resistance is a welcomed one.
Also, we definitely don’t have enough about Maz Kananta, and I’d love to see what can surprise a woman who’s been around over a thousand years!
And more BB-8 doing BB-8 things like saving the day? Count me in!!
TIE Fighter #4 (on sale 7/17)
Jody Houser (Wrtier), Rogê Antônio & Ig Guara (Artists)
Cover by Tommy Lee Edwards | Variant Cover by Leonard Kirk
A NEW MISSION!
- A betrayal from one of their own.
- Is the squadron even ready to fly again after so many losses?
- And who are these new pilots who think they’re good enough to join the ranks of SHADOW WING?
The first issue was a little too busy, it had a lot of introductions to make, but it ended with plenty of promise so I’m eager to see where it goes next, and what it all sets up for its sister novel series, Alphabet Squadron.
Target Vader #1 (on sale 7/3)
Robbie Thompson (Writer), Marc Laming (Artist)
Cover by Nic Klein | Design Variant Cover by Carmen Carnero | Variant Cover by Marco Checchetto | Movie Variant Also Available
THE HUNTER!
DARTH VADER is on the hunt for a mysterious criminal syndicate operating outside of THE EMPIRE’s rule. But little does he know he’s being hunted by a group of the galaxy’s deadliest bounty hunters, hired by the syndicate to take out Vader once and for all. Led by fallen Imperial Officer BEILERT VALANCE, this ragtag group of assassins will stop at nothing to kill the biggest bounty of their lives.
When this was announced at Celebration, you could’ve heard me groan from the other side of the galaxy. Don’t get me wrong, I love how Valance’s Legends backstory has basically been face-lifted into canon, breathing new life into his story, starting with his time in the recent Han Solo – Imperial Cadet miniseries. But ANOTHER comic about Vader? We need a break. Hopefully next year we can go a whole year without a series specifically about him, but I know it’ll be even longer where he doesn’t grace a single panel in any comic for a year. In the end, the creative team has a solid pedigree, so I’m sure they’ll deliver a good tale, but was this the tale we needed or wanted?
IDW
Star Wars Adventures #24
Ian Flynn (Writer), Megan Levens (Artist/Cover Artist)
With hotshot Resistance pilot Poe Dameron captured by pirates, it’s up to BB-8—and Rapier Squadron—to save the day!
• The first of three issues spotlighting the Sequel Trilogy!
• Variant cover by Stefano Simeone!
IDW’s own “Age of” finally gets to the Sequel Trilogy…just at the same time as Marvel. Rapier Squadron is what Poe was flying with when still with the New Republic, so that’ll be kind of interesting to see, as we’ve only had him flying with them in Before the Awakening.
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
2019 SOLICITATIONS: January | February | March | April | May | June | August | September
CURRENT SERIES COMIC REVIEWS:
Doctor Aphra
Aphra (#1-6) | And the Enormous Profit (#9-13) | Remastered (#14-19) | The Catastrophe Con (#20-25) | Worst Among Equals (#26-31) | Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon (#32-37) | Annual: #2
Age of Republic (miniseries)
Age of Rebellion (miniseries)
Star Wars
Ashes of Jedha (#38-43) | Mutiny at Mon Cala (#44-49) | Hope Dies (#50-55) | The Escape (#56-61) | The Scourging of Shu-Torun (#62-67) | Annual: #4
TIE Fighter (miniseries)