Nearly 8 years after losing the Star Wars license to Marvel, itself the original publisher of Star Wars comics decades before, Dark Horse Comics (DHC or DH) will return to offer up all-ages content, replacing IDW in Spring 2022. In the announcement, DHC founder and CEO revealed they’ll initially “…focus on stories featuring the High Republic,” but expect all eras to have content eventually, across on-going series, anthologies, one-shots, and specials. As for when in 2022, I’d expect we’ll see their content start in April, maybe May at the latest, as IDW’s current series are all solicited out until March. We’ll have more as they announce it, like what series, authors, and artists to expect, but for now head below to see the writing was on the wall for some type of announcement like this since September, plus see the final cover for the upcoming Obi-Wan and Anakin novel, Brotherhood!
Back on Sept 20, Bleeding Cool initially scooped IDW was losing the Star Wars comics license, and while it seemed like a wild rumor, the signs soon followed as trade paperback collections of IDW content started drying up. Just last week, March looked to be the natural end with no scheduled solicitations for any TPBs beyond that point and the final issue of The High Republic Adventures likely out then too, so hence my guess DH’s content will arrive in April. IDW has had a fun run with the license, from the breezy, light, but teachable Star Wars Adventures mainline, the wonderfully spooky Vader’s Castle horror series, and Jaxxon’s explosion in the SWA Annuals, to count a few of their contributions. It sounds like to keep the story of The High Republic moving, DH will start with its own all-ages series for the era, hopefully picking up wherever IDW’s ends with its wonderful cast of characters and engrossing story, but that all remains to be seen at the moment. Beyond that, it would be neat if they start pulling from their own past stories for canon ideas, as I’m sure many people have their favorites and ideas for what they’d love to see again (see this tweet by ElevenThirty-Eight and the replies to it for a hint of all the love for DH content and what fans would like to see return)…I’m personally hoping any type of return of the characters from the brilliant Knights of the Old Republic comic, which would be fitting with the upcoming remaster of the original game of the same name: tell us in the comments or respond on Twitter with your hopes for the DHC line!
Elsewhere today, the final cover (painted by Laura Racero) for the upcoming novel Brotherhood, written by Mike Chen, arrived! Originally announced back in October, the cover reveal this week included an amazing tidbit from Chen regarding the themes of Brotherhood and totally adds even more confidence to him writing a tale about these two…and Asajj Ventress:
“Brotherhood opens with both Anakin and Obi-Wan recently promoted to Jedi Knight and Jedi Council, yet feeling a bit uncertain about how to go about it, all while the war accelerates things so quickly that the Jedi charge into battle without a chance to really go, ‘Why are we doing this? Who are these clones?’,” Chen tells StarWars.com. “For our two heroes, they’re balancing their feelings on this while trying to live life without being tethered to one another, and the story examines how both of them realize that not only do they need each other, they’re better Jedi (and people!) when they’re connected.”
I just love the bit about them realizing they need one another—my heart—and it makes me even more excited for its May 10, 2022 release. Should be a wonderful thing to read alongside that Obi-Wan Kenobi show, where the two of them will also be together again, to some degree!
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.