New Era/Decade, Who Dis?: 2020 Star Wars Comics Year-In-Review

2020 Star Wars Comics Year-In-Review Mynock Manor

2020 was a year like no other and it feels weird to be concerned with or spend time thinking back on Star Wars comics, when there were so many more important and impactful moments in our lives, from the rightful explosion of the Black Lives Matter movement over the death of people like Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and so many more avoidable lives lost, the rising and still volatile COVID-19 pandemic, made worse by many Americans who chose not to care about other people and ignore scientific warnings, the fires in Australia, and a fight for the future of the United States in a highly politicized election, among many other events and moments. 2020 was going to be a memorable and different year for Star Wars comics regardless, with Marvel relaunching their entire line to a post-The Empire Strikes Back timeframe, but the pandemic closed down distribution for the comics industry and shifted the entire landscape and release schedules, and while we had less content than ever before, the overall results were a promising new beginning to the new era of the tales. Head below for our look back at 2020’s Star Wars comics, where I too brought about some changes for the new decade’s first yearly roundup.

— Spoilers for comics released in 2020

Here are the things I liked the most/thought worked the best from the comics in 2020:

A) Lower Quantity Seems to Bring Higher Quality

Lando Finally Gets Lobot's Message in Star Wars #4As mentioned above, the pandemic brought comic distribution to a screeching halt, delaying every series and even potentially putting one (The Rise of Skywalker adaptation) on the chopping block. Regardless, this year was going to bring less comics, with Marvel and IDW mainly focusing on providing on-going series and not an onslaught of miniseries. Over the past few years or so, there’s been an average of nearly 6 miniseries a year, while 2020 had a whole whopping 2 and one started in 2019 technically. Quantity never guarantees quality, and I’ve felt like it’s more miss than hit (Lando: Double or Nothing, TIE Fighter, Allegiance, Jedi of the Republic – Mace Windu, and there’s one I didn’t even want to talk about anymore) with the miniseries, and only a truly great one popping up rarely (Lando {2015}, Han Solo, Age of Star Wars maxiseries). The on-goings aren’t always bastions of quality either, but their prolonged length allows them to better build their characters and explore various concepts in depth, and most times a miniseries feels like it’s missing the necessary depth to really capture the subject it’s trying to cover. By focusing on only a few series, and all on-goings, the quality in 2020 felt leagues better than it has in the past few years, besides one series (there’s always one!), and while I’d argue it’s a combination of the reduced quantity and the series’ creatives, I feel like these would’ve been good regardless of how many series were out in 2020 as the creatives arrayed are such a strong line-up. Without a sea of content to fight against, their quality was far more noticeable, but the mistakes even harder to forget (which we’ll cover shortly). 2021 will get back to a larger set of series, as the current 5 on-goings between Marvel and IDW are joined by 2 more for The High Republic initiative, and an unknown amount of miniseries, so the mistakes might be harder to ignore, but let’s hope the quality doesn’t let up.

B) 2020 Relaunch Is Just What The Comics Doctor Ordered

Marvel relaunching into the timeframe between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, while maybe not everyone’s ideal choice, was the breath of fresh jogan juice the comics needed, as their adventures between A New Hope and TESB were stretching the timeframe rather thin. And the amount of content looked daunting to any one interesting in reading the comics, so giving readers a lot of #1’s to consider offered more opportunities for fans to see what all the fuss was about with the growing and intriguing tales of the comics. It was also a fitting move in 2020 considering it was also the 40th anniversary of TESB, providing a way to explore the film’s legacy and bridging the gap between it and Jedi with organic expansions to the film’s memorable events. However, I’ll be curious how long they devote time to the narrow 6-month window between films, whereas last time they had 3 years to cover and they spent 5 years focused mainly on it, as maybe they’ll begin to overlap with Ep. VI before relaunching again into new eras. Regardless of where they go next, I sincerely hope it’s multiple eras (The High Republic is a nice start) and not all in one, no matter how fun the possibilities of crossovers can be if they are all set in the same timeframe, while skipping Vader for a while would be the buttery syrup on the space waffles.

Here are the things I didn’t think worked and how to fix them:

A) Bounty Hunting Isn’t That Complicated of a Profession – Part One

Now we have to talk about Bounty Hunters. Given it would follow Legends’ staple Beilert Valance and star familiar bounty hunters like Boba Fett, Bossk, 4-LOM, and Zuckuss, to name a few, from its announcement it felt geared towards a specific group of fans and I knew I wasn’t quite among them, but of course I’d read it anyways; after all, the seedy underworld of Star Wars has always intrigued me. After issue #4 however, I and many other fans could read no more (so you won’t see this series mentioned in my quick reviews below), as a grand entrance for a familiar male character came at the expense of a new, female, and queer character, whose death is only made worse by the framing of the panel and her dead-eye look. Yes, I understand there are a lot of fans out there who want to call me a snowflake or argue villains will villain, which I’m totally for villains to be villains with a capital V, but when Boba’s just mad over his reputation taking a hit (did it really? Truly?) and this is how he goes about gaining it back, it’s poor motivation for the scene. Only a few months later, Boba made a grand entrance to the TV world, albeit a changed man since falling into the sarlacc, but he didn’t shock kill anyone to make it a memorable moment. A look behind the scenes is important here, as Bounty Hunters is a male dominated creative team, from top to bottom, but as important as that can be, making sure there are sensitivity readers, of various genders and identities, who read through this work as well would be a big, important aspect to prevent something like this being done; 2019’s Black Spire novel is a good (bad) example of needing a sensitivity reader and how it doesn’t always matter the gender of the creative team. I’d understand questioning why I find this so important to discuss or why I’m focusing so much on this one moment, but it’s actually barely been a year since another heartless killing of a female character, drawn in such a way to belittle the character in life and death, happened under the same editing team’s watch; I was concerned about the potential for something like this to happen again in my 2019 Year-in-Review and unfortunately my concerns were warranted, and a pattern forming is something very worth talking. This incident, and the one before, felt completely avoidable, and I wonder if they could’ve been prevented with a more diverse creative team and/or more sensitivity readers, also of diverse make-ups as well. Something needs to give, because if it can happen twice, I can guarantee we’ll be having this same conversation before too long again…

UPDATE 2: It seems in the series’ 9th issue, it’s revealed T’onga survives. Writer Ethan Sacks did respond to early criticism about her “death” by telling people to wait and see, but didn’t say much more due to a NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and it was only in a person’s Direct Messages on Twitter, not even a Tweet for more people to see. I understand his silence simply due to the NDA, but how come he didn’t get to make some sort of statement, teasing fans to wait and see, which I feel like the editing team would’ve had no problems with allow, despite all the vocal and visible backlash certainly make his attempts feel like the bare minimum. T’onga’s survival (even telegraphed in the issue after her death) is a SMALL, MINOR step in the right direct, as it doesn’t erase how crappy and unnecessary the original moment was (in fact, this only makes the original moment feel even more unnecessary and over the top shock value), while I don’t know if it’ll convince me to read again. So in a way, my original point stands.

B) More Female Creatives and Diverse Sensitivity Readers, Please – Part Two

The last few years, I’ve been pushing for a more inclusive suite of creative team and always pointing out the severe lack of female creatives. We’ve had a few in the past, like Marjorie Liu (yes, of Monstress fame, wrote Star Wars once!!!), or in 2020 where we had Jan Bazaldua drawing the Star Wars series while Doctor Aphra had Alyssa Wong writing, Marika Cresta on art, and Rachelle Rosenberg for colors (also working on the Star Wars series), so it’s an improvement, but it doesn’t always guarantee a change to the Saga’s lacking parity in general. This point builds off the previous one, as while I can mention Bounty Hunters had an all male creative team, what does the hard data show about the representation they bring to the page, regardless of shock deaths? Let’s take a look:

Male: Beilert Valance, Bossk, Boba Fett, T’ongor, Black Krrsantan, Khamdek, Khamus, Syphac, Jhorstek, Zuckuss, Kondra, Tasu Leech, Dengar, Han Solo, Lyttan, Tamu, Skragg, Figrin D’an

Female: Nakano Lash, Ooris, T’onga, Dr. Aphra, Krynthia, Cadeliah, Losha, Vukorah, Yuralla, Gita, Kanina

29 characters | 11 Females is 38% | 18 Males is 62%

When you look at the male to female ratio of characters, which I judge simply by if their name is mentioned in the script and they have a speaking role, we see the usual disparity that’s been part of Star Wars comics parity since 2015 unfortunately and hasn’t changed since. Of course the first thought to fixing this would be hiring female creatives, and while that’s actually always the goal since they’ve been underrepresented in the creative teams, even an all female creative team like Doctor Aphra can result in low parity, numbers-wise (UPDATE 1: but they did include the first non-binary character, as revealed by issue #7):

M: Covik, Estat, Krrsantan, Lucky, Tubleek, Ronen, Tucker, Venters, Toob-Nix, Pak, Kharrek, Syphacc,

F: Aphra, Falber, Kiehart, Okka, Domina, Detta, Jepha

Non-Binary: Lapin

20 characters | 7 Female or 35% | 12 Male or 60% | Non-Binary: 1 or 5%

The important distinctions however are: out of all 20 characters in Aphra, only one character with a speaking roles dies, and it’s the male villain, whereas 4 3 of the female characters in Bounty Hunters die, one being the aforementioned queer POC T’onga in a moment played specifically for shock value (UPDATE 2: and now we learned she survived, but it doesn’t lessen the shock value “death”), though 3 male characters die as well; Aphra, Detta, and Okka are main characters in Aphra, factoring heavily in the plot, while Nakano and Cadeliah, while important, are what push Valance forward and he leaves both behind eventually (one dead {maybe} and one not). The numbers tell an easy story to quantify, but in both series, many of the characters used to take the data only have a line or two, or aren’t very important to the overall plot, so digging beyond the numbers helps add context. In the end, there’s no simple answer here, but thankfully several creatives for upcoming The High Republic comic related projects are either women or even non-binary (or at least uses they pronouns) so there’s some movement in a better direct, but the numbers are clear there has been and continues to be a lack of female creatives, while hopefully a better suite of diversity readers is introduced as well to begin to make things right.

You Recognize Each Other Because You've ALREADY MET in Bounty Hunters #1C) Fan Yells at Continuity Cloud

Look, this one is nowhere near as important as the previous points, but it still irks me to this day: in Bounty Hunters #1 (yup, this comic again), Doctor Aphra and Black Krrsantan make a cameo appearance, running into Bossk, and the issue makes it appear like they’re all meeting for the first time, which is insane considering they all previously worked together in two issues of the Darth Vader comic in 2015! I’d find this continuity error less egregious if: 1) it didn’t include Aphra, my favorite character; 2) the previous interactions happened in a different medium, like a novel, instead of another comic; 3) it couldn’t have been avoided by a simple Google/Wookieepedia search of any of the character’s names. These things happen, and it’s forgivable in the end, but how it slipped through or wasn’t caught, when it would take less than 2 minutes to search, is pretty baffling; but I’m prepared to protect Aphra with my life, to quote a recent Luke Skywalker appearance, hence why I’m talking about this at all. In the end, like I said before, this is nowhere as important as the previous two points; I simply hope they keep up the otherwise stellar continuity work going forward.

2020 Series Quick Hits:

As I mentioned before, I switched up the format this year and I’m introducing little snappy reviews of the series released during 2020, so while you can still read my usual lengthy review articles, these will sum up the content succinctly as I can, helping you make a decision on what you might like to read. Check them out below!

Star Wars Vol 2 #1 Full CoverStar Wars (Vol. 2) (On-going; 2020-Present)

The Rebellion spread out and struggling to reunite after their defeat at the Battle of Hoth, Luke in a crisis of faith after Vader’s revelation, Lando watching his legitimacy go up in smokes, and Leia trying to hold it all together, the Star Wars (Vol. 2) series from Charles Soule feels like a natural and logical continuation of events from The Empire Strikes Back. The L-Squad (Luke, Leia, and Lando) all get considerable and character development heavy panel time, but so too does the series intriguing and capable antagonist, Commander Zhara. And that’s all just from the first 9 issues, so there’s plenty more to come, and with accessibility narrowed down to at least one viewing of TESB, it’s a great time to jump in.

For Mynocks who enjoy: Lando-style fun, references across the canon, Leia taking charge, complex villains
Not for Mynocks who dislike: characters with plot armor, pulpy adventure stories

Doctor Aphra 2 Full Cover (Vol 2)Doctor Aphra (Vol. 2) (On-going; 2020-Present)

The disaster rogue archaeologist, recently freed from Darth Vader’s grasp, is back at what she does best: being a disaster and raiding ancient hovels for plunder. With a new crew, new ex’s, and one of the spookiest adventures she’s ever been on, Alyssa Wong’s relaunch of the Doctor Aphra series is an absolute blast, as it takes the character back to her roots but also expands on what came before in a way accessible to new readers. With a second arc set to dive a little more into Aphra’s past, and some The High Republic fun, it might only be getting better from here.

For Mynocks who like: disasters, creepy archaeological adventures, tales distinct from the larger story, Aphra at her finest
Not for Mynocks who dislike: laughing, having a good time, and spelunking

The Clone Wars – Battle Tales (Miniseries; 2020)

If you’ve ever wanted The Clone Wars TV show distilled into a 5-issue miniseries, both the style of animation and sense of big, heartfelt story, then IDW’s The Clone Wars – Battle Tales is perfect for you. It doesn’t add much new to the characters or conflict, but it comments on the show’s themes with nearly the same level of fun, humor, and depth. The art even matches the feeling of the show closely, and even when it deviates a bit, it captures the spirit of the show in unique and interesting ways.

For Mynocks who like: The Clone Wars, the prequels, a short and quick read, clonetroopers
Not for Mynocks who dislike: More The Clone Wars, a story which doesn’t add anything new to the era

Darth Vader 5 Full Cover (Vol 3)Darth Vader (Vol. 3) (On-going; 2020-Present)

When it was announced, I was among the many who cried out in exasperation: did we really need another Vader-centric comic?! It only took an issue to make me realize they were going in a wholly new, and more psychologically-focused direction than ever before, and the first arc, though a tad short/rushed, more than made another series worth it. Catching up with Padmé’s handmaidens, the memory/flashback panels diving into Vader’s mind, the collision of prequel and original trilogy content, and ZED-7 were all solid, enjoyable ways to provide something new and refreshing for Vader. With tie-ins to sequel trilogy ideas/concepts in the second arc, there might be something for fans of all eras, but we’ll have to wait and see if these new tricks make the entire series worth it.

For Mynocks who like: Lots of Darth Vader, prequel and/or sequel content, psychological focused stories
Not for Mynocks who dislike: LOTS of Vader, gruesome scenes, heavy breathing

Star Wars Adventures (Vol. 2) (On-going; 2020-Present)

IDW’s all-ages mainline series relaunched in 2020, and while only three issues released, a familiar pattern emerged with fun, easy, and well-written/drawn stories accessible to all fans that made the first volume so enjoyable, while a new series of villainous back-up stories eschews the morality-heavy ones of Vol. 1 and offers a little more variety from its main tales. Special issues add even more variety, be it the Annuals starring Jaxxon, which 2020’s had both a hopping good tale for him but also an amazingly intriguing backup tale with a new species/race, or the annual scare-fest of Vader’s Castle, this year a super-sized one-shot of fun and spooky horror in Shadow of Vader’s Castle, making sure there’s a little content for everyone. The only real problem has been keeping track when and if an issue will release, a conundrum both before and during the pandemic.

For Mynocks who like: Fun and quick tales, Jaxxon, easy to jump in at any moment comics, tons of variety
Not for Mynocks who dislike: an incoherent release schedule, content accessible for everyone, Jaxxon (how could you?!)

The Rise of Kylo Ren (Miniseries; 2019-2020)

Diving into Ben Solo’s turn to Kylo Ren, The Rise of Kylo Ren focuses on the time after Luke and Ben’s confrontation at the Temple, revealing the decisions Ben makes to solidify his new path in life. A complex and obfuscating tale, the miniseries’ 4 issue length keeps the story tight and focused, but some of the nuance is left in the margins, letting readers pick up some pieces. It’s a definitive tale, though it could’ve benefited from a different medium’s (like prose) advantages, but it’ll satisfy fans who want a glimpse into the tortured soul’s fall, meeting a few of Luke’s doomed, but talented students, just how long Palpatine/Snoke had been pulling strings, and just exactly what the heck the Knights of Ren are, even if they end up being completely unimportant in the films.

For Mynocks who like: complexity in their villain’s fall, filling in some story blanks, Kylo Ren shirtless
Not for Mynocks who dislike: a little too much complexity, Kylo Ren being truly cruel, Luke Skywalker being Luke Skywalker

Top 5 Moments (in no particular order):

The Grand Inquisitor's Haunting Appearance in Star Wars 6 Vol. 2Luke Skywalker Fighting the Phantom of the Grand Inquisitor (Star Wars #6 {Vol. 2})When the Grand Inquisitor tells Kanan Jarrus there’s a fate worse than death, so he chooses it rather than face who he knows will follow him: Darth Vader. At the time, we thought Vader was the fate he warned Kanan and his crew about, but it wasn’t for another 5 years after the Star Wars Rebels episode until we learned the truth, and it was far more haunting and terrifying than I’d ever imagined: the Grand Inquisitor’s spirit lived, forever chained to a Jedi Temple to chase away those who would seek its knowledge! Ol’ Grandy looks ghastly, the fire which consumed his body flickering over him still, a reminder of his choice to give-up rather continue to fight, but he’s still in there, as in classic fashion he taunts Luke with his quest to join a dead order. Luke, not sure of his destiny after Vader’s revelations to him on Cloud City, finds a sense of peace and purpose while in the Temple, which he uses to banish the Inquisitor’s specter, gain a new lightsaber for the time being, and come to an understanding about the potential sacrifice he’ll have to make to be a true Jedi. Vader arrives after Luke has left, which is when we see the Inquisitor is tired, hoping to gain rest for his spirit. His manager denies his request and he remains to haunt another day. The whole moment was such an excellent way to tie the past, present, and future together in a thoughtful, memorable, and important way for all the characters involved.

Grand Engineer Introduction in Star Wars Annaul 2020Introduction of the Grand-Engineers (Star Wars Adventures Annual 2020):

IDW’s Star Wars Adventures Annuals have been a fun, breezy breeding ground for more of Jaxxon’s shenanigans in canon, so the backup story in Annual 2020, “A Rebel Bounty,” written and drawn by Nick Brokenshire, took me completely by surprise as I wasn’t expecting it to overshadow Jaxxon’s fun. While the backup tale focuses on IG-88, with his quest to learn the bounty’s secrets regarding droids and the Empire’s inventions, the real star is the bounty herself, Lony Coleema, a member of the brand new race called the Grand-Engineers. The concept of the Grand-Engineers is so very fascinating, from their ancient and unique designs for machines, how they seem to have been around since the dawn of time, and how their designs are an expression of the light of creation, I never expected something so potentially monumental and important to the galaxy’s history to be contained in a little backup story in an issue of a comic. Lony, and her natural connection to droids despite her humanoid appearance, though blue with purple markings, is an empathic character and full of potential to be explored now that she’s forsaken her Order’s neutral stance and joined the Rebellion. How have the Grand-Engineers shaped history before? What could their role be going forward? How can Lony help the Rebellion, later the New Republic, or even what comes after The Rise of Skywalker (as the Engineers seem to have long and/or reincarnated lives)? Could we meet more in The High Republic? All the potential and all we know so far is what makes this such a memorable moment in Star Wars comics this year.

Ghosts of Prequel Past Haunt Darth Vader in Issue 3 Vol. 3Amidalan Avengers (Darth Vader #3 {Vol. 3}): Darth Vader, shaken as much from Luke’s denial of his offer as Luke is from the revelation they are related, wages a personal war on those who kept his son from him and made him ‘too weak’ to accept his offer to work together as father and son. Vader ends up on a path down prequel memory lane, colliding with one of Padmé’s handmaidens, Sabé (continuing a story thread left open since Queen’s Shadow), and later learning many more familiar Nabooian faces, from Typho, Tonra, to the remaining handmaidens, are all allied together as a group called Amidalans. While I felt like the 5-issue run dealing with their group was too rushed to properly dig into the whole situation, and the handmaidens’ survival left confusingly up in the air until the following 6th issue, the revelation of their plans in the third issue remains one of the high points for the storyline. Luring Vader under false pretenses to an installation deep under Naboo’s seas, which includes a stunning mural of the final shot of The Phantom Menace, meaning Vader has to see little Anakin again, and they reveal they’re dedicated to avenging the deaths of Padmé and Anakin Skywalker! Their belief is Vader’s responsible (the irony of the situation is so incredibly delicious you can almost taste it), and they reveal their dedication includes putting their own lives on the line to see justice through, sending a Sando aqua monster after Vader to kill him! It’s a memorable end to a memorable issue full of surprising returns and developments, while the irony they are so close to the truth they miss it makes the moment all the sweeter.

Ben Last Chance Stolen in The Rise of Kylo Ren 4Ben Solo Is Finally Asked to Simply Be (The Rise of Kylo Ren #4): It took a long time for me to pick a moment from The Rise of Kylo Ren miniseries, which is stacked with memorable, big events filling in backstory fans had been clamoring for that the films seemingly didn’t want to provide/no other non-film content was ever going to cover. It’s easy to argue there are bigger moments I could’ve picked, but to me the standout one wasn’t a scene which answered something fans had been clamoring to learn for some time, rather a small intimate moment where Ben’s friend and fellow Skywalker Academy Padawan Tai tries one last time to reach his friend. First, the framing of Ben and Tai out on a ledge joins the visual motif to other impactful moments in Ben’s life, like his confrontations with his father in The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker, and cues us in on a big, life-changing moment is about to happen for Ben. It’s so interesting to see Tai break through to Ben, shocking him when he tells Ben to simply be, the first person to ask him to be whoever he wants, not who they want him to be. It’s not on purpose for most people in his life, as Luke had his own expectations for him, as did Leia, even Han, and of course all his other friends and fellow Padawans, like Voe, whose training focused on being what she felt Ben was, not what he wanted to be. No one ever really asked him who or what he wanted, so when Tai does, at this pivotal moment where he hangs on the precipice of falling too far or being able to come back, it would’ve been enough to finally set Ben on the right path…but then Ren kills Tai and joins a long list of people who make choices for Ben. The death of Tai pushes Ben too far the other way, but the exchange with his friend sets the stage for when Leia reaches out to her son as her final act, as sometimes it takes the smallest gesture to finally break through to someone, and it always helps when that person cares a ton about you.

Aphra's Soul Survives Relaunch in Doctor Aphra #5Aphra’s Soul Survives Relaunch (Doctor Aphra #5): In a year where we had less comics than ever before, it sort of makes sense one of the Top 5 moments would be something extremely small…and about Doctor Aphra, because this is Head Butler Ryan and I am a giant fan of the character, after all. Aphra had an excellent audiobook release in 2020, as well as the brilliant relaunch, so it was a banner year for the character, and if I could, I’d easily pick the scenes between Sana Starros and Aphra in the audiobook for this list, but it’s only comics so I found an important scene in her new series anyways. In the final issue of the opening arc, “Fortune and Fate,” Aphra’s willingness to give up her spoils from the mission to help an ex, Professor Okka, revealed her changes from the end of the first volume had stuck. There’s always a little concern a relaunch means a reset for a character, but Alyssa Wong was a fan of Aphra long before taking over and holistically brought her own spin to the character while keeping what had come before, which offers some great promise for the upcoming reunion of Sana and Aphra in the arc (and year) ahead, as maybe they’ll finally be able to smooth things over again.

Honorable Mentions: Lando Gets Lobot’s Message (in Star Wars #4), which picks up a thread from Soule’s 2015 Lando series that sits as my top comic spot in the last 5 years; Luke in his Jedi Master Prime…Before The Mandalorian (in The Rise of Kylo Ren #2), where a young Ben Solo and readers see Luke Skywalker display Master-ful abilities, beating back the Knights of Ren basically with only defensive moves; The Origin of Vaneé/Tease of the Next Spooky Tale (in Shadow of Vader’s Castle), where we finally learn how Vaneé came to be, while the tease of what’s to come was worth the price of admission alone.

Final Thoughts

2020 seemed so different in the beginning, which is when I was posting our Top 10 Unforgettable Comic Moments in Star Wars Canon series, where Manor writer Chris and I revealed our top 10 moments from 2015 through 2019, but things quickly changed forever. There’s no telling if a single moment in 2020’s comics will manage to crack the next Top 10 list, but the potential is there thanks to a solid, smaller list of series that brought us to a fresh era to explore, with familiar faces, some exciting new ones, and tons of little hints and references to the big publishing initiative The High Republic. It was also a fantastic year for many fans to attempt jumping into the comics finally, as every series was starting anew, so instead of 60 issues of backlog, one just needed to start at #1 and they were good to start reading! It carried on some problems from previous years, however, and I can only hope 2021 is the first time things don’t go down a road that leaves fans, especially those often marginalized and not ever catered to like the white cis males, out in the cold. 2020 will be a year long remembered by many for tons of far more important reasons than what happened in Star Wars comics, but fans who needed another (or new) escape to their favorite galaxy had, for the most part, plenty of treats to choose from. Goodbye 2020, and hello to hopefully a year we can all look forward to remembering together (though, as I wrote a fair amount of this before January, it’s not off to a great start…).

Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Bluesky, Twitter @MynockManor, and Instagram @mynockmanor. All comic images are credited to Marvel/IDW/Lucasfilm

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