Day Three of Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 had two different publishing focused panels, starting with a full one just for Dark Horse‘s contributions and later one for Lucasfilm Publishing‘s own works, though both were a little light on announcements. Dark Horse focused on Jaxxon, as their upcoming Annual stars the hare-brained scoundrel (and writer Cavan Scott promised there will be more), and some upcoming The High Republic Adventures teases for Phase II and Phase III. Lucasfilm Publishing spent time revealing new pages from upcoming reference titles, announcing a new one all about Wookiees (!!), and of course more The High Republic content as well. Head below for the sneak peaks!
For the purpose of making this round-up somewhat orderly, I’m going to first focus on book content, then comics, and then High Republic content since both panels had some new THR stuff for fans to enjoy after the giant panel on Saturday. Big thanks to Friends of the Force, Star Wars Books & Comics, and Youtini for live tweeting coverage!
Books
Two big upcoming reference books got the spotlight again: Timelines, the one which is their most massive work which puts tons and tons of content all together in well, a clear timeline; and 100 Objects, which features unknown details about many of the littlest items and props from the Saga. They showed off Timelines pages for the World Between Worlds, Yavin IV, and The Mandalorian, while 100 Objects had Nemik’s Manifesto and a High Republic item from the Path hideout seen in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Two more tales in Return of the Jedi – From a Certain Point of View (we already know all 40 authors) were revealed: Kristin Baver is writing “Satisfaction,” a Sy Snootles tale, while Adam Christopher will feature Enric Pryde in “The Steadfast Soldier,” whom he already wrote in the stellar Shadow of the Sith. Two unexpected but intriguing characters!
The next in-universe reference book is The Secrets of the Wookiees! Written by Marc Sumerak and illustrated by Alberto Buscicchio, I can’t wait to see just how many secrets and lore about Wookiees is explored here. They have long been one of my favorite species and have never quite had their chance to shine as much as I’d like, so this seems like the perfect place to do so!
Lastly for books, there will be an art book for Jedi: Survivor, while Charles Soule, Kristin Baver, and Clayton Sandell are working on mystery projects they didn’t reveal, but expect to hear more at San Diego Comic Con in July.
Comics
The latest spooky story from Cavan Scott, Tales from the Death Star, had its cover revealed, alongside some interiors for Grand Moff Tarkin focused tale and one of the trash monster, the dianoga named Omi! And, as seen on the cover, there’s a tale about Ghost Vectors!
Jaxxon got tons of attention, from early looks at Nick Brokenshire’s art tests for the character, as well as some interior previews for the Hyperspace Stories Annual 2023 – Jaxxon. And as no surprise, Scott confirmed it won’t be the last we see from Jaxxon…
We also got a glimpse at some Hyperspace Stories covers, including one with Quinlan Vos vs Cad Bane, which means Vos returns home to the comic publisher he started with! They also showed more Brokenshire concept art of Vos and Bane. Now let’s just hope they can hit their release dates a little more consistently, something they did not address at the panel, unfortunately but I’m not surprised.
The High Republic
Charles Soule started the section by reminding us General Viess from The Blade will be a significant antagonist for Phase III, so I guess Mirilan’s have long life spans now, but hey, if that means Vernestra Rwoh in live-action, I’m in! Also, Scott spoke about Path of Vengeance, saying Yana Ro will be shocked about what she finds on Dalna (the aftermath of the big battle, as seen in Cataclysm?) and it has it’s own character which will be important to Phase III as well.
Above you can see the first preview pages from November’s The High Republic Character Encyclopedia, one for Avar Kriss and another for Marchion Ro. I love that Kriss’ reveals her diadem is a gift from Elzar Mann…read into that how you will!
Next, we got our first glimpse at interiors for the oft-delayed but highly anticipated The High Republic Adventures – Quest of the Jedi, a one-shot written by Claudia Gray. We learned it takes place BEFORE Phase II, so it’s the earliest in the era’s timeline, and it’s hopefully out on comic shelves DATE. After Scott’s tease at THR Panel Saturday that little tidbits they’ll be dropping in Phase III might be hinting at content beyond the final Phase, I’m curious if this preview’s mention of Darth Ravi is one of those…
We got a look at all the remaining covers for The High Republic Adventures – Phase II, including an HD version of the connecting variants of issues #5 & #6, which will see the return of Harvey Tolibao and will cover the Battle of Jedha! We also got previews of issue #5, which shows us a young little Sav and big Therm Scissorpunch content! Can’t wait!
We got interior previews for the upcoming The High Republic Adventures FCBD 2023 issue, which is called Starlight Coda and lets us see what happened with Lula Talisola and other favorites, especially since Phase III will pick a year after the fall of Starlight…
…Speaking off, our first cover for The High Republic Adventures – Phase III!! Zeen Mrala all grown up and sporting some sick new weapons! Teenaged Qort with a scar on his face?! So stoked to learn more!!
We also has some looks inside upcoming adorable children’s books, Jedi Brave in Every Way and Young Jedi Adventures: Jedi Training. For Jedi Brave in Every Way, written by Charles Soule and his daughter Rosemary, the artwork by Valerie Valdiva looks amazing, especially since we get to see a baby Burryaga!! The story will follow three young Padawans dealing with certain fears and Yoda helping them through them.
And that’s a wrap on the Sunday Publishing panels. Marvel’s is out Monday and we’ll have a separate article for them.
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.