New York Comic Con’s Lucasfilm Publishing panels always have something good in store for fans, but this one had much more than expected! Covering a wide swath of what’s next in comics and novels, the panel dove into some new details for the final Phase of The High Republic era, revealing we can soon hold an official lightsaber from said era, while the comics section was packed with surprising new series focusing on Prequel Trilogy characters, all while making a rather shocking announcement about one series’ end. Big thanks to Friends of the Force who brought it all to us live, plus thanks to the Star Wars site team for hi-res photos of many of the new covers and previews released! Head below for all the details!
BOOKS
It all kicked off with a little reminder of the Qi’ra content out there, from the comics trilogy to the recently released Crimson Climb, but they didn’t promise anything else new for the character yet. Next was a brief discussion on The Living Force, John Jackson Miller’s big return, which sees Qui-Gon Jinn basically telling the Jedi Council to “touch grass” and takes them on a road trip. Supposedly the pairing of Ki-Adi-Mundi and Yarael Proof was the funniest thing one of the early readers ever read. Just eager to see what this book all has in store for us on April 4, 2024.
There was a Return of the Jedi: A Visual Archive book announced for March 5, 2024, written by Kelly Knox, Clayton Sandell, and S.T. Bende, to keep the 40th anniversary hype rolling, while Knox’s deadly humor (make sure to follow her!) gets its own book with Star Wars: Dad Jokes, out April 2 (missed the perfect release date by ONE day).
COMICS
Beyond The High Republic section of the panel, which I’ll cover after this, the comics had some of the biggest reveals and surprises. It all started with some previews for this week’s Tales from the Death Star, by Cavan Scott, as part of the annual horror tradition. We’ll have a review on Tuesday, but I can already tell you, if you’ve enjoyed what’s come before, do not miss this one! Next up was Dark Droids, the current crossover event which they say is the culmination of many threads and is something tonally different, which I can certainly agree with after the past three issues have brought some ghoulishly interesting developments. All the series are connected to it and a few of the other writers were on hand to talk about their contributions. Greg Pak, who writes Darth Vader (Vol. 3), promised “bureaucratic intrigue” and honestly, I am so game for that. Marc Guggenheim reiterated Dark Droids: D-Squad is the comedy tie-in and, after the first issue, I can only imagine what laughs he still has in store for us, especially now there are no back-up stories. Alyssa Wong was on hand to pleasantly twist the knife in about the Doctor Aphra (Vol. 2) series’ slow-burn romance between Chelli Aphra and Sana Starros, pointing at the cover for issue #38 (which I included here) and saying things are going great; not helpful, Alyssa!! And lastly, Ethan Sacks revealed a big surprise: Bounty Hunters will end with issue #42!? If you’ve been following along with my comics coverage, or even just seen a review here or there, you’ve likely seen me discussing how I feel like this era of comics should come to end soon, hopefully with all series making it to issue #50, so while I’m happy to hear this era might be winding down, I DID NOT want it to happen like this, seemingly so quickly, but I trust in Sacks to wrap it all up into some special in the final three issues. UPDATE: According to his thread after the panel, they are getting an extra-sized final issue and even Paolo Villanelli back!!
And that’s when the reveals started hitting! Ethan Sacks might be done with Bounty Hunters, but it frees him up for March 6, 2024’s Jango Fett miniseries instead!! Besides Luke Ross being on art, no real details beyond the cover, by Leinil Francis Yu, but hey, glad there is more Sacks on the way. Of the Fetts, Jango has been a favorite of mine so I’ll be interested to see what’s cooking for this one!
UPDATE 10/20: Marvel offered some sparse details for Sacks’ new series and I quite like the idea Aurra Sing will be in it, making me hopeful we’ll see other prequel era criminals and riffraff.
Come March, Ethan Sacks will continue to deliver action-packed storytelling set in Star Wars’ criminal underworld in STAR WARS: JANGO FETT. Alongside Star Wars veteran artist Luke Ross, Sacks continues the legacy of one of the greatest bounty hunters: JANGO FETT! A bounty to find! A mystery to solve! A treaty at risk! All this plus Aurra Sing in the mix! Be there for Jango Fett’s brand-new mission!
The next reveal is a Mace Windu miniseries, starting January 24 February 7, from writer Marc Bernardin! The cover by Mateus Manhanini, who did this year’s excellent Black History Month variant covers, is all we have for this new series as well, but consider me so ready for something new with Mace Windu to help wash away what came before. We’ll get a preview in December’s Revelations #1 (2023), as this announcement now explains his appearance on that issue’s cover, plus Bernardin was one of the writers announced for it as well. How fun would it be if both the Jango Fett and Mace Windu series collided for a big finale issue together with their showdown on Geonosis? Can’t wait to learn a little more about this one in January’s comic solicitations, likely out next week.
UPDATE 10/20: Marvel also included some details about this series, which includes a new pirate character being introduced and it takes place prior to the Clone Wars. I was pretty interested before, now I am excited for this to begin!
In February, one of the greatest Jedi must stop an incendiary secret from falling into the wrong hands in STAR WARS: MACE WINDU, a new limited series written by Marc Bernardin and drawn by Georges Jeanty. Even in the years before the Clone Wars, Mace Windu was known for his discipline, determination and combat skills. When a scientist’s discovery threatens the balance of the galaxy, Mace is led down a treacherous path of mystery and action. The series will also introduce Azita Cruuz, a pirate with a deadly secret, who the Hutts and the Republic will stop at nothing to control!
Also from Marvel is another adaptation, Thrawn: Alliances, written by Timothy Zahn and Jody Houser, also out January 24. Thrawn fans are winning with this announcement, and of the recent Thrawn novels, this was the last one I liked, so I’ll be game to read this, especially for the art of seeing Thrawn, Anakin, and Padmé! Too bad we didn’t get something new, maybe diving into his years in the other galaxy, as I had hoped when Thrawn also graced the cover for Revelations #1 (2023).
Dark Horse got in on the new announcements with a series of original graphic novels from their Hyperspace Stories line, starting with George Mann’s Qui-Gon, with art by Andrea Mutti, out in Spring 2024, followed by Cecil Castelucci’s Obi-Wan, with art by Lucas Marangon, out in Summer ’24. The covers are by Michael Cho.
THE HIGH REPUBLIC
This section began by Michael Siglain telling fans to keep their eyes peeled to the Star Wars official site for key things to come…next The High Republic Show? More previews? More announcements?! The concept art folder on Siglain laptop?! We’ll bring it to you here at the Manor once it all starts dropping!
After that, the teasing about Phase III began, talking about the Jedi struggling with who they are after everything that happened in Phase I, which we saw a bit already in Shadows of Starlight‘s first issue. Charles Soule mentioned fans need to be watching Marchion Ro and Porter Engle, whatever that could mean! And readers of the Character Encyclopedia need to be cautious, as it’ll have some Phase III spoilers! We got a few new interior previews, which I included above, with the full book out December 6! Soule and his daughter Rosemary were on-hand to also hype up their super cute Jedi Brave in Every Way, which released this week, and I love that they had some fun sparring on what it means to write Star Wars stories. And Alyssa Wong teased their book with Daniel José Older, Escape from Valo, with three words: “Chaos, heartbreak, and hope.”
We got two new covers, one for Shadows of Starlight #4 (out January 3), its final issue, starring and focusing on Marchion Ro, which was said to be the launchpad for all the “wonderfully horrible things” he’ll have in store for the Jedi, and readers, in Phase III. We also got one for The High Republic #3 – Phase III (also out Jan 3), which shows Lourna Dee and Jedi Master Keeve Trennis battling! Is it a friendly spar, as they seem to be working together based off the cover for issue #1? Or have things turned south already between the two?! Can’t wait to find out!!
The next cover reveal was for Dark Horse’s The High Republic Adventures #3 – Phase III, which sees Kantam Sy gracing the cover!! There’s been some speculation the masked figure is actually Lula Talisola in disguise, somehow and someway, and having Kantam there to face them certainly ups the possibility!
But the biggest reveal from the High Republic side of the panel, at least in my opinion, is the limited (5000) edition Stellan Gios lightsaber, releasing on the shopDisney site later this fall!! It looks glorious above, while I love the two photos at the panel, one with the mastermind who brought this all together, Siglain, hoisting it in the air, followed by Soule holding it and making quite the morbidly funny joke!
OH MY GOD
Stellan Gios FX lightsaber is coming to Shop Disney, limited to 5000 and will include some other exclusives. pic.twitter.com/ubFssm4gNW
— Friends of the Force Pod @ NYCC (@FriendsOfForce) October 15, 2023
.@CharlesSoule: “You could kill somebody with this thing!” 😂 pic.twitter.com/KQ8Gp7qydT
— Friends of the Force Pod @ NYCC (@FriendsOfForce) October 15, 2023
That wraps up the panel, keep it to the Manor for more news and reviews for all these new titles coming our way soon!
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.