November is usually a time for large gatherings of family and friends from all over the country for Thanksgiving traditions here in the States, but it’s still an unknown if that’ll even be possible this year. Despite the pandemic, one of the most important elections in this country’s history will take place, so make sure you’re registered and make your voice heard. And then of course, do your best to enjoy these upcoming issues of Star Wars comics, which include a few new artists on series, the promise of the most epic dog fight in comic history, the return of Sana Starros to wreak havoc on Aphra’s life, and more! Head below to check them out. UPDATE 8/23: IDW’s solicits came in and there’s Life Day shenanigans and…Baby Yoda!! UPDATE 10/11: More IDW shenangians with their schedule but it looks like things are normalizing/finally being set in stone!
MARVEL
Star Wars #8 (on sale 11/04)
Charles Soule (Writer), Ramon Rosanas (Artist)
Cover by Carlo Pagulayan | Variant Cover by Michael Golden | Action Figure Variant by John Tyler Christopher | Empire Strikes Back Variant Cover by Chris Sprouse
TO ESCAPE THE EMPIRE’S TRAP, THE REBELS SPRING ONE OF THEIR OWN!
- What’s behind COMMANDER ZAHRA’s quest for revenge against LEIA ORGANA? The powerful, dark answer revealed this issue!
- And the REBEL’S Fourth and Seventh Divisons will pay the price for Zahra’s revenge.
- See LUKE SKYWALKER, WEDGE ANTILLES, and SHARA BEY battle against an onslaught of TIE fighters in the greatest dog fight of the series.
November looks to hold a big issue for Soule’s relaunch of the Star Wars series, promising the greatest dog fight of the series! That’s quite the promise! With heroes like Luke, Wedge, and Shara Bey, it’s already on its way to potentially fulfilling it, though the real ace in the fight will be new artist to the series, Ramon Rosanas! He provided art for the Hero issues in Age of Resistance, and he won the top spot (for me) with best overall Hero art in the Age of Star Wars maxiseries and I’m excited to have him back! Also, finally uncovering Zahra’s reason for revenge against Leia should be quite the moment…I’m still hedging my bets on it being Tarkin’s death, but we’ll see soon enough!
Darth Vader #7 (on sale 11/11)
Greg Pak (Writer), Raffaele Ienco (Artist)
Cover by Daniel Acuna | Empire Strikes Back Variant Cover by Chris Sprouse
PAIN LEADS TO ANGER AND ANGER LEADS TO AN ELEMENT FROM EPISODE
VIIX!
- As DARTH VADER battered and broken by the EMPEROR as punishment for his rebellion, drags himself across the blasted surface of MUSTAFAR with vengeance on his mind!
- But can he survive the onslaught of a certain mysterious SITH ASSASSIN?
- And how will his world change when he learns his enemy’s GREATEST SECRET?!!
With Vader interacting with Padmé’s remaining handmaidens, and letting them live so far as we’ve seen, could Palpatine consider letting them live a form of rebellion? Or what else does Vader get up to in the intervening issues that Palpatine leaves him broken on Mustafar, much like he found him in Revenge of the Sith!? A return to Mustafar is always a potent storytelling move, so I’m curious to see what Pak and team have in store. Also, who and what is this Sith Assassin?!!? And what is their great secret…or is it actually talking about a secret regarding Palpatine? Is it tied into this mysterious ‘element’ from Return of the Jedi? And does that tie into this arc’s eventual connection to something from The Rise of Skywalker?! I’m dying to learn the answers! UPDATED: The original solicit released to media was incorrect (which has been known to happen from time to time) and the Episode number it actually refers to is Episode IX, much like the tease they originally made about the upcoming arc. Florian of Jedi-Bibliothek, always a reliable source, began a new Twitter account, @swbooksnews, which has detailed and organized list of all the publishing material set to release in the near future, and it’s there he not only alerted me to the updated solicit, but also put together what the Episode IX element and Sith Assassin means: Ochi of Bestoon! For a guy pivotal to Rey’s backstory, it’s certainly been underwhelming how much we know about him, but that might be corrected here!
Bounty Hunters #7 (on sale 11/18)
Ethan Sacks (Writer), Paolo Villanelli (Artist)
Cover by Lee Bermejo | Empire Strikes Back Variant Cover by Chris Sprouse | Action Figure Variant Cover by John Tyler Christopher
NO ONE CAN ESCAPE THE FINDSMEN!
- A badly wounded VALANCE reunites with a long lost love on a secret Rebel base…but trouble is right on his heels.
- ZUCKUSS AND 4-LOM, the deadliest bounty hunting duo in the galaxy are closing in, ready to take out their quarry dead or alive! And they brought an army of Clone War-era Battle Droids with them!
- Valance is trapped and if he wants to escape alive he’ll have to make the toughest decision of his entire life.
After the events of this series’ 4th issue, released this week, I’m done with reading and reviewing the series. This solicit makes me even more worried about it, as recent events don’t give me much faith this ‘toughest decision’ won’t lead to the death of his long lost love, hopefully it’s only abandoning her or giving his own life to let her live and giving us a new protagonist for the series…even then, I don’t know if I’d return.
Doctor Aphra #6 (on sale 11/25)
Alyssa Wong (Writer), Ray-Anthony Height (Artist)
Cover by Leinil Francis Yu | Variant Cover by TBA
APHRA HAS A NEW WORST ENEMY – THE VILLAINOUS DOMINA TAGGE RETURNS!
- Someone sinister has put a price on DOCTOR APHRA’s head… and it’s none other than DOMINA TAGGE!
- Now Aphra’s running for her life, trying to shake every bounty hunter on her tail.
- But one of those is SANA STARROS… and for Sana, it’s personal!
- Aphra can’t out-think Domina or outrun Sana…what choice does she have left?!
Sure, Domina should be a blast of a villain and Legends comic fans will be understandable excited she’s back, and this bounty on Aphra sure hints Ronen won’t make it through the current issues, but that’s not the most exciting part for me. SANA STARROS IS BACK!!! Sana hasn’t had a full appearance in an issue of Aphra since #25, and after the excellent, eye-opening, and hilarious audiobook which finally dug into their romantic past, now’s a good time as ever to bring her back! In fact, this news makes me want to listen to the whole thing again, which might be my 4th time, but who’s counting?! The Starros line will also get some focus in the upcoming The High Republic series, which is neat. This issue also sees the introduction of a new art team, with Ray-Anthony Height leading the charge, and you can already see a sample of his take on Aphra thanks to his Twitter account; looks like the series will be in good hands! I’m still hoping we’ll have Marika Cresta returning, changing artists every arc like the previous volume did! And lastly for this issue, Leinil Francis Yu is providing cover work, returning to draw Aphra and Sana for the first time since the “Rebel Jail” arc back in 2016!
But wait, the Aphra news isn’t over…
DOCTOR APHRA OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC
Written by KIERON GILLEN, SIMON SPURRIER & JASON AARON
Penciled by KEV WALKER, SALVADOR LARROCA, ANDREA BROCCARDO, EMILIO LAISO, WILTON SANTOS, CASPAR WIJNGAARD, ELSA CHARRETIER, MIKE DEODATO JR., LEINIL FRANCIS YU, MARCO CHECCHETTO & MORE
Covers by Ashley Witter
ON SALE FEBRUARY 2021
Meet the galaxy’s most daring rogue archaeologist as she dances between the dark side and the light! Doctor Chelli Aphra’s unique skills made her of interest to none other than Darth Vader — but things went sour, and now she’s trying to keep a low profile. Which is easier said than done, since she’s traveling with two sociopathic murder-droids and a Wookiee bounty hunter! But as Aphra’s archaeological escapades get more dangerous, she soon finds herself in over her head. Will a growing romance with a strict Imperial officer redeem her or destroy them both? Adventure, excitement and terror await! Collecting STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA (2016) #1-40 and ANNUAL #1-3; DARTH VADER (2015) #3-4, #8 and #21; STAR WARS (2015) #13, #19 and #31-32; STAR WARS: THE SCREAMING CITADEL; and material from DARTH VADER (2015) #25 and STAR WARS: EMPIRE ASCENDANT.
It isn’t out until February, but it looks to be one of the most comprehensive collections of Aphra’s comic content to date, from the entire first volume of her series to highly selective parts of her previous appearances. I might have all of this content via single issues, and have been buying the trade collections…but the Aphra completionist in me means I’ll have to have this when it drops in February (even though it is $125)!
IDW
UPDATE: Star Wars Adventures #2 (Vol. 2) {11/18}
Michael Moreci, Shane McCarthy (Writer), Ilias Kyriazis, Nick Brokenshire (Artists)
Cover by Francesco Francavilla | Variant Cover by Megan Levens
Between the events of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, Poe and Finn have taken Rey to a remote planet to continue her Jedi training. But they’re surprised to find that the First Order’s reach extends far and wide
This continues the story from the relaunch of the series, seeing Rey, Finn, and Poe on a little side adventure before TROS. And, as long as the first issue sticks the landing to this month, this one will still arrive in October! Well, the first issue of the relaunch of IDW’s flagship Star Wars series is still set for October, but now the second issue has been pushed from October to…December? But yet the third issue is still showing November?!? We’ll update this and November’s as soon as that changes, but originally the 4th issue was due for December. I don’t know what’s going on over there, but hopefully for fans, for the creators, and for their own image, they get it all worked out! UPDATE: The second and third issue look to be landing in November…let’s hope this really sticks this time as the first issue was a solid new beginning! UPDATE 2: It’s now the 18…let’s hope that is the final, final move!
UPDATE: Shadow of Vader’s Castle (on sale 11/4)
Cavan Scott (Writer), Francesco Francavilla, Nicoletta Baldari (Artists)
Cover Art by Derek Charm | Variant Cover by Francesco Francavilla
The Empire has fallen, and the Mustafarians celebrate. But they know they will never be safe as long as they live in the shadow of Vader’s Castle. Two young boys decide they’re going to destroy the castle themselves. But a wizened old Mustafarian tries to put them off by telling them tales to teach them the lessons they might otherwise have to learn the hard way.
The frights from IDW’s annual Vader’s Castle miniseries have been an excellent way to celebrate Halloween with Star Wars, so I’m super excited we get another entry in the spook-fest! While this is only a one-shot, I’m sure it’ll be still as scary and fun in its own way. UPDATE: Originally set to ring in Halloween this year…it’s now set to be the greatest leftover Halloween candy ever by coming out the week after!
UPDATE: Star Wars Adventures Annual 2020 (on sale 11/18)
Cavan Scott, Nick Brokenshire (Writers), Nick Brokenshire, Franchesco Gaston (Artists)
Cover by Mauricet
Framed for a crime he didn’t commit, Jaxxon finds himself at odds with the Empire, the Rebellion, and his ex-partner Amaiza Foxtrain! Co-starring Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie in the days leading up to The Empire Strikes Back! Plus, an all-new tale of everyone’s favorite droid bounty hunter from The Empire Strikes Back-IG-88! (With apologies to 4-LOM.)
UPDATE: This was originally meant to arrive in August but now it’s set for early November. Hopefully this date sticks! END UPDATE. From August: I’ve absolutely loved the way they’ve handled Jaxxon’s recanonization, as I feel like having him in constant appearances would lessen the fun and oddity of the character, so keeping him to Star Wars Adventures‘ Annuals (2018 and 2019)is a smart way to go without over saturating him. The backup story about IG-88 was originally mentioned in an incorrect solicitation from IDW’s original May output. UPDATE 2: It’s out the 18 now too, alongside SWA #2, so let’s hope they both manage to finally land!
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.
2020 Comic Solicitations: June/July | August | September | October