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Are those worth picking up? I'm definitely leaning towards getting into them. With the adaptations of the movies, do the comics at points do a better job with things than the movies themselves? I read that the Rise of Skywalker adaptation got cancelled because of COVID back in June. But are there any whispers of it getting released later as part of a collection?
Dark Horse had some great stuff, but it is no longer considered canon, so you need to be aware of that.
I've not read the Marvel, so will let someone else voice their opinion.
Can you be more specific about which DH or Marvel comics you're thinking about? There are multiple eras, Legends (old canon) vs current (new canon), etc
[QUOTE=bob.schoonover;5386141]Can you be more specific about which DH or Marvel comics you're thinking about? There are multiple eras, Legends (old canon) vs current (new canon), etc[/QUOTE]
Well, I like reading orders so basically reading from the beginning to current. So, nothing specific really.
[QUOTE=CTTT;5386413]Well, I like reading orders so basically reading from the beginning to current. So, nothing specific really.[/QUOTE]
The beginning of the DH stuff (Tales of the Jedi) starts about 5000 years before A New Hope! It's also worth noting that the timeline (5000 BBY to 140 ABY) was populated in a scattershot fashion, so the story furthest back in the timeline was written towards the end of the 25ish years Dark Horse was publishing SW comics. All of the DH stuff is considered non-canon now, so if that's a deal breaker, let us know. The main big (well-known and loved) runs of SW comics at DH were: [B]Tales of the Jedi[/B] (mostly by Kevin J Anderson) that cover the Sith Wars and Empire 4000 before Yavin - they loosely tie into some novels he wrote as well; [B]Knights of the Old Republic[/B] - prequel of sorts to the video game of the same name; [B]Republic[/B], which took place around Attack of the Clones and leading into Revenge of the Sith; [B]X-Wing Rogue Squadron[/B] (by Michael Stackpole and a prequel to his novels), which takes place shortly after the Battle of Endor; the [B]Dark Empire[/B] trilogy (Palpatine returns in a cloned body - has a lot of thematic overlap with Rise of Skywalker); the [B]Crimson Empire[/B] trilogy(sequal of sorts to Dark Empire), which followed one of the Imperial guardsmen on his quest to avenge his emperor's death; and [B]Legacy [/B](130+ years after the movies) which followed a descendant of Luke who didn't really want to be a hero or follow his destiny. There are also some cool Boba Fett stories, Shadows of the Empire, and a number of other stories that take place in between the trilogies. It's really a vast undertaking, but the Marvel Epic Collections are pretty well stratified along these lines (even if there are huge gaps of missing material). Knights of the Old Republic and Legacy can both be read entirely on their own and were fan favorites (they even sort of crossover).
Basically everything Marvel has published is canonical and more or less chronological as well (Tie Fighter, Shattered Empire, Poe Dameron, Phasma, and the sequel adaptions would be the exceptions I can think of, but I'm sure there is more). The current titles are all synced up and fit in right after Empire Strikes Back, and will be having a big crossover event this summer. If you just want to jump in and see if you like them, that's where I'd start.
The original Marvel series (1977-1986) is a fun read if, like a lot of tie-in media that comes out early, a bit on the "Making it up as they go along" side. Some of the concepts, such as the bounty hunter Valance, the Cloud Riders, and the Tagge family, have been reworked into the current (canon) Marvel run. They also "guessed" a few directions the series as a whole would eventually go in. The series has been often reprinted by Dark Horse and Marvel itself and also available digitally from Marvel.
1991's Dark Empire and it's sequels was Dark Horse's first real Star Wars comics. They deal with the main characters, six years after Endor, dealing with the Emperor who has returned in Clone form and is attacking the galaxy with a new weapon. Luke also goes "undercover" as Palpatine's apprentice, but soon finds himself growing under his dark side influence. Of course some elements of it showed up in RISE OF SKYWALKER. It also brought back Boba Fett, which THE MANDALORIAN did.
It's semi-sequel CRIMSON EMPIRE trilogy is on a smaller scale, featuring a royal guard on a personal journey to avenge the Emperor, although some of the events tie in with the novels at the time. It's not quite the same but is well liked, although Paul Gulacy's art is a better fit for darker stuff than Star Wars IMO.
TALES OF THE JEDI/JEDI VS. SITH/KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC all deal with the ancient wars between the Jedi and the Sith, along with some Mandalorian stuff. It either inspired or, tied-in to, the KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC/THE OLD REPUBLIC video game series and the Darth Bane novels.
The ROGUE SQUADRON series deals with Wedge and his group of elite X-wing pilots in the months after Endor tackling Imperial remnants, some a bit more personal for Wedge. It also ties-in with a novel series, detailing the power vacuum in the Empire's leadership in that era.
A new STAR WARS monthly came out that dealt primarily with the prequels. Half way through it was given the REPUBLIC subtitle and dealt with Clone Wars-era tales. Likewise, a second series set during the OT, EMPIRE (later rebooted as REBELLION) dealt with the OT. REPUBLIC pretty much became the brief DARK TIMES title for a few years, as EMPIRE was already taken and they couldn't keep calling it REPUBLIC.
A series LEGACY dealt with a new generation of Skywalker a century or so after the OT.
Several miniseries featuring Darth Vader were also released in the later days of Dark Horses's run, as well as a new STAR WARS monthly set during the OT.
As for Canon/post-2014 Marvel/Disney
The first Star Wars monthly which ran from 2014-2019 dealt with the gap between ANH and ESB. Likewise, so did the first DARTH VADER series.
The second Star Wars monthly currently out takes place between ESB and ROTJ, as does the current VADER Series.
The second Darth Vader series (2016-2019) deals with Vader between Revenge of the Sith and Rebels, detailing his uneasy relationship with the Inquisitors and Tarkin, the building of his Mustafar fortress seen in Rogue One, his early experiences with his suit and lightsaber etc.
A spin-off series, Doctor Aphra, deals with an archaeologist's misadventures during the OT era, where she finds herself working both sides as well as the underworld. It's mostly a comedy title of sorts, and has developed a cult following despite not really featuring a major SW character.
There have also been many other mini-series, maxi-series etc since Marvel took over as well as many Dark Horse series I left out but often too many to list here. Reportedly there's a Mandalorian series on the way.
The one I always recommend is the series [B]Star Wars: Dark Times[/B]. It takes place right after the fall of the Jedi and follows a jedi survivor as he tries to survive in the now Empire controlled galaxy. It ran 32 issues and then had a final follow up 5 issue mini series called [B]Star Wars: Dark Times - Out of the Wilderness[/B].
There is also a mini series called [B]Star Wars: Purge[/B] that takes place directly after the fall of the Jedi showing Vader hunting down survivor Jedi.
Comixology US & UK currently have Star Wars titles at a real steal. This includes the original Marvel run in the Omnibus collection 'A Long Time Ago' and Dark Horse material.
Also worth checking out is Classic Star Wars, which collects the newspaper comic strips.
Don't miss out on the chance to pick up a bargain.
Always felt Classic Star Wars was underrated. The Russ Manning stuff is a bit on the rough side, but the Goodwin/Williamson stuff really captured the feel and look of the films. Even some of Marvel's current run seems to follow some of the same steps (Mon Calamari being more formally added to the alliance, much of the Yavin leadership lost on the way to Hoth, etc).