Do you think the Star Wars comics will be worth all the hype?

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

Don't bother, it's incredibly mediocre.

There are a lot of arcs, so if you want to read a specific story, you can go for it without needing much context.

[MutantMike]

I myself cannot wait to read some fresh post New Hope stories.


I am ordering some of the variants from sites that most main stream comic collector's do not think about when pre ordering i.e. the cool Han/Luke/Leia Trooper cover

[Darthkostis]

Well, I'm pulling Vader but I have no interest in Han, Chewie, Luke, etc... I'd much rather get some new solos like Boba, young Obi,etc

[resipsaloquitur]

Hey look, an all-new Star Wars #1 set after Yavin with an Alex Ross cover!



...wait, actually that's from two years ago, Dark Horse comics. Well, there's always this #0 Post-Yavin comic...



Nope, that's from 2006, Dark Horse comics. Or there was...



Dark Horse, 2002. Technically, that one was set pre-Yavin, but it quickly moved into Yavin and post-Yavin within a year. Well, finally there was a Star Wars #1 from Dark Horse in 1998. OK, that one was really pre-Yavin. It's actually set a few months before Episode I and was about Ki-Adi-Mundi and some random guy from Jabba's Palace in Episode VI. It moved past Episode I by issue #7, though, and then got into the Quinlan Vos stuff by #19 and got really good at that point.

Anyway, there's four different Star Wars #1 comics between 1998 and 2012, three of which were in the Episode IV era. Marvel is treading new ground here only to the extent that the EU has been wiped...but doing new stories about Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie is...nothing new.

[resipsaloquitur]

Also, people who are looking for Vader stuff may want to check out a trio of recent series from Dark Horse. (Marvel is reprinting these in Omnibus format this summer, but the Dark Horse stuff is probably still on the shelf.)

• Dark Tmes: A series about a fallen Jedi and a band of rebels who are learning to live in the post-Episode III Empire. They're initially learning to survive, but as the series progresses they start making attacks on Vader's new Empire. It mostly deals with the crew of characters, but the newly-Sithed Vader still figures heavily into the series as he learns how to deal with his new life as a Sith. If you like the "Rebels" TV show, this series was definitely "Rebels" before Rebels was. Also, it had really really good art.
• The "Darth Vader and the..." Series. This was a series of series with names like "Darth Vader and the Lost Command" or "Darth Vader and the Ninth Asssassin." I didn't read them, but they were well-received. Again, they dealt with Vader in his early days as the Emperor's #2 man and how he grew into the guy in Episode IV.
• Purge. A series of one-shots about Vader hunting down the surviving Jedi after Episode III. In some of them, Vader is an incompetent boob, but as they progress he starts to learn and the Emperor becomes more pleased with his skills. The first one on the series was definitely the best, as Vader takes on a nest of 8 Jedi by himself and does a surprisingly good job in eliminating some of them.

Technically, these stories are all wiped from canon, but they're set shortly after Episode III and nothing in them contradicts canon. In my headcanon, I like to think that they all still happened.

[Expletive Deleted]

When I think about hype it is more about what comes from the mouths at Marvel. Things like the 1 million copies ordered would still be higher than anything else in 2014 or most anything else at all in the last decade without the variants because the demand is there for a Marvel Star Wars comic and this will be the '77 volume all over again.

Right, but that's all sales-related hype. I was talking about content. The sales hype is probably justified (it'll sell boatloads, because Star Wars), but that's not really the same thing.

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

Right, but that's all sales-related hype. I was talking about content. The sales hype is probably justified (it'll sell boatloads, because Star Wars), but that's not really the same thing.

DH was not selling that well, we will see. Why would that change much?

[Expletive Deleted]

DH was not selling that well, we will see. Why would that change much?

What high profile media event happened just over a month ago?

[resipsaloquitur]

DH was not selling that well, we will see. Why would that change much?

It really shouldn't. DH did sell in the relatively lower numbers--for example, even Brian Woods' Star Wars #1 from two years ago didn't crack 50,000. However, DH did put out a lot of quality and controversial product. The difference seems to be purely in marketing power: Marvel is bigger, louder, and more well-known than Dark Horse. There is really no reason why Star Wars from Marvel should be any "better" than from DH, but that's just what fans respond to. Star Wars from DH = a small base of loyal fans; Star Wars from Marvel = explosive numbers.

The real test will be where the sales are at two, three, or six months after the titles are released. SW #1 will sell a million, but I bet SW #2 will drop to 50,000 units or less once the giveaways, Loot Crate, speculators, and the curious are removed from the equation.

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

What high profile media event happened just over a month ago?

The people that were into comics could have found out about SW comics very easily.

[resipsaloquitur]

The people that were into comics could have found out about SW comics very easily.

...I just noticed your screen name. I'm guessing you either live in Maryland or England...or you just really like the name, I dunno.

[normanosborn]

I'm disappointed that it's gonna be about the legendary film characters when there's so much more potential in the SW universe, especially when you get to create a new EU. I don't need to know what Luke and Han and Leia were doing between IV, V and VI.

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

...I just noticed your screen name. I'm guessing you either live in Maryland or England...or you just really like the name, I dunno.

I just like the name, it's a town from a book. i don't remember from which part of the US anymore. i read it half a year ago.

[Lady Warp Spasm]

I'm disappointed that it's gonna be about the legendary film characters when there's so much more potential in the SW universe, especially when you get to create a new EU. I don't need to know what Luke and Han and Leia were doing between IV, V and VI.

Agreed. Add Vader to that list as well.

Since I am not a fan of Rebels, I can easily save additional money on the upcoming comic focusing on that too.

Marvel's hype means nothing to me and with the creative teams they have for these comics right now, I'll pass. I like Kieron Gillen but not Vader.

[America / Bucky / Russia]

There's definitely the benefit of having John Cassady on art. Plus I like how Marvel are doing something different: rather than covering an era, they are covering one focal character. Series focused on Princess Leia (female characters!) and Darth Vader will absolutely sell.