Lucasfilm unveils some incredible new releases destined to explore the literary galaxy far, far away…
So far, Comic-Con at home has been an absolute blast! We’ve seen the announcement of an all-new Star Trek animated series for Nickelodeon, we’ve been gifted confirmation that ‘The Boys‘ has already been renewed for a third season and we’ve had our minds blown by the HOT TOYS and NECA TMNT reveals. But, the awesomeness didn’t stop there…
This past Friday, the great team at Lucasfilm Publishing took over the live stream to unveil the latest additions to the literary galaxy far, far away and in doing so confirmed our return to Batuu, promised an inside look at Darth Vader’s creepy castle, and a deep-dive into the Jedi Archives for a closer inspection of some legendary lightsabers. Hosted by StarWars.Com‘s Associate Editor Kristin Baver and Lucasfilm Publishing’s senior editor Robert Simpson, the panel included special guests Justina Ireland (The High Republic: A Test of Courage), Preeti Chhibber (A Jedi, You Will Be), George Mann (Myths & Fables, Dark Legends), Rebecca Roanhorse (The Clone Wars: Stories of Light & Dark), Alex Segura (Poe Dameron: Free Fall), Tom Angleberger (From A Certain Point of View), Timothy Zahn (Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising), Greg Pak (Marvel’s Darth Vader), and Alyssa Wong (Marvel’s Doctor Aphra)
Check out just a few of the awesome new titles headed our way:
The Lightsaber Collection will give us a wide-ranging look at the evolution of the elegant weapon. Boasting gorgeous, highly-detailed illustrations of some of the most iconic and influential lightsabers throughout Star Wars, as well as new portraits of each lightsaber wielder, the newly announced book, promises to be a coveted collection like no other.
A return to Vader’s Castle! The spooky IDW comic series that previously brought us strange tales from Mustafar is back with Shadows of Vader’s Castle, a 30-page one-shot from IDW written by Cavan Scott, with covers by Francesco Francavilla and Derek Charm. Look for it to hit comic book store shelves in October!
A relaunch of Star Wars Adventures from IDW. The illustrated comic series for all ages is getting a reboot, with stories in new time eras with new creators!
An exclusive in-world version of Star Wars: Myths & Fables with six new stories by George Mann will be available later this year. The stories will appropriately be set back on Batuu, and across the galaxy on Endor, Dathomir, and Mon Cala. Plus, each one comes with new artwork from illustrator Grant Griffin, Mann said. But even the author himself hasn’t had a chance to snag a copy just yet. “I can’t wait to see it myself,” he said. “It’s going to look like an artifact from Batuu!”
Explore the making of Batuu. Your concept art book collection is about to get a new addition with The Art of Galaxy’s Edge by Amy Ratcliffe. Explore the exquisite details that went into creating Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge inside Disneyland Resort and Disney World Resort when the book is available later this year.
The High Republic: A Test of Courage, has a connection to Sana Starros! “We know she’s the best scoundrel to ever have scoundreled,” Ireland said, but the timeline of the new publishing initiative takes place hundreds of years before the (maybe) ex-Mrs. Han Solo lived. Her solution? “Who we’re going to meet is her great, great, many times great ancestor.” The book, hitting shelves in January, involves the adventures of one Avon Starros, a 12-year-old girl sent to the edge of the galaxy by her politician mother because she’s curious, experimental, and, well, just pure trouble, Ireland said.
In the new Darth Vader comics, writer Greg Pak is including callbacks to the prequels and ties to the latest film, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Pak said he’s taking a fresh look at the galaxy after Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back from a certain point of view — Vader’s — as he’s just been rejected by his son. “We tend to think of that from Luke’s point of view,” he said. “But when you dig into that, you realize Vader himself is as traumatized as Luke is in that moment. And that moment is echoed purposefully multiple times throughout the series.” Pak has already worked Sabé into the mix for the first arc, but he says readers can expect the next arc to include key elements to tie into the most recent films in the Skywalker saga, “which dig into some great unexplored territory and also dig deeply into the heart of Vader.”
In the new From a Certain Point of View anthology, Tom Angleberger revisits some old friends. “I can’t believe they let me do this twice,” he said when asked about the character he’s focusing on for his story. “I am once again getting to write the Whills.”
The new Clone Wars anthology will take us inside the mind of Maul. Among other stories retelling key episodes in the animated series, Rebecca Roanhorse jumped from thinking like Poe Dameron and Leia in Star Wars: Resistance Reborn, to thinking of nothing but revenge on Obi-Wan Kenobi as she wrote about Maul as we first meet him in the series, completely insane and walking around on spider legs cobbled together from garbage.
Timothy Zahn is getting to build the Chiss Ascendancy from the ground up. The character has taken up residence in Zahn’s brain for about three decades, so every book he writes is essentially “just meeting up with him again,” Zahn said. “I’ve got his mental patterns, his tactical ideas pretty much established in my mind. I just have to put him in new situations.” And this September, that means building the Chiss culture. “Exploring how the families work, how the military works, their relationships with others in the area.”
And this roundup doesn’t even scratch the surface of the awesome library of titles heading our way. For the full rundown, head over to StarWars.com and Kristin’s full report. Despite the coronavirus practically decimating the 2020 release schedule, it is heartening to see Lucasfilm upping the ante and filling the theatrical void with so many awesome titles. Even though many of us remain confined to our homes, at we’ll have some wonderful books to enthrall us.
Kudos Lucasfilm.
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Phil Roberts is the Owner, Daily Content Manager, and Editor-In-Chief of The Future of the Force. He is passionate about Star Wars, Batman, DC, Marvel, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, King Kong, and the Ray Harryhausen movies. Follow him on Twitter @philthecool where he uses the force and babbles frequently!
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(Source: StarWars.Com)
Author
Phil Roberts is the Owner, Daily Content Manager, and Editor-In-Chief of The Future of the Force. He is passionate about Star Wars, Batman, DC, Marvel, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, King Kong, and the Ray Harryhausen movies. Follow him on Twitter where he uses the force and babbles frequently!
