Star Wars is coming home. Not at the movies, but in the comics.
On Jan. 14, Marvel released “Star Wars” No. 1, a new series set right after the first movie, the one released in 1977 (which is now, chronologically, the fourth — retitled “Star Wars IV: A New Hope”). So the book will feature Luke, Han, R2-D2 and the ragtag rebel fleet fresh off the destruction of the Death Star (the first one).
Long-time comics fans may have a sense of déjà vu, because this has happened before.
In 1977, Marvel Comics had only one licensed property in its stable, “Conan the Barbarian,” brought to Marvel by comics legend Roy Thomas. “Conan” was selling pretty well, so Thomas suggested another license, an adaptation of a sci-fi movie called “Star Wars” — which nobody had seen, yet.
“Roy Thomas brought ‘Star Wars’ to Marvel, and he had to push a little bit to get them to do it,” writer/editor Archie Goodwin said in “Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics,” written by the late Les Daniels. “He met with George Lucas, and I guess their idea was to put out the comic book prior to the movie’s opening to build some interest.”
“Star Wars” No. 1 sold like vaporizers on Tatooine. If you include reprints, the issue sold more than a million copies, the first book to do so since the industry’s early days. Faster than you can say “there is no try, there is only do,” the six-issue adaptation of “Star Wars” the movie turned into the first six issues of “Star Wars” the ongoing monthly comic book. Lucas had some pretty big restrictions — no Darth Vader, for example — but “Star Wars” still went on to 107 issues of, admittedly, uneven quality. By uneven quality, you may assume I’m talking about Jaxxon, a 6-foot, anthropomorphic green rabbit Thomas created as an homage to Bugs Bunny. Reportedly, Lucas disliked Jaxxon — which is saying something, given Lucas would create Jar-Jar Binks.
Anyway, Marvel’s “Star Wars” ended in 1986, and only two years later Dark Horse Comics latched onto the Star Wars license. From 1988 to 2014, Dark Horse released a great many Star Wars comics, set in all periods of the franchise’s timeline, often with some interesting and credible original creations.
So what happened? Here’s a hint: The Walt Disney Co. bought both Marvel Entertainment Inc. (2009) and LucasFilm (2012). With both properties under one roof, why wouldn’t Disney take advantage of the synergy? As soon as Dark Horse’s contract was up, the Star Wars comic-book franchise reverted to the House of Mouse, where Marvel Comics awaited. (Insert your own “evil empire” joke here.)
And for the new “Star Wars” No. 1, Marvel pulled out all the stops for the release. For example, there are reportedly more than 100 variant covers for the first issue. Now, most of those are specific to comic shops who buy more than 3,000 copies, according to bleedingcool.com, but at least a dozen are in general release.
“Brand new Star Wars comics featuring some of the biggest names in comics deserve the red carpet treatment,” said Marvel SVP Sales & Marketing David Gabriel.
Those “biggest names” include two fan favorites for the “Star Wars” title, writer Jason Aaron (“Wolverine and the X-Men,” “Scalped”) and artist John Cassaday (“Planetary,” “Astonishing X-Men”). Cassaday also provides a cover, along with variants by the likes of J. Scott Campbell, John Tyler Christopher, Bob McLeod, Sara Pichelli, Joe Quesada, Alex Ross and Skottie Young.
February will see the advent of “Darth Vader” No. 1, set in the same time period as “Star Wars.” Written by Kieron Gillen with art by Salvador Larocca and a cover by Adi Granov, this book should give fans some insight on how the Rebel Alliance got chased away from their base on Yavin IV in “New Hope” to the ice planet Hoth, where they are at the beginning of “Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back.” If nothing else, we may see how the Lord of the Sith explains to the Emperor how he, uh, misplaced one of his Death Stars.
In March, “Princess Leia” No. 1 launches, with popular veteran Mark Waid writing, and art by Terry Dodson, known for his attractive females. Also set in the post-“New Hope” time frame, “Princess Leia” is likely to explore the ramifications of the destruction of Alderaan. You know, when “millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.” Can you still be a princess if you don’t have a kingdom?