Club Jade

Start keeping an eye out for Ryder Windham’s Millennium Falcon: A 3-D Owner’s Guide. Comic fans can head out Wednesday for a pair of reprints: The Old Republic—Threat of Peace #3 and The Clone Wars: Hero of the Confederacy.

Quinlan Vos making the jump to TV? Yakface spotted a Clone Wars action figure of the character, who was originally slated to appear (but didn’t) in the S1 episode ‘Bombad Jedi.’ Signs are good that Master Vos will finally get his day in the sun… Also curious? The character resembles Dave Filoni. Maybe we’ll see Vos play buddy cop with Plo Koon?

Speaking of comics… Techland has a two-part interview with Star Wars comic editors Randy Stradley and Dave Marshall. Part I covers Marvel and the early years of Dark Horse’s involvement with the franchise and what’s coming up; Part II goes into more detail with the process and challenges.

Upcoming. Dan Wallace and The Jedi Path are getting some buzz: He did a video tour of the book with EU and an interview with Techland.

Giveaway. Win Star Wars ABC and Millennium Falcon: A 3-D Owner’s Guide from The Detroit News’ Geek Watch blog.

We got our first look at the back of Denning’s Fate of the Jedi: Vortex this afternoon, a while new look at Luke’s (temporary) replacement as leader of the Jedi, Kenth Hamner. (A previous version of Kenth resembled William Shatner; Paul Kemp thinks this one looks like Mr. Roeper.) Also along for the ride is a new, extended blurb (highlight to read the spoilery bits:

In a stunning turn of events, Luke Skywalker and his son, Ben, joined forces with members of the Sith armada sent to kill them — and turned their combined might against the monstrous being Abeloth, whose power was causing young Jedi Knights to go seemingly insane. But with Abeloth gone and the Knights sane again, the Sith reverted to form, making a treacherous attempt on Luke’s life.

Luke and Ben have no time for retaliation. A new and even more insidious threat is rising, one that endangers not only the Jedi but the entire Galactic Alliance. Unless the Skywalkers survive to sound the alarm — and to pass along the secrets they have learned about Abeloth and the Sith — the galaxy will suffer as it has never suffered before. But the reinforcements they need remain grounded on Coruscant, where the political battle of wills between the Jedi Council and Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala has reached a boiling point.

Now Luke and Ben must go on the run, taking along the inscrutable — and dangerous — Sith apprentice Vestara Khai. With a host of Sith warriors in hot pursuit, the Skywalkers soon find themselves trapped on the moon Pydyr, caught between their former allies and a mob of angry Fallanassi. A new truce may be their only hope. But can a Sith ever be trusted?

With the Jedi’s most famous father-and-son team outnumbered and outgunned, the countdown to galactic disaster has begun — and time is running out!

Vortex is due out in hardcover December 7.

Only one Star Wars comic is rolling into stores come Wednesday: The first issue of Tom Taylor’s Jango and Boba miniseries, Blood Ties.

The rest of us can console ourselves with last week’s release of Year by Year OR (jumping fandoms for a second) are chopping at the bit for the final novel in Suzanne Collin’s Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay, in bookstores tomorrow.

Del Rey brought plenty to the table for Celebration, but the biggest EU news is without a doubt the reveal that Aaron Allston will be writing a brand-new Wraith Squadron novel. It’s too early for details, but expect a spring/summer 2012 release date.

We also learned that Thrawn will appear in Zahn’s Hand of Judgment, Drew Karpyshyn will be writing a third Old Republic novel, Jeff Grubb’s 2012 paperback will feature Hutts, and Han Solo will appear in the Dash Rendar/Holostar novel. And TFN reports that something is in the works for the 20th anniversary of Heir to the Empire, to which I say: Damn straight.

As for Fate of the Jedi, we learned that the final book will be titled Apocalypse. Cheery! Also addressed was the heightening of drama, Vestara’s role, and (sigh) the whole Jacen/Tahiri thing. Except, not really. (I do love the Mando quote, of course.)

Meanwhile, the comic fans got a surprise of their own: Crimson Empire III is a go, for real this time. The 6-issue series will begin in March with Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley scripting and Dave Dorman on covers.

Knight Errant got a big push, complete with a costumed representation, but if the EUC report is anything to go by it’s too soon for much of a reveal.

As for Legacy, there are currently no plans for anything after the War mini – Ostrander and Duursema will “will be working on something entirely different.”

The rest of the news rehashes much we’ve already heard, but a hardcover edition of Dark Empire will commemorate the comic’s twentieth anniversary. And the return of Dark Horse Presents may yield some Tales-like stories.

Also getting some love at the con (but not enough for their own entry) was The Force Unleashed (Yoda? Really? That Muppet needs a better agent.) and The Old Republic.

Both Amazon and DK’s site gives Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle the release date of yesterday, so it ought to be in stores now. Penned by the all-star team of Pablo Hidalgo, Daniel Wallace, Ryder Windham and Gus Lopez, the book has been picking up lots of good buzz.

Tomorrow brings the final (or, not so much) issue of Legacy, #50. I’m pretty sure I heard that there were copies in Orlando, but… Well, let’s just say I barely got out that way. In any case, we can all pick it up in the comic store in the morning.

StarWars.com has posted their panel guide for book and comic fans. (Looks like we’re going to be cutting it pretty close between Del Rey and FOTJ on Saturday.) And don’t forget the author signings!

The last issue of the Legacy ongoing series will be coming out later this month, but MTV has broken the news that John Ostrander and Jan Duursema will continue the popular storyline in Legacy: War. The six-issue miniseries is due to begin in December.

But is it the end? Looks like that’s up to us:

“Legacy—War” stands alone. I’m making no guarantees that anyone will survive the end of it. That’s usually hype, but readers should take that very very seriously. Could there be a successor? Depends on sales, response, and Dark Horse’s plans. However, Jan and I are taking all the stops out in this story. There are no plans for anything “Legacy” after this. That’s how we’re creating it.

StarWars.com has the full cover for issue #1. Looks like we’ve got our hot EU topic for Celebration!

The schedule appears pretty much complete, and the good news is that the the Main Event looks to be taking up every screen in the place.

StarWars.com is posting some handy guides based on your Star Wars foci. So far: Movie fans, Costuming and clothing, Builders/Makers and Engineers, art and art lovers and The Clone Wars.

(No EU yet, but the signing schedule for authors is up!)

• I gotta admit I’m getting a huge kick out of the Starspeeder 1000 exclusive.

• The Family Room is back.
• There are only a handful of days left to pre-order tickets to TheForce.Net’s CV party. It’s Thursday night, and Jaders will be there! Plus actual names like Aaron Allston, Troy Denning and more. TFN’s ForceCast will also be doing three live shows from the con.
• And in other fansite news, EU Cantina is giving away a four-day pass.

I fly out Tuesday and I haven’t done a damn thing. Eek! But we will have swag: More on that later! In the meantime, head over to Facebook and tell us what your most-wanted item is.

I’m hearing that DK’s Blueprints: Rebel Edition should be in stores now. (You could probably also keep an eye out for Year by Year, though technically it’s not being released until the 16th.) As for comics, Dark Horse is sending out the print Threat of Peace #2 for Wednesday.