Star Wars out this week: The Rise of Skywalker is just days away!

It’s movie week! The Rise of Skywalker will have the official premiere tonight in Hollywood, and debut throughout the rest of the world Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

But first up, let’s look at the comics that are dropping here in the U.S. on Wednesday, December 18. There’s The Rise of Kylo Ren #1 and Empire Ascendent from Marvel, plus Star Wars Adventures #29 from IDW.

Then in addition to the movie, Friday, December 20 brings Pablo Hidalgo’s The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary. We usually get the art book here as well, but The Art of Rise of Skywalker has been pushed back to spring.

Star Wars out this week: The last Doctor Aphra (until spring)

Two brand new comics and a trade collection are dropping on Wednesday, December 11. The big one here is Doctor Aphra #40, closing out Marvel’s first original character Star Wars series. (Don’t worry, she’ll be back in April with an all-new creative team.) There’s also Target: Vader #6. You can preview both issues at StarWars.com.

If you’re a trade reader, Aphra Volume 6 collects the ‘Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon’ arc.

We can expect at least two more comics before The Rise of Skywalker drops – the Star Wars: Empire Ascendant wrap-up issue, and The Rise of Kylo Ren #1. Both are on the shipping list for next week.

As for future releases, we’re not seeing many books until The Rise of Skywalker comes out – but there is a fairly solid rumor making the rounds that The Art of Rise of Skywalker has been pushed back to spring. Personally, I don’t mind – I hate that the earliest releases have to dance around movie spoilers so things don’t leak – but I also really enjoy the art books so adding a few more months is a bit irritating. It’s still being listed as coming out the 20th at the moment, but I don’t find this terribly implausible so we’ll see how things fall in the next few days.