Club Jade

So when Dark Horse first announced that Brian Wood would be starting a new ongoing series, simply titled Star Wars, back at Comic Con last July, and mentioned that Leia would be piloting an X-wing fighter, the two big fusses that popped up were about fitting continuity (isn’t it always?) and Leia in a role we hadn’t seen her in very often: fighter pilot. (Never mind that she’s been piloting starfighters since Splinter of the Mind’s Eye.)

Now that the first issue of the series is out for us all to enjoy, what’s all the hubbub?

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Dawn of the Jedi. Del Rey has posted a blurb for Tim Lebbon’s Into the Void, the first novel tie-in to the comic series. It reveals the novel’s protagonist, Je’daii Lanoree Brock. Always nice to see another female lead!

Previews. Jedi News has first looks from Dark Horse at standalone Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin, the Lost Tribe of the Sith: Spiral trade and what looks to be the first Legacy omnibus.

Comics. Brian Wood’s very upcoming Star Wars comics, Scoundrels, and The Clone Wars got some love from USA Today this weekend, including another cover and some extra preview material for the comic.

Interviews. Fangirl Blog continues their talk with Troy Denning. He hints a bit about Crucible, revealing that it’s a “Han-driven” book.

Reviews. James is underwhelmed by Purge: The Tyrant’s Fist #2.

Oh my, look at the time.

As you may recall – or not, depending on how much partying was done last night, today is the release of Timothy Zahn’s Scoundrels. You know, that book some of us wouldn’t shut up about for most of 2012?

Well, it’s finally here. If you’re not eBook-equipped and not ready to change out of your party clothes/pajamas quite yet, Timothy Zahn chatted with Knights Archive, This Blog Is Full of Words and Roqoo Depot. RD also posted their review, as did Big Shiny Robot, Tosche Station, Jedi News and EUCantina.

Comic fans won’t be left out in the cold this week, either. Look for Purge: The Tyrant’s Fist #2 in the shops on Wednesday. There actually was a release last week at well: the third Clone Wars omnibus, The Republic Falls.

What else do we have coming up this month? Well, Brian Wood’s Star Wars #1 ought to debut next week, and the final Fate of the Jedi book, Troy Denning’s Apocalypse, will be out in paperback on the 29th.

Scoundrels. Timothy Zahn is going on tour! West coast only, alas. For the rest of us, there’s a lengthy new interview on Hollywood.com.

The blogside. Bria over at Tosche Station has been doing a massive re-read of the Expanded Universe – chronologically! She made it to the Revenge of the Sith novelization yesterday and had many feels, as the kids on Tumblr say.

Interviews. Fandom rockstar Pablo Hidalgo talked to EUCantina, while Dark Horse’s Randy Stradley is over at Fangirl.

Reviews. James is back with looks at Purge: The Tyrant’s Fist #1, Lost Tribe of the Sith: Spiral #5 and Agent of the Empire: Hard Targets #3.

There’ll be a couple of thing waiting for Star Wars fans at the comic book store Wednesday: Agent of the Empire: Hard Targets #3 and Dawn of the Jedi: The Prisoner of Bogan #2. If you’re not a subscriber, you might also want to keep an eye out for Star Wars Insider #138.

Meanwhile, on the book front, Timothy Zahn’s Scoundrels is creeping nearer, with only two weeks left until the release date of January 1st.

CBR has Dark Horse’s March solicitations, which gives us a few more details on the new Legacy, which it gives a storyline title of ‘Prisoner of the Floating World.’. Here’s the blurb:

Despite her famous heritage, Ania Solo is just a girl trying to make her way in a galaxy gone bad. But it all gets worse when she comes into possession of a lightsaber and an Imperial communications droid—and discovers she has been targeted for death!

The solicitation text also makes it clear that Ania is “Han and Leia’s great-great granddaughter,” as opposed to just ‘great-granddaughter’ in the original announcement. It also says this series take place “in the aftermath of War,” the last storyline of the old Legacy series.

And here’s the blurb for Brian Wood’s Star Wars #3:

Princess Leia formed a secret squadron of stealth X-wings to help expose a spy within the Rebel ranks. But taking command puts her at odds with Luke Skywalker at a time they need solidarity more than ever—especially when the spy has alerted the Empire to Han Solo’s latest venture!

There are a few other Star Wars comics at the link, including Dark Times: Fire Carrier #2, Dawn of the Jedi: Prisoner of Bogan #5 and a Wild Space Omnibus.

Dark Horse Comics announced their stories for their two Free Comic Book Day releases. The publisher will continue their tradition of having flip covers, but will have three different stories in each comic book.

In their all-ages book, the Star Wars story by Brian Wood and stars both Darth Vader and Boba Fett. Also in that book will be a story about Mai from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and a peek into the upcoming series, Captain Midnight, about the search for a superhero gone missing.

In the other comic, we get a trio of stories: R.I.P.D. (by Jeremy Barlow), Mass Effect and a preview of the police-state world of The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. The best part? They’re free! The worst part? Having to wait until Free Comic Book Day 2013, which is Saturday, May 4.

In comic shops today is Purge: The Tyrant’s Fist #1, the first Purge story since 2010.

I’m sure you know our forthcoming releases by now, but anyway: Timothy Zahn’s ‘Winner Lose All’ next week, Scoundrels on January 1st. Comic release dates aren’t really solid more than a few days ahead of time, but Brian Wood’s Star Wars series is set to debut on January 9th.

Release dates. Troy Denning’s Crucible has appeared in the Random House catalog with a date of July 9 – last we heard, it was the 2nd. But remember, we’re far enough out that it may still change again.

Comics, currently. Brian Wood talks about his Star Wars comic with Westfield Comics. (You can take a look at the cover for issue #2 at Newsarama.) And CBR has a look at Doug Wheatley’s cover for Dark Times: Fire Carrier.

Interviews. Fangirl talks to Drew Karpyshyn, while the latest installment of Jedi Journals has Del Rey’s Erich Schoeneweiss – recorded before the Episode VII announcement.

Comics, history. CBR’s Comic Book Legends Revealed looks at the rumor that George Lucas was not so pleased with Jaxxon the giant green rabbit, among other Marvel hearsay.

The blogside. If wacky old Marvel isn’t crazy enough for you, Tosche Station’s Nanci has continued her Jedi Prince retrospective with Zorba the Hutt’s Revenge, Mission from Mount Yoda, and Queen of the Empire.

In stores on Tuesday is the paperback edition of James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis. (Now in the hands of the Emperor himself!) If you’re curious, you can read my sort of/kind of/not really a review from back when it came out in hardcover, but here it is in short: If you’re interested in the prequel era, the Sith and various bits of continuity that revolve around The Phantom Menace, try it. If you’re like me and more focused on the post-ROTJ stuff… It’s probably not worth the bother. But to each their own.

Anyway, moving on, it’ll also be a bit Sithly if you read to your local comic shop on Wednesday for Darth Maul: Death Sentence #4.

And, looking at our upcoming releases for the rest of the year, Sith fans also have The Old Republic: Annihilation coming up on November 13.