EUbits: Catching up with cover art, Fate of the Jedi excerpts, blueprints and more

Cover art. Two upcoming reprints are getting brand-new covers: Joe Schreiber’s Red Harvest and Michael Reaves’ Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. Timothy Zahn also gives us our first look at the back of Choices of One on Facebook.

eBooks. Speaking of Zahn, he wrote about Star Wars and the Kindle for Amazon.

Fate of the Jedi. While we were in Columbus, two Ascension excerpts emerged: One long, one short. It’s out in August. Huh.

What in the what? If you really love blueprints — I mean REALLY love blueprints — then you’ve probably already jumped for joy about Star Wars: The Blueprints, since it was also announced last week sometime. As always when it comes to this collector edition stuff, I shrug.

Lists Dark Horse and Star Wars made Newsarama’s list of the ten most important comic relaunches in comic book history. (via)

Report: Layoffs at Dark Horse

CBR says that among those let go is Dave Land, who has worked on several Lucasfilm properties as editor, including Star Wars Tales, Tag & Bink Are Dead and was in charge of their Indiana Jones line.

He also wrote Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back.

The cuts affected at least two other editors and a sales assistant. There may be another cuts in the sales department. According to The Beat, Dark Horse has over a hundred employees.

We wish Land and his compatriots the best.

New Star Wars comic to be announced next week

Next Friday, Dark Horse will announce (via MTV) a brand-new comic series featuring “one of the most beloved-characters in the universe.” More from in the original post:

The series will be written by a well-known creator who hasn’t worked within the universe for a few years, and will be drawn by an artist coming to Dark Horse for the first time.

On the Dark Horse boards, editor Randy Stradley narrows things down just a tad: The character is from the movies, and it’s not Yoda. What’s your guess? (via)

UPDATE: Stradley clarifies the ‘beloved’ wording:

I feel the need for a disclaimer coming on here. Please be advised, I was not consulted on the “beloved” wording. I’m not saying it’s wrong, but I’m betting “beloved” not the word that will come to mind for the majority of fans when they find out who it is. For some it will be, sure. But for most — though they may love the character — other words will seem more appropriate.

You’ll see.

EUbits: Upcoming from DK and Dark Horse

Upcoming. StarWars.com has a look at some of DK’s 2011 offerings, including Secrets of the Jedi, which sounds like a kid’s version of The Jedi Path. Also up are the December 2010 comics, including Knight Errant #3 and Legacy: War #1.

Interviews. Nathan P. Butler and Andrew Lupi talk to Shannon McRandle.

Column. EUC’s column this week, about death in the EU, is… gigantic.

Fanmade. A custom Mara Jade Mighty Mugg.

Celebration V: George shows up early

Jawajames has been out and about in his Bounty Hunt duties, and caught George Lucas walking the con floor before it opened Friday morning. With the Big Event nearly upon us (reports are that it’s already “insane,”) we all have early call times so I’m trying to make this quick.

(Volunteering and blogging is not a good combo. Though if you stop by the StarWars.com booth and talk to one of the orange shirts there this weekend, there’s a good chance it’ll be Eliz or I, and we have bracelets. Or just come to Fandom in 140 on Sunday, hint hint.)

Good luck to everyone tomorrow! And remember: Twitter is the place to be for on-the-moment news!

A few upcoming comic hints from Randy Stradley

We haven’t heard much on the comic front since the cancellation of Legacy, but DarkHorse.com has a few hints today:

  • John Ostrander has “already begun work on the scripts for the next very top-secret thing.”
  • Tom Taylor has proposed “a semi-regular series” based on Blood Ties, aka the Fett comic. However, it “will not be what you expect it to be!” So… Not Fett, then?
  • A “well-known” writer has a proposal in for a series that could launch Dark Horse’s twenty-fifth anniversary year. We’ll hear more about it towards the end of July.

Could one of these items be the big news for Celebration. We can only hope.

Oh, and there’s also a peek at the Legacy #50 pencils.

Stradley addresses the future of Legacy

Seems to me that the knee-jerking over the Legacy cancellation was transfered over to the weekend’s cartoon news, but for those still panicking, Dark Horse’s Randy Stradley has come through with a statement. Yes, the book is ending, but…

No door closes without another opening, and to those longtime readers who pointed out that it was not likely that I would end Legacy without having some replacement planned, I thank you for your confidence. Trust me, it will be rewarded.

Well, I’m intrigued.

Legacy comic ending with #50?

So sayth the July 2010 comics solicitations. Here’s the summary for the finale:

The galaxy is teetering on the edge of a new future, with everyone fighting for a foothold — not to mention their lives! The galaxy that emerges from this chaotic battle could even end up without a Skywalker to carry the legacy that so many have come to depend on… The final issue! Sith versus Sith! Jedi versus Sith! Imperials versus Sith! Cade Skywalker versus Sith! It’s all-out war!

I’m neither surprised nor particularly heartbroken. Legacy started out strong, and it’s still likely to be the only Dark Horse ongoing series that I actually have enough interest in to read completely, but it feels like it (or rather, one Cade Skywalker) has been stuck in a rut for a good long while. Maybe a big, booming wrap up is just what the comic needs to live up to its early promise.

It does seem odd that the first we hear of this is via the solicitations, though… Particularly considering that writer John Ostrander said in October that Legacy would not be ending with #50.

UPDATE: Ostrander says on the Dark Horse boards: “It was true when I said it. And might still be. . .from a certain point of view.” So hold to this, Legacy fans: The series ending doesn’t necessarily mean that the story will.