Club Jade

NYCC. Aaron Goins writes up last weekend’s Star Wars Books panel. We may have gleaned the big news then, but there’s more here. Since he was in town, Suvudu talked to Pablo Hidalgo about The Essential Readers’ Companion and Timothy Zahn about Scoundrels. And Tim Zahn met the Emperor!

Interviews. EUCantina talked to Del Rey’s Erich Schoeneweiss about winning back jaded fans, editorial decisions and even those Stover rumors. (Spoiler: Don’t hold your breath) and more. Meanwhile, there’s more Pablo over at BSR, and Bombad Radio has Drew Karpyshyn.

The blogside. On the occasion of old stories coming out into the light again, Charlene Newcomb writes about the birth of Alex Winger. And Steve Sansweet learns to love his action figure book.

Sword of the Jedi. All the news is above, but here are Shelly Shapiro, Jennifer Heddle and Frank Parisi discussing the series with Christie Golden.

HORRORS! Tosche Station’s Nanci is rereading the Jedi Prince books. Oh dear.

Nonfiction. Coverage of The Essential Reader’s Companion isn’t slowing down now that’s it’s out. Author Pablo Hidalgo wrote about what didn’t make the cut, and as well as talking toSuvudu, Jedi News and Jedi Journals. Tosche Station’s Brian reviewed the book, and NJOE asks if it’s right for you. If you have to ask…?

As for the books’ much talked-about art, Chris Trevas talked to Lightsaber Rattling, while Darren Tan and Chris Scalf have posted some on their DeviantArts, including Tan’s Allegiance piece above.

Star Wars Reads. Well, hopefully you have a good idea of what you’re doing tomorrow, but for today, the chat at GoodReads is on. Of particular interest may be Randy Stradley addressing continuity concerns people have been bringing up for Brian Wood’s Star Wars. Jason Fry, Ryder Windham, Jeffrey Brown and Timothy Zahn have answered fan questions so far. And on the Star Wars blog, Fry weighs in on his first Star Wars book.

Bundles. In a related matter, the two Essential Novel eBook bundles (10 for $63, and 4 for $8) are on sale now. And it looks like that’s not the last bundle we have coming: Knights Archive noticed a listing for Drew Karpyshyn’s The Darth Bane series, and it’s now live in the Random House catalog. The eBook bundle will be on sale November 5th for $18.99.

Art books. J.W. Rinzler blogged a bit about the release of Star Wars Art: Illustration, revealing that there are two more books coming in the series.

Coming Tuesday – and probably already on the way if you preordered one – will be Pablo Hidalgo’s Essential Reader’s Companion, perhaps the most anticipated Star Wars reference book of the year – or at least since Celebration VI. Pablo did interviews last week with FangirlBlog and Roqoo Depot for the occasion, while io9 featured some of the book’s art.

And speaking of art, you’ll also want to keep your eyes open for Star Wars Art: Illustration. Unlike Visions it contains a good amount of art that we’ve already seen, but since when has that stopped anyone from buying an art book?

Meanwhile, coming to comic shops on Wednesday is the second Clone Wars omnibus, The Enemy on all Sides, which collects collects Republic #54–#66 and #68, Jedi: Yoda, and General Grievous #1–#4. You may also find a second printing of the Rise of the Sith omnibus, which collects comics that lead into The Phantom Menace.

That’s no moon. With the Essential Reader’s Companion only 3 weeks away, copies are landing on the desks of the official types (with, one assumes, an audible thud.) Expect to see a lot of reviewer tweets about it soon. In the meantime, you can get a closer look at some of the portraits and check out the first 28 pages in the Random House catalog. (via)

The blogside. Tor’s Emily Asher-Perrin takes a look at ‘the true nature of the force,’ addressing a lot of the weird and complicated issues at hand with ‘balance’ and all the rest of the simple tricks and nonsense scattered throughout fandom.

Costuming. Trisha Barr interviews Shea Standefer about her great Jaina Solo costumes at CVI. Bria wrote about gender-swapped costumes, including a crossplay Wraith Squadron she took part in at D*C. And, on that note, more Expanded Universe costumes from D*C.

Interviews. John Ostrander talks about the next arc of Agent of the Empire at CBR; Roqoo Depot caught up with Timothy Zahn, James Luceno, and Troy Denning at Celebration.

Blurb. There’s now one for The Last Jedi by by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. (via)

Audio Random House Audio has a poll up on Facebook asking which of three books – Miller’s Knight Errant, Reaves/Perry’s Death Star or Zahn’s Allegiance – you want to hear on audio first.

Announced less than an hour ago here in Orlando was a new Essential Guide to Characters for next year by Daniel Wallace. Now, that wasn’t exactly a secret: We reported on it way back in April 2011. So what was the news? That Doug Wheatley will be doing all the portraits for it, 150 in all. Look for it next July.

There was other news, of course: Check it out beneath the cut.

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Dunc has covered all the news, and I’m just the guy who takes the pictures. and organizes the Bounty Hunt puzzle hunt event at Celebration. So anyway, here’s some of the best of the photos. If you want to see the full set, I have a photo album just of Friday at Celebration VI (170 shots of the Del Rey panel, cupcakes, Friday Bounty Hunt, random costumes) on flickr. (more…)

We got news about two new projects this morning at Del Rey’s panel. The first is a new series, Rebels, featuring the classic characters, which launches with a Leia-centric tale by Martha Wells. The second, focusing on Luke, will be written by Kevin Hearns. These were just approved, so no art. It’s set between ANH and ESB, I believe.

The second is something we’ve all been waiting for and half-expecting: A Jaina trilogy, Sword of the Jedi, written by Christie Golden. Lots of cheers from the audience it! It’s set not too long after Fate of the Jedi and does have some (temporary?) art. The Jaina fans are super-excited, and who can blame them?

But most of the panel was, as promised, given to Q&A. Some highlights and updates on other upcoming books, including Crucible, Scoundrels and more beneath the cut. In attendance were Pablo Hidalgo, Aaron Allston, James Luceno, Drew Karpyshyn, Jennifer Heddle, Shelly Shapiro and Timothy Zahn.

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Pablo Hidalgo looks at Day 2 on the Behind the Scenes stage, which starts off with the Del Rey panel and ends with a tribute to Brian Daley. Also, Warwick Davis, Hasbro, the Ralph McQuarrie retrospective, and model making. You know where we’ll be next week!

Not that Pablo says he expects the Del Rey panel to “be dominated by audience Q&A,” so start thinking up some good questions… I’ll have a few general Q&A tips early next week.

And Aaron Allston has posted his signing and panel schedule. We got Zahn’s the other day. UPDATE: And here’s Del Rey’s full Celebration VI schedule.

James, that scoundrel, sent in four videos from the panel yesterday, as well as new photos (starting here.) At this panel, they announced two new books and talked about several new comics, including Brian Woods’ Star Wars. Part 1, above, is the introductions and Dark Horse announcements

Then, Del Rey…

Their announcements…

And the longest bit, the question and answer session:

Cartoon Network released their schedule of panels at Comic-Con, coming up in a few weeks in San Diego. For Star Wars fans, they confirmed the Lucasfilm panel on Star Wars: The Clone Wars coming on Saturday, July 14.

From the press release:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Onto Season Five
The aftermath of Season Four has left the Star Wars galaxy a very dangerous place: Darth Maul is alive, Asajj Ventress is a bounty hunter, and the Mandalorian Death Watch is deadlier than ever. How will these threads continue in Season Five of Star Wars: The Clone Wars? Find out in this behind-the-scenes panel, which will feature new clips, new insights and more. Join the discussion with Supervising Director Dave Filoni and head writer Matt Michnovetz (who wrote Season Four’s powerful Umbara arc). Moderated by Star Wars author Pablo Hidalgo. Room 6DE

Also from Cartoon Network’s announcement: panels for Adventure Time, Regular Show, DC Nation,Ben 10, and Mad and two new shows based on existing properties: Annoying Orange, and Dragons: Riders of Berk (from How to Train Your Dragon). The Adult Swim programming block will have a single panel on Friday to highlight seven of its shows, including Robot Chicken (and their upcoming DC Comics Special) and The Venture Bros.

Meanwhile, there’s been some confirmation from Tim Minear that Comic Con will also have a 10th Anniversary panel for Joss Whedon’s Firefly. That’s gonna be a mighty fine shindig. Will Nathan Fillion be there? Probably so, even if there’s no Castle panel. Who needs Castle when there’s a (Dan Harmon-less) Community panel?

See you in San Diego!