Club Jade

RIP. Artist Al Williamson, who illustrated the Star Wars comic strip and adaptions of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, passed away this weekend. He’s remembered by editor Dave Land at DarkHorse.com

We read it uphill, in the snow, with no boots. Suvudu salutes Heir to the Empire — with a little help from Tim Zahn, editor Tom Dupree and art director Jamie S. Warren — as part of their 25 years of Spectra features.

Solicitations. Look ahead to September comics from Dark Horse, with new issues of Invasion, The Old Republic: Threat of Peace, that Fett thing, and a $1 reprint of Legacy #1.

Blogside. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on mistakes.

For the nitpickians. A new Essential Atlas appendix – in PDF form. Prime your hole-punchers!

From web to print. The Clone Wars webcomics from Pablo Hidalgo and a revolving crew of artists (Jeff Carlisle, Katie Cook, Grant Gould and Tom Hodges) will be available in a trade paperback collection in time for August’s Celebration V. StarWars.com has a first look at the book, which also contains concept art, development sketches and a forward by Dave Filoni.

Nonfiction: Sue Rostoni says that Generation Star Wars, the fandom-centric book by Bonnie Burton, Mary Franklin, and Pete Vilmur has been put on hold “to develop the concept and content.”

Comics. The cupboard is bare for Dark Horse’s August 2010 comic solicitations. (Any chance they’ll launch something I’d actually want to read in the next year?) More hopeful, at least theoretically, are the previews for Invasion: Rescues #1 and Legacy #48.

Finish him. The last of StarWars.com’s Head to Head previews is up… And the book should be out.

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.

Diamond’s site was down all day, but the usually trustworthy Midtown Comics isn’t showing any Star Wars releases this week.

Instead, gaze into the future of May and July 2010 comics. Highlights include a very Palpy-looking Luke, Cade continuing his ride in the plot hamster wheel and Poser.

StarWars.com has some of Dark Horse’s solicitations for April and June, including Purge: The Hidden Blade (above,) Legacy #47, The Clone Wars: In Service of the Republic and a Marvel omnibus.

StarWars.com has the January comic solicitations: The Clone Wars #12, Knights of the Old Republic #49 and it looks like Legacy #44 will be channeling the spirit of Swamp Thing. And for the trades, Legacy’s just-finished ‘Tatooine’ arc.

No books, no comics, just the Obi-centric Star Wars Insider #112. In more forward-looking news (or at least stuff you didn’t read last month,) the official site has December 2009 comic solicitations.

The official site has the November solicitations, including the much-anticipated Purge: Seconds to Die one-shot. Also, Invasion #5, The Clone Wars #10, Knights of the Old Republic #47, and Legacy #42. There’s also the third installment of the Star Wars Adventures digests, Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes.

And for reprints, a Shadows of the Empire omnibus and Thrawn Trilogy hardcover collecting the comic adaptions of Zahn’s Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command.

StarWars.com has Dark Horse’s solicitations for October, including Invasion #4 and #0 (which reprints the StarWars.com previews with six new pages,) Knights of the Old Republic #46, a Mando-fanboy pleasing Legacy #41 and Legacy Volume 7.

On that note, there’s a quickie interview with Invasion’s Tom Taylor on the TFN boards.

StarWars.com has the Dark Horse solicitations for September 2009, including Legacy #40, The Clone Wars #9, Knights of the Old Republic #45, Invasion #3 and two trade collections: Knights of the Old Republic volume 7 and The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic.