Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Wednesday brings the release of Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir #1, which wraps up the character’s arc from The Clone Wars. It’s our first fully canon comic, due to being based on scripts and designs originally conceived for the show. Also coming this week is the second trade collection of the Ania Solo Legacy, Outcasts of the Broken Ring.
Comics aside, our next book releases will be William Shakespeare’s The Jedi Doth Return and the Crucible paperback, both on July 1.
Will Marvel announce their first new Star Wars comics in July? The (rather brief) word on the street (per Bleeding Cool) is that they’ll announce two ongoings the week before San Diego Comic Con.
James guests on the Star Wars Bookworms podcast. He chats about the EU and its new designation as ‘Legends.’
A novel rumor? How very… Well, it’s been a while. With Del Rey teasing James Luceno’s Tarkin today, up sprang a good amount of speculation that his EU mistress Natasi Daala may make an appearance… And a rumor that we could see Mara Jade in this book as well.
The Daala part is pure speculation, but I can see her as a firm maybe. It would be nice to see the character redefined to be less of a grab-bag of lame sleeping-her-way-to-the-top stereotypes – there’s really only room for improvement, and it’s not like they can make her president in this time period. Despite how many books they kept bringing her back for in the old EU, she’s not really what I would consider to be a significant character, which gives them that much more leeway. (Whether Luceno is the one to make those improvements… Well, it could be worse, I guess.)
But Mara Jade, as Luke Skywalker’s wife and a character with a still-significant fanbase all her own, is perhaps the most-high profile EU character who could (possibly) connect to the sequel trilogy, and an appearance in the new canon at this early point will rocket expectations sky high. (Do we really need more of that? Aren’t expectations for Episode VII high enough already?) My first instinct – that they’d put Mara in to kill her off earlier in the timeline – would just be cruel to fans that are still (occasionally) somewhat bitter over Legacy of the Force. Better no Mara than to kill her off all over again.
Now, some seem to think Mara could be the ‘new ally’ in Heir to the Jedi, and while I don’t think that’s the case either, it’s at least a book that a fair share of Mara fans may pick up – which I’m not quite sure is the case for Tarkin.
And, of course, any hints leading to Mara (and even Daala) could equally apply to Shira Brie. You can’t say the early EU didn’t have a type.
Obviously I’m not really putting much stock in this rumor, but if this was a ploy to make me at least skim the ARC when it comes in – well done.
More details on Tony DiTerlizzi’s The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight. The book, a retelling of the original trilogy, is first in a new series of books for children.
Luceno’s Tarkin “beautifully amalgamates the classic trilogy incarnations of Vader and the Emperor with their prequel era counterparts,” says Star Wars Books. We’re also getting a tie-in short story for the Insider by Alex Freed, which is “a refreshing yet gritty take on the destruction of Alderaan.”
J.W. Rinzler takes the release of Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy as occasion to take a look at some of Lucasbooks’ other upcoming nonfiction (and humor) releases. He has a bit to say on one of the new books James spotted last month, Star Wars Costumes: The Original Trilogy. It will include new photos of the costumes and interviews with costume designers John Mollo, Aggie Rodgers, and concept artist Nilo Rodis-Jamero. We even have a release date: October 28.
He also talks about the next Jeffrey Brown Star Wars book, Goodnight, Darth Vader, which we’ll start hearing more about soon – and Rinzler confirms there’s a fourth book in the pipeline as well.
Out Tuesday is Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy, J.W. Rinzler’s complete storyboard collection for A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. We got a peek at some of these a few weeks back, and of course there’s a trailer as well.
Meanwhile, Wednesday brings Star Wars #17 to the comic shops. The end is nigh: We know that series is ending at #20.
Star Wars Books UK spotted a longer, more detailed blurb for Kevin Hearne’s Heir to the Jedi on Amazon UK:
The Galactic Civil War rages on after the destruction of the Death Star and Luke Skywalker struggles to learn more about the Force without the aid of Obi-Wan Kenobi – or indeed without any aid at all. But the few memories he has of Obi-Wan’s instruction point the way to a stronger control of the Force, and he is encouraged to pursue it by a new friend in the Alliance. When Luke, R2-D2 and his new ally are tasked with liberating a valuable asset from the Empire and delivering her to a safe planet where she can aid the Alliance, their journey across the galaxy is fraught with peril – and opportunities for Luke to discover the mysteries of the Force.
This is our second blurb for the book. Originally contracted and announced as the third Empire and Rebellion novel, it’s now part of the first wave of fully canon novels. Heir to the Jedi is scheduled for a January release.
Five Expanded Universe things that may make it to the sequels. Contains Mara Jade.