Category: books and comics

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First blurbs for Wells’ Leia novel and Kenobi; Release dates for the rest of Rebels

Luke, Leia and HanWe’ve got details this morning on the forthcoming Rebels series, most notably a brief blurb for Martha Wells’ still-untitled Leia novel:

Nebula Award finalist Martha Wells makes her Star Wars debut with a brand-new classic Star Wars: Rebels adventure starring Princess Leia and her new friends, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, in the time just after the destruction of the Death Star in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope!

Princess Leia Organa is on a mission for the Rebel Alliance when Imperial forces attack. Now she, Han, and Luke are on their own, working with pirates and dealing with traitors as they race the clock to protect the secrecy of a crucial meeting of Rebel conspirators!

The listing also gives us (presumably tentative) dates for the other books in the series: March 2014 for James S. A. Corey’s Han book and January 2015 for Kevin Hearn’s Luke novel. (via)

John Jackson Miller’s Kenobi also gets a blurb:

In this original novel set between the events of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi comes to the aid of the residents of Tatooine during his exile. But he struggles with his new mission when he realizes that protecting Luke Skywalker-the last hope of the galaxy-means setting aside his compassion and his Jedi warrior training, for the future of the galaxy lies not with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but with a mystical desert recluse known only by the name of Crazy Old Ben.

There’s also a listing for William Shakespeare’s Star Wars (with the cover and a few interior pages.)

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‘Interesting’ Star Wars publishing announcement coming to Entertainment Weekly

Lucasfilm executive editor J. W. Rinzler tweeted the above this morning, and it raises a lot of questions… Given Rinzler handles mostly nonfiction and art texts, my guess is a book on the company’s acquisition by Disney, or a new art book we haven’t heard of yet.

Of course, it could be pretty much anything up to and including the future of the Expanded Universe. (Not that that writing isn’t already on the wall. ) Personally, I think that topic may be a bit too obscure for a mainstream publication like Entertainment Weekly, but it’s certainly going to come up as we wait.

The next issue of EW is coming out tomorrow, but ‘near-future’ implies we’ll be waiting a bit longer. Hopefully not too long, because there’s little that sends fandom into a panic like announcing announcements.

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Not all endings are forever: Best #StarWars, #CloneWars and #SWEU tweets for March 4-11

@Sethrogen: First line of the new Star Wars movie: "Damn those ewoks can party. Now what?"

The Clone Wars is joining its maker in retirement, we learned, even as he himself spilled the beans on the most important Episode VII casting news so far. (I do promise that I’ve spared you all the imminently predictable remarks about old actors, because they’re beyond tired.) All that, plus the usual suspects, beneath the cut.

Continue reading “Not all endings are forever: Best #StarWars, #CloneWars and #SWEU tweets for March 4-11”

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Out this week: Willow on Blu-ray, Star Wars #3

The first Blu-ray of Lucasfilm’s 1989 fantasy film Willow will be out tomorrow. Star Warwick Davis and director Ron Howard will be holding a live Q&A tomorrow under the hashtag #WillowChat.

Willow was my first Lucasfilm movie – first that I remember, anyway – but I haven’t watched it in years, and I’ll be live-tweeting it sometime next weekend. I hope some of you will join me – stay tuned for details.

Now, back to Star Wars – literally. Look for Brian Wood’s Star Wars #3 in the comic shops on Wednesday, as well as the digest The Clone Wars: Defenders of the Lost Temple.

Our next novel, Tim Lebbon’s Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void, is due in May.

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Out this week: Dark Times continues Fire Carrier

Dark Times: Fire Carrier #2Look for Dark Times: Fire Carrier #2 at your local comic shop on Wednesday.

As for what’s upcoming, the Willow Blu-ray will be out next week, and later this month we’ll see the return of Legacy. (Probably the 20th – comic release dates aren’t certain until you see the week’s distributor list, but high-profile #1 issues are often the ones that do make it on time.) No novels until Tim Lebbon’s Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void drops in May.

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EUbits: Making of Return of the Jedi coming in October

Ewoks behind the scenesUpcoming nonfiction. Guess what’s appeared on the Random House online catalog? It’s J. W. Rinzler’s Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, with a release date of October 8. In other Rinzler news, he’s announced that the next art book will be devoted to concept art. As someone who already owns all six concept art books devoted to the films, I hope we’ll get to see something new from the actual movies… If it comes out next year, would it be too early to hope for an Episode VII peek?

The blogside. Tor’s Ryan Britt looks at how Heir to the Empire turned Star Wars into science fiction. Lucasfilm’s Jennifer Heddle discusses balancing between work and being a fan. And Tosche Station’s Bria visits two extremes of the EU with The Crystal Star and Starfighters of Adumar.

Conventions. Dark Horse had a panel at Emerald City Comicon yesterday, and Amy Ratcliffe was kind enough to live-tweet it for those of us playing at home. While there was no breaking Star Wars news, there were a few insights into Star Wars and Legacy comics.

Short stories. Del Rey’s Frank Parisi reveals that John Ostrander has an Insider story coming up, ‘Eruption,’ with cover art by Jan Duursema. (It’ll also appear in the hardcover of Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void.) A Jason Fry story featuring a Clone Wars character was also recently greenlit. He also hints at something we’ll be seeing in Miller’s Kenobi.

The Last Jedi. Author Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff talks to NJOE (with Del Rey’s Shelly Shapiro) and TFN.

Gaming. We don’t even try to cover gaming anymore – trust me, it’s for the best – but if you’re curious about the (rumored) fate of 1313, well, here’s the word on the street.

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On the Tumblr: Is this the greatest Jedi Master Luke portrait of all time?

Phil Noto's Jedi Master Luke SkywalkerOur Tumblr passed 300 followers not too long ago, and while posting has slowed at times, there’s still plenty of stuff that doesn’t make it all the way here. So if you’re on Tumblr, follow us!

Fan art. Comic book artist Phil Noto did an awesome Jedi Master Luke Skywalker portrait. Bow down. Also, from Burton Durand, Star Wars characters in hats. (Shouldn’t Ackbar be a Mets fan?)

In brief. This is the greatest beginner’s guide to the Expanded Universe ever. I am not kidding. You’ll laugh, then you’ll cry from laughing. Oh, and a pretty cool Skywalker-Solo family tree.

On that note… What is my favorite official Mara Jade art? It’s not a big surprise because it’s been chilling in the masthead fora while now, but here’s the full scan.

Crafts. A Star Wars felt crib mobile that will automatically make your child 20% cooler. And let’s not forget the shoes: The Sith ones have spikes – the Artoo ones have Artoo, and I’m way more chill with them now that I see that the action figure isn’t actually standing in for the heel.

Fact you can use. What’s the problem with boob-shaped armor? Enter a new realm of fantasy nit-picking.

Photoshoppery. This may be self-serving, but I posted all the sequel/spinoff graphics I’ve done so far. ALIENS.

Just cool. A Darth Vader Meditation Chamber fireplace. I want one.

Your moment of zen. Baby in an X-wing uniform.

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Denning’s Crucible gets a blurb

Crucible Knights’ Archive spotted that Troy Denning’s Crucible, the first Big 3 adventure set after Fate of the Jedi, now has a blurb in the Random House catalog.

When Han and Leia Solo arrive at Lando Calrissian’s Outer Rim mining operation to help him thwart a hostile takeover, their aim is just to even up the odds and lay down the law. Then monstrous aliens arrive with a message, and mere threats escalate into violent sabotage with mass fatalities. When the dust settles, what began as corporate warfare becomes a battle with much higher stakes—and far deadlier consequences.

Now Han, Leia, and Luke team up once again in a quest to defeat a dangerous adversary bent on galaxy-wide domination. Only this time, the Empire is not the enemy. It is a pair of ruthless geniuses with a lethal ally and a lifelong vendetta against Han Solo. They will stop at nothing to control the lucrative Outer Rim mining trade—and ultimately the entire galactic economy. And when the murderous duo gets the drop on Han, he finds himself outgunned in the fight of his life. To save him, and the galaxy, Luke and Leia must brave a gauntlet of treachery, terrorism, and the untold power of an enigmatic artifact capable of bending space, time, and even the Force itself into an apocalyptic nightmare.

The book is still due out on July 9.