May the 4th will indeed bring Celebration VI news

Yes, we’ve been so starved for actual news about Celebration VI that even this is news. And yes, we were all totally expecting this. But MTV’s Woodsy has confirmed that there will be Celebration VI announcements. And that’s good enough for me.

Also: An online Clone Wars marathon, eCards, a free app, some sales, and etc. But Celebration VI news is what we really want, yes? (Well, and new Her Universe stuff.)

Also, you should stock up on reaction GIFs, because I’m thinking of starting the day off here with a GIF party. Thoughts?

Gate Geek: New Stargate project teased

Fandom insanity is at fever pitch after a producer teased an upcoming Stargate project at the Creation Stargate convention over the weekend.

Darren Thomas is apparently affiliated with an app development company and said the announcement would be made at San Diego Comic Con.

Michael Shanks and Ivon Bartok took things up a notch by teasing each other on Twitter about what the project really is. But they have since clarified that if it’s a live action type thing, neither of them has been contacted to be involved.

Since it’s an app development company, I’m not confident it will be much beyond a comic thing at most. But it’s nice to have something new in Stargate.

Chris Hardwick to be Celebration special guest host

The ‘Nerdist’ host will be joining us in Orlando as a “special guest host,” whatever that means. He’s known within the geek community for his podcast and being the host of G4’s Web Soup. (Hopefully he’ll be less obnoxious than the last Star Wars ‘hosting’ job G4’s Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn did at SDCC ’09.) He’s also the host of AMC’s Talking Dead.

He’ll also be hosting Course of the Force, a charity run, at San Diego Comic Con.

This is our first major news on the con since the stage hosts, though there have been announcements on standard Celebration fare like the artist lineup, a collecting track, costume pageant, autograph farm and speed dating.

UPDATE. In other shocking news, The Clone Wars’ Supervising Director Dave Filoni will be at the con.

EUbits: Considering Padme Amidala and Jaina Solo

The blogside. On Livejournal, Chameleon Irony takes a look at what implications the events of Darth Plagueis may have had on Padme throughout the films. (Contains Plagueis spoilers.) Meanwhile, at Rooqoo Depot, Lane considers fandom, Jaina Solo, and ‘strong female characters.’

Fate of the Jedi. The latest mini-excerpt from Apocalypse features Luke and a Sith.

Celebration VI. Two more authors have been confirmed to be attending: James Luceno and Jason Fry. Paul S. Kemp, not so much.

Art. Two more looks at the interior art of The Essential Gude to Warfare: An Imperial refueling and a fantastic Dave Seeley title page spread showing the Battle of Couscant from Revenge of the Sith. It’s better than the actual cover!

Reviews. Over at Big Shiny Robot, James considers Agent of the Empire #3, Crimson Empire III #4 and Knights of the Old Republic: War #2.

Mara Jade Skywalker is Hasbro’s 2011 Fan Choice. Yay?

Toy Fair is going on this weekend, and according to multiple reports, Jedi Master Mara Jade Skywalker was voted the Fan Choice figure. (You might remember the contest from last fall.) Unfortunately for those of us hoping to finally get a Mara figure without that blasted catsuit…

Yeah. That artwork. (Again?) Sigh. I’m not hearing anything about a a prototype yet, but as always, we’ll have an eye out for updates.

The other Star Wars talker of Toy Fair? A Jar Jar in Carbonite figure will be a SDCC 2012 exclusive. Teehee.

UPDATED! StarWars.com has posted photos of Hasbro’s Toy Fair offerings, and sure enough, there’s no sign of Mara. (Though there is some nice Clone Wars stuff, if that’s your thing.) Needless to say, we’ll be watching Hasbro’s presentations through summer con season with great interest.

EUbits: Essential Reader’s Companion cover revealed

Cover art. Revealed on the official blog today is the finished cover for Pablo Hidalgo’s Essential Reader’s Companion. Clearly inspired by the Micheal Whelan piece used for the preliminary cover, the art was painted by Paul Youll.

Celebration VI. Del Rey has confirmed Aaron Allston, Troy Denning, Drew Karpyshyn, and John Jackson Miller will be at the con in August. And of course we already knew about Timothy Zahn.

Dawn of the Jedi. i09 has some interior pages and an interview on the upcoming series from John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, while Dark Horse gives us a look at some sketches.

The hype continues. On the off chance you haven’t heard of that Darth Plagueis book, there’s a trailer. Of course.

Chats. Author Paul S. Kemp did a Q&A with Reddit’s fantasy group the other day. There are a few questions about Star Wars scattered throughout.

Reviews. James takes a look at Knights of the Old Republic: War #1 and Agent of the Empire: Iron Eclipse #2.