Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Wednesday brings Dark Horse Presents #1, which contains an eight-page that will be of interest to the Crimson Empire fans among you. (Dark Horse gave us a sneak peek a few weeks back.) Crimson Empire III is due in the fall.
And since I missed last week’s release post, be aware that the second Invasion trade collection, Rescues, is already out.
Crimson Empire III. I’m sure we all have things in fandom whose popularity mystifies us. I have many – enough for a complete post, probably – but perhaps one of the oldest is the appeal of Crimson Empire. Is it the eternal love of Dark Horse’s fanboys for bland musclebound men kicking ass? Or that, for years, the third series was dead and the story of Kir Kanos unconcluded? I don’t know. I’m not sure I really care. But for those who do, it’s on now — and mere months away. On Friday, Dark Horse revealed Dave Dorman’s cover for Crimson Empire III #1 and two interior pages from the Dark Horse Presents story. Meanwhile, Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley talk about the series with StarWars.com
Deceived. Gotta love it when the author does their own review roundup. Got questions for Kemp? He’ll be doing a chat on the Star Wars Book Facebook page on Wednesday.
Historic! Shadowlocked takes a look at 20 years of the Expanded Universe. I have a few quibbles – Shadows of the Empire didn’t have a video game based on it because it was popular, but because the whole enterprise was a marketing test run for the PT… And I’m pretty sure Traviss never claimed to have Zahn’s blessing to kill off Mara – but it’s still a fairly interesting primer.
Interview. John Jackson Miller at MidSouthCon.
And finally… You can get an Insider subscription no matter where in the world you live. Handy!
Two smugglers walk into a bar… Today on the official forums, editor Sue Rostoni shared a brief excerpt from the proof of Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff’s Shadow Games. Black-barred for the paranoid spoilerphobics:
“In case you haven’t noticed, Captain, there are Imperials all over the place. It would be in our customer’s interests to be discreet.”
The Wookiee said something, to which Han replied, “Of course I’m discreet. I’m always discreet.” To Dash he said, “What’d you have in mind?”
The proof, for those of you keeping track, is 338 pages. Shadow Games will be out in paperback in the fall.
Interview. Lightsaber Rattling talks to Paul Kemp about his just-released Old Republic tie-in, Deceived.
Blurbs. In other Kemp-related news, there’s a summary out there now for his September paperback, Riptide. (via)
Comics. The Crimson Empire story that will be in Dark Horse Presents #1 will feature Kir Kanos in a standalone tale that will both recap some of the earlier CE and set things up for CEIII, according to Randy Stradley.
First look. The next in the Lost Tribe of the Sith series, ‘Pantheon,’ will hit July 18th.
Sales. LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary is selling like crazy. It’s been on the New York Times Children’s Picture Book Bestseller List for 52 weeks. (Guess that explains all the LEGO stuff that DK has coming.) To celebrate the books’ NYT longevity, Lucasfilm and DK are donating $52,000 worth of books to charities supported by 501st and Rebel Legions.
In question. J. W. Rinzler will find out if he gets to write a Making of Return of the Jedi by the end of the month, he tweeted last night. Somehow I doubt they’re going to say no.
The blogside. Chris at EUC takes a look at the EU offerings of 2010 and 2011.
Comics. The upcoming return of Dark Horse Presents will feature details on the wildly anticipated Crimson Empire 3.
Interview. Our pal Mandy interviews comic artist Michael Golden, who drew Marvel’s Riders in the Void back in 1980.
Podcastery. The latest Jedi Journals is up.
Giveaway. Comment at Paul S. Kemp’s blog and you could win an ARC of The Old Republic: Deceived. Meanwhile, the EUCast is giving away a copy of Knight Errant.
Del Rey brought plenty to the table for Celebration, but the biggest EU news is without a doubt the reveal that Aaron Allston will be writing a brand-new Wraith Squadron novel. It’s too early for details, but expect a spring/summer 2012 release date.
We also learned that Thrawn will appear in Zahn’s Hand of Judgment, Drew Karpyshyn will be writing a third Old Republic novel, Jeff Grubb’s 2012 paperback will feature Hutts, and Han Solo will appear in the Dash Rendar/Holostar novel. And TFN reports that something is in the works for the 20th anniversary of Heir to the Empire, to which I say: Damn straight.
As for Fate of the Jedi, we learned that the final book will be titled Apocalypse. Cheery! Also addressed was the heightening of drama, Vestara’s role, and (sigh) the whole Jacen/Tahiri thing. Except, not really. (I do love the Mando quote, of course.)
Meanwhile, the comic fans got a surprise of their own: Crimson Empire III is a go, for real this time. The 6-issue series will begin in March with Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley scripting and Dave Dorman on covers.
Knight Errant got a big push, complete with a costumed representation, but if the EUC report is anything to go by it’s too soon for much of a reveal.
As for Legacy, there are currently no plans for anything after the War mini – Ostrander and Duursema will “will be working on something entirely different.”
The rest of the news rehashes much we’ve already heard, but a hardcover edition of Dark Empire will commemorate the comic’s twentieth anniversary. And the return of Dark Horse Presents may yield some Tales-like stories.
Also getting some love at the con (but not enough for their own entry) was The Force Unleashed (Yoda? Really? That Muppet needs a better agent.) and The Old Republic.
Jawajames has been out and about in his Bounty Hunt duties, and caught George Lucas walking the con floor before it opened Friday morning. With the Big Event nearly upon us (reports are that it’s already “insane,”) we all have early call times so I’m trying to make this quick.
(Volunteering and blogging is not a good combo. Though if you stop by the StarWars.com booth and talk to one of the orange shirts there this weekend, there’s a good chance it’ll be Eliz or I, and we have bracelets. Or just come to Fandom in 140 on Sunday, hint hint.)
Good luck to everyone tomorrow! And remember: Twitter is the place to be for on-the-moment news!
TFN has a report from the Dark Horse panel at Baltimore Comic-Con. Dark Times will be returning in 2009, I’m guessing in the spring, when The Clone Wars miniseries runs its course. (No word on Rebellion.) TCW digest will go on, and they also gave out a bit on the new digest, Star Wars Adventures:
It will feature the same animated art style of the current digest sized books, and will focus on the Classic Trilogy characters, including Han and Chewie. Look for a story from Jeremy Barlow in the first issue.
And yes, Crimson Empire III is still a no-go.
Sorry to get your hopes up, folks, but it seems that Mike Richardson’s announcement was premature. Dark Horse’s Star Wars editor (and Crimson Empire co-writer) Randy Stradley lays it all out on their boards. Basically? Yes, it has been discussed, but:
…I don’t have the time to write it in the foreseeable future. And, frankly, after all these years, I have virtually no interest in continuing/finishing the story. On top of everything else, the approach I had wanted another writer to take has turned out to be impossible within established continuity.
So, despite Mike’s untimely mention of the project, it doesn’t actually exist, no work is being done on it, and it is not on Dark Horse’s Star Wars publishing schedule.
Sorry, comic fans. Better luck next time.
In a video interview with CBR, Dark Horse founder Mike Richardson says that he and Randy Stradley “have started talking about revisiting the last chapter of Crimson Empire.” Comic fans have been waiting nearly a decade for that one. He also mentions retooling the second mini/graphic novel, Council of Blood, for “fixing all the stuff that got left out” due to possible prequel conflicts. There’s already a thread on the Dark Horse boards – perhaps Stradley will shed a bit more light on this soon? (Keep an eye on the Star Wars zone!)
Could that be the big project for 2009 that Sue hinted at a few weeks ago? Seems likely: It’s sure to get the fanboys all hot and bothered.
UPDATE: Not so, according to Stradley.
But! There’s also Star Wars Adventures, a new all-ages digest series teased in the letter column of the latest Rebellion. We don’t know much, but Jeremy Barlow is writing a story for it about Han and Chewbacca, and it’s slated to debut sometime next year. As someone who was rarely interested in the Dark Horse line until Star Wars Tales came around, I’ll be sure to nab Adventures.