Details from Dark Horse on Dark Times, digests

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.

EU newsbits: Rebel Force, Golden, lost comics

Rebel Force revealed: TFN, via Eddie, has the blurbs for the first two books of the upcoming (and still not officially announced) Scholastic series. The gist? They start off right after A New Hope and star Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie. Continuity fans are already freaking out, but the rest of us might actually want to try the things. (Over at StarWars.com, Eddie says he found them in the latest Previews, so all signs point to legitimacy.)

Good news for Crimson Empire, Tales fans

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.

More hints from Sue Rostoni on upcoming books

Nothing specific, of course – but another comic project? Vector should end in December, so 2009 is primed for… Something. I’m not even going to begin to guess, but I hope it’s not something Clone Wars.

At some point in the near future, I hope, I will be able to remove the tape from my fingers and actually type you more complete information about what’s coming up. Just be assured that the unmentionable 9-book series rumor is not the only stew on the stove. There will be ample side-dishes and a few chocolate sprinkles here and there. Plus, Dark Horse is brewing something as well, something that I am very excited about….

I suspect the reason we’ve been waiting so long for a contract announcement is because they want to reveal a full slate of new releases along with it…