EUbits: Karen Miller returning with Insider short story, inside Del Rey and more

Is Miller writing a post-ROTJ story? On her Livejournal, Karen Miller wrote that she is “getting ready to put together a short story for Star Wars Insider magazine.” She also shares/gloats that she got to read Aaron Allston’s Mercy Kill for “preliminary research.” All three of Miller’s Star Wars novels were Clone Wars tie-ins, so if Mercy Kill is any indication, this may be her first foray into post-ROTJ – or even post-Fate of the Jedi, since that’s when Mercy Kill is set. Or, she’s just writing about fighter pilots. We’ll see, I suppose.

Inside the beast. A new feature on Del Rey’s Star Wars Books Facebook page offers a few hints, including an “an author who is new to the GFFA.” And they liked our (also your) snark!

Speculation. It may be a moot point since Zahn said most of the Scoundrels scoundrels will be new folks, but EU Cantina has some theories on who might appear.

Excerpts. A little Scourge and a big Scourge. (via)

Review. James seems really excited about Dawn of the Jedi #2. Someone has to be, I suppose.

Randomly… io9 has some art from a Willow cartoon that never came to be. It’s not quite EU – unless you count that StarWars.com April Fools joke a few years back – but where else am I going to put it?

Out this week: Dawn Of The Jedi #2, official Star Wars Books account on Twitter

Be sure to make it out to your local comic shop on Wednesday, as Dawn Of The Jedi: Force Storm #2 will hitting the shelves. Also on the list are two new trades: The Old Republic: The Lost Suns and an Other Sons of Tatooine omnibus, featuring such luminaries as Biggs Darklighter, Janek “Tank” Sunber and… BoShek. Alrighty then.

In other news, Del Rey’s Star Wars team now has a dedicated twitter account, @DelReyStarWars.

First issues of Dawn of the Jedi to be reprinted

Dark Horse Comics announced yesterday that Issues #0 and #1 of the new Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi series would be reprinted after retail outlets reported selling out and not meeting demand. Not a bad way to kick off a new series! If you missed getting the backgrounder guide of #0, or the first part of the story in #1, make sure your local comics shop sets them aside for you when both come back on March 21, which conveniently is when #2 is also going to hit stores. The series by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema goes back 25,000 years, to a time before Jedi and lightsabers. On the fence? I’ve handily reviewed the two issues over at Big Shiny Robot: Issue #0 and Issue #1.

EUbits: Darth Maul is coming to comics as well

The year of Maul, indeed. Dark Horse’s Randy Stradley announced two upcoming projects featuring Darth Maul yesterday. Up in August will be a digest, The Sith Hunters, from Henry Gilroy and Steven Melching. There’s also an four-issue mini-series from Tom Taylor that we’ll learn about in “the near future.” (Celebration, maybe?) Stradley also reveals that the Maul storyline will bridge S4 and S5 of The Clone Wars.

Authors. Drew Karpyshyn has retired from Bioware, where he worked on The Old Republic, to “focus more time and energy on my novels and other non-video game related projects.” Karpyshyn is currently working on the fourth Old Republic novel.

Curious… A new book appeared on the Random House site this week: Glittering Images: A Journey Through Art from Egypt to Star Wars by author and cultural critic Camille Paglia. It’s set for an October release.

Excerpt. This week’s mini-excerpt is from Jeff Grubb’s Scourge. It features Wookiees slapping droids around a bunch of other people I’ve never heard of.

Interviews. Graphic Novel Reporter talks to John Jackson Miller about Knights of the Old Republic: War. On that note, the last standalone Lost Tribe of the Sith story is now available for preorder. (Yes, it’s still free, it just won’t be out until March 5.)

Review. James has good stuff to say about Dawn of the Jedi #1.

Out this week: Dawn of the Jedi #1

No books this week, but Wednesday does bring a major release for comic fans: Dawn of the Jedi #1: John Ostrander and Jan Duursema’s follow-up to the Legacy series.

Ostrander and Duursema talked about the series with Hero Complex’s Jevon Phillips earlier in the month.

The next book release is the Red Harvest paperback on the 28th. Regardless of the teasing, there’s still almost a full month until Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse comes out on March 13.

EUbits: The Millennium Falcon workshop team speaks

Gearheads With this week’s release of The Millennium Falcon Owners’ Workshop Manual, you’ll see the folks behind it are all over the place. Roqoo Depot has an interview with Chris Trevas, Ryder Windham, and Chris Reiff; Suvudu talks to Windham.

Fate of the Jedi. The third mini-excerpt of Denning’s Apocalypse features actual Skywalker-Solos!

War! Also on Facebook, two new images from The Essential Guide to Warfare, both featuring the Falcon: The first with another YT-1300 and another in a scene from Aaron Allston’s Legacy of the Force: Fury

Review. James takes a look at Dawn of the Jedi #0.

Out this week: Phantom Menace reissue, Millennium Falcon Owner’s Workshop Manual

Coming today is a new edition of Terry Brooks’ The Phantom Menace novelization, which contains a new short story, ‘End Game,’ by James Luceno. Like the rerelease of Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter a few weeks back, this edition doesn’t have a new ISBN, so your best bet would be to pick it up in person to make sure you’ve got the right version.

If you’d rather pick up something brand new, also out today is The Millennium Falcon Owner’s Workshop Manual by Ryder Windham, Chris Reiff and Chris Trevas.

Meanwhile, Wednesday is a good day to head out to the comic shop, due to the presence of Dawn of the Jedi #0 on the shipping list this week.

It’s also about time to be keeping an eye out for the latest Star Wars Insider, #131, which a Millennium Falcon story by Star Wars newcomers David J. Williams and Mark S. Williams.

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.

NYCC: More info revealed about new Star Wars comics

Earlier we announced that Dark Horse Comics had unveiled several new Star Wars titles for 2012 at New York Comic-Con. Now that the official press releases have gone out, here’s some more info about each new story.

  • Knights of the Old Republic: War – Zayne Carrick has been drafted in war between Revan and the Republic against the Mandalorians. Starting in January, this story written by John Jackson Miller will continue the adventures from his Knights of the Old Republic series, but Dark Horse assures us that it is also a great entry point into Star Wars comics. Rebelscum.com has a sample page.
  • Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison – Haden Blackman returns to write this five issue story about Darth Vader, starting in May. As Vader gets used to his role in serving the Emperor, there’s an assassination plot afoot! Blackman talked with Newsarama about the story involving the Dark Lord of the Sith and Moff Trachta, as well as getting into Vader’s head.
  • Blood Ties: Boba Fett is DeadTom Taylor describes this new Blood Ties story (coming in April) with: “Boba Fett is dead. The most infamous hunter in the galaxy has been hunted. He’s lying, broken, on the desert floor. He’s more blaster-holes than man. It’s the ultimate ending. However, this is just the start of our story. With the fall of Fett broadcast across the galaxy, someone rises to avenge him. But who would care about the death of a man like Fett? Bounty hunters aren’t exactly known for their enduring, close friendships but even a man like Boba Fett has family… and now a Blood Tie demands blood.”
  • Dawn of the Jedi – John Ostrander and Jan Duursema delve into the origins of the Jedi in this brand new series, set 25,000 years before the movies. We’ve already heard a bit about it from interviews, but here’s the official blurb. Issue #0 and Issue #1 (Starting the Force Storm arc) both come out in February.
  • Knight Errant: EscapeThe next story arc in the adventures of Kerra Holt, one-woman Jedi wrecking crew in Sith space starts up in June for a five-issue run. Although with a title like Escape, I wonder if John Jackson Miller will have Kerra fighting for her life more than fighting to liberate worlds from the Sith warlords.

Looks like we are going to have a very cool 2012 for Star Wars comics!

New Ostrander series deals with origin of the Jedi

Dawn Of The Jedi “will start at the beginning of the Star Wars timeline with the very beginning of the Jedi Knights, in a time before light sabres when they only fought with swords,” Bleeding Cool reports.

There are more details, including an interview with Ostrander and Jan Duursema, on Comic Book Resources.

Also coming are a new Knights of the Old Republic series, War! starring Zayne Carrick and written by John Jackson Miller. There’s also a Darth Vader mini and something called “Boba Fett Is Dead.” I expect we’ll hear more about all this as NYCC continues.