As announced Wednesday, Kieron Gillen’s successor series to Darth Vader will be Doctor Aphra. Aphra, introduced in Darth Vader #3, was Marvel’s first original canon character and has developed something of a following throughout the series. (And yes, “she’d be cast as an Asian actress,” Gillen says.) There’s a great deal of storytelling freedom to be had with an original character in the original trilogy era, and plenty to do with the concept of archaeology in a setting like the GFFA. (For instance… Jedha?)
The Darth Vader comic will end with #25, Marvel announced at IGN today. The ongoing by writer Kieron Gillen and artist Salvador Larroca debuted with the company’s 2015 relaunch of the Star Wars comic line.
“It was a situation where, you know, we’ve always said all the way through, from Darth Vader #1, that this was a story with a beginning, a middle and an end,” Gillen said. “And we kind of looked where we were after Vader Down, and we realized we were probably actually nearer to the end than we thought we were.”
Marvel has three ongoing Star Wars titles at the moment, with Star Wars and Poe Dameron (which replaced Kanan) being the other two. The end of Vader means we’ll likely see another soon.
Happy Star Wars Day! We’ve got a special episode of Unboxing Star Wars for May the 4th! First, Baby Jawa, Yowie and I check out the fun at “The Dome Awakens”, the Star Wars Day celebration at the downtown San Diego Public Library held on May 1, 2016. Then it’s time to review the recent C-3PO one shot comic by James Robinson and Tony Harris, and get excited for the new Star Wars novel, Bloodline, by Claudia Gray. We finish up with the results of our first try at making Star Wars Jell-o Jigglers, and then some Baby Jawa fun time!
Quick reviews
→ C-3PO #1 – A fun (and long-awaited) tale that does indeed explain the origins of Threepio’s red arm. Read this comic then watch the LEGO Star Wars short “The Resistance Rises: Poe to the Rescue” for an interesting crossover of canon and LEGO Star Wars.
→ Bloodline – Strongly recommend! I had high expectations for this novel because of Gray’s first Star Wars novel, Lost Stars, and she surpassed them. I really enjoyed this tale – it’s a top-notch story with some great characters, and Gray nails Leia’s character.
→ Star Wars JELL-O Jigglers Mold Set – Comes with two 6-character mold trays and 4 boxes of Jello! All the characters look great, except Yoda, who is in some sort of action pose which doesn’t quite work right. Be sure to use the special mold instructions on the big box instead of the regular Jiggler instructions on the inside boxes of gelatin.
Marvel Comics has announced Han Solo, their fifth Star Wars miniseries, via Entertainment Weekly. Written by Marjorie Liu (Astonishing X-Men) with art by Mark Brooks (Amazing Spider- Man,) the plot involves the Rebellion and a starship race called the Dragon Void Run. Like the first miniseries, Princess Leia, it’s set between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. There’s plenty more detail at EW, including a chat with Liu and some interior art.
Han Solo #1 is due out after the current mini, Obi-Wan & Anakin, wraps up in May.
Writer Charles Soule and artist Phil Noto talked about their upcoming Poe Dameron comic with CBR. Soule reveals that Poe’s squadron is “ike a special missions crew,” and the new First Order villain is an intelligence officer who’s almost “an evil Lando.”
The comic’s first arc will deal with “a sort of cult,” and lead into (as we’ve heard previously) the mission that takes him to Lor San Tekka in The Force Awakens.
CBR also debuted a new, BB-8-centric variant cover by Joe Quinones for issue #1. The series is due to begin in late March.
Marvel today announced (via Comic Book Resources) that they’re doing a 5-issue adaptation of The Force Awakens for June. Aftermath author Chuck Wendig is writing, with Luke Ross on art.
→ Jedi News noticed that The Force Awakens Blu-ray is now listed as a three-disc set – two Blu-rays and one DVD – on Blu-ray.com. Everyone is still playing coy on the release date, but it’s probably April 5.
→ Co-producer Ben Rosenblatt talks to The Hollywood Reporter about the film’s final shot.
→ Jason Fry explains how General Hux’s father became part of his Rebels tie-in series, Servants of the Empire.
→ Variety looks into how ILM made Starkiller Base crumble. Spoiler: Computers.
Just over a year out from launch, IGN interviews Jordan D. White, who’s in charge of Star Wars at Marvel Comics, about the line – including why they all began in the same time period at first – and what’s coming up in the future.
On why they chose Poe Dameron for the line’s first The Force Awakens ongoing:
Ideally, a miniseries tells a very specific, self-contained story. “Here’s this event.” You know, “Here’s the time when Lando tried to steal the Emperor’s yacht.” “Here’s the story of how Princess Leia dealt with the destruction of Alderaan in conjunction with her place in the Rebellion.” And then once it’s finished, it’s finished. If we were to, as some people have suggested, talk about turning that into an ongoing, it would be, “Well, okay, now we need to come up with a totally different story and direction for it to go in, because that is done.” Whereas as ongoing series, again, you want to come up with something that can generate story after story.
When you look at the main characters of The Force Awakens — all of whom are super awesome, by the way — Poe is definitely the one whose previous stories are adventure stories.
He also teases upcoming miniseries, “some that are going to surprise people” and “some that people are not going to be expecting.”
His Jar Jar idea – which remains vague, just in case – isn’t going to happen “any time soon.” But there’s stuff in the pipeline for “fans of every era of Star Wars.”
The article also previews some interior art from Darth Vader #16.
Marvel’s first sequel era ongoing will be Star Wars: Poe Dameron, USA Today reveals. It’ll be written by Charles Soule (Lando) with art from Phil Noto (Chewbacca).
The comic’s first storyline will focus on the lead-up to The Force Awakens. BB-8 and a new First Order villain will feature, with General Leia Organa and the other Resistance X-wing pilots likely to appear.
Poe’s parents were introduced in the Shattered Empire mini-series last year, but Soule says not to expect flashbacks. Poe’s introduction to Leia and the Resistance is featured in Greg Rucka’s Before the Awakening.
On Unboxing Star Wars his week, Yowie, Baby Jawa, and I hit the road to pick up a Toys R Us Epic Battles medal and award it to a deserving Rebel. Then I review this week’s episode of Star Wars Rebels: ‘Blood Sisters’, and we get a glimpse at the new exhibition of Howard Chaykin’s original comic art for the 1977 Marvel Star Wars comic adaptation. Plus we do a little bit on the #DrawWars2015 art project.
The next Toys R Us Epic Battles medal will be distributed on December 4th and 5th and will be for Yavin, and will feature Darth Vader. You can earn the certificate by playing a little Where’s Waldo type game.
Marvel today announced (via 
Just over a year out from launch, 
