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.

EUbits: Darth Plagueis retreats to January

Street date shuffle. The release of James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis has been pushed back from December 27 (read: still after Christmas) to January 10. No big; our ever-present Star Wars book release schedule has been updated.

Hintage. Lucasfilm editor J. W. Rinzler hints at future projects with DK on Twitter.

Excerpts. Fans longing for the return of Diet Han (just one calorie!) will love the latest Shadow Games mini-excerpt.

New York ComicCon. Del Rey will have Drew Karpyshyn and Bonnie Burton at their Star Wars booth. NYCC runs Oct. 13 – 16.

Interviews. Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog interviews Paul S. Kemp, while the official blog talks to Carlos Garzón about Star Wars Art: Comics.

Coldplay, Beck, and Johnny Cash on a Star Wars EU soundtrack?

As first reported a few days back, Del Rey was promoting Joe Schreiber’s upcoming Deathtroopers novel with a free soundtrack CD at the New York Comic Con. Now, Schreiber goes over the soundtrack playlist on his blog. With some of the aforementioned musicians, the soundtrack also included some Pixies, Allison Krauss, Tool, and Rob Zombie — and starts off with the 20th Century Fox fanfare. Not since “Christmas in the Stars” have some lucky fans gotten a Star Wars album so eclectic.

So what’s up with that Fixer comic, again?

It was pretty overshadowed by the Invasion reveal, but NYCC also brought another project to light: A Fixer comic, ‘From the Shadow of Twin Suns,’ co-written by Anthony Forest, who played the character in scenes cut from A New Hope. But don’t get too excited: Here’s what Dark Horse editor Randy Stradley said on TheForce.Net boards this morning:

I feel that I should state for the record that this is NOT a Dark Horse title, and it is NOT on our publishing schedule. It is a story that has been proposed to us. Period.

In short, that chicken is not yet hatched.

Catching up with a Clone Wars con weekend

NYCC 09 clonetrooper / Photo by Muckster @ Flickr.comThe Clone Wars was a big draw at NYCC’s Star Wars panel, where Steve Sansweet debuted a trailer for season 1’s three-part finale, The Ryloth Trilogy. Now it’s up for everyone to see!

And I don’t think anyone is surprised to hear that Cartoon Network has picked up the series for season 2.

(At right, a great Clonetrooper costume shot by Muckster at the con. Check out the whole set!)

  • The Hidden Enemy: Read the expanded episode guide or watch the video commentary for last week’s episode. And check back later today for a guest review from The Stooge!
  • Next week: Padme and Jar Jar are joined by the Michael York-voiced Dr. Nuvo Vindi in ‘Blue Shadow Virus.’ (Logan’s Run? I don’t think the target audience will remember that. I barely remember that. Try Austin Powers. Or Gilmore Girls!)

NYCC: Dark Horse takes on the NJO with Invasion

News out of New York Comic Con! Dark Horse is launching a new ongoing series based in the New Jedi Order era, Invasion… It follows the Yuuzhan Vong and will feature main characters like Luke and Jacen. It’s scripted by Tom Taylor with art by Colin Wilson, and will launch with a web-only preview issue on StarWars.com in May. (via)

UPDATE: Dark Horse is not adding a another book; Rebellion is getting the ax and Invasion is replacing it. Check out a full report from NYCC’s Dark Horse panel at Newsarama.

Also coming up, Fixer. Um, okay. And a webcomic tie-in with The Old Republic.