Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
It’s likely today is our last big release day of the year, with Star Wars Costumes: The Original Trilogy dropping, along with two reprints: The ‘Royal Imperial Boxed Set’ of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Trilogy and the paperback of Martha Wells’ Razor’s Edge.
These aren’t our final release of the year – there’s still James Luceno’s Tarkin on November 4.
UPDATE: A trailer for Star Wars Costumes!
Fall is officially upon us, as two of the season’s big Star Wars gift books are available today. The Imperial Handbook (we previewed a spread last week) and Star Wars Art: Posters.
The third oversized offering, Star Wars Costumes: The Original Trilogy, is out in two weeks, along with the Shakespeare Star Wars box set (they’re attempting some sort of cover reveal today?) and the paperback of Razor’s Edge.
Tuesday sees the release of a new picture book, The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight. Written by Tony DiTerlizzi and featuring Ralph McQuarrie art, it’s the first fruit of an OT-based program with Disney Publishing.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, comic fans can pick up the collected Rebel Heist. Non-subscribers should start keeping an eye out for Star Wars Insider #152 on newstands.
It’s been a while, but this week brings us two trades from Dark Horse, and one new unauthorized nonfiction book looking at the franchise as a whole.
Chris Taylor’s How Star Wars Conquered the Universe, out Tuesday, is touted as ‘the first comprehensive history of the Star Wars phenomenon.’ I may be a tad biased, but look for my review in the next couple of days.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir and the third volume of Brian Wood’s Star Wars comic, Rebel Girl, are both collected in trade paperback.
As for upcoming releases, we have Star Wars Art: Posters coming on October 14, a Shakespeare Star Wars box set and the Razor’s Edge paperback on October 28, and James Luceno’s Tarkin on November 4 – plus Dark Horse’s remaining trades.
Chances are you don’t need this reminder, given that Del Rey Fancorps members woke up at least 8 emails in their inbox about the release of A New Dawn. It is, of course, the first of the new canon novels, a prequel to Rebels and our first new Star Wars novel since Honor Among Thieves back in March.
In addition the emails, there are the reviews. We have James’, of course, but you can also catch opinions from the usual suspects: Tosche Station (who also did a Go/No-Go) Jedi News (twice,) EU Cantina, Roqoo Depot, Lightsaber Rattling and Making Star Wars (twice.)
We’re also just about a month away from the official premiere of Rebels itself, on October 3rd. The next novel, James Luceno’s Tarkin, is due out on November 4.
It seems appropriate that Dark Horse’s final Star Wars comic this Wednesday is Legacy #18. The Legacy series as a whole has been one of their more ambitious offerings in the 20+ years they’ve held the license.
This won’t be our last Dark Horse release – there are still reprints and collections in the pipeline through the rest of the year – but it is our last original issue.
If you head out to the comic shop today, you’ll find two series enders from Dark Horse: Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir #4 finishes off Darth Maul’s story from The Clone Wars, while last week’s Star Wars #20 wraps up the Brian Wood series.
Not counting reprints, there’s only one Star Wars comic left from Dark Horse – Legacy #18, which we’ll hopefully see later this month. And speaking of Legacy (and reprints) the third volume of the series, Wanted: Ania Solo, is now in trade.
The Dark Horse license is winding down… On Wednesday comes the second-to-last issue of Legacy, #17, along with The Star Wars collected in both paperback and hardcover.
Meanwhile, our next big book release is, I guess, a bunch of Rebels stuff on July 21, including Star Wars Rebels: The Visual Guide. (I’m not sure if the street dates on DK stuff are particularly strict, so you may be seeing these sooner. May.) John Jackson Miller’s Rebels prequel novel, A New Dawn, is due out September 2, and his Kenobi will be out in paperback on July 29.
Well, now that we’ve got had our first look at a new/old upcoming comic, let’s see what you can actually pick up this week…
Today, send your eBook reader of choice to your eBook retailer of choice to download the free sampler containing previews of all four of Del Rey’s announced upcoming books. It gives us our first look at John Jackson Miller’s A New Dawn, James Luceno’s Tarkin, Kevin Hearne’s Heir to the Jedi and Paul Kemp’s Lords of the Sith. I skimmed it last night, and let’s just say that ‘underwhelmed’ seems to be the word of the day…
Meanwhile, comic readers will have Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir #3, the second-to-last issue, waiting for them on Wednesday.
Head to the comic shop (or digital equivalent) on Wednesday for Star Wars #19, the second to last issue of the series.