Star Wars out this week: The Rise of Skywalker is just days away!

It’s movie week! The Rise of Skywalker will have the official premiere tonight in Hollywood, and debut throughout the rest of the world Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

But first up, let’s look at the comics that are dropping here in the U.S. on Wednesday, December 18. There’s The Rise of Kylo Ren #1 and Empire Ascendent from Marvel, plus Star Wars Adventures #29 from IDW.

Then in addition to the movie, Friday, December 20 brings Pablo Hidalgo’s The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary. We usually get the art book here as well, but The Art of Rise of Skywalker has been pushed back to spring.

Josh Gad is still after Daisy Ridley’s Star Wars secrets and more Rise of Skywalker news

The latest The Rise of Skywalker spot features a new shot of Leia – with Rose Tico, Dominic Monaghan’s Beaumont Kin and Snap Wexley in the background.


Josh Gad takes his pestering of Daisy Ridley full corporate with the help of a chorus line full of Disney stars – including Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk and even John Boyega – but she doesn’t break. Again.

Continue reading “Josh Gad is still after Daisy Ridley’s Star Wars secrets and more Rise of Skywalker news”

Who’s writing The Rise of Skywalker novelization, Zahn has a new Thrawn trilogy and more Star Wars book and comic news out of NYCC

A number of notable fiction announcements came out of today’s Lucasfilm Publishing panel at New York Comic-Con: An author you’ll probably recognize has nabbed the next novelization, Timothy Zahn is writing a new trilogy that will feature Thrawn, and Marvel is indeed relaunching their main Star Wars title to pick up after ESB.

Continue reading “Who’s writing The Rise of Skywalker novelization, Zahn has a new Thrawn trilogy and more Star Wars book and comic news out of NYCC”

Writer Charles Soule on his Rise of Kylo Ren comic

Writer Charles Soule talked about The Rise of Kylo Ren – the four-issue comic that will give us some background on Kylo and the Knights of Ren – at Fan Expo Toronto, as documented by CBR.

“You know, Ben Solo is tragic,” Soule said. “The potential of him from the day he was born, everyone around him saw or thought they saw what he could be. So he was put in all these different paths, and we’ve kind of seen how that’s gone wrong in the films so far. This is a story about Ben Solo, understanding some of the choices he made.”

Soule also talks about getting some points of The Rise of Skywalker and working with the Lucasfilm Story Group. He also spoke more extensively with SWNN about all his Star Wars work so far.

But for those looking for more Kylo specifically, and of something a lot closer at hand, StarWars.com has a preview of Age Of Resistance: Kylo Ren, which involves Kylo… Negotiating? Uh-oh. It’s out next week, though Kylo also plays major parts in the Hux and Snoke issues, which are available now.

The first issue of The Rise of Kylo Ren will be out December 4 – the only issue expected before The Rise of Skywalker drops on December 20.

First preview pages for Marvel’s Allegiance, which bridges the Rise of Skywalker gap

Get a first look inside Marvel’s upcoming Allegiance miniseries – their first entry in the Journey to The Rise of Skywalker – from Jedi Bibliothek. The pages – featuring Rey, Leia, Rose and Finn – are from the latest issue of Diamond’s Previews catalog and lack text.

We’ll likely get a more extensive preview closer to the issue’s release. Allegiance #1 is out October 9, followed by #2 on October 16, #3 on October 23 and #4 on October 30. The trade collection is expected in December.

PREVIOUSLY: Kylo and the Knights of Ren are getting an origin comic and more SDCC book news.

On another hotly anticipated The Rise of Skywalker tie-in note, during an impromptu Twitter Q&A last week, writer Charles Soule said that only the first issue of The Rise of Kylo Ren will be out before the film – which could mean Wednesday, December 18, if they come out weekly ala Allegiance. (Which isn’t a guarantee.) That would put the first issue on shelves the same week as the movie, and just in time to be sold alongside the artbook and Visual Dictionary, which are out with the film on the 20th. But that’s just a guess – we’ll have to wait for the December solicitations before we know for sure.

However, be aware that release dates for comics this far out have been known to change – not as frequently as they did back in the Dark Horse days, but it’s not unknown. (That’s one reason I don’t note them on the upcoming releases page, and only do release posts off Diamond’s shipping list.)