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.

Kimmel’s Rise of Skywalker show set for Monday, the score (and titles) are out, and other news

Jimmy Kimmel’s traditional pre-Star Wars episode is getting the prime-time treatment for this round. Jimmy Kimmel Live After Darth: A Star Wars Special will air Monday, December 16 at 10:00 p.m. EST and feature J.J. Abrams and cast members Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Naomi Ackie, Kelly Marie Tran and Keri Russell.


The Rise of Skywalker (Trailer #2)

Here’s what Disney wants awards voters to consider for The Rise of Skywalker.

SPOILER WARNING: Also up is John Williams’ score. While the link has no track titles, they were in the metadata and have been named elsewhere. There’s nothing quite on the level of ‘Qui-Gon’s Noble End’, but if you’re particularly spoiler-averse, please avoid all the usual suspects. (And I wouldn’t listen to the audio, either.) If you’re not, you probably don’t need me to say they’re on Reddit, but… They’re on Reddit. Thus endth anything that could be considered a spoiler.

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Star Wars out this week: The last Doctor Aphra (until spring)

Two brand new comics and a trade collection are dropping on Wednesday, December 11. The big one here is Doctor Aphra #40, closing out Marvel’s first original character Star Wars series. (Don’t worry, she’ll be back in April with an all-new creative team.) There’s also Target: Vader #6. You can preview both issues at StarWars.com.

If you’re a trade reader, Aphra Volume 6 collects the ‘Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon’ arc.

We can expect at least two more comics before The Rise of Skywalker drops – the Star Wars: Empire Ascendant wrap-up issue, and The Rise of Kylo Ren #1. Both are on the shipping list for next week.

As for future releases, we’re not seeing many books until The Rise of Skywalker comes out – but there is a fairly solid rumor making the rounds that The Art of Rise of Skywalker has been pushed back to spring. Personally, I don’t mind – I hate that the earliest releases have to dance around movie spoilers so things don’t leak – but I also really enjoy the art books so adding a few more months is a bit irritating. It’s still being listed as coming out the 20th at the moment, but I don’t find this terribly implausible so we’ll see how things fall in the next few days.

Into the gap: Journey to the Rise of Skywalker books revealed

For May 4, StarWars.com has revealed the Journey to The Rise of Skywalker publishing slate. And this time, with a gap between films, we actually get several novels focusing on sequel trilogy characters.

From Del Rey, that means a new-to-Star Wars author, Rebecca Roanhorse, taking on Resistance Reborn, and Justina Ireland (Lando’s Luck) with the middle-grade Spark of the Resistance. Cavan Scott and Elsa Charretier also return with Choose Your Destiny: A Finn & Poe Adventure. From Marvel, there’s Allegiance, a miniseries involving Leia and the Mon Calamari. (Go into the galleries for more detail.)

It’s not in the gap, though: Kevin Shinick, another new-to-Star Wars author, has Force Collector, starring a “restless teenager” on Jakku prior to The Force Awakens.

Spark of the Resistance and A Finn & Poe Adventure are first out on October 4; The four-issue Allegiance begins October 9 and drops weekly through the 30th; Resistance Reborn is out November 12 and Force Collector on November 19.

For our nonfiction and reference offerings, we’ve got the same basic template we’ve seen since TFA. Phil Szostak’s The Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Pablo Hidalgo’s The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary are both due out the same day as the film: December 20.

A movie novelization isn’t expected until spring. There’s more of the usual kid stuff and sticker books at StarWars.com.