Friday, July 19, 2013

Comic-Con: Star Wars Comics Panel Recap

star-wars-1-hastings-coverThe Star Wars comics panel was led by VP of Publishing at Dark Horse Randy Stradley, who introduced the panel featuring artists Carlos D'Anda, Doug Wheatley, Gabriel Hardman, Gabe Eltaeb, Brian Thies, and writers Corina Bechko and Zack Giallongo.

Dawn of the Jedi is leading up to its next 5-issue arc called Force Wars. In it, Zesh has joined the Jedi in the defense of Typhon against the Rakata. “They're fighting Flesh Raiders who kill you and eat you, or something just eat you,” said Stradley. He also teased that Zesh will finally realize who has been manipulating him all this time.

Stradley is writing Dark Times and he said that he has finished the Fire Carrier series and now the Spark Remains is beginning. Artist Wheatley said, “This has been one of my favorites simply because Jennir learns about Darth Vader. That's all I can say about that. We've been building this in Dark Times. It's going to be an amazing run. Vader gets hit butt kicked. Kinda. Maybe.”

Stradley teased the upcoming arc of the Star Wars series by Brian Wood and D'Anda, saying that Luke and Wedge sneak aboard a Star Destroyer on a secret mission while Leia takes off on her own to visithe remains of Alderran. Leia will make an amazing and terrifying discovery there. New series Star Wars: Ewoks got talked up by its writer, Giallongo, who said the first arc is called Shadows of Endor and will feature the Ewoks living in Ragtree Village. It will include Ewoks from both the movies and the cartoon series. The story will show how they respond to the presence of the Empire and also how that affects their feud with a rival group of Ewoks.

Hardman spoke about Star Wars: Legacy, saying that it's full of conspiracy and action. He emphasized that even though it's set in the future, they try hard to make it have that classic Star Wars feel about it. Stradley added that when he got to the end of Hardman's arc, he got a little teary eyed.

Announced earlier this year, Dark Horse will be putting out The Star Wars based on George Lucas' original script. “It's familiar but alien,” Stradley said. “Alderran is the capital of the Empire. Darth Vader is not a Sith.”

The crowd was then given a special treat as Stradley played two short trailers for The Star Wars, which showed off colorful artwork and the new character designs, including a particularly eye-catching alien lizard version of Han Solo. The crowd responded enthusiastically with cheers and applause.

When the panel opened up the floor for fan questions, they were of course asked about how the acquisition of Star Wars by Disney (who also owns the rights to publisher Marvel Comics) would affect business. The answer was that they were unsure and were expecting to find out the fate of their Star Wars license by the end of the year. However, Dark Horse will continue to publish Star Wars comics through 2014.

Joshua writes for IGN. If Pokemon, Game of Thrones, or Green Lantern are frequently used words in your vocabulary, then you’ll want to follow him on Twitter and IGN.


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