This won’t come as a huge surprise for you guys, but two of Walt Disney’s companies Lucas film Ltd and Marvel Entertainment will joining forces to bring new Star Wars adventures to readers throughout the galaxy, with it being announced today that Marvel have been granted exclusive rights to create and publish Star Wars comics and graphic novels beginning in 2015.
The agreement marks a homecoming for the Star Wars comic books as it was Marvel Comics who published the first Star Wars comic book, STAR WARS #1, in March 1977, which went on to sell more than 1 million copies! Marvel Comics published its STAR WARS series for nine years, however, in 1991, Dark Horse Comics took over the license, publishing fan-favorite titles like Dark Empire and Star Wars: Legacy. Last year, Dark Horse released The Star Wars #1, an adaptation of George Lucas’ original rough-draft screenplay for the film, garnering rave reviews and national media attention and ranking among the top-selling Star Wars comics of all time.
Carol Roeder, director of Lucasfilm franchise publishing, was very complimentary of Dark Horse, saying that: “Dark Horse Comics published exceptional Star Wars comics for over 20 years, and we will always be grateful for their enormous contributions to the mythos, and the terrific partnership that we had.”
Dark Horse seemed less thrilled about Disney’s decision, as you may expect. Their founder, Mike Richardson, said: “All things come to pass. So too, do all licensed deals. I am sad to report that Disney, the new owner of Lucasfilm, has notified us here at Dark Horse of their intention to move the Star Wars publishing license to another of their recent acquisitions, Marvel Comics, beginning in 2015. This will end a partnership that has lasted more than two decades.” Certainly, Mike Richardson sounds hurt by Disney’s decision and for good reason, as he says: “For those who are new to the industry, Dark Horse revolutionized the treatment of comics based on films. After a history of movie properties being poorly handled with little regard for execution and continuity, Dark Horse took a new approach, carefully choosing licenses and approaching them with excitement and creative energy. Our goal was to create sequels and prequels to the films we loved, paying careful attention to quality and detail, essentially treating those films as though they were our own […] It is ironic that this announcement comes at a time when Dark Horse is experiencing its most successful year ever.”
How will Marvel handle the franchise when they take over? So far all we know is that the series planned for release in 2015 will focus on the adventures of Luke, Han, Leia and Chewbacca. With this in mind we’d guess the comics will bridge the gaps between the end of the last movie (episode 6) and episode 7, but we’re just guessing of course.
MTV had interesting thoughts on what the future, beyond the movie seven related comics could be. In an article on their site responding to Marvel and Dark Horse’s comments they suggested that this could open up possibilities for crossover events that will “make the brain of any hardcore fan melt in either pure joy or sheer rage.”
Of course, it has happened before… Crossovers that is. XMen characters have run into Star Trek characters, Superman has run into Aliens, Batman into Predators; so it isn’t all that farfetched as a suggestion of a possibility. As MTV say, the explanation required is usually as simple as the opening of ‘an inter-dimensional portal’. I share the view that a Boba Fett vs Iron Man duel is something we all need to see.
As MTV conclude, the world of Jedis and bounty hunters is an exciting one to play around in, and Marvel’s got some great storytellers who will be relishing the opportunity to do just that.
Jennie Ivins