Welcome Aboard The Millenium Falcon!
This is an exciting time for Star Wars fans once again! We’ve had a new movie just wrapping up at the theatres. We have access to a new streaming service with the Star Wars fan in mind in Disney+. That same service gave us an excellent first series in The Mandalorian. That series is already scheduled for a second season. We even have a Star Wars MMO, Star Wars The Old Republic, which has seen huge revitalized interest!
With all that in mind, welcome to the first of a regular column that plans to discuss anything related to the Star Wars universe. We’ll be discussing trends, comic books, games, TV shows, toys, movies, etc.
We settled on the column name “The Datacronicles” for a couple of reasons. The title is based on the Star Wars lore object “datacron”. According to Wookiepedia datacrons “…were devices for the storage of information, similar to holocrons. Unlike holocrons, they did not require the Force to open. They were owned by various scholars and libraries across the galaxy.” So we figured how fitting a title it would be since we are aimed at “imparting [Star Wars] knowledge found nowhere else” (@sbford)? So with that in mind let’s make the jump to Hyperspace!
A New Hope
Some of the great Star Wars titles that came out when Marvel reacquired the franchise in 2015
Since the Star Wars comics license returned to Marvel in 2015 they’ve done an outstanding job at producing some of the best Star Wars comics ever. Several excellent titles were, and continue to be, produced and in high demand as Marvel continues to stack the “talent deck” on these titles. Early on favorites included Kieron Gillen’s “Darth Vader” title and Gillen and Jason Aaron’s excellent “Star Wars: Vader Down” crossover event. Truth be told any of these series from the revamped 2015 line have been excellent comic book fodder.
Writer/attorney Charles Soule has also seen his fair share of the newest Star Wars comic book action. Besides his currently remarkable Star Wars: The Rise Of Kylo Ren mini-series Charles has left his legacy in two other Star Wars titles. The Star Wars: Poe Dameron series which had a thirty-one issue run and the Star Wars: Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith series.
The Here And Now
Right before the holidays at the “New York Comic-Con” Marvel announced an exciting and brand new Star Wars #1 from writer Charles Soule and artist Jesus Saiz. Why is this so exciting you ask? Because this first issue takes off right where the film Empire Strikes Back leaves off. This new series has already hit local comic book stores on January 1st. If you haven’t seen it yet you can view the first panel of this issue below for a sense of where it “begins”:
The opening panel of new ongoing Star Wars title
Yes, we finally get some story (canon?) behind what happened between the Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi. From writer Charles Soule’s mind, this is the chance to answer questions like the following, in his own words, “How did Luke go from being a miserable dude with his hand cut off to being that black-uniform badass who waltzes into Jabba’s Palace with his hood up?”
Star Wars #1 2020
Not To Be Scorned!
As exciting as this title is it appears to be a piece of a bigger Star Wars comics relaunch as Darth Vader sees his third “relaunch” as well. Entitled Star Wars Darth Vader the new title hits in February of 2020.
Star Wars Darth Vader #1 2020
The title is coming from writer Greg Pak and artist Raffaele Lenco. It too will be set in the timeline after Empire Strikes Back. Hopefully, the series will answer questions like, how does Vader handle his son’s rejection of ruling the galaxy together? Does Vader attempt to sway his son a second time? etc.
Even A Gunslinger Needs To Make A Living
Star Wars Bounty Hunters #1 2020
Not to be outdone by their lightsaber-wielding compatriots, the Hunters have their say as well. Marvel also announced Star Wars: Bounty Hunters. This new ongoing series of “scum and villainy” comes in on March of 2020. This new ongoing will be handled by writer Ethan Sacks and artist Paolo Villanelli.
The series is believed to be in this same post-Empire Strikes Back timeline. The series will feature cyborg bounty hunter Beilert Valance as he “seeks revenge on mentor-turned-betrayer Nakano Lash. Lash has recently resurfaced under mysterious circumstances. But Valance isn’t the only mercenary looking for Lash, and he soon finds himself on a collision course with Boba Fett, Bossk, and a slew of new killers.”
So if you’re a Star Wars comic book fan there is no better time to be excited then now! These issues are also a great “jumping on” point as it’s assumed any Star Wars fan “worth their salt” has seen the Empire Strikes Back!
