Ever since the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, I knew
that the Star Wars license would go to Marvel Comics eventually. It makes
sense; Disney also owns Marvel Comics. Back in, I think, December it was announced
that the license would revert to Marvel either in 2014 or 2015 (I’m still not
clear on that).
Then Dark Horse Comics went back to basics for their new
Star Wars title by Brian Wood was announced – then I read it – and I couldn’t
imagine a better book at another company. The new Star Wars series is fantastic
and I can’t wait to get two years into it and reread them.
Dark Horse Comics announced this week, on April Fools’ Day
no less, that they were publishing a book based on Lucas’ original screenplay
for Star Wars. The series will be titled, “The Star Wars” because that was the
title of the original screenplay and the first issue is scheduled to come out
this September. As someone who’s seen those concept action figures that Hasbro
put out a few years ago, I know the original script and the final script were
very different and I’m excited to see what could have been.
According to NBC
New York: “Written in 1974, the original draft of what ultimately became
the epic franchise's first screenplay is quite a different adventure than the
one from the galaxy far, far away that was immortalized on screen. Luke
Skywalker is an older Jedi general, while charismatic smuggler Han Solo is a
lizard-type alien. The story’s main protagonist is named Annikin Starkiller.”
I know that it makes good business sense to not license your
property out and to create new stories in-house, but I’m good to miss Star Wars
being done by Dark Horse Comics. There was a time when there was nothing new
that was Star Wars – no action figures, no novels, nothing. Then came that
first great Timothy Zahn novel, then a line of re-sculpted action figures (that
were unrealistically buff but the fans were super excited because they hadn’t
seen anything Star Wars in a long time), and then Star Wars re-exploded into
pop culture. And Dark Horse Comics was in the mix publishing new stories and
giving the fans something to look forward to every month.
As a fan, I just need to sit back and really enjoy the last
few years of Dart Horse Comics’ books. And I have to keep in mind that Marvel
Comics has access to a lot of great writers and artists who are probably
chomping at the bit to get a hold of Star Wars and put their mark on it. Now
that Episode 7 will be made and released in a few years, there’s a great
opportunity to dig into the story of those characters and to keep creating new
characters.
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