New Star Wars books and comics announced at SDCC 2018

With SDCC 2018 coming to a close, it’s very easy to miss out on all the news of what’s coming out for the following year. With trailers, panels, giveaways, and surprise appearances it’s easy to miss out on some key news for your favorite geek franchise. Star Wars is no exception, with the announcement of Clone Wars dominating the Force at SDCC, it’s easy to miss out on the latest publishing news for the Star Wars franchise. Here’s a small break down of some key news regarding the expanding universe through comics and various literature.

Book-wise, no other book has met such anticipation like Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn. Those lucky enough to go to SDCC this year were able to purchase copies of the Thrawn: Alliances with a variant cover. It was a SDCC exclusive for the next book by Timothy Zahn looking at the relationship between Thrawn and Vader. Even more interesting, we will get to see a young Anakin meet a young Thrawn during the early days of the republic Clone Wars. In a quote from Zahn, himself, the book will delve into the “trust” the emperor has in his talented officer Thrawn. The novel is now on-sale.

“Part of it in this one is a question of whether Thrawn is completely loyal to him (Palpatine), a question Darth Vader also has.” – Starwars.com @ SDCC 2018
An interesting note is that the character of Darth Vader will also be explored as Zahn will delve into the core theme of the Vader character did Darth Vader truly destroy his past self, Anakin Skywalker.

“But also a question of, Vader has a past, as we all know, and has Vader completely disassociated himself from Anakin Skywalker and the Jedi.” Starwars.com @ SDCC 2018.

Thawn: Alliances looks to be a strong addition to the Star Wars canon and should be a must for any book collector of the Star Wars library. However, not to be out done, Disney Lucas Press and publisher Del Rey announced three other book titles of note.

 

Solo: A Star Wars Story Novelization looks to add more to the overall story. Mur Lafferty will be adding more story to the feature film by adding scenes from an alternate version of the script. The goal by doing this was to add more depth to the character of Han Solo. Any fan of the film should not miss out on this novelization.

Disney Lucas Press announced the novel Queen’s Shadow by E.K. Johnston will give more detail into the rise of Amidala from Queen to Senator. The novel is said to be an in-depth look into the inner politics of the Republic Senate. The book also will detail the reason why Amidala shifted her title from Queen to Senator. The book sounds like it will be a must read for any fan of political intrigue and coming off her last book based on Ahsoka, E.K. Johnston looks to add more influence on another beloved female character in the Star Wars Universe.

Finally, book-wise, Del Rey announced that early 2019 we will have Star Wars: Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray. The Book has no title cover as of yet, however, some details of the book have been released. The story will be about Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi before the events in Phantom Menace. From all accounts this could be similar to the popular Sith Lords novel where the focus was on Palpatine and Vader and their relationship as master and apprentice.

More publishing news came from Marvel Comics and IDW publishing in regards to the Star Wars comics universe. Various titles were announced but some of the highlights from the panel included the announcements of titles such as Star Wars: Tales of Vader’s Castle from IDW publishing and Age of Republic, Rebellion, and Resistance from Marvel Comics.

IDW publishing’s Star Wars: Tales of from Vader’s Castle is said to be a light-hearted take on the Star Wars universe in the vein of the old classic horror comics from the golden age. Each issue is going to be a singular story of wayward travelers findings themselves on a certain planet where a certain Sith Lord resides. It will be a 5 issue mini series that will star various familiar faces in the Star Wars universe.

On a more serious side of the comic universe, Marvel announced a new series of Star Wars comics that will feature duel comics that will each focus around certain characters. This epic Marvel Comics event starts in December with Age of Republic: Qui-Gon #1 and Age of Republic: Darth Maul #1.

The series looks to be a major event as Marvel is putting alot toward the following series. Jody Houser, Greg Pak, and Tom Talor will be each dealing with a series that will be in the “Age” setting. Jody Houser will be helming Age of the Republic. Greg Pak will be writing for Age of Rebellion. Tom Taylor will be helming Age of Resistance. Each series will be featuring a hero story and a parallel villain story. Jody Houser gave some details on the series, “It’s going to be four months, eight issues, each month is going to have a hero story and a villain story. The following release order will be, Qui Gon Jinn and Darth Maul; Obi Wan Kenobi and Jango Fett; Anakin Skywalker and Count Dooku; and finally Padme and General Grevious.”

There were no detail about Age of Rebellion and Age of Resistance’s cast but we can expect an epic take on the relationship between certain hero and villain pairings in the Star Wars universe.

Overall, SDCC this year has had excellent moments for Star Wars fans and has proven once again that San Diego Comic Con will always be a major source for Star Wars news. George Lucas has always had a soft spot for the Comic Con dating back to his early days with the original trilogy and it looks like that tradition will carry on with Lucasfilm and Disney. May the force be with us all always…