Marvel Gets Exclusive Rights to Publish Star Wars Comics in 2015. Dark Horse Will No Longer be Involved.

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Marvel Comics were the first to publish a Star Wars comic book back in 1977. Now it’s been officially announced that Star Wars comics will again be published by Marvel, after a break of almost 25 years…


From StarWars.com:

The Walt Disney Company’s Lucasfilm Ltd. and Marvel Entertainment are joining forces to bring new Star Wars adventures to readers across the galaxy, with Marvel 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. Marvel Comics 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. 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. 

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“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,” said Carol Roeder, director of Lucasfilm franchise publishing, Disney Publishing Worldwide. “In 2015, the cosmic adventures of Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca will make the lightspeed jump back to Marvel, to begin a new age of adventures within the Star Wars universe.”

“We here at Marvel could not be more excited to continue the publication of Star Wars comic books and graphic novels,” said Marvel worldwide publisher and president, Dan Buckley. “The perennial brand of Star Wars is one of the most iconic in entertainment history and we are honored to have the opportunity to bring our creative talent pool to continue, and expand Star Wars into galaxies far, far away.”

“We’re incredibly excited by this next chapter in the Star Wars saga,” said Andrew B. Sugerman, executive vice president of Disney Publishing Worldwide. “Bringing together the iconic Lucasfilm and Marvel brands to tell new stories will allow us to continue to thrill lovers of the original Star Wars comic books and entertain generations to come.”

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Also here’s Dark Horse’s official statement on the subject (via JediNews):

“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. 

“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. Star Wars has been the crown jewel of this approach. We began chasing the title as far back as 1989, and with the launch of Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy’s Dark Empire, a new era in comics was born. I’m not ashamed to admit that we were Star Wars geeks, and we have been determined to spare neither effort nor expense in the pursuit of excellence. 

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 “It is ironic that this announcement comes at a time when Dark Horse is experiencing its most successful year ever. For obvious reasons, we have prepared for this eventuality by finding new and exciting projects to place on our schedule for 2015 and beyond. Will they take the place of Star Wars? That’s a tall order, but we will do our best to make that happen. In the meantime, 2014 may be our last year at the helm of the Star Wars comics franchise, but we plan to make it a memorable one. We know that fans of the franchise will expect no less. The Force is with us still.” 

Mike Richardson  

Website | + posts

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.

Born on April 24, 1980.

Val Trichkov (Viral Hide)

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

10 thoughts on “Marvel Gets Exclusive Rights to Publish Star Wars Comics in 2015. Dark Horse Will No Longer be Involved.

  • January 3, 2014 at 9:41 pm
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    It’s sad, but all things must come to past. I’m just hoping Marvel does a better job than the last time they were given the rights to make Star Wars comics…

    • January 3, 2014 at 9:43 pm
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      I’m gonna miss The Star Wars. That was an awesome idea for a series and it was done very well.

    • January 3, 2014 at 9:46 pm
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      You mean back when “movie properties [were] being poorly handled with little regard for execution and continuity”?

      Yeah, I hope they do a lot better with SW this time around too. ;^)

  • January 3, 2014 at 10:08 pm
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    Well, it was either this or Disney acquiring Dark Horse. The Mouse likes everything to be done in-house!

  • January 3, 2014 at 10:55 pm
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    Im now thinking that big green bunny probably will get a cameo in the new rebels.

  • January 4, 2014 at 2:11 am
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    If Marvel is planning on rebooting the comics, then maybe Dark Horse should write some crazy storylines for 2014. Like……Luke kills all his friends just for kicks.

    • January 5, 2014 at 10:44 pm
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      Thanks, some recycled stuff can be cool. Hope some Tad and Bink comics resurface.

  • January 4, 2014 at 8:37 pm
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    i grew up with Marvel’s SW, and i loved them. nothing against Dark Horse, i did not read a lot of their SW work, but what i did read was great…except i did not care for their handling of Brian Daley’s Han Solo @ Star’s End. I thought that it was awfully drawn and the storyline changed for whatever strange reason. It was like they were forced to do it without really caring for the story at all. Other than that, hate to see Dark Horse go, but at the same time i am looking forward to SW going back to Marvel that took me to that galaxy far, far away so long ago…here’s hoping to a great future comic.-prymal

  • August 26, 2014 at 3:54 am
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    FUCKING CRACK!

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