Worlds on Pages: Keeping Up with Canon Star Wars Comics and Books

star-wars-booksThe Star Wars publishing world is about to kick into full-gear this fall.  Since the newly declared canon came into place, we have seen sporadic releases of canon novels.

 

 

The Rebels-era novel, A New Dawn, got the party started.  It should be noted there were also some young adult novels that expanded on a few Rebelsevents as well.  Those were followed in October with Tarkin, actually preluding A New Dawn in the timeline.  Heir to the Jedi, a sole Luke Skywalker adventure set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, is the latest novel to be published.  In the coming weeks, we will see the publication of Lords of the Sith, thus completing our first initial run of new, official canon novels.  A sample reader sent out an eBook sampler last year, which included excerpts from the four novels mentioned above.  That is why they are being referred to as the first-run of Del Rey novels.  The newly released timeline below helps you place where these novels fit in with existing films, as well as the upcoming July release of Clone Wars-era, Dark Disciple, and a peculiar placement of Battlefront, which is speculated to be a novel coinciding with events in the much anticipated video game.

 

 

Marvel Comics Creates Star Wars Comic Books

 

In comic book world, Marvel is approaching the publication of four issues in each of three different series:  Star Wars, Darth Vader, and Princess Leia.  Last week,Kanan:  The Last Padawan debuted, which so far is scheduled for a five-issue run.

 

It might look like a lot of reading at first, but so far the publishing bodies of Del Rey and Marvel have spread out the publication dates to give the casual reader breathing room between novels and comics.  That is about to change, starting this fall.  Star Wars literature fans had best catch up and make room on their bookshelves and eReaders, because up until the release of The Force Awakens, you are going to have all the reading you can handle.

 

 

aftermath

 

From the titles we are aware of so far, it is assumed more will be announced to fill the gap between July’s Dark Disciple and September.  The beginning of September kicks off with a bang with Aftermath.  The story takes place immediately after Return of the Jedi, and from the summary, readers are going to see what the remaining forces of the Empire do to regroup after the Battle of Endor.  The opening statements of the description are interesting, specifically the “the Emperor and his powerful enforcer, Darth Vader, are rumored to be dead.”  Sounds like the Imperials will be in the dark about what happened in the Emperor’s throne room on the Death Star.  The publication date is also shared with Lost Stars, a young adult novel that is a love story between two unknown characters taking place in the original trilogy era, but must somehow tie-in to The Force Awakens, as it falls under the banner all the books coming out in and after September, Journey To The Force Awakens.

 

Three other young adult novels covering our heroes adventures between episodes join the September 4th party:  Smuggler’s Run (Han Solo), The Weapon of a Jedi (Luke Skywalker), and Moving Target(Princess Leia).  Each novel will most likely cover a pivotal point in a character’s life that somehow relates to where we will find them inThe Force Awakens.  We already discovered this week that the Luke Skywalker novel will show us his first lightsaber duel.  Despite falling under the young adult category, all of the authors penning these defy the genre young adult, and readers should count on just as much good reading as they would had they not be labeled as such.

 

shattered empire

 

To compliment Aftermath, we get Marvel’s Shattered Empire, which we can assume will be covering the same period as Aftermath, but tailored more specifically to be told from our hero’s point of view.  All we have to go off of is the cover art announcement from Marvel, which shows all our familiar heroes smiling in the glow of victory after the Battle of Endor.  The title is much more ominous, so it’s most likely not going to be a tale of grins and giggles for everyone involved.  So far, Marvel has done a fantastic job of publishing the new canon series, it’s safe to count on them continuing their good work.  This issue will be a must-read for everyone involved, and you should look forward to getting your hands on it in September as well.

 

There you have the new literary novels, released and yet-to-be released, that you can count on.  It should be noted that you can order and pre-order almost all of these books on Amazon, so if you want to have a giant box of every reading material you need delivered to your front door in September, that’s not a bad option.  Otherwise, make sure to visit your local bookstores and comic book stores on the day.  Novice comic book readers should take note that if you want a physical copy of any issue Shattered Empire, it might not be a bad idea to let your local comic book store know that so they can set one aside for you on the release date.  Those are going to fly off the shelves.

 

 

star-wars-canon

 

We will be covering any ongoing announcements and information about new Star Wars books or comics.  For additional coverage, the impressive site, Jedi Bibliothek, is an incredible resource.  They have a much more complete timeline, including all Clone Wars and prequel materials that are canon.  Count us reporting any new information about known titles or ones on their way to publication, as well as where they may fit into the new canon.  Until then, turn on your reading lamps or fire up your eReaders, because we fans have plenty to tide us over until December.

 

+ posts

Kyle Larson lives in Portland, Oregon. When he's not running trails, he's reading and writing.

Kyle Larson

Kyle Larson lives in Portland, Oregon. When he's not running trails, he's reading and writing.

59 thoughts on “Worlds on Pages: Keeping Up with Canon Star Wars Comics and Books

  • April 12, 2015 at 7:29 pm
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    Heard anything about the release date of the TFA novelization other than the rumored date of January 2016?

  • April 12, 2015 at 7:41 pm
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    With Celebration 5 days away, I’m shocked there aren’t any new trailer descriptions or leaked information.

    • April 12, 2015 at 7:51 pm
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      I hope it stays that way honestly. It’s only a few days away. I don’t mind waiting for a few days to see all the goodies that they will release.

  • April 12, 2015 at 8:05 pm
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    I do hope Aftermath reveals the reason why Lando’s not going to appear in TFA. Is he dead by that time, is he being held prisoner somewhere, is he off on some mission, tell us!!

    • April 12, 2015 at 8:15 pm
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      Maybe he’ll pop up in the movie as a surprise!

      • April 13, 2015 at 9:44 pm
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        Ahh cool film

    • April 12, 2015 at 9:23 pm
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      I doubt he’s dead. BDW said in an interview that he was almost definitely going to be in episode 8, though nothing is confirmed yet. Not sure why he’s not in this film (unless he is and its a surprise). Maybe hes run of with some lady scoundrel or is preoccupied running Cloud City.

      • April 12, 2015 at 9:44 pm
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        Would make sense if he did turn up in EP8 as he didn’t appear until the second movie of the OT, so hopefully he’ll do the same in this new trilogy.

        • April 13, 2015 at 3:24 am
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          It’s a damn shame how the ONE minority character from the OT is being teased for a POSSIBLE cameo in either VII or VIII. Meanwhile, it’s well known that a bunch of white OT characters/actors are guaranteed spots in VII. They even tried bringing back Wedge. :/

          As a black man, Lando was MY “Han Solo”. Billy even resorted to begging to get a cameo. SMH.

          • April 13, 2015 at 7:32 pm
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            Looks like Boyega here is one of the new “big three” and im excited to see him. im pretty confident billy dee’s exclusion from ep7 is story based, not any biased. im a geeky white dude, and i looooved lando as a kid back in 80. i thought holy crap theres someone even cooler and smoother than han!

            I think star wars is just the opposite of racial biased. we have aliens, humans, people of all nationalities. and i really think boyega is gonna knock it out of the park.

            all good.

          • April 13, 2015 at 8:14 pm
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            It just doesn’t look right for Disney to go out of its way to bring back:

            – Harrison Ford
            – Mark Hamill
            – Carrie Fisher
            – Peter Mayhew
            – Anthony Daniels
            – Kenny Baker
            – Warwick Davis
            etc.

            They even tried bringing back Denis Lawson, a glorified extra, but we don’t get a peep regarding the ONE non-white actor/character in the ENTIRE ORIGINAL TRILOGY? And fans just excuse it with “Well, we wouldn’t want to crowd VII with a bunch of older characters”?

            And what does Boyega have to do with Billy Dee? That’s like excusing Harrison not being in VII because we have Daisy.

          • April 13, 2015 at 8:24 pm
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            Another thing. As an OT fan, I want to see the entire original cast reunite on screen in VII, for at least one scene at the end. What’s going to happen if Han dies in VII and Lando doesn’t show up until VIII?

          • April 14, 2015 at 11:24 am
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            You can invert the image at the end of Jedi.
            Otherwise, Lando maybe a clone that did not age, for all we know.
            Perhaps he is dead and will be a CG character in another film.
            He may get mentioned as having died in a battle like that of Tanab.

  • April 12, 2015 at 8:32 pm
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    I’ll admit that I haven’t really been keeping up too much with the canon/non-canon issue. I’ll also admit that I just sort of skimmed this article. I was wondering if anyone could answer for me whether Shadows of the Empire, set between ESB & ROTJ, is still considered canon? I assume it’s not since it wasn’t in that list above.

    • April 12, 2015 at 8:41 pm
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      Not as of now. Although I would like there to be more stories from this period between Empire and Jedi. Even though if it’s only a year gap.

      • April 12, 2015 at 9:11 pm
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        less, around six months

        • April 13, 2015 at 2:01 pm
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          Return of the Jedi

          Chronological information
          Timeline
          4 years after Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope; 1 year after Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back

          • April 13, 2015 at 3:08 pm
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            I really wish they’d bring Shadows of the Empire (set in this period) into official canon. I have a feeling that come September on, post ROTJ will be the typical era for new media. Up until then we have the 3 yrs between ANH and ESB to cover. I would be fine if they just left the year between ESB and ROTJ alone and brought SOTE into canon as the official story set in that period.

  • April 12, 2015 at 9:02 pm
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    I love all the new stuff coming out, but is it just me or are the periods between TPM-AOTC and TESB-ROTJ really cruicial yet lacking areas? I mean, TPM-AOTC is 10 YEARS. There’s gotta be some stuff.

    • April 12, 2015 at 11:31 pm
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      They’ll get to it eventually, it’s just not important right now. The reason that they’re focusing on The Clone Wars and the Original Trilogy so much is because they want to release the material they had left for the show, and because there are more ties to the Original Trilogy and the Sequel Trilogy than there are for the Prequel Trilogy and the Sequel Trilogy, respectively.

  • April 12, 2015 at 9:10 pm
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    Even though all of this is labeled canon… anyone else having trouble feeling like they are actually canon? I mean I have the most trouble with comics… just because comics are almost always rewritten and retold.

    They always feel like alternative universes where things could have happened this way but the true happenings will always be a mystery.

    Trust me I totally get it’s probably a personal thing. Just wondering if anyone else felt this way? Also want to point out it doesn’t effect my enjoyment level. If it’s good, it’s good!

    • April 12, 2015 at 9:31 pm
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      No I totally agree. Particularly in the comics when luke actually confronts vader BEFORE empire strikes back and we didn’t know about it? It could have happened that way, but everything feels very retconned. Don’t get me wrong- For the most part I love all the new novels and TV etc. But no matter what anyone says none of the spin-off material will never quite be the same level of ‘canon’ as the feature films in my mind. Thats why I enjoyed the previous EU idea of cannon “levels”. I can’t visualize some of the new young reader kid stories to have the same canon authority as the empire strikes back.

      • April 12, 2015 at 10:04 pm
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        Ah yes. Spot on. Exactly what I meant. I also agree they are enjoyable. Yet there is this disconnection.

      • April 13, 2015 at 3:19 pm
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        Truth be told, the Story Group (the guys in charge of making sure all new material fits into canon without contradictions of previous canon material) have a daunting task ahead of them. Maybe not so much now, but what about in five years when we have not a handful but a hundred or more comics, dozens of novels, etc? The more time goes by, the harder it will be to keep things in line while still giving the authors/filmmakers the freedom they need to make a compelling story. I foresee an eventual return to the levels of canon that the EU had, with some stories being more essential than others…either that or they will eventually start writing new Legends material to allow for these differences (by that I mean claiming up front that they may not be official canon). The saving grace of the SW universe is its massive size and span. If they make a real effort to spread out these stories, covering every era from the Old Republic (4000+ years before ANH) to the Legacy Era set many years after the OT, they may be able to pull this off while maintaining good story-telling. There is a lot of time to cover in SW, but there are only so many stories to be told in the 3 year span between ANH and ESB before they have to move on to avoid contradictions and flat stories. I’m excited about this era in SW fandom though, and I’m holding out hope that the LFSG is up to the task.

        • April 13, 2015 at 4:32 pm
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          Totally on board with this. As long as they NEVER play the ‘multiverse’ or time-travel cards. I really really never want luke fighting time-traveling evil-clones to fix the continuity. Stuff like that works great in comics and films like X-Men, but it would really kill ANY sense of continuity I feel for these characters. Thankfully the story group seems to be too smart for that.

          Honestly if I have any concerns its more that they will play it TOO safe rather than take too many risks.

          • April 13, 2015 at 4:59 pm
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            I agree with you about the risk taking. Take a look just on the comic side. It’s different with Star Wars than with the other Marvel properties. Marvel is known for taking big risks with their stories over the years. Take the civil war story arc for example (some of the best in comic history IMO). Marvel took big risks with this story line killing off a lot of characters they had created. But just when you think you’ve read something you can’t come back from, they come up with a way to reverse it or reboot a character later on. The main characters in the Marvel Universe can face horrific game changing deaths in one issue and in a few more they are back on the scene. You can’t do that with Star Wars though, as decisions made to the overall story and characters are canon and final. This means that all risks have an impact on the franchise forever. So I too am concerned that the stories face the possibility of being stale and predictable if they are afraid to take any risks. Maybe they will surprise me though. 🙂

  • April 12, 2015 at 11:01 pm
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    I want a book on how and why Dooku turned on the Jedi and joined the sith.

    In AOTC Dooku semed Anti Sith , Anti Jedi specially when he talked to Obi Wan.

    Dooku seemed like he hated both but chose the Sith to spare his life not knowing Palpatine was going to turn on him in the future

  • April 12, 2015 at 11:30 pm
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    Unless you are 10-14 yrs. old, forget all of this stuff. It is a waste of your intellectual and emotional energy to spend so much time diddling around in this corporate entertainment “universe,” which is just like Marvel, Twilight, etc. The people producing this stuff are taking direction from suits with titles like “Director of Creative Content Strategy” and “Producer of Franchise Synergy.” These people exist to profit off of the endless, infantilizing production of nostalgia. They’ve almost killed fiction filmmaking (currently docs are the most vital form) and they want to kill literature…and then they will kill you! Don’t let them have so much of your time and money – you are getting so very little in return.

    • April 12, 2015 at 11:59 pm
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      I almost agree but I think the Windig book will be good based on his trollin’ the fans with jokes like “Greedo survived the sarlac pit”.

      It does seem like they took a lot of effort in picking out the right people for the right jobs… I guess we’ll see the results before too long.

    • April 13, 2015 at 2:50 am
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      “Unless you are 10-14 yrs. old, forget all of this stuff. It is a waste of your intellectual and emotional energy”

      I always think it’s hilarious when I read this sort of stuff. In what parallel universe does this go for the comics etc. but not the live action movies?

      • April 13, 2015 at 3:51 pm
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        It goes for the live action movies, too. But I can understand adults wanting to kick back for 2 hours and enjoy a fun film for kids…possibly with their kids. But spending hours reading dozens of books for kids, that I don’t get.

    • April 13, 2015 at 4:44 am
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      “They’ve almost killed fiction filmmaking” … thats some pretty gross hyperbole right there. Rest easy my friend, Fiction is alive and well in all its forms. Despite people harping on marvel and reboots and franchises, there is still more original content produced every day than any previous years in history.

      • April 13, 2015 at 4:07 pm
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        Yes, fiction films still get made. No age is perfect or perfectly awful. But any serious critic will tell you that mid-budget dramas for adults are an endangered species, particularly in America. They are very hard to finance and often need to be either international co-productions or have much smaller budgets. The indie film circuit produces a few decent films, but we are a long way from the intelligence of American drama in the late 60s and 70s and the vital European cinema of the postwar period.

    • April 13, 2015 at 6:14 am
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      I agree with you to some extent. What you’re saying is true from a certain point of view. But life is far more complex in order to see this as nothing more than a corporate scheme.
      Star Wars is a fun world to be and, many of us love just to see it grow and expand. It may all be a corporate scheme. But what the heck, it’s fun.

    • April 13, 2015 at 7:54 am
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      From a certain perspective I can see your point. I understand how franchising might alienate some people. (although the idea that documentaries are some how the best, most vital form of film-making is an idea so ludicrous I almost spit water out of my mouth). But the question enters my mind. Why are you here? You’re against the idea of franchising obviously, and even fictional movies (for the most part) so it seems obvious to me that you don’t like star wars, being a fictional franchise. So coming on onto this site is just baffling to me. It honestly seems like an emotional and intellectual waste of your time, pointlessly harassing a group of people you deem to be beneath you. which by the way opening an argument with ‘unless you’re 10-14 years old…’ is not only a pretentious ad-hominem attack it’s passive aggressive.

      • April 13, 2015 at 4:19 pm
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        I said that docs are the most vital form currently, not always and forever. Have you seen Leviathan? Sailing on a Sinking Sea? Citizenfour? Iraq in Fragments? The Act of Killing? Stories We Tell?

        The big film festivals, like TIFF, do carry some great fiction films. Of course it isn’t dead, yet. I do love fiction film and I am saddened by what is happening to it. It can do really great things when it is allowed to. But when I look at the docs at my local doc cinema and compare them to the stuff coming out at my local multiplex, the docs are often more compelling, inventive, and vital. I just find it sad that I have to go to huge festivals to see good fiction films. Though, I am lucky to live in a big city where I at least have that option.

        Why am I here? I loved Star Wars as a kid and still think that A New Hope and Empire are decent, fun films. So naturally I am little bit curious about what Disney and JJ Abrams are going to do with Star Wars. Like it or not, it could impact the film industry, depending on how it turns out. So I occasionally come here to see if a new trailer has come out, etc. I usually don’t go out of my way to comment. But the books thing just strikes me as strange – the idea that people are going to spend all of this time and money to read all of these in between novels. I find the interest in those awful SW animated TV shows equally puzzling. So I left an intentionally hyperbolic comment to that effect. This is the internet after all.

  • April 13, 2015 at 1:12 am
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    Lando is in episode 8. You can’t spunk all your Legacy characters in the first new episode

    • April 13, 2015 at 3:32 am
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      So squeeze all the white ones into VII but save the token for VIII?

  • April 13, 2015 at 1:49 am
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    I wonder if that whole disposal of extended universe marks a point in history. Hardly anyone can deny the fact that we live in a deficit of creativity. Sometime its easiest and refreshing to just let go, build from scratch. Like being motivated after loosing everything. Now milk a name for 50 years, simply reboot. Throw everyrhing out, start new. Juet like rebooting a computer system. Allthough rebooots are happening so interwoven. Often you feel like watching multiple reboots, simultaenously
    I also wonder if they will do different versions of same movies simultaenous, free customer experience. The one with a black lead, the other with a female. Choose your own hero!

    • April 13, 2015 at 3:24 am
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      This doesn’t count as a reboot. It’s just skimming off the crap that less than 0.5% of the audience will be aware of.

      Yes, you could keep it so that the EU fans could circlejerk to references and continuity that is broken for people who only watch the films. Or you could make a good movie.

      • April 13, 2015 at 4:13 am
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        Bingo!

      • April 14, 2015 at 11:28 am
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        Are you usually at the center of such aforementioned events?

  • April 13, 2015 at 3:30 am
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    I wonder how crowded and complex Disney’s canon will be with all those novels, video games and comics 20+ years from now.

  • April 13, 2015 at 6:42 am
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    I work for a book distributor and ordered samples of three of the upcoming novels, including Aftermath from the publisher last week, along with a bunch of other non-SW books. We get samples to consider for our catalog this time of year, so I figured it was a good opportunity to try and get these early. We don’t carry fantasy books, but I had to sneak some in there. I hope they arrive this coming week.

  • April 13, 2015 at 3:11 pm
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    all I can say is….Chewbacca lives! and possibly if they ever do put them in again….Mara Jade,Jacen Solo and Anakin Solo (or variants of them ) are still alive…potentially…..

    • April 13, 2015 at 4:21 pm
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      Yeah, I would bet dollars to doughnuts that they will all show up in the new canon with different names sooner or later. (I fear for Mara Jade’s doppelganger’s safety though considering the rumors of luke being a crazy old hermit. My guess is she is either dead or she an luke never married)

      • April 13, 2015 at 5:04 pm
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        I guess we would see Mara Jade in a quite different manner, and not being married to luke…

        • April 14, 2015 at 11:20 am
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          Well that would suck!

          When they rebooted Star Trek, they still kept close enough to the original canon, at least!

          No such luck here.

  • April 13, 2015 at 4:29 pm
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    Who the hell gives a rats ass about Canon ? I don`t. Never limit yourself have the best of all worlds. I believe what I wanna believe even if it means throwing canon in the shredder. If your creative, inventive or generally open minded write your own star wars storys in private if your enjoy it. Follow the expanded universe if your enjoy it, draw your own star wars characters if your artistic. Don`t limit yourself. This official canon stuff limits creativity and fun. Copyright ? I drop a big brown fatberg on that.

    • April 13, 2015 at 5:02 pm
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      I get your point.
      I still try to follow canon, but yet like to invent my own star wars stories. What I do is adapting those to what is supposed to be canon, wich won’t really mean that I’m limiting my immaginatio, at least from my point of view. More likely, it makes me be able to develope old EU characters and their stories however I want, afterall with the new canon media that would mean we have a very vaste empty space we could fill in.
      I currently am working on a story set between the time of rebels, episode IV and the close aftermath that stars The force unleashed characters, Darth Maul, Darth Bane, admiral Thrawn in a way that it doesn’t affect either the movies or the so-called canon, not making appear for much such principal movie characters as Vader or not featuring at all rebels. This story might even escalate the movies, showing stuff happenned around the same time you didn’t expect,
      not affecting the new canon, and still not limiting my creativity (Let’s say for example that it involves a new kind of ship we haven’t ever seen) I personally aim at doing this. Then I might work out the whole story enough well to send it to LFSG and have it canonized. Or at least give that a shot.

    • April 13, 2015 at 8:21 pm
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      I only care about canon because it affects the new movies.

  • April 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm
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    There’s a lot of new stuff coming out. I have to wonder how many issues the Marvel Shattered Empire crossover will be since Marvel is known for making their crossovers so huge. Look at Secret Wars and not tell me it will cost of hundreds of dollars to read. Greg Rucka is also one of Marvel’s few good writers compared to overused writers who have done work for them over the years like Brian Bendis, Rick Remender, Matt Fraction, and Kieron Gillen.

    • April 13, 2015 at 5:03 pm
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      Didn’t understand anything. Crossovers?
      Not a Marvel expert, all I’d read Marvel comics id for star wars…

    • April 13, 2015 at 5:32 pm
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      The Marvel Shattered Empire Series isn’t a crossover.

  • April 14, 2015 at 3:14 am
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    Any sites that post info from the books that link to the new movie.

  • April 14, 2015 at 11:49 am
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    The new timeline, was a bit disheartening when I saw it. I hope a new generation of fans enjoy it. I have the films and my imagination.
    I don’t think I want to reinvest in applying or Juxtaposing Legends and A new EU.
    I will likely follow it from a far.
    Following the films is about it.

    Now if they go way back in the timeline with fresh stories perhaps or if a specific story arc is tempting enough, but to be perfectly honest being a fan for 40 years, not much has come out that was very appealing.
    I was an EU loyalist until the New Jedi Order Legacy, even all that came before was hit or mis. Not saying it was all bad but some things run their course and run out of steam, there are jems and less than appreciated works.
    Even The Clone Wars had interesting ideas but the more you run around a time period that was preconceived in the minds of fans, the concept gets further out of hand.
    Its like a soup that too many have added to.

    • April 14, 2015 at 6:03 pm
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      This is why having a “new EU” is such a bad idea. The Hardcore fans that read the novels, already have their own cannon that has existed for 20 years. They aren’t going to read new books or be invested in a new cannon, and the casual movie audience, they erased the EU for, never had a desire to read the books before, and wont now just because they are all “uniform.” It’s a bad business decision.

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