Interview with Marvel’s Editor Jordan D. White
Recently, we have started looking back at the previous year in Marvel comics in our series of articles „The Best of the New Star Wars Comics, So Far“ (stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow). Now, IGN did the interview with the man responsible for them, editor at Marvel Comics, Jordan D. White to look back at Marvel’s current and future Star Wars comics.
Speaking of their general goal, White said that they wanted to make them feel like the movies we all love, but also bring to them Marvel’s strengths. They started in the same time period (with Darth Vader, Star Wars and Princess Leia) because they wanted them to feel like comic book universe and which was why they built up the stories to the crossover Vader Down.
It is also clear that comics are now integral part of new Star Wars canon.
IGN: I’m curious to hear, what were the biggest challenges? What was the biggest hurdle you had to overcome while making these books?
Well, I would say the biggest challenge is also probably also the thing that’s one of the biggest strengths, which is that we are working very closely with Lucasfilm to make sure that these are in the new canon. So that’s a big benefit, because we can say to fans — and we do — “This is part of the story of Star Wars.”
When we showed in Star Wars #6 and in Darth Vader #6, in one of those crossover moments, Darth Vader learning Luke Skywalker was his son and that that’s who blew up the Death Star, that is how he learns it now. That is that moment across all Star Wars media. That is the new canon version. So that benefit is terrific, because it lends a weight to our stories.
On the other hand, obviously, that can be very challenging because there’s a lot of coordination that goes into that. So, like I said, we work very closely with the Lucasfilm Story Group to vet every single story we do. We send them everything. We send them the scripts; we get notes back on the scripts. We send them the art; we get notes back on the art. We send them the final comic, and we get notes on that as well. We work together to make sure that we’re telling good stories, that we’re telling stories that will fit into the new canon, that we’re not contradicting other novels or other video games they’re working on or other movies they’re working on or other TV shows they’re working on, and to make sure that everything adds up to one giant story rather than just a bunch of stuff that is tangentially connected.
We’re trying to work towards one cohesive saga and universe. So it can be really tough, but I think in the end it’s pretty rewarding. So we’re pretty happy about it.
White’s favorite on-going series is Darth Vader. Speaking of new characters created for the comic, like Aphra and murder bots, and the possibility of them appearing in the other canon material, White say that possibility exists and will eventually happen, but they have to be careful not spoil their stories or interfere with the stories of other creators.
We know that one of the comics we have to look forward to is Poe Dameron. He was chosen because he is the character whose background isn’t as mysterious as, for example Rey’s, and it lends itself to multiple adventures and on-going comic.
White: […] It does it make it easier in the sense that I think it’s safe to assume that the movies going forward are going to delve into what is going on with Rey’s past and what is up with Rey and things like that, as well as probably Kylo Ren. As such, they’re going to want to do that in the movie. They’re not going to want us to be like, “Oh, by the way, here’s what the deal is with that.” [Laughs] Whereas with Poe, yeah, like you said, we know he came from Yavin 4, generally speaking. He’s a pilot. There’s definitely room for us to add things and to explore things, but there’s not as much big revelations that need to be saved for the movies that we need to steer clear of.
IGN: Is it safe to assume that BB-8 is part of the comic?
White: Absolutely! He’s his droid. He’s his wingman, so to speak. [Laughs] He is his copilot.
This is what White said about the future of Marvel’s Star Wars comics.
IGN: What can you say about what you’ve got planned for the rest of 2016? Do you know how many more new Star Wars comic books we can expect this year?
White: Well, I can’t say too much. Obviously our plans will get revealed as the solicits come out and as we make announcements at conventions. But as we did last year, there will be continuing series of miniseries that will keep coming out. So right now we’re doing Obi-Wan & Anakin, and we’ve got plans for more minis over the course of the year that, again, we’re just not ready to announce yet. But some really awesome characters that are big fan favorites, and then some that are going to surprise people as well, some that people are not going to be expecting miniseries about just yet that will be very exciting.
You can read the entire interview with Jordan D. White and see other preview pages of forthcoming Darth Vader #16 here at IGN.
Staff member, comic and book reviewer. Cheers for the Light Side, but would drink with Grand Admirals.
I’d like to see them explore the KOTOR era next.
Whatever happened to that C-3PO comic that was supposed to come out right before TFA?
It got delayed. The new date is March 30th.