A comiXologist recommends…best of 2016 Star Wars edition!
2016 for Star Wars followed after a strong 2015 showing. Not only with the movies (loved Rogue One), but also with great books (my favs: Ashoka and Bloodline) and many more comics.
Focusing here just on comics for 2016, we have:
- The continuation of the main Star Wars story
- End of the 12-part Kanan series
- End of the 6-part Vader Down story arc
- 5-part Obi-Wan & Anakin miniseries
- End of the 25-part Darth Vader series
- Start of the Doctor Aphra series
- Start of the Poe Dameron series
Of those, I want to highlight two that stood out to me.
- I LOVED the Vader Down story arc. It’s one of the few times you got to see how awesome Darth Vader, the Sith Lord, actually is. Not Anakin, NOT the ”father” Darth Vader in Episode V or VI, but Darth Vader in his angry prime and why he was so feared across the galaxy.
- I’m a huge fan of the Han Solo mini-series. It started off a little slow (despite being about a race!), but it really picks up at the end. And, gives a glimpse of the smuggler/shoot-first/second character of Han Solo in Episode IV, and how he transitions into the “hero” that we know him to be in Episode V/VI.
When Star Wars was acquired, I was skeptical when they abandoned the EU (expanded universe). But over the past couple years I’ve been very happy to see how the Lucasfilm Story Group has tied ALL the media into one cohesive canon today. Can’t wait to see how the Star Wars universe continues to expand even more in 2017.
Douglas Hwang is director of product at comiXology and the human subjugate of Qwerty the cat.
A comiXologist Recommends (their favorite comic of 2015)
One of my favorite moments in the new Star Wars comics #5 is the scene where Darth Vader finds out that Luke is a Skywalker. From #1 when Vader notices the lightsaber, to the moment he hears from Boba Fett, it’s an excellent reveal, show of Vader’s emotion, and even give some backstory to Episode 5. Throughout the intertwining story of the Star Wars main series and the Darth Vader series, more than the rebellion/Luke/Han, we get to see a side of Vader that we hadn’t in the movies. It’s moments like these where we realize how complex and badass of a villian/character Darth Vader really is.
Doug Hwang is comiXology’s Director of Product
A comiXologist recommends:
Lando #1
by: Douglas Hwang
Ever since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, Star Wars fans have been wondering how their beloved franchise would change. Then in 2014, it was announced that previous Expanded Universe stories would fall into the Legends banner and not be included in the official canon. This was a major change to the Star Wars universe as we knew it (Emperor Thrawn? Mara Jade?). But, as we’ve learned this year, they have a lot planned for the franchise aside from the new movie, Episode VII Force Awakens. With a new cartoon series, numerous new books, many new movies planned (Anthology Series) and many new comics, the new canon has been streamlined and put together in a cohesive way that was never done before.
As the Princess Leia mini-series of 5 comics came to an end a few weeks back, a new 5-part mini-series appears and we learn more about fan favorite Lando Calrissian in the new Lando Marvel series. From Episode V and VI, we know that Lando was the previous owner of the Millennium Falcon before Han Solo and the Baron Administator of Cloud City. But how does he get to where he is? How does he obtain the Millennium Falcon? Will we even get to those questions in this comic series? Well, in this first issue we learn that he smuggles something big…and maybe out of his league.
To learn more about the new Star Wars canon I would also recommend the new Marvel Star Wars series based in the canon between Episodes 3 and 4, the new Darth Vader series which interweaves the new Star Wars comic series in Vader’s point of view, and also the Kanan series where we learn more about the backstory from one of the protagonists from the new Star Wars Rebels cartoon series.
It’s been fun ride for Star Wars fans, but we’ve quickly come to learn that the Force is strong this calendar year. Can’t wait for the movie in December.
Douglas Hwang is a Product Manager at Comixology, lives in Brooklyn and is crazy about Star Wars, Portland Trail Blazers, and the great outdoors.