Lit Comics Marvel Star Wars: General News & Trades Discussion Thread

What you described - "Vader encounters tough opponent, Vader almost gets beaten by said opponent, Vader somehow survives something tremendous that would kill anyone else because Dark Side is powerful, then Vader comes back and kills opponent" - didn't happen anywhere in Vader Down. Closest thing to it was his duel with Karbin, during which Vader took no damage and obviously outclassed his opponent the entire time. He had no difficulty defeating the rancor or "laser beams girl" later in the series, either.

Honestly, you should give Gillen's Vader series a shot. He avoids all the tropes and formulas -- no mopey "what have I done?" Vader or continually battle-damaged Vader -- and instead gives us a Vader who's always cunning and at his OT-era peak, using his brains equally as well as brawn to outmatch his enemies. It's a fun read.

 

Lol. Aphra being there with Luke and helping out with his Acadamey and getting involved with the Ben and Rey storyline came to mind because Jedha John said he wanted over 600 issues of Aphra stories. In order to get 600 issues you would practically have to do something like that because 600 issues would be almost 50 years of releases. Aphra hunting down historic treasures would start getting old after about issue 60 no matter how well written the character was.

 

It is looking like the 40th anniversary issue for Mace Windu #1 by Russell Dauterman is going to be the higher ratio'd variant for that title. I'm basing this on the initial asking prices I'm starting to see compared to the other cover variants. I really hope this is not the case. Marvel has made the 40th anniversary covers relatively easy to collect and now they are going to release one that is going to cost an arm and a leg? I don't get it.

 

If you really want it, just buy the covers collection they'll be releasing next year.

 

Darth Vader works best as a villain who is a force of nature to be feared when he shows up. Back in the original Marvel series, when Vader showed up, it was an exciting moment and a reader actually feared for our heroes. He was used sparingly and it worked. Now when Vader shows up (even the eventual appearance in the upcoming Aphra book) it is routine and nothing special. Unfortunately, that ship has already sailed when we received 3 movies detailing his back story. Now, every writer wants to fill in all the blank spots and explain how Vader thinks, feels, eats, etc. He should have remained an enigma.

 

I'm looking forward to this as well.

 

And I expect that went into Marvel's reasoning for limiting this cover variant, if they are limiting it. It stinks being a completionist.

 

I feared for the fate of the protagonists in Dark Times when Vader was after them. I feared for the fate of Aphra in the first Vader series by Marvel. I doubt that Aphra will bite it in the following issues of her series, but I'd be lying if I say I won't be at the edge of my seat when I'll be reading them. It depends on who encounters Vader. If we don't know the fate of the character after ROTJ (case in point Aphra), then every time they face Vader could be their last.

 

The Aphra series is going to have a year 2. Aphra won't be dying (and she likely will live on after the Aphra series ends). It seems they have already set up how Aphra survives the encounter with Vader with Rur awakening in the latest issue.

 

I have to admit I've never really got the value of variant covers, I mean sure, some are nice, but they are just covers.

 

I was pretty darn excited to see one of my favorite minor characters get an action figure variant cover, since any sort of content visually depicting that character has come quite rarely over the years.

I just wasn't "spend $30 on it because it's highly limited and exclusive to one store"-excited though.

I like to collect physical copies of books and comics containing my favorite characters. When I'm sick I can curl up on the couch or in bed with them and just admire the art, like I would a coffee table book of photography or illustrations. Just a simple little thing that makes me smile.

There are other reasons people collect cover art, of course, but sometimes it's as simple as "it just looks nice / I can hold it in my hands / I'm very fond of whoever created it". For example, I know quite a few people who collect vinyl LPs primarily for the album cover art and sleeve art while already owning digital copies of the same music.

Edit: Perhaps you meant "value" as in "paying significantly more despite the inner content being the same" -- in that case, it comes down to how fond I am of it, and if the happiness it would bring me (for the above reasons listed) is worth the price tag. If I'm picking it up to admire it several times a month, it very well can be! If it's too pricey, then... maybe I'll set it as my phone's lock screen for a while, lol.

 

Pretty much your last 'edit' section S!

I've got the Marvel Covers OHC, some very nice pieces in there - as an art collection it's very good indeed and happens to be quite a cost-effective option.

 

Question: Marvel UK reprinted the classic Marvel Star Wars comics, splitting the monthly issues up into Star Wars Weekly, which necessitated more cover art being created. (Just look at these colors!) Have all of these extra covers ever been collected in a single print volume? To my knowledge, no, but many here are much more knowledgeable than I am.

 

Just going to butt in here and mention that I'm excited about the Thrawn comic, since nobody seems to have mentioned it since the announcement was teased.

 

They have not been collected. I'd like to see them collect the Star Wars Weekly, The Empire Strikes Back Weekly, Star Wars Monthly, and Return of the Jedi Monthly covers. Sounds like a good way for them to publish more cover artwork hardcovers.

 

Oh geez, I forgot swcomiccollector was your site, I should have double-checked there! It would be nice to see those French Titans SW covers collected as well. Thank you for the reply, I appreciate it.

 

I am...cautiously optimistic? If they approach the adaptation the same as Rogue One one I will be happy. If they approach it the same as TFA, I will be upset that it could have been a different miniseries with new content.


Sent from my Ornithopter using The Force

 

It's being adapted by Jody Houser, who also did the well-received Rogue One comic.

 

Hopefully that still translates to added content and alternate scene povs. It all depends on the story group and what the editors approve right? But having Jody on it is a little more reassuring.


Sent from my Ornithopter using The Force

 

I'm excited for Thrawn; the artist is superb and I haven't read the novel yet. I always liked the comic adaptations of the Thrawn Trilogy way back when. It's different adapting a novel than it is a movie.

 

I'm actually pleasantly surprised Marvel is taking the gamble. Rogue One is selling extremely low for a Marvel Star Wars mini-series; it is now selling in Dark Horse Revenge of the Sith movie adaptation numbers and it is possible the final 2 issues will dip below those numbers. Rogue One #3 has sold approximately 28,000 copies and Revenge of the Sith #4 sold around 26,000 copies. The Dark Horse adaptation of the final Timothy Zahn Thrawn Trilogy novel did not sell nearly as well as the previous novels which is probably why Dark Horse did not adapt any other books to comics. The Last Command #1 sold over 41,000 copies and the final issue, #6, sold over 30,000 copies. So, based on the track record of movie and novel adaptations, this is not exactly a slam dunk, sure fire success for them. (I'm well aware that the pamphlet numbers is not the complete story. The movie adaptations are sold over and over again around the world, so I'm sure low pamphlet sales for Rogue One are not a huge worry for Marvel.)

Thrawn has a lot of appeal to EU readers, but what about those people who are coming aboard with the Disney continuity?

Regardless, I am happy to see them make the attempt. Thrawn was active during an era that is still wide open and we know Zahn is interested in writing more novels about the character.

 

Removed

 

Most Rebels fans who didn't read the new novel released in April could check this out as Season 4 is almost ending around then and there's additional stuff for those that did read the novel.

 

I think it is more or less publicity for Rebels. Like lowell said those people that don't want to read an entire novel can just read a quicker version of the story with pictures to go along with it.

Also wouldn't be surprised if they plan on exploring the Thrawn character in comics if he survives the final season of the show.

 

That's great! I hope they do continue all the way through all the issues. It was disappointing that DH never completed the Omnibus line, but I feel the Epic Collections are better anyway. When all is said and done it will be nice to be able to read all the way through Legends comics in order, from Dawn of the Jedi through Legacy II.