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

Big news.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/books/marvel-entertainment-names-new-editor-in-chief.html?_r=0

Marvel are not in a good way. They've lost various major creators. Some high profile events and stories have seriously backfired. Something had to change and it has.

What's significant for me, and probably a few others, is Cebulski has been Marvel's talent scout. He has looked for new people all across the board. Hopefully that gives some change to the SW titles and Larocca gets to do more quality work, with others taking on work too.

 

I really hope that certain things will improve when it comes to the Star Wars comics (and I don't want to be misunderstood when I say this, as my general opinion on the comics so far has been very positive with a few negatives, not the other way around!).

What I'd like to see is:

- That Larroca will finally get all the time he needs to shine.

- Offer work to old Star Wars comic veterans, both artists and writers (notable mentions are JJM, Wheatley, Duursema and Ostrander but to name a few). Del Rey has done well by keeping the proved talent from the Legends days and bringing in new authors to leave their mark. Marvel's been lacking in that regard.

- Don't let go of the "new" talents working on Star Wars comics! I have to commend Soule, Gillen, Checchetto, Ros, Notto and Larraz but to name a few for their outstanding work

- More experimentation and less playing it safe. Doctor Aphra is a great example of this. Obi-Wan & Anakin is another great mini that dealt with familiar characters in a (more or less) unexplored time and place. More series and characters that are new and unknown to us, and if not less, then at least no more of the same old stuff. Mace Windu in the Clone Wars - been there done that for 10+ years now; the Big Three during the OT era - been there done that for 40+ years now.

This is just my opinion of course, and many if not all of these points are some things that I've posted numerous time before here. I know I may sound like a broken record, but I feel like these are valid suggestions and I believe it's worth bringing them up until they are realized.

To end my post though, I'll say thank you Marvel for all the good stuff!

 

One thing to keep in mind when you talk about being more experimental is the different business structures between Marvel and what we saw with Darkhorse. Darkhorse was a much smaller company and didn't have near the sales expectations that Marvel has/had. They could afford to be really experimental because they weren't looking to place high on those sales charts. You mentioned Aphra and she is a good example of this. Yes basing a comic around her is really fun and definitely opens up the universe quite a bit. However paying attention to the sales charts it is clear that non movie characters don't sell nearly as well as the movie characters do. The Aphra series is still doing well but you can probably cut the sales in half for a comic like that compared to a series involving characters people are more familiar with. Not saying they shouldn't have experimental comics like Aphra but that I'm not sure having series like Aphra outweigh the more familiar series is a good business practice for the larger companies like Marvel.

Add to that there is a real advantage the larger companies have over the smaller ones like Darkhorse. Even though Darkhorse could afford to be real experimental they were really restricted as to how much they could put out there at any one time. If you just look at the first three years Darkhorse had the license. They put out during that time

Dark Empire
Classic Star Wars
Star Wars Tales

That's it. During Marvel's first three years they have put out close to ten times as much as Dark Horse was able to. And they will probably continue to put out about ten times as much as Dark Horse in the future.

I think Marvel should definitely keep that one experimental comic in their allotment. But unless they choose to increase their output having more than one experimental series at a time might end up being bad for business.

 

Your argument about Dark Horse is somewhat counter intuitive to me. A smaller company would (to the best of my non-business experienced logic) be even more inclined to play it safe so as to guarantee maximum sales. Taking that into account, a large (THE largest?) publisher like Marvel should be way more comfortable to experiment, as the brands themselves (Marvel + Star Wars) are enough to secure at least a decent number of sales. And I did say this in my post:

Different times and different interest in Star Wars compared to today. Add to that, Dark Horse was a relatively young company in the early 90s. Also the third title isn't Star Wars Tales, but Tales of the Jedi. Aside from Classic Star Wars, Dark Empire and Tales of the Jedi are very, very experimental and risky titles, especially Tales of the Jedi. And like them or hate them, both ended up being very influential on SW lore, even in canon to a degree.

 

They haven't been so much for the last couple of years but Marvel have been more experimental than you give them credit for Jammin. Part of it is due to sheer amount of material - they can afford a few experiments - Ms Marvel was one and it ended up a smash hit for them.

As for output, if Marvel couldn't exceed a company a fraction of their size there'd be something wrong with them. And early 90s DHC was a smaller company than it is now and it's still a small fish in a big pond.

 

I'm a big fan of the miniseries model that Marvel have been doing. Both because it provides an opportunity for characters and time periods that perhaps otherwise would not be covered, and also because it means different stories told by different teams than the main ongoings (Vader, SW, Aphra, Poe). So I'd love Marvel to do more of these if possible.

 

Marvel's been smart on the minis, especially on the artists. Brooks is great, but he is never going to be a monthly artist so a mini is perfect for him.

 

Not necessarily. Say Darkhorse had a sales expectation of about 15,000 an issue. With a brand like Star Wars you can pretty much count on a certain number of people getting it no matter what they put out. If you only have a goal of selling 15,000 the scheer amount of Star Wars fans out there looking for Star Wars material will fill up a good portion of that (if not exceed that). When you have the sales expectations that a company like Marvel has it would take a lot more people being interested in the material in order to meet those goals.

 

Marketing resources and skill is the big difference between the two. Marvel are very good at marketing and they have the resources to do it to a far greater degree of market penetration than DHC can.

BUT, even Marvel were taken off guard by the success they had with SW. Whatever they were expecting, it was massively exceeded to such a degree that it can be said to be phenomenal.

Marvel were able to leverage a number of advantages on those first issues:

• Creators - pairing Aaron with Cassaday was always going to be noticed by fans. That draws in non-SW fans.
• The 'Marvel' name - Some fans really do like to buy just Marvel, another strand.
• Existing SW comic fans

However, even those three factors don't account for the massive sales, which brings us to the two other factors of lapsed and new fans and it's those where Marvel's marketing really paid off.

 

One of my friends doesn't ever buy comics, but he's been picking up pretty much all of these, so Marvel are getting entirely new customers too.

 

Exactly. I'm convinced Marvel going all-out on the marketing tapped swathes of new readers because before the people just weren't there to generate the sales.

 

Thank God. Alonso's tenure has been negative in areas well beyond just the art defects of (some of) the SW line.

 

While this may lead to changes in the rest of Marvel's output, Star Wars has been pretty darn sturdy for them so I don't expect much of a change on the Star Wars side cuz it ain't broke. the Poe ongoing seems like it's wrapping up soon so they may announce another ongoing, hopefully ST era, and see what they can do with it there that may be different.

 

Heather mentioned a page back that they have a lot of things currently in the works. I'd imagine why they might be being quiet about it now is because it either has to do with stuff we are going to learn about in TLJ or it deals with characters from Rebels after the show ends.

 

Good news Epic Collection fans! Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Empire Vol. 4 has just been revealed in the latest Hachette catalog:
COLLECTING: STAR WARS: DARTH VADER AND THE CRY OF SHADOWS 1-5; STAR WARS: JABBA THE HUTT - THE GAAR SUPPOON HIT, THE HUNGER OF PRINCESS NAMPI, THE DYNASTY TRAP, BETRAYAL; STAR WARS: BOBA FETT - ENEMY OF THE EMPIRE 1-4; MATERIAL FROM STAR WARS TALES 7, 11-12, 15, 18-20; STAR WARS VISIONARIES OGN; DARK HORSE PRESENTS ANNUAL '99; FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2012: STAR WARS
On sale June 5, 2018

 

Oh finally, thank you - I've been expecting an update to go active at some point this week! Only for June and on Hachette, not the actual Summer 2018 catalogue - well, that'll turn up.

Time to go mining.

 

Speaking of the Epic Collections I wonder when we'll see the next volumes of The Original Marvel Years & The Newspaper Strips Epic Collection lines, how often do they release the Epic Collections?

 

The number of epics seem to change each year but i expect at least one of those next year i cant wait to see what they do for the next Newspaper strips as i did not get the comics back in the day so its all new to me also cant wait to get into the tales of the jedi comics hope we get them soon !

 

Marvel February 2018 solicitations


STAR WARS: THRAWN #1 (OF 6)
JODY HOUSER (W) • LUKE ROSS (A)
Cover by Paul Renaud
Variant Cover by FRANCESCO MATTINA
Action Figure Variant Cover by JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
Animation Variant Cover also available
One of the most cunning and ruthless warriors in the history of the Star Wars Universe, Grand Admiral Thrawn is back with a six-issue miniseries about how he became one of the most feared military tacticians in a galaxy far, far away. Written by Jody Houser (ROGUE ONE ADAPTATION) and drawn by Luke Ross (STAR WARS: DARTH MAUL, STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS ADAPTATION), follow the comic adaptation of Timothy Zahn’s New York Times best-selling novel about Thrawn’s rise in the Imperial ranks!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
Star Wars © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Text and illustrations for Star Wars are © 2017 Lucasfilm Ltd.


STAR WARS: POE DAMERON #24
CHARLES SOULE (W)
Angel Unzueta (A)
Cover by PHIL NOTO
• Lor San Tekka has been captured…again!
• And it’s up to Black Squadron to save him.
• Meanwhile, Terex has his own plans in motion…
• …to finally free himself from the grasp of the First Order!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
Star Wars © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Text and illustrations for Star Wars are © 2017 Lucasfilm Ltd.


STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA #17
KIERON GILLEN & Simon Spurrier (W)
Emilio Laiso (A)
Cover by ASHLEY WITTER
Galactic Icon Variant by Rod Reis
• Aphra and her new crew are launching a brand-new mission…
• …infiltrating a secret Rebellion training center.
• Little do they know they might be in over their heads.
• Bonus: A new Rebellion leader? Who’s THAT?!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
Star Wars © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Text and illustrations for Star Wars are © 2017 Lucasfilm Ltd.


STAR WARS #43
KIERON GILLEN (W) • SALVADOR LARROCA (A)
Cover by DAVID MARQUEZ
Galactic Icon Variant Cover by ROD REIS
Action Figure Variant Cover by JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
THE ASHES OF JEDHA Concludes!
The battle between the Empire and the Rebellion over the Kyber mines of Jedha comes to an explosive conclusion…with help coming from the most unexpected source.
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
Star Wars © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Text and illustrations for Star Wars are © 2017 Lucasfilm Ltd.


DARTH VADER #11 & #12
CHARLES SOULE (W) • GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI (A)
Covers by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI & ELIA BONETTI
ISSUE #11 - GALACTIC ICON VARIANT COVER BY ROD REIS
An expensive bounty has been put on Vader’s head! Who would dare try to challenge the Dark Lord’s place in the Empire?
32 PGS. (EACH) /Rated T …$3.99 (EACH)
Star Wars © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Text and illustrations for Star Wars are © 2017 Lucasfilm Ltd.

 

That's a gorgeous Darth Vader cover by Bonetti. I'd love that on my wall.

 

My copy of poe dameron vol 3 arrived, is there a reason issue 7 is included in this collection rather than the last collection?

 

That's the issue that introduces Suralinda right? I suppose that's considered more relevant to the War Stories arc, where she plays a role, which is included in this volume.

 

Also, it groups the issues by artist.


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Just a quick question about the captain phasma tpb.

Will it be worth holding back on getting it, and seeing if a new collection is released with the one shots as well?

 

I would assume that you are referring to the Crait and DJ one shots yes?

Crait will probably be included in the regular titles TPBs due to it taking place during the OT. DJ one shot would probably have the best shot in showing up in the Last Jedi adaptation or never being collected like the C-3PO one shot.

Maybe they will do a TPB in the future that collects all of the orphan one shots. I doubt that Phasma gets a new edition that includes Crait and DJ though.


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