Comic publisher Dark Horse has partnered with Random House to distribute titles. Given that both houses have the rights to Star Wars, this could certainly prove to be an interesting and beneficial agreement. Press release below the cut.
Tag Archives: Del Rey
Dear Star Wars Books: Thank You For the Women
About a year and a half ago, I wrote a blog post for EUCantina in which I analyzed the roles of women in the Expanded Universe, specifically in the post-Return of the Jedi era. The article was inspired by the cancellation of “Mandorla”, the Alex Irvine novel about Nomi Sunrider, from the Tales of the Jedi comics. I’d been wanting a book about Nomi for awhile, and was really disappointed to see it cancelled. And the disappointment stung on more than just a level of “I was really looking forward to that book.”
And then my brain began to turn. As far as I can recall, “Mandorla” was the only novel in recent memory to be focused on a female protagonist. We’ve had “Han” novels, “Bane” novels, “Revan” novels; where are the “Jaina” and “Padme” and “Leia” novels? Why cancel a novel that had a chance to expand on a strong female lead?
The article was generally well received, with a few exceptions, mostly from people claiming that the EU was already filled with lots of female characters. While that may have been true, the point of the article remained:
“But Star Wars has many female leads,” you might say. To which I reply: “but none are allowed to lead.”
The original article has since been lost to the internet ether, but I had my own draft copy elsewhere. With San Diego Comic Con happening and in anticipation of the Star Wars Books panel, I recently skimmed the article with the intention of reposting it here on Tosche Station for posterity’s sake. But as I kept reading, I realized something: in less than 18 months, Del Rey and LucasBooks has addressed nearly all of my major complaints in the article. And I knew I’d be remiss if I didn’t revisit the article and say THANK YOU.
SWEU News From Comic Con!
The intrepid James Floyd from Club Jade is at Comic Con this weekend, and he oh so generously livetweeted both SWEU panels.
From the Dark Horse panel, notable announcements included a new arc of Dark Times, the introduction of a new villain into Dawn of the Jedi, an Ewoks comic set in the arrival of the Empire era, Tom Taylor working on a secret project, and an upcoming Vader and clone story. For more, see Club Jade’s Storify feed from the event.
James also attended the Del Rey panel. Right at the beginning, moderator Leland Chee stated that the SWEU is in transition as a result of the Disney buyout and Episode VII. Therefore they’re unlikely to announce a new title…but we can dream, right?
Kenobi began as a graphic novel, but got so long it became a novel. Jen Heddle praised the novel, and John Jackson Miller compared Obi-Wan to a well-known superhero, saying he has to learn to be Clark Kent as opposed to Superman. Frank Parisi also praised the upcoming Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge by Martha Wells, and Heddle added that there’s a good focus on the Big Three.
J.W. Rinzler, author of The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, said the book took two years to write and extensive digging into the archives. In a really cool feature, the enhanced e-book will have 30 minutes of audio and 30 minutes of video. Some clips were shown during the panel.
Other items of note:
- There will be a Death Star Tech Manual.
- Darth Maul: Lockdown will tie into Darth Plagueis. Apparently Sidious and Plagueis have different plans for Maul in this prison version of Oz and Scarface.
- Star Wars: Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown, coming in August, will tell the story of middle school by a new character writing and doodling.
- As to the future of the EU, it’s still in flux, but even before, Lucasbooks and Del Rey did their own EU without concern for films and television. Whether it’s used in those mediums is up to the writers and directors.
- Regarding The Clone Wars, Chee said the possibility of tying up loose ends is a possibility. As to making a definitive timeline of the era, that’s not happening any time soon.
Notable announcements include the cover reveal to Empire and Rebellion: Honor Among Thieves, the Han-centric novel by James S.A. Corey, published March 4, 2014. Heddle compared the novel to Brian Daley’s Han Solo Adventures.
A notable exception: no mention of Christie Golden’s Sword of the Jedi trilogy, scheduled for release next year. Is this good or bad news? We shall see…
Club Jade collected all of James’ tweets on another Storify, which you can find here. Thanks to James for his great reporting!
Del Rey introduces the Star Wars Action Team
It’s not fully active yet, but the Del Rey team are geared up to introduce a fan promotion program that lets readers earn themselves points to win cool stuff. The details:
Del Rey Books is thrilled to announce the launch of the Del Rey Star Wars Action Team, or SWAT for short. Whether you’re a die-hard reader who’s consumed every one of the novels over the past 35 years, or a newbie jumping into the books for the first time, the SWAT is looking for a few dedicated recruits. It’s entirely free — all you need is a passion for Star Wars stories and a willingness to help spread the good word.
The way it works is quite simple:
1. Help spread the word.
2. Earn points and rankings.
3. Get stuff.
Once the SWAT site is live, you can register and begin getting the word out about your favorite Star Wars literature.