Marvel's Star Wars was the first comic I ever read as a series. This is back in 1980, starting w/#32 so we're talking a number of years ago here. I stuck with it until the end, #107 in 1986. Back then, comics were the only place to get new Star Wars. I didn't understand how it could be cancelled. It's STAR WARS! How could people not want to read the stories that were there? I learned about older comics, worked my way back through the 31 issues I'd never gotten, and figured that would be it. Everyone else was done with Star Wars, so I'd have to be too.


Then, something surprising happened when I started college. In 1990, Marvel had begun work on a new Star Wars comic...Dark Empire...for their Epic imprint. They waited too long to go to publish, and Dark Horse Comics had picked up the rights in the meanwhile. Marvel didn't need Star Wars, right? They were too big to notice or care. Star Wars was still dead, a done deal, until it wasn't. Dark Horse would produce some great books over their 23 years. They were on an upswing as well with some exciting titles that crossed over to mainstream comics readers as well. Everything should be great, right? Jump ahead to the announcement that Lucasfilm has been sold to Disney, and that sequels to Star Wars are on the way. Disney, of course, owns Marvel...what would happen to the publishing rights?


We have the answer. While I'm sad to see Dark Horse lose the license, there's good news along with it. Marvel has Star Wars again, and its good. At times, its REAALLLY good. There are moments with both Luke and Vader that will give me chills. John Cassaday's art (with some very specific exceptions that seem nit picky right now) is pretty terrific both for likeness and storytelling. Jason Aaron's script seems to reference things that haven't happened yet on a couple of occasions, and yeah, we have some 'let's repeat a moment to remind you how much you liked that bit the first time you saw it', but this feels like Star Wars. For everything I could rip apart as 'wrong' there's three things that are 'right'. I'll admit was worried, especially after I heard a negative review from a trusted source, but I guess the 10 year old in me just isn't as critical as the 44 year old that I actually am. That kid learned a lot from Star Wars. His imagination was challenged. He learned about optimism. He took his first steps into a larger world, if you will. I'm going to let him have this one without reservations. If you've got that kid in you somewhere, you're going to love this book.