Suvudu Universe

Our first big publishing news of 2014 has dropped with a simultaneous announcement on StarWars.com and Marvel.com that the Star Wars franchise’s comic book and graphic novel publishing licence would be returning to Marvel Comics.

This really was the inevitable move and one of the things that seemed most obvious after Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm. It made little sense for Disney to not maximize both the profits of it’s Lucasfilm and Marvel departments by allowing another comic publisher to hold the license and take money that could have been flowing into Disney’s coffers.

On the other hand this is a sad day for many Star Wars Expanded Universe fans because Dark Horse Comics has consistently delivered a high quality product both in terms of story, art and production quality. That isn’t even to talk about the numerous people who have contributed to the storytelling of the SWEU at Dark Horse over the years, a contribution that should not be ignored or forgotten in today’s news.

One of the things about today’s announcement is that it opens up a more diverse range of content and distribution for Star Wars comics and leverages Marvel’s leading position in the industry to help grow the Star Wars comic brand.

The Official Press Release:

The Walt Disney Company’s Lucasfilm Ltd. and Marvel Entertainment are joining forces to bring new Star Wars adventures to readers across the galaxy, with Marvel granted exclusive rights to create and publish Star Wars comics and graphic novels beginning in 2015.

The agreement marks a homecoming for the Star Wars comic books. Marvel Comics published the first Star Wars comic book, STAR WARS #1, in March 1977, which went on to sell more than 1 million copies. Marvel Comics published its STAR WARS series for nine years. In 1991, Dark Horse Comics took over the license, publishing fan-favorite titles like Dark Empire and Star Wars: Legacy. Last year, Dark Horse released The Star Wars #1, an adaptation of George Lucas’ original rough-draft screenplay for the film, garnering rave reviews and national media attention and ranking among the top-selling Star Wars comics of all time.

“Dark Horse Comics published exceptional Star Wars comics for over 20 years, and we will always be grateful for their enormous contributions to the mythos, and the terrific partnership that we had,” said Carol Roeder, director of Lucasfilm franchise publishing, Disney Publishing Worldwide. “In 2015, the cosmic adventures of Luke, Han, Leia and Chewbacca will make the lightspeed jump back to Marvel, to begin a new age of adventures within the Star Wars universe.

“We here at Marvel could not be more excited to continue the publication of Star Wars comic books and graphic novels,” said Marvel Worldwide Publisher and President, Dan Buckley. “The perennial brand of Star Wars is one of the most iconic in entertainment history and we are honored to have the opportunity to bring our creative talent pool to continue, and expand Star Wars into galaxies far, far away.”

“We’re incredibly excited by this next chapter in the Star Wars saga,” said Andrew B. Sugerman, executive vice president of Disney Publishing Worldwide. “Bringing together the iconic Lucasfilm and Marvel brands to tell new stories will allow us to continue to thrill lovers of the original Star Wars comic books and entertain generations to come.”

Marvel has continued to push comic book publishing forward with innovations and experiments like motion comics and digital-only releases, in addition to its deep, ongoing catalog of monthly series and graphic novels created by some of the industry’s most gifted artists and writers.

STAR WARS and related properties are trademarks in the United States and/or in other countries of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. © 2013 Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.

SOURCES: Starwars.com and Marvel.com