Star Wars Adventures (2017)

Star Wars Adventures is a series of comic book anthologies within the official Star Wars canon. This series, published by IDW Publishing, presents stories spanning the entire Star Wars universe and is designed to appeal to readers of all ages. Its digital debut occurred on July 12, 2017 via StarWars.com; a physical copy was later made available as a special item at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), with the regular series commencing on September 6. Furthermore, on January 3, 2018, IDW released a weekly miniseries spinoff inspired by the animated micro-series Forces of Destiny. The German Weapon of a Jedi comics, published as a trade paperback by Panini Verlag, carries the title Star Wars Adventures: The Weapon of a Jedi.

Development

Lucasfilm received a proposal from IDW Publishing in early 2016 for a comic book series tailored to a younger demographic. IDW commissioned artists such as Derek Charm and George Caltsoudas to develop artwork for this proposal.

The unveiling of the series took place on April 14, 2017 at Celebration Orlando during a publishing panel, where it was introduced as a new ongoing IDW comic book series featuring narratives from across the Star Wars saga.

The following day, Chris Ryall, the chief creative officer of IDW Publishing, provided additional details about the series in an interview with The Star Wars Show. He mentioned that the comic would feature rotating creative teams, with each issue containing a primary story focused on well-known characters from the films, along with secondary stories highlighting lesser-known or fan-favorite characters, including those from the TV series, with Maz Kanata initially considered as the narrator, although other characters like C-3PO were also considered. Ryall also noted that some of the back-up stories might not strictly adhere to canon.

Ryall discussed the series further on June 6, 2017, during an interview on the Comics with Kenobi podcast. He mentioned receiving numerous messages from individuals expressing their lifelong desire to work on such a project. This allowed Ryall to assemble a sizable pool of creative talent for future use. He clarified that while Marvel Comics retained the primary Star Wars comics license, they lacked offerings specifically aimed at beginner readers, a gap that Star Wars Adventures was intended to fill. Ryall also hinted that the idea of Maz Kanata serving as the storyteller for the back-up stories might have been reconsidered by this point.

On June 14, 2017, IDW published their upcoming comics catalogue, which included release information regarding the first and second issues of the series, excluding the SDCC Ashcan. The main stories in both issues were set to explore Rey's experiences on Jakku before the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with Unkar Plutt playing a role in issue 2. The back-up story in issue 1 was described as a "comical tale of clone catastrophe," ultimately revolving around Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Around this period, Chad Thomas created several character designs as try-outs, including Han Solo, Chewbacca, Yoda, and Kylo Ren, with the hope of contributing to the series. It was later announced that he would provide the artwork for the back-up story in Star Wars Adventures (2017) 6.

Ultimately, the character of Maz Kanata was replaced as the narrator for the comic's back-up stories by Emil Graf, a new character created specifically for the series. These narratives are titled Tales from Wild Space, drawing inspiration from Star Wars: Adventures in Wild Space, a novel series by Cavan Scott featuring the characters Milo Graf and Lina Graf.

The initial solicitation for the first volume positioned it as part of the Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi publishing program. However, this plan was later abandoned.

Media

Sources

  • An Inside Look at Star Wars Adventures, IDW's Delightful New Comic on StarWars.com (backup link)
  • " Launchpad " — Star Wars Insider 174
  • NYCC 2018: Alphabet Squadron Revealed and More From the Lucasfilm Publishing Panel on StarWars.com (backup link)
  • Sixteen of Our Top Star Wars Books for Children and Young Readers on StarWars.com (backup link)
  • Fan Favorites From Classic Star Wars Tales Arrive to Hasbro's Black Series – Exclusive on StarWars.com (backup link)
  • Embark on the Jump Into Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories With the New Dark Horse Comic – Exclusive on StarWars.com (backup link)

Notes and references

External links

Appearances