Aurra Sing is one of many background characters in the Star Wars movies. Her brief three seconds in The Phantom Menace and cool visuals captured fans imagination not unlike the bounty hunters seen briefly on the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer Executor in the Empire Strikes Back. Although she never appears again in a movie, she has been explored in the Expanded Universe, most notably in comics books and the Clone Wars animated show.
Star Wars: The Bounty Hunters - Aurra Sing is the first one-shot in a series of three that focus on bounty hunters. The one-shot received a Dynamic Forces exclusive cover.
Star Wars: The Bounty Hunters - Aurra Sing - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (1999) Dynamic Forces gold foil exclusive
The Dynamic Forces cover uses the same art as the standard cover but portions of the title are in gold foil. This exclusive came out in 1999 and is limited to 4,000 copies. It has traditionally not been a hard comic to find for sale on eBay at a reasonable price.
It is hard to believe, but the Star Wars and Darth Vader titles have weathered Marvel's new superhero title avalanche very, very well. While most of Marvel's new superhero titles see a first issue in the top 10, they have all mostly dropped out of those coveted positions the subsequent months. In February 2016, Star Wars #16 actually jumps to second place and Darth Vader #16 moves up to seventh place. Head over to The Comics Chronicles to read more.
A battered and bloody Chewie regained his footing, stood up high on one pile of rubble, and faced the descending moon with arms upraised and a defiant roar.
The scene receded quickly, but Han kept his eyes locked on the spot, burning that image of the very last moments of his friend's life indelibly into his consciousness. And then he saw the beginning to the final cataclysm as Dobido plowed into the city.
The landing ram rose suddenly, locking into place - Han knew it to be the doings of his son - and then the Falcon went spinning away as the shock wave hit her.
Han didn't even consider the danger to him and the others, not even to his son at that critical moment. He just thought of Chewie, of that last tragic image, the Wookiee shaking his fist at the great, unbeatable enemy.
A fitting last pose of defiance, but one that did nothing to mend the tear ripping through Han's heart.
Chewbacca died. In the pages of Vector Prime, published in October 1999, Del Rey shocked Star Wars fans with the death of a major Star Wars character. Vector Prime is the first in the New Jedi Order series of books that would see new invaders from another galaxy, the Yuuzhan Vong, appear in our beloved Star Wars galaxy and shake up the status quo. They came equipped with organic, alien technology and a physiology that rendered them invisible in the Force. They brought the New Republic, the galactic government after the fall of the Empire, to its knees and killed untold numbers of sentient life on worlds throughout the galaxy. And they used their technology to pull the moon Dobido, into the planet Serpidal, where Chewbacca saved many inhabitants as well as Han Solo's son, Anakin Solo, before meeting his ultimate fate as the moon and planet collided.
Unlike Han Solo's death in The Force Awakens, the impact of Chewbacca's death is addressed in Vector Prime as well subsequent books in the series. Dark Horse even celebrates our favorite Wookiee with a 4-issue mini-series title Star Wars: Chewbacca in January 2000. The first issue has a Dynamic Forces exclusive cover.
Star Wars: Chewbacca #1c - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (2000) Dynamic Forces gold foil exclusive
The Dynamic Forces cover to Star Wars: Chewbacca #1 has different art and the title is adorned with gold foil. This exclusive is limited to 2,500 copies. The art has the principal heroes, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, C-3PO, and R2-D2 in front of a bust of Chewbacca. Leia is consoling Han, who is hit hard by the death of his best friend. It is a nice cover for a poignant series that delves into the characteristics that make Chewbacca a beloved character.
Obviously, Chewbacca's death has been reversed in the new continuity and it looks like Chewbacca has been positioned to be the co-pilot for Rey in the new movies. One can only hope that Han's death is handled with the same care as Chewbacca's death was in the Expanded Universe.
The next Star Wars mini-series from Marvel is Han Solo. The series will take place between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. It is unclear if this mini-series will be released after The Force Awakens adaptation or not.
Star Wars: Union is a 4-issue mini-series tells the story of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade's marriage. The first and fourth issues have Dynamic Forces exclusive covers.
Star Wars: Union #4c - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (2000) Dynamic Forces gold foil exclusive
The Dynamic Forces cover to issue #4 has different art than the standard cover and the Star Wars title is in gold foil. This exclusive came out in 2000 and is limited to 5,000 copies. In comparison, most of the Star Wars exclusives published last year had print runs of 3,000 copies. Despite the print run, this is a moderately expensive comic and comes up for sale infrequently.
Dark Horse would start 1992 by publishing Star Wars: Dark Empire #2 in February which continued bimonthly until it's final issue in October.
Star Wars: Dark Empire #2a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (February 1992)
Like previous licensed movie properties, Dark Empire was a hit for Dark Horse and they went back to print on the first three issues. Arguably, Star Wars: Dark Empire is the most important Star Wars title published by Dark Horse. It presents a serious Star Wars story that logically follows where the movies left off. For Dark Horse, it lays a solid foundation on which the rest of their Star Wars line would follow. Nar Shaddaa, the Smuggler's Moon, is introduced in the Dark Empire story, but more importantly for Star Wars comic fans, so is the Jedi Holocron. The Jedi Holocron introduces characters and events that Dark Horse will exploit when exploring new eras in the Star Wars timeline.
Classic Star Wars #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (August 1992)
In August, the same month Dark Horse published Star Wars: Dark Empire #5, Classic Star Wars #1 was released. In 1991, Russ Cochran Publishing published a 3 book hardcover set that collects the Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson Star Wars comic strips from 1981 to 1984 in their original black and white format. Classic Star Wars contains the same comic strips, except they are reformatted and colored. Additionally, Al Williamson supplied new art to ease the transition from comic strip to comic book format. Classic Star Wars titles that reprint previous newspaper comic strips or Marvel comics, become a staple of Dark Horse's Star Wars comic offerings for a few years. Dark Horse would finish the year by publishing Classic Star Wars #5 in December.
It is interesting to note that the Dark Empire title is priced at $2.95 and the Classic Star Wars title is priced at $2.50. The Dark Empire issues comes with a thicker, cardboard cover stock which allowed Dark Horse to justify the higher price. This was an era in comic publishing where it was common for publishers to raise cover prices based on cover gimmicks. A heavier cover stick is not the most grievous gimmick and it does lend a air of importance to the first Dark Horse Star Wars title.
Bloch Editores published Portuguese translations of Marvel comic books in Brazil during the 1970s. In 1978, they published the 100 page, magazine-sized Guerra nas Estrelas.
Guerra nas Estrelas - Bloch Editores, Brazil (1978) Marvel Stars Wars #1 - 6
The cover for Guerra nas Estrelas is the same cover used for Marvel Special Edition #1. It has an inset drawing of C-3PO and R2-D2 which looks out of place on the cover. The first Star Wars issue from Marvel was rushed and the interior art by Howard Chaykin is very poor compared to the other 5 parts of the movie adaptation. The drawing of C-3PO and R2-D2 is taken from the first panel on page 16 of the first issue. A better picture of C-3PO and R2-D2 could have been chose from later in the adaptation which better matches the clean, polished art of the cover.
Star Wars #1 - Marvel Comics, U.S. (July 1977) page 16
In addition to the inset, there are some interesting color choices made on both the cover and the interior. Luke Skywalker's pants are a light blue on the cover and change color between white and light blue on the interior. On the cover and the interior, Princess Leia is wearing a red gown. In the interior, Darth Vader's torso is pink with a yellow helmet and yellow legs. Stormtroopers change color from pink to yellow to white to yellow helmets and pink bodies. Obi-Wan Kenobi's cloak is the same read as Princess Leia's gown. R2-D2 is yellow. Han Solo's signature shirt is pink. When Luke and Han break Leia out of the detention block, they are wearing armor that has red gauntlets and boots, brown belts, and blue pants. To say the comic is wildly and inaccurately colorful is an understatement. It reminds me quite a bit of the color palette used on the Yugoslavian translation of these issues.
Guerra nas Estrelas - Bloch Editores, Brazil (1978) back cover
