Star Wars: Jedi Council - Acts of War is a 4-issue mini-series that started in June 2000. The first issue received a Dynamic Forces exclusive cover.
Star Wars: Jedi Council - Acts of War #1c - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (2000) Dynamic Forces gold foil exclusive
The regular version of this comic has an art cover where this Dynamic Forces exclusive has a photo cover and the title is in gold foil. At one time, one of the most inexpensive Dynamic Forces exclusive comics on eBay was Star Wars: Jedi Council - Acts of War #1. In the early to mid 2000s there were a few dealers that had what appeared to be an endless supply of this comic they were selling for $3 - 5. At the time, it might have be surprising to know that these were limited to 3,000 copies since they appeared to be as common as the The Phantom Menace Dynamic Forces exclusives which had four to five times the number of copies printed.
J. Scott Campbell is an American comic book artist best known for his work on Gen13 and Danger Girl. He received his start in comic books working at Wildstorm Productions where he co-created Gen13 with Jim Lee and Brandon Choi. He helped found the Cliffhanger imprint of Wildstorm Productions where he created Danger Girl. In recent years, he has become mostly a cover artist, achieving notoriety with his covers for the Amazing Spider-Man. His artwork is distinctive and known for his long, thin figures. Campbell cites Art Adams as an inspiration for his work.
J. Scott Campbell created three connecting covers for Star Wars #1, Darth Vader #1, and Princess Leia #1. These covers are 1:50 incentive variants.
Star Wars #1i - Marvel Comics, U.S. (January 2015) J. Scott Campbell 1:50 variantStar Wars: Darth Vader #1i - Marvel Comics, U.S. (February 2015) J. Scott Campbell 1:50 variantStar Wars: Princess Leia #1i - Marvel Comics, U.S. (March 2015) J. Scott Campbell 1:50 variant
A black and white variant of J. Scott Campbell's cover to Star Wars #1 was used for the Four Color Grails exclusive.
Star Wars #1aa - Marvel Comics, U.S. (March 2015) Four Color Grails exclusive
J. Scott Campbell also created a unique cover for The Cargo Hold exclusive for Star Wars #1. There is a 3000 copy color version and a 1500 copy black and white version.
Star Wars #1ag - Marvel Comics, U.S. (January 2015) The Cargo Hold exclusiveStar Wars #1ah - Marvel Comics, U.S. (January 2015) The Cargo Hold black and white exclusive
Star Wars: The Original Trilogy - A Graphic Novel hardcover collects the three original trilogy movie adaptations that were released individually overseas. Featuring new art that is cartoony in comparison to Marvel's adaptations, this book is published by Disney-Lucasfilm Press, which specializes in publishing Star Wars books for younger readers.
Star Wars: The Original Trilogy - A Graphic Novel a - Disney-Lucasfilm Press, U.S. (March 2016)
The pacing of the movie adaptations are not rushed, but this is made possible by judicious cutting of scenes from the movies. For example, when Owen Lars is buying the droids from the Jawas, R5-D4 is not even considered as Owen selects C-3PO and R2-D2 outright. Later, when Luke Skywalker is attacked by Tusken Raiders, the attack is quickly glossed over to make the story more child friendly. While the movie covers this attack quickly itself, in this book, we see a Tusken Raider with a raised gaffi stick in one panel, in the next Luke is shown gasping, and the next panel has the Raiders dragging Luke's body toward the Landspeeder. C-3PO is not involved in the attack, so the story skips the scene of Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi gathering C-3PO and his arm after Obi-Wan chases the Tusken Raiders away. This sequence in the book captures the main elements from the movie, without getting bogged down in the details. Another example of the toning down of the story for children is the cutting of the scene with Obi-Wan coming to Luke's rescue in the Mos Eisley Cantina. It is hard to completely avoid the dark tone of the movies; it is still implied Darth Vader tortures Leia on the Death Star and Vader does choke Admiral Motti. The story uses elements from the Special Edition releases as well. For example, Greedo shoots first and we see celebration in a city when the Rebellion destroys the Death Star II, but Han Solo is not confronted by Jabba the Hutt in the hangar where the Millennium Falcon is parked in Mos Eisley.
Star Wars: The Original Trilogy - A Graphic Novel - Disney - Lucasfilm Press, U.S. (March 2016) back cover
Overall, considering the audience these stories are aimed at, I found this new take on the saga refreshing and the art whimsical. The story does not devolve into the humor used in a Lego Star Wars production, but it adapts the movies faithfully without all the details. I like the simplicity of the sound effects. Explosions go BOOM and laser pistol PEW PEW. The character designs de-age the heroes slightly but they are all easily recognizable. The only character design I didn't like was Chewbacca's; his legs are a little too skinny for my tastes. A nice touch is each movie adaptation is proceeded by the famous opening crawls verbatim. If my kids were younger, I could see this being the book that I would use to introduce them to that galaxy far, far away.
The Comics Chronicles released the February 2016 estimated sales earlier this week. The main two Star Wars titles took second and seventh place and two of the four issues rose in sales, but the average sale per issue is the lowest it has been since Marvel took over publishing Star Wars comics.
Title
Issue
Monthly Rank
Estimated Sales
Last Estimated Sales
Percent Change
Star Wars
16
2
110,407
107,855
+2.37%
Darth Vader
16
7
81,147
98,405
-17.54%
Obi-Wan and Anakin
2
17
58,431
102,861
-43.19%
Kanan
11
38
38,370
38,106
+0.69%
Last month, we saw the Star Wars title lose over 15,000 units when comparing the issue prior to the Vader Down event and the issue after. It recovered almost 2,000 units this month. Also this month, the Darth Vader title lost just under 9,000 units when comparing November's Darth Vader #12, the issue prior to Vader Down, to Darth Vader #16, the issue after the event. Like the Star Wars title last month, that is a higher loss than the title has been trending. Overall, Marvel sold more issues with the event than they would have without the event, but at a slight loss to the ongoing sales numbers. I suspect Marvel is okay with that, because if sales drop too low, they can always use another event or restart the numbering on the titles to recover sales. To show how weak the comic market was in February, despite these drops, Star Wars #16 ranked second, up from fifth for the previous issue and Darth Vader #16 ranked seventh, up from ninth for the previous issue.
Obi-Wan and Anakin #2 saw a standard second issue drop. Recall from last month, this mini-series had the lowest debut of the Star Wars mini-series to date. I expect this has a lot to do with the characters and the upcoming Han Solo mini-series will sell better. What is not known is how the upcoming The Force Awakens mini-series will sell. Movie adaptation have traditionally not been strong sellers. There is an trend with first appearances however that may help, and as long as the ongoing Poe Dameron title set to start in April does not contain more than a few first appearances, there may be some demand for The Force Awakens based on those movie characters who do see their comic book debut in the adaptation. But, there is also a stigma against comics based on movie properties. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.
Kanan #11 rose an inconsequential number of units. Kanan #12 will be the final issue of this title which will be replaced by the Poe Dameron ongoing.
The following table shows the total number of Star Wars units sold per month since January 2015 along with the average number of sales per issue. Note this chart does not include reprints.
Month/Year
Total Estimated Sales
# Issues
Average Sale per Issue
January 2015
985,976
1
985,976
February 2015
526,451
3
175,484
March 2015
596,299
4
149,075
April 2015
537,812
4
134,453
May 2015
324,835
3
108,278
June 2015
396,931
4
99,232
July 2015
597,023
5
119,404
August 2015
430,241
5
86,048
September 2015
551,880
5
110,376
October 2015
953,289
10
95,329
November 2015
1,003,954
8
125,494
December 2015
507,545
6
84,591
January 2016
465,698
5
93,139
February 2016
288,355
4
72,088
The average sale per issue would rank 11th on the top 300 chart for the month of February which is the same as last month. The Star Wars titles saw a large decrease in the average sale per issue from last month however. It is possible March will see another drop in this average due to no new event or a #1 being released. I do need to point out, that while this is true for pamphlets, this is not the complete picture for Star Wars comic book sales. The Star Wars trade paperbacks are selling well and reorders are strong.
Steam Wars: Bounty Hunters #1 and 2 continue to showcase characters that are based on character visuals from Star Wars while telling a unique story.
Steam Wars: Bounty Hunters #1a - Antarctic Press, U.S. (October 2015)
The main bounty hunter character shown on the cover to Steam Wars: Bounty Hunters #1 is clearly based on Boba Fett. The helmet, backpack, antenna, shoulder cape, and emblems all make it clear who this character is. The female chained in the foreground is meant to evoke images of Princess Leia as Jabba's captive. The droid has a striking resemblance to IG-88.
Steam Wars: Bounty Hunters #2a - Antarctic Press, U.S. (December 2015)
The cover for Steam Wars: Bounty Hunters #2 is very similar to the first cover. The colors are more washed out. The main bounty hunter character has raised his gun and the female is no longer chained.
A companion to Star Wars: The Bounty Hunters - Aurra Sing, the Star Wars (1998) #12 Dynamic Forces exclusive also features Aurra Sing.
Star Wars #12c - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (November 1999) Dynamic Forces gold foil exclusive
The Dynamic Forces cover uses the same art as the standard cover but the Star Wars title is in gold foil. Like the Star Wars: The Bounty Hunters - Aurra Sing Dynamic Forces exclusive, this exclusive also came out in 1999 and is also limited to 4,000 copies. It has traditionally not been a hard comic to find for sale on eBay at a reasonable price.
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.
