I Imperiets Kor or In the Empire's Claws is the third Star Wars album released by Semic Press in Swedish. Released in 1979, Stjärnornas Krig Album #3 includes The Wheel saga from Star Wars #18 - 23.
Stjärnornas Krig Album #3a - Semic Press, Sweden (1979) contains Star Wars #18 - 23 (minus some pages)
The cover artwork is a redrawing of the cover for Star Wars #18. Like Brandon Badeaux's interiors on the Rebellion title, this cover appears to be printed without the pencil work being inked.
Both Star Wars #34 and 35 are top 10 books in August and Star Wars continues to reign over Marvel's other ongoing series. Indications are the numbers for the comic industry in August 2017 look really bad compared to August 2016; units shipped are down over 25% compared to last year's August sales. This has been a down year overall with comic sales off almost 7% compared to last year at this time. To be fair, DC had their line wide Rebirth launch in 2016 and Marvel still has their Legacy launch coming in the next few months, so it is still possible for things to turn around.
Let's just look at the main Star Wars title and extrapolate the health of the industry from that. Here is a table that shows how this title has done since it's launch in 2015:
Year
# Issues
Total Estimated Unit Sales
Average Estimated Sales
Lowest Estimated Sale
Highest Estimated Sale
2015
13
2,777,890
213,683
123,133 (Star Wars #12)
985,976 (Star Wars #1)
2015 (minus Star Wars #1)
12
1,791,914
149,326
123,133 (Star Wars #12)
203,817 (Star Wars #4)
2016
13
1,250,390
96,183
75,234 (Star Wars #25)
118,471 (Star Wars #14)
2017 (through July)
7
504,585
72,083
70,175 (Star Wars #30)
74,969 (Star Wars #33)
It needs to be noted that the total estimated unit sales is based on the preliminary units sold as calculated on the Comichron website. It does not include subsequent printings, which would make 2015 look even better than it does. Obviously, Star Wars #1 is an giant, having sold over 1 million issues by the time you add in the subsequent prints. If you remove #1 from the equation, the top selling issue in 2017 is Star Wars #4 (again, not counting subsequent printings.) Without Star Wars #1 in the equation, the average sale this year is less than half of 2015. Now, consider the main Star Wars title has been Marvel top selling ongoing series for nearly 3 years. Star Wars has been a top selling title with weak competition.
Do not get me wrong, Star Wars is by far more entertaining than anything being put out by the Big 2. And I believe it should be a top seller. But, the title probably wouldn't be a top 10 book if the rest of the Big 2 titles were doing better. In a way, I wish the other comics were performing better so Marvel had to work a bit harder to keep high sales on their top selling ongoing title.
These days, it takes a bit of work to keep up to date on the variants and exclusives being released. Adding to the confusion is when retailers join to commission exclusives together. Frankie's Comics, Sad Lemon comics, and 7 Ate 9 Comics all released three shared exclusive covers for Doctor Aphra #1. The standard exclusive is limited to 3000 copies, the black & white exclusive is limited to 1500 copies, and the virgin exclusive is limited to 500 copies.
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #1k - Marvel Comics, U.S. (December 2016) Frankie's Comics, Sad Lemon Comics, 7 Ate 9 Comics exclusiveStar Wars: Doctor Aphra #1l - Marvel Comics, U.S. (December 2016) Frankie's Comics, Sad Lemon Comics, 7 Ate 9 Comics black & white exclusiveStar Wars: Doctor Aphra #1m - Marvel Comics, U.S. (December 2016) Frankie's Comics, Sad Lemon Comics, 7 Ate 9 Comics virgin exclusive
The cover is by Italian artist Sara Pichelli who has drawn several variant covers for Marvel's Star Wars line. Depending on the artist, Doctor Aphra looks either Asian or Caucasian. Sara Pichelli's cover shows her as Asian. It is a nice cover showing Aphra sitting on a platform high up in the air peering off into the distance.
Grandreams published Star Wars Annual 1981. The content of this hardcover book includes Star Wars #45, 47, and 48.
Star Wars Annual 1981 a - Grandreams, England (Spring 1981) contains Star Wars #45, 47, and 48.
The colorful cover is drawn by British artist Paul Neary. Neary was the editor-in-chief of Marvel U.K. in the 1990s. During his time as editor-in-chief, he oversaw the launch of line of U.S.-sized comics (traditional British comics are magazine-sized) that were also marketed and sold in the U.S. The first five titles were Death's Head II, Knights of Pendragon II, Motormouth, Warheads, and Hell's Angel. Initially, these titles sold very well and the line expanded quickly, but the entire comic market crashed in 1993. Marvel U.K. became a victim of the crash and it's assets were sold to Panini Comics.
The third volume in the Star Wars 30th Anniversary Collection from Dark Horse reprints the 4-part mini-series Darth Maul. Like the other volumes in this series, it has a matte black cover with the text in silver. Framed in a silver box in the center of the cover is a portion of the cover art from Darth Maul #4 by Drew Struzan. Drew Struzan is best known for creating posters for movies such Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, and, of course, Star Wars. This volume retailed for $22.95 and was limited to initial orders.
Star Wars 30th Anniversary Collection Volume 3: Darth Maul - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (May 2007)
The original series came out in 2000 and was the first of three mini-series from Dark Horse to star Darth Maul. Each issue of this mini-series shipped with both an art cover and a photo cover.
It was long rumored that The Force Awakens was going to be about the children of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. That rumor led to two comics spiking in value prior to the release of the movie: Dark Empire II #5 which has the first comic appearances of the twins Jacen and Jaina Solo and Star Wars Tales #19 with the first comic appearance of Ben Skywalker. Jacen, Jaina, and Ben are all characters who are featured prominently in the now defunct Expanded Universe.
Ben Skywalker appears in the 8 page The Lost Lightsaber story in Tales #19. The short story follows the lightsaber lost by Luke during his battle with Darth Vader on Cloud City. The saber is possessed by many owners, including Bossk and Boba Fett, before it is found by a Jedi Knight who gives it to his Jedi Padawan. The Padawan uses it to kill his master and, many masters and years later, that former Padawan is about to perform a ritual with other Dark Side users to "infuse this lighsaber with the power of the Dark Side." At that moment, the Jedi Knight Ben Skywalker appears and takes the lightsaber exclaiming "This belonged to my father." Ben Skywalker is the son of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade.
Another rumor was The Force Awakens would start with the movie's heroes finding Luke's lost lightsaber and it would follow their quest to find the missing Jedi Master. While Luke's missing lightsaber is in the movie, it is not the impetus for our heroes wanting to find Luke. Even so, it is interesting that the story in Tales #19 deals with the subject of the lost saber and also has an appearance by Ben Skywalker. The art cover is based on this story.
Star Wars Tales #19a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 2004) art coverInto the Unknown is a 10 page curiosity for Star Wars fans because it features a crossover with Indiana Jones. This tales is the Han Solo story you thought you'd never see! shown on the photo cover. Star Wars Tales #19b - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 2004) photo cover
Dark Empire II #5 does not command the same prices it was seeing a few years ago. Star Wars Tales #19 however still fetches a decent price. The photo issues have a slight premium over the art issues. The art issue can fetch from $30 - 45 in NM condition and you can expect to pay about $5 more for the photo issue.
For many years, very little was known about the Clone Wars, the galaxy changing event that Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi mention in A New Hope:
Luke Skywalker:"No, my father didn't fight in the wars. He was a navigator on a spice freighter." Obi-Wan Kenobi:"That's what your uncle told you. He didn't hold with your father's ideals. Thought he should have stayed here and not gotten involved." Luke Skywalker:"You fought in the Clone Wars?" Obi-Wan Kenobi:"Yes, I was once a Jedi Knight the same as your father."
A short while later, when the complete message from Princess Leia is retrieved from R2-D2, we learn a little bit more about Obi-Wan Kenobi's role:
Princess Leia:"General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire..."
In Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, it is intimated that clonemasters created clones that went insane and caused destruction across the galaxy during the Clone Wars. A strong undercurrent of the final novel, The Last Command, is the ramifications of Thrawn's use of a clone army using the same technology that created the insane clones. Mara Jade explains to Luke why she is accompanying him to Mount Tantiss on the planet Wayland, the location of Emperor Palpatine's storehouse which contains thousands of Spaarti cloning cylinders:
Mara Jade:"Let's get one thing clear right now, Skywalker. I work for Karrde, and Kardde has already said that we're staying neutral in this war of yours. The only reason I'm here is because I know a little about the Clone Wars era and don't want to see a bunch of cold-faced duplicates trying to overrun the galaxy again. The only reason you're here is that I can't shut the place down by myself."
Clones are grown in Spaarti cloning cylinders and the process, which takes about a year, has the potential for clone madness. The Dark Jedi Joruus C'baoth, enlisted into Thrawn's campaign against the New Republic in Heir to the Empire, is one of these insane clone. Thrawn is using the technology in Mount Tantiss to create his own clone army to man the recently recovered Katana Fleet's Dreadnaughts. He also is short-cutting the process and his clones are being grown in less than a month thanks to the use of the Force repelling ysalamiri. Luuke Skywalker, a clone of Luke, is a clone grown using this accelerated process.
For almost a decade, the Clone Wars described in the Thrawn Trilogy was what Star Wars fans knew, until the release of the prequel trilogy. With a definitive explanation for the Clone Wars, the situation about insane clones introduced in the Thrawn Trilogy was retconned into continuity as a separate event.
Dark Horse published a 6-part mini-series for the final book in the trilogy. Yet another artist provides the interior artwork, Croatian Edvin Biukovic. His artwork is a blending of the European style seen in the first mini-series and the traditional U.S. style seen in the second mini-series. Like the previous two mini-series, the cover art for The Last Command is provided by Mathieu Lauffray.
Star Wars: The Last Command #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (November 1997)Star Wars: The Last Command #2a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (December 1997)Star Wars: The Last Command #3a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (February 1998)Star Wars: The Last Command #4a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (March 1998)Star Wars: The Last Command #5a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 1998)Star Wars: The Last Command #6a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (July 1998)
Like the novel it is adapting, this mini-series is fast paced and juggles many characters and situations. I believe each novel in the trilogy is more dense than a single two hour movie could contain and it is amazing how much story is squeezed into 6 issues.
