http://whatculture.com/comics/marvel-ac ... -horse.php
Big news to those that follow the galaxy far, far away in comic book form as it was recently announced that Marvel would be reacquiring the rights from Dark Horse Comics at the beginning of 2015. This makes sense as Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd. are both properties owned by Walt Disney Company. Keeping all of its material in house is a logical movie for Disney and Co. as it continues to maximize its position with both of these proprieties.
This is not a strange marriage by any means as Marvel was once the original home for Star Wars comic books and printed material back in 1977 after the release of the first movie Star Wars: A New Hope. The rights would then transfer in 1991 to Dark Horse Comics with their debut story arc of the Dark Empire.
Dark Horse Comics has been a great home to those that followed the Expanded Universe in picture-form for the past 23-years as they have published a number of great pieces that revolve around the events of the film series. Below is a quote from Marvel Worldwide Publisher and President, Dan Buckley:
“”We here at Marvel could not be more excited to continue the publication of Star Wars comic books and graphic novels. 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.”
Dark Horse Comics founder and publisher had this to say about the transition:
“All things come to pass. So too, do all licensed deals. I am sad to report that Disney, the new owner of Lucasfilm, has notified us here at Dark Horse of their intention to move the Star Wars publishing license to another of their recent acquisitions, Marvel Comics, beginning in 2015. This will end a partnership that has lasted more than two decades.”
Head over to the official sites to get all of the full details and quotes.
What do you think? A good thing that the comic book franchise is coming home or a sad day for Dark Horse Comics and its readers?
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http://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/1552/end-era
All things come to pass. So too, do all licensed deals. I am sad to report that Disney, the new owner of Lucasfilm, has notified us here at Dark Horse of their intention to move the Star Wars publishing license to another of their recent acquisitions, Marvel Comics, beginning in 2015. This will end a partnership that has lasted more than two decades.
For those who are new to the industry, Dark Horse revolutionized the treatment of comics based on films. After a history of movie properties being poorly handled with little regard for execution and continuity, Dark Horse took a new approach, carefully choosing licenses and approaching them with excitement and creative energy. Our goal was to create sequels and prequels to the films we loved, paying careful attention to quality and detail, essentially treating those films as though they were our own. Star Wars has been the crown jewel of this approach. We began chasing the title as far back as 1989, and with the launch of Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy’s Dark Empire, a new era in comics was born. I’m not ashamed to admit that we were Star Wars geeks, and we have been determined to spare neither effort nor expense in the pursuit of excellence.
It is ironic that this announcement comes at a time when Dark Horse is experiencing its most successful year ever. For obvious reasons, we have prepared for this eventuality by finding new and exciting projects to place on our schedule for 2015 and beyond. Will they take the place of Star Wars? That’s a tall order, but we will do our best to make that happen. In the meantime, 2014 may be our last year at the helm of the Star Wars comics franchise, but we plan to make it a memorable one. We know that fans of the franchise will expect no less. The Force is with us still.
Mike Richardson
Not surprising.
The old answer would be 'retcon everything past the YJK series as a bad dream' but now... I've given away/sold a lot of my old SW novels and almost all of my old comics. I still own the OT but I'm about this close to trading in my copy of the PT at the local FYE. It's just... I dunno.