It’s official: Star Wars comics will return to Marvel in 2015 271v3t

Marvel will publish new “Star Wars” comic books beginning in 2015, the company announced yesterday. This means Dark Horse Comics is losing the licensing deal its had for over 20 years, but give Dark Horse the time to wrap up storylines in current series. Its first was Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy’s “Dark Empire,” in 1989. 6v283j

The first Star Wars comics were originally published by Marvel in the ’70s based on the original “Star Wars” trilogy for nine years, starting in 1977. “Star Star Wars film is scheduled to hit theaters.

Here is a snippet from the press release sent out:

The forces to bring new Star Wars adventures to readers across the galaxy, with Marvel granted exclusive rights to create and publish Star Wars comics and graphic novels beginning in 2015.
The agreement marks a homecoming for the Dark Horse released The Star Wars #1, an adaptation of George Lucas’ original rough-draft screenplay for the film, garnering rave reviews and national media attention and ranking among the top-selling Star Wars comics of all time.

Dark Horse is naturally disappointed and came with the following statement yesterday:

All things come to . 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 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 it 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 know that fans of the franchise will expect no less. The Force is with us still.

The consistent money brought in from the Dark Horse has a huge gap in its comic book line that won’t be easy to fill.

Marvel, on the other hand, is now in charge of one of the most profitable franchises in the Star Wars in good hands, let’s just hope this loss doesn’t hurt Dark Horse’s future too much.

Plans for new soon as they become available.