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MORE ON DARK HORSE'S STAR WARS: LEGACY
by Newsarama
Anakin Skywalker. Luke Skywalker. Leia Organa-Solo (Luke's twin sister). Ben Skywalker.
For those who're familiar with George Lucas' universal blockbuster epic, Star Wars, and especially the Expanded Universe line of comics, novels and more, those names are not unknown to the legions of Star Wars fans all over the globe.
But first, a word of caution to those who're not up to speed on all things EU: The following paragraphs contain spoilers.
In the EU, Han and Leia are married and they both have three children, twins Jaina and Jacen, and Anakin Solo (who debuted in the Dark Horse comic series, Dark Empire and is now deceased).
Jacen and Tenel Ka have a daughter named Allana.
Ben, on the other hand, is Luke's son, from his marriage to Mara Jade.
This May, however, Dark Horse Comics will be introducing a new Skywalker in the 25-cent Star Wars: Legacy #0.
The Force has definitely been strong with Dark Horse these days. The recent Star Wars one-shot, Purge, by Ostrander and artist Doug Wheatley, with an out of this world cover by fan favorite illustrator Adam Hughes, was well received by fans. Some die-hard fans even considered it a direct sequel to last year's Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The new Knights of the Old Republic series by writer Jackson Miller, interior artist Brian Ching and cover artist Travis Charest has received the thumbs up from fans of the popular games series on which it was based on, as well as Tales of the Jedi fans. And the April-debuting Star Wars: Rebellion by writer Rob Williams and artists Brandon Badeaux and Wil Glass looks set to add new chapters in the lives of the Original Trilogy cast of characters.
So, what's the story with Star Wars: Legacy then? Legacy is set in teh Legacy Era, approximately 140 ABY (ie After teh Battle of Yavin, a major battle of the Galactic Civil War that lead to the destruction of the first Death Star in 1977's Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. " Mainly we wanted to find a place in the Star Wars universe where we weren't mired in existing continuity, and where we could get out of the shadow of mighty Del Rey," Vice President of Publishing Randy Stradley said, referring to Del Rey's upcoming series of nine Legacy of the Force novels by Troy Denning, Aaron Allston and Karen Traviss. "They're so much larger than we are that they inevitably become the moving force in continuity, and we bob along in their wake. We thought, if we could get out in front of them, whatever footprints we might make in the continuity landscape would be obscured by their larger presence when they (eventually) reach the same spot.
"But, by jumping so far out in front of them, we've created a buffer zone that protects our story from the day-to-day continuity events in theirs."
For the record, Legacy will be set " 100 Years Beyond Everything You Know About Star Wars."
Stradley elaborated that while the two series are not tied together "in the sense that we don't have to wait for Del Rey to establish something before we move on, and none of their original plans for the era are contradicted by what we're establishing. They are, obviously, connected by the threads of continuity common throughout the Star Wars universe.
"To assuage fearful readers, let me assure everyone that we're working with LucasFilm and the Del Rey editors and authors to make sure we don't contradict their continuity, nor create events in our time period that will force them to change course unexpectedly," Stradley said.
After the Yuuzhan Vong invasion and the Swarm War, Legacy will be set in an all new era with an all new Sith Order and an all new empire. The menace? "Oh, the usual stuff -- power-hungry despots, bounty hunters, and the aforementioned new Sith order," Stradley added. "But there's also a great deal of in-fighting -- different arms of the same organization working toward different ends. It's a big, bustling galaxy, and our heroes will be discovering that yesterday's enemy can be today's ally... and vice versa."
As mentioned, Legacy features a new Skywalker in the form of a former jedi and a pirate who bears a Bloody Bones tattoo named Cade? While Stradley preferred not to reveal more about this new Skywalker and other characters such as Rav, the pirate who once took Cade as his apprentice, and the bikini-wearing Twi'lek with Darth Maul tattoos, we tracked down series artist Jan Duursema for more info [Note: Writer John Ostrander is currently away in Ireland]. "First, let me say I am very excited about this new series," the veteran artist said. "One of the things we talked about when developing Legacy was setting Star Wars in an era unfamiliar to the fans. We knew going in that we wanted to recapture the excitement we all had felt the first time we saw Star Wars: A New Hope. With that first film, Lucas took us to a place that was totally unfamiliar and unexpected, with characters we knew nothing about. The future was unknown, the fates of the characters were unknown and we wanted to know more--so we kept going back to find out! Setting Legacy way ahead of what has been done so far, gives us the opportunity to create characters who we know nothing about and can learn about as the series goes on. It is also set far enough ahead of Return of the Jedi that we can leave the fates of characters presented in New Jedi Order and Legacy of the Force untold.
"I think, at first, I was the most skeptical," she admitted. "On the message boards, I likened creating this era to standing at the edge of that very deep chasm in Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade--you know, the one with the invisible bridge? Could Star Wars be Star Wars without the Big 3? That chasm seemed awfully wide and deep, but as Randy, John and I explored what could be done with this era, I started to have faith that the bridge between eras did exist. And I began to become intrigued with the idea of a future Skywalker and future Jedi... I think there is always a fascination with 'what comes next'--and what comes next is where we are going.
"Within the series you can look for references to names and characters from comics, novels and movies--Skywalker is not the only one with a legacy--but for the most part the characters will be new characters dealing with what they have been given in a very dark galaxy."
Also, on TheForce.net forums, Duursema posted the following info about the Twi'lek: "When designing the Twi'lek I was attempting to call to mind a sci-fantasy version of a female Pict warrior--tattooed and fierce in appearance. Perhaps she is someone who uses their tribal markings as their armor--as if through some 'magic' she does not need actual armor. I think clarity about this character will come when she is seen in the series and we know more about her, but for now I just needed to clear up the issue of why she is dressed the way she is. Covering the tattoos (which I did think about, but rejected) would have removed the primitive quality I wanted to instill in her."
On the new Sith Order, "We spent long hours discussing the return of the Sith Order," she posted on the Dark Horse boards. "We analysed the problem in great detail, and it is not conflict with George Lucas' vision of Star Wars. Even Lucas approved the basics of the story and he still thinks that the Expanded Universe isn't just an alternative universe which is different from his own. The Legacy series will not ruin the significance of the Prophecy and Anakin Skywalker's redemption. You really think that we didn't think about this and we missed it???"
Randy: "I've been thinking about this whole "restore balance to the Force" thing and, aside from my joke from last year about Anakin restoring the balance by killing all of the Jedi so that there were only two Sith and two Jedi, I think that I have a workable theory. Tell me what you think:
"The "balance" that Anakin restored was in breaking down the impermeable borders between the light and the dark sides of the Force. Anakin was the first to ever cross completely (and seemingly iredeemably) into the dark side and return to the light side. It was Anakin's redemption that restored the balance. It wasn't that he destroyed the Sith, but that he "broke" the inescapable power of the lure of the dark side.
"Then again, we're dealing with an fuzzy, ancient prophecy that even some of the greatest Jedi Masters weren't too clear on."
For whatever it's worth, Duursema posted that " A hero is forever a hero. It is the legacy of these heroes that inspires us all."
Star Wars: Legacy #0, a handbook-style primer priced at 25 cents, is scheduled to be in stores in May, followed by issue #1 of the new ongoing series a month later.
Until then, for those who would like to find out more about each Star Wars series published by Dark Horse comics since 1991's Dark Empire, get hold of a copy of the Star Wars: The Comics Companion by Ryder Windham (The Ultimate Visual Guide, Droids: The Kalabara Adventures) and Daniel Wallace (The New Essential Chronology, The New Essential Guide to Droids). Price at $19.95, the 144-page volume is now in stores.
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