The release of the first new Marvel Star Wars comic is today. To say this is a highly anticipated event is an understatement, given that it has already sold 1 million copies.
I saw awhile back that the author of the new Star Wars line, Jason Aaron, lives in the KC area. Last week I saw he would be signing copies today over at Elite Comics, so tonight I managed to fight through a ridiculous amount of rush hour traffic to reach the suburban store. I hadn't been to Elite before, since it is basically on the other side of town from me. It is a nice store.
Things had been underway for awhile by the time I arrived, so the 501st was packing up as I rolled in. It was very casual There was a cake and a short line, giving everyone a chance to visit with Jason and then continue to the register. Jason was signing the standard cover, but the shop had what remained of their selection of variant covers as well for those who wanted to opt for one or more of them instead. I had not met Jason before, so I introduced myself, got signed copies for myself and a friend, then headed on out. For those in the area that missed the event, he'll be at the upcoming Planet Comicon in KC.
I also hit my own relatively local comic shop that has been my source for Star Wars comics since the beginning of the Dark Horse days. I had already arranged for them to pull the new Star Wars titles, but wanted to make sure they didn't also hold the new omnibus or Dark Horse collections Marvel recently announced. I have much of that either from years of collecting, or picking up a few from the Dark Horse digital sale at the end of the year.
For those interested in the phenomenal numbers in sales and so on, check out John Jackson Miller's Comichron comic history site. There was also an article with the author in the Washington Post today.
Minor spoiler warning: For the most part, I liked the story up until the last couple of pages. Less so for the Vader preview. For now, lets just say that both show situations I don't think those characters should be in at this stage of the story. We'll see how things develop. Maybe its just initial reservations, since I recall similar feelings about the original Dark Horse Dark Empire storyline, and perhaps for similar reasons.
Moving on, FFG announced the Star Wars Force and Destiny Beginner Game, due out second quarter of this year. They also announced the next ship in the X-Wing line, the IG-2000.