As Disney continues to consolidate all the Lucasfilm properties under one roof, the studio announced that Star Wars comic books will be published by Marvel Comics. Star Wars books had previously been published by indie publisher Dark Horse Comics.
Disney announced today that Marvel will once again publish Star Wars comics and graphic novels in 2015. Marvel had published Star Wars books when the Original Trilogy films were released, going back to 1977. The main Star Wars series ran nine years, even beyond Return of the Jedi’s release in 1983.
Dark Horse took the Star Wars license in 1991, beginning with the acclaimed series Dark Empire. More recent hits with the license include Legacy and Knights of The Old Republic.
“Dark Horse Comics published exceptional Star Wars comics for over 20 years, and we will always be grateful for their enormous contributions to the mythos, and the terrific partnership that we had,” Carol Roeder, director of Lucasfilm franchise publishing, Disney Publishing Worldwide said in the announcement. “In 2015, the cosmic adventures of Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca will make the lightspeed jump back to Marvel, to begin a new age of adventures within the Star Wars universe."
Since buying Lucasfilm in October 2012, Disney has shut down redundant divisions of the company, like video game publisher LucasArts and Lucas Animation. While the company did license out Star Wars video games to Electronic Arts, it looks like Disney would rather have complete oversight of the comics.
Of course, 2015 is the year that Star Wars: Episode VII will be released. The J.J. Abrams-directed film hits theaters on Dec. 18, 2015.
Disney also now has control of Indiana Jones, another Lucasfilm property that Dark Horse had the license to.
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