With all areas of the Star Wars universe covered thanks to Dark Horse's revamping of its comics line, 2006 has been an incredible year for fans of the galaxy far, far away. For a recap of the new titles and storylines, we sent online marketing manager Matt Parkinson to catch up with editor Randy Stradley. . .
Matt Parkinson: Hey! Watch it!
Randy Stradley: Oh, sorry. I didn't see you standing there, Matt.
MP: You could have taken my head off! What's with the sword?
RS: Uh, well . . . I've always felt a gun wasn't personal enough and . . . er, I mean, have a seat! What can I do for you?
MP: I wanted to ask you about the Star Wars relaunch, but if this is a bad time. . .
RS: No, no -- now is fine. What do you want to know?
MP: Well, for starters, could you give us recap of the new titles and storylines for those people who might not be up to speed with all changes to our Star Wars line?
RS: Coming into 2006, which is Dark Horse's twentieth anniversary year, we knew we wanted to shake things up. For several years, we'd been focusing our attention on the characters of the Original Trilogy, and on the Clone Wars and the lead-up to Episode III. We decided that it was time to shift some of our efforts to other areas of the timeline. The Old Republic era of Knights of the Old Republic seemed like one logical area to explore. We hadn't done anything in that era for nearly a decade, and the popularity of the games had brought the time period back to the attention of the fans.
We also had a dream of getting out in front of the continuity curve and really exploring some new ground, some 140 years after Star Wars: A New Hope. We asked the folks at Lucasfilm about it, and to our surprise, they allowed it. We weren't sure what the then-unnamed Legacy era would look like, but it was an exciting prospect to have an almost blank slate.
Of course, we didn't want to forget about the other eras, or the story seeds we had already planted there-especially as the post-Revenge of the Sith time period was becoming available. But we're also conscious of how much the market will bear. We've seen situations where other companies have tried to milk the popularity of a particular title and have pumped out four or five different books about the same character. It invariably ends with fans having to pick and choose which of the many books they want (and can afford) to follow. Based on the state of the market, we decided that three titles should be the most we produce in any given month, which meant the Original Trilogy (Rebellion) and the "Dark Times" books would be miniseries whose schedules would "leapfrog" each other. It's all very complicated. I wouldn't expect a layperson like you to be able to follow our thought process.
MP: Right. . . Trying to tell so many different stories involving the Star Wars galaxy must be challenging. How do you go about deciding on the creative team for the each of the individual titles?
RS: Once the schedule was set, we asked our creators which time period they would most be interested in. John Ostrander and Jan Duursema were given first choice as they had seniority. Knowing how much Jan loves the era of the Republic (but also knowing that she wanted a full-time job, and not a series of miniseries), I was sure that she and John would choose Knights of the Old Republic, but they surprised me by choosing to explore the uncharted terrain of Legacy. After that, the other titles and their primary creative teams quickly fell into place.
MP: How far out are the stories generally mapped?
RS: Right now, I believe every series is mapped out through the beginning of 2008. So, we have things loosely plotted a year or more out.
MP: How much direction does Lucasfilm provide you?
RS: They tend to let us follow our own interests for the most part, but they provide feedback every step of the way, keeping us in sync with what the other licensees are planning, etc., so that we can all play off one another where it's appropriate, and so we don't step on each others' toes. In regard to Legacy, we worked closely with Lucasfilm and Del Rey so that our stories wouldn't contradict what was established in Del Rey's Legacy of the Force novels, and so that we all knew where both story tracks were headed.
More or less the same thing happens with KOTOR and Dark Times. Sue Rostoni and Leland Chee at Lucasfilm keep us apprised of what LucasArts is doing with their Knights of the Old Republic games, and what Del Rey and others have going on in the post-Episode III time period. It's a gigantic task to track everything, and every day I thank the stars that Lucasfilm has people whose job it is to keep us (especially me!) from going off track.
MP: The newest edition to the Star Wars line is Dark Times. Many fans have been eagerly looking forward to this new series, as it picks up right where Revenge of the Sith ends. There are so many toys on the playground to play with: What are the remaining Jedi doing? how does Vader come to terms with his role in the new Empire? what does the Emperor have up his sleeve this time around? What have you enjoyed most in creating this new storyline?
RS: Mainly I love the fact that there are so many different directions to explore. Listening to what the fans have to say on the message boards, they all want-or think they want-to see the same thing: Vader hunting down Jedi. My fear with that is that those stories may become repetitious. I mean, the outcome must always be the same, right? Vader has to win each time so that he can survive into the Original Trilogy. Instead, we've decided to explore, at first, how the change from the Republic to the Empire affects the inhabitants of the galaxy-including Vader and his relationship with Palpatine. We have an interesting and varied cast of characters for the first arc-everybody from a clone commander, to an ex-Separatist, to a Jedi-on-the-run-and a really kick-ass follow-up story in the planning stages. We're not giving readers exactly what they've asked for, but I don't think they'll be disappointed, either.
MP: Are any of the events in Dark Times tied into the upcoming Star Wars TV series? C'mon, you know you want to tell us!
RS: Do I have to get out the sword again?
MP: Uh, just one more question, okay? 2007 marks the thirtieth anniversary of Star Wars. Can you tell us what special projects you have lined up for the new year?
RS: We have a bunch of things planned. Some I can tell you about, and some are still Top Secret.
Already announced, of course, is our exclusive-to-the-Direct Market series of limited hard cover graphic novels. It's a selection of twelve of our previously-published collections that run from one end of the timeline to the other, all decked out in a cool Thirtieth Anniversary package. The first is "The Freedon Nadd Uprising" from the old Tales of the Jedi series. Interestingly, it's a story that has been out-of-print for nearly ten years.
While that's going on, we're also putting together a second volume of Star Wars: Panel to Panel. This one focuses on the contributions-new characters and stories-that Dark Horse has made to the Expanded Universe since we became a part of the Star Wars family back in 1991. It showcases nearly two hundred great pieces of art from past covers and interiors of our comics, accompanied by pithy text by yours truly.
Towards the end of the year, there are at least two more big (BIG!) projects planned that I can't talk about yet. And don't even get me started on what we're discussing for 2008! Believe it or not, I believe that will be an even bigger year than 2007!