DarkHorse Comics Losing StarWars Now Going To Marvel In 2015

Now that Lucasfilm and Marvel are under the Disney umbrella, Star Wars comics are leaving Dark Horse, and returning home to Marvel. The Walt Disney Company’s Lucasfilm Ltd. and Marvel Entertainment released a joint statement announcing that Marvel has been granted exclusive rights to create and publish Star Wars comics and graphic novels beginning in 2015.

Marvel Comics published the first Star Wars comic book, Star Wars #1, in March 1977, which went on to sell more than 1 million copies. The company went on to publish its Star Wars series for nine years. Dark Horse Comics took over the license in 1991 publishing fan-favorite titles such as Dark Empire and Star Wars: Legacy. Last year, Dark Horse released The Star Wars #1, an adaptation of George Lucas’ original rough-draft screenplay for the film.

“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,” said Carol Roeder, director of Lucasfilm franchise publishing, Disney Publishing Worldwide.  “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.”


“We here at Marvel could not be more excited to continue the publication of Star Wars comic books and graphic novels,” said Marvel Worldwide Publisher and President, Dan Buckley. “The perennial brand of Star Wars is one of the most iconic in entertainment history and we are honored to have the opportunity to bring our creative talent pool to continue, and expand Star Wars into galaxies far, far away.”

No official dates have been released, but with Star Wars: Episode VII due out in theaters in December of 2015, one imagines that the initial comics may very well act as a lead in or tie-in to the next wave of the Star Wars cinematic universe.