**Official August 2022 solicits are out. See what’s in the pipeline here**
What’s up everywookiee! Welcome to a Rumor Rundown! This is where we take a look at the rumors floating around the internet and run down the list of key Star Wars comics related to those rumors.
This edition is my pre Star Wars Celebration speculation post about the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series. Which books do I think will rise in value over the next few months as a result from the show? Some based on things we know and others based on things we think we know.
It’s Your Money Warning: Never ever ever ever buy a comic or a book because I mention it in a post like this. What you spend your money on is your decision and yours alone. I am just sharing things that I am personally interested in. I’m a comic fan just like you and have no inside info.
Boulder of Salt Warning: Now, as always, take these rumors/leaks with a large boulder of salt until we hear an official announcement from Disney/Lucasfilm confirming.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Comic Speculation
Star Wars 2 (1977)
Star Wars #2 from the orginal Marvel Star Wars run from 1977 has the first appearance of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The show we are speculating on is called… Obi-Wan Kenobi. It’s not hard to see why this could go up in value once the show is aired.
The one tough part about speculating on well established characters such as Kenobi though is that they’ve a ton of screen time. There is no surprise factor. Regardless though it would be silly to think that this issue wont get a really nice pop in value once the show begins to air.
Episode 1 The Phantom Menace #1/2 Wizard
There are rumors that a meloncholy Obi-Wan will be in contact with his former Master Qui-Gon Jinn in his case home on Tatooine. You may remember that Qui-Gon was actually the first Jedi to discover how to become one with the force and communicate with the living after “death.”
He taught this power to both Yoda and Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan then taught Anakin in his final moments as Darth Vader. So while this is a rumor I feel that it’s a highly likely one. Now whether Liam Neeson shows up as a visual force ghost or we only hear his voice is yet to be seen.
Regardless, Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Manace #1/2 is going to be an introducing book for me. It was only available as a mail in promo for Wizard World Magazine #94. It includes the first appearances of Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan in it as well as firsts from Padme ,Jar Jar Binks and the first sketch drawing of Darth Maul.
Star Wars Kanan #12 and Star Wars Darth Vader #6 (2017)
When the first Obi-Wan Trailer we got confirmation that the rumors were right. The Grand Inquisitor was coming to live action and was being played by Rupert Friend.
The Grand Inquisitor made his first traditional comic book cameo in Kanan 12 (5/2016) as he appeared on one of the final panels as a reference to his involvement in the Ghost crew’s story in the Rebels animated TV show.
He then makes a full traditional comic book appearance in Darth Vader #6 (10/2017) alongside another of the Inquisitorius, The 5th Brother.
Darth Vader #6 is also a good speculative in case other Inquisitors show up in different shows or mediums. It’s the earliest traditional comic book format appearance of Fifth Brother, Seventh Sister, Eighth Brother, Sixth Brother, Ninth Sister, and the Inquisitorius in general.
Now, there are earlier appearances in magazine format books that contain comics. The European releases (under Egmont) of Rebels Magazine #3 contain the first comic appearance of the Grand Inquisitor almost a full year before Kanan 12. Remember, you want the European Egmont editions, not the Titan editions which were released later (although the Titan version still came out 2/2016 before Kanan 12). Many comic collecting purists won’t consider these as something they are chasing for their collection due to their magazine format. They are, at any rate, comics, though. Judge their collectability yourself.
If you just just want to read these stories and are not worried about speculation know that Dark Horse is release a collected addition of all of the Rebels Magazine comics in a 504 page paperback called Star Wars: Rebels.
Rebels Magazine #16 (4/2016)(again the Egmont European version only, the Titan version was later) precedes Darth Vader 6 and contains an earlier depiction of Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister in a comic:
Return of the Jedi #2
While we know that Darth Vader will come face to face with his former master there are also plenty of reasons to believe his current master will show up in some form. First off, it makes sense. The trailer shows Vader being assembled. Darth Sidious aka Emperor Palaptine is the one who order the design of the suit and will obviously be interested in the hunt for Kenobi.
Also at a recent ICCC event, Palapatine actor Ian McDiarmid, had this to say…
“There’s a certain show coming soon set right around the time I may have considered to be very active. Whether or not you will see my physical body, I cannot comment on. But you will certainly feel my presence”
To me this means we may not see him in the flesh but rather in a holoprojector speaking with Vader. Darth Sidious’s first comic appearance is in The Return of the Jedi #2 from 1983. I do think the Return of the Jedi #2 comics could get a bump with his appearance though I do not expect a massive rise in value. Still a fun book to own though.
Star Wars Tales 11
This one is pretty “spoiler” heavy if the rumors are true. So if you want to be surprised don’t look down any further. Failry reliable sources are saying that Jimmy Smits will reprise his role as Leia’s adopted father, Bail Organa, in Kenobi as he seeks Kenobi’s help to save a his young kidnapped daughter. This will lead Kenobi off world and right into his confrontation with Vader.
Bail Organa’s first comic appearance was in Star Wars Tales 11. Breha Organa, Leia’s mom, is also rumored to appear and her first comic appearance is also this issue.
Darth Vader (All Comics)
Ok this one is vague but hear me out. In Obi-Wan Kenobi we are going to get Vader like we’ve never seen him before. At least for this duration. While he was fantastically menacing in the original trilogy the Character has evolved a lot since then. When we first fell in love with Vader in A New Hope we didn’t know about Qui-Gon, about Padme, really anything about Anakin. There is much more emotion and the stakes are much higher with the new iteration of the character.
Think about how wild Star Wars fans went over a 20-30 second hallway scene in Rogue One. Vader was horrifying in that scene. Now imagine getting a full hour of that. That’s what I expect in Obi Wan. Scene after scene of Vader being the Vader we’ve seen in the comics. Brutal, ruthless, and less plodding than he was in A New Hope.
There will be generations of fans who are going to get Darth Vader at the pace that they expect from a powerful villain. This show is going to leave them wanting more. I anticipate that interest in the Darth Vader comic stories from 2015 on will see a decent rise in interest as viewers want to see more of him kicking ass.
So this isn’t a suggestion to go buy up all of the comics you can. It’s also not a suggestion to sell everything as soon as Vader shows up.
Just know that Darth Vader books across the board will be harder to come by after this show for a while. Again, just my opinion.
Here are some of my favorite covers for the first issues of different Darth Vader runs.
That’s all for now.
Nothing groundbreaking as I don’t think we are getting a ton of new live action characters who’ve been in comics. Just some of our favorites showing up again and reenergizing interest in comic series around them.
~Grand Admiral Frik
