Star Wars Tales From The Rancor Pit will be a hardcover graphic novel published by Dark Horse Comics that is set in Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine. The 56 page book will feature three different canon (important) stories written by Cavan Scott (Star Wars: The High Republic (Ebay), Tales from Vader’s Castle (Ebay), Dooku: Jedi Lost) and illustrated by fan-favorite artists like Nick Brokenshire, Juan Samu, Rafael Perez, and Puste.
Star Wars Tales From The Rancor Pit is set to hit stores just before Halloween on October 19, 2022. Final Order Cutoff (FOC) is June 20, 2022 so be sure to get your pre-orders in now.
Star Wars Tales From The Rancor Pit: What We Know Right Now
“It’s a dark and stormy night on Tatooine as Jabba the Hutt’s victim hangs perilously above the rancor pit with only his collection of scary stories to save him.”
The context of how the stories are told is what makes it so interesting to me. Each story is told from the point of view of an unlucky character who finds themselves standing over the trap door that leads to the Rancor pit in Jabba’s palace.
Whether they owe the Hutt’s money, stole from Jabba himself, or are just plain unlucky they find themselves seconds away from getting dropped into the pit where a hungry rancor is waiting to gobble them up. Their only chance of survival is to entertain Jabba with a story. A story that must be so interesting/scary that he allows them to live.
This means that the stakes are as high as it gets for these characters. If the story is bland, they get eaten, digested, and then pooped out. So make it good. Much like the IDW Vader’s Castle comics, these stories will be written as “horror” stories yet still appropriate for younger readers. The interesting part is that, since Hutts can live to be hundreds of years old, the stories will take place all the way back to the High Republic Era up to the Galactic Civil war era of the original trilogy.
FUN FACT: Jabba was in power during the High Republic and gets his first High Republic mention in IDW’s High Republic Adventures #6 by Daniel Jose Older. This is also one of the bigger keys of the entire High Republic phase one for comics as it has first appearances of Jedi Master Obratuk, Jedi Legend Tal Bota, Affie Hollow, Leox Gyasi, and of course our boy Geode. You can still get decent deals for this on Ebay.
Those in attendance at Star Wars Celebration got a sneak peek at the interior art. Here’s a pic snapped by one of those who were there. This story has that bright and colorful art that we’ve come to know and love from Nick Brokenshire.
What will the Tales From The Rancor Pit stories be about?
We don’t know exactly who will be featured in the stories but we did get a few hints from the official solicit description.
“Experience clanking droid ghosts, explore the chilling wampa caves of Hoth and go monster hunting with Saber-For-Hire Ty Yorrick.”
Based on that I expect a Clone Wars Battle Droids story, an original trilogy story during Empire Strikes Back on Hoth, and a High Republic Story featuring badass Jedi turned space witcher, Ty Yorrick.
SIDE NOTE: If you don’t know who Ty Yorrick is she’s featured in both the High Republic The Rising Storm Novel AND a 4-part comic mini-series called High Republic The Monster of Temple Peak. Her first comic appearance is The Monster of Temple Peak #1 (Ebay) which came out on August 11th, 2022.
There are a ton of key books in the High Republic as there are so many new characters. But very few have me more excited as Ty Yorrick does. Long story short she’s a former Jedi Padawan who leaves the order after a tragedy (this is explained in the mini series) and then puts her talents to use as a purple lightsaber wielding “saber for hire” who hunts monsters for credits.
To me she’s one of the most interesting characters in the entire High Republic era because her story has so many possibilities. Will she return to the Jedi order? Will she become a force wielding ally to the Jedi without returning in an official capacity? Or will she succumb to the darkness and grief within her and become something more sinister?
Cavan Scott also teased, “In The Monster of Temple Peak we’ll discover what happened to set her on a very different path than she expected and how a crisis in her past links to events hinted at in my audio original Dooku: Jedi Lost.”
Regardless of what happens, she’s a Disney+ show waiting to happen and one of the more unique characters in all of Star Wars in my opinion.
Monster of Temple Peak #1 – First Appearance Ty Yorrick (Ebay)
As someone with small children, I am very excited for this book. My daughter loves (semi) spooky stories and really wants to love Star Wars because her Daddy does. I cannot wait to read this and the new Dark Horse Star Wars Hyperspace Stories comics with them. I get a new canon story to read and over analyze, they get a fun story that may spook them out a bit, and we all get something fun to experience together.
So while I don’t anticipate this being a huge collector’s item in 5 years I’ve already pre-ordered a copy for the family. To me it’s the epitome of what comic books and fantasy stories are all about.
Experiencing them together.
I hope you found this interesting or, at the very least, helpful in deciding whether or not this is for you.
Until next time…
For Light and Life my friends.
Grand Admiral Frik
