All Updates From The Lucasfilm Publishing Panel at NYCC 2023

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The Lucasfilm Publishing Panel at New York Comic Con took place today starting at 1:30 P.M. EST and included quite a few reveals of what’s to come for Star Wars comics and books. Let’s look at what we found out.

For the sake of brevity, I will only be going into new information and reveals and not recapping everything the authors talked about.

All images from the panel are credited to @FriendsofForce on twitter. Huge shout out to them for hooking us up with the details. Go follow them if you do not already. I will update this post with official images from Disney/Lucasflim as soon as they are made available.

Cover Art For Star Wars: High Republic – Shadows of Starlight #4

We already knew that Star Wars: High Republic – Shadows of Starlight #4 would be about Marchion Ro (top 5 High Republic character) due to the Takashi Okazaki Exclusive variants that were announced a few weeks back but this is the first time we’ve seen the cover A art by Phil Noto.

It’s cool but I like the Okazaki better personally.

UPDATE: Here’s the official art that will be used for the cover by Phil Noto.

Cover Art for Star Wars: The High Republic #3 (2023)

The Marvel Comics cover A by Phil Noto shows Jedi Keeve Trennis squaring off against Lourna Dee. Based on the art for issue #1 it appears that Lourna turns against the Nihil and joins the cause to stop Marchion Ro.

This issue could be the start of that turn. Honestly, I don’t see how she would survive against Keeve if she did not turn. Keeve is a Jedi and a talented one at that. Star Wars: The High Republic #3 (2023) comes out on January 3, 2024.

UPDATE: Here’s the official art that will be used for the cover by Phil Noto.

Cover Art for Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #3

The 3rd issue of Daniel Jose Older and Dark Horse Comics’ all-ages comic line for Phase III of the High Republic was also revealed during the panel. It shows Jedi Master Kantam Sy dueling with a creepy-looking baddie wielding two double-sided blades.

I believe this villain is one of the Children of the Storm. The Children of the Storm are genetically modified force users who are tortured and brainwashed to be loyal to Marchion Ro and the Nihil.

UPDATE: Official cover art by Harvey and Kevin Tolibao is below

Stellan Gios Force FX Lightsaber Is Coming

And so am I.

Jk lolz omg.

But seriously this is fantastic news and I will be buying this day one. I am not a lightsaber collector per se. I have some from Savi’s workshop but those are for my kids. This one will be for me. This is big news because we’re finally going to start seeing Star Wars: The High Republic merchandise for the characters originally created for Project Luminous.

This saber will be sold on Shop Disney and limited to 5,000 pieces.

UPDATE: Holy shit this is the official image of the saber. GIVE ME THAT.

Star Wars: The High Republic: Lightsaber Reference Book

It was also announced that Insight Editions will be releasing a new reference book that shares all of the beautiful High Republic lightsabers in April 2024 written by Daniel Wallace.. Likely leading to more Force FX lightsabers being announced around that time as well.

UPDATE: Official cover for Star Wars: The High Republic – The Lightsaber Collection

Star Wars: Dark Droids – D-Squad #4 Cover Art

Cover Art for Star Wars: Dark Droids – D-Squad #4 was also revealed. Showing the official team-up of IG-11, Bt-1, 0-0-0, 4-LOM, and R2. Where’s Chopper? The John Tyler Christopher Action figure variant will be Triple Zero. A must-get for me.

See the full Dark Droids Reading Order and All Variants here on the Dark Droids checklist

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters is Coming To An End With Issue #42

It’s been a long run for this series. To me, it’s been hit-and-miss. I like Ethan Sacks and I like the characters individually but overall Bounty Hunters didn’t completely hit the mark for me. It was far too much about emotional baggage than actual Bounty Hunting in my opinion. I know others personally who love it though. So, if that’s you, don’t get mad at me.

This frees up Sacks to take on another project…

Star Wars: Jango Fett Comic Coming In March 2024

I got this information from a tweet so I don’t know if this is going to be an ongoing series, mini-series, or a one-shot. My guess is a one-shot.

Update: This will be a mini-series. Here’s the official cover art that will be used for the first issue by Leinil Francis Yu

Thrawn Alliances Comic Adaptation

This will be written by the goat himself, Timothy Zahn, and Jody Houser (who also adapted the first canon Thrawn novel, “Thrawn”) and will start on January 24, 2024. Unsure if this is a one-shot or a mini-series. I would guess a mini-series just like the other adaptions of Zahn’s Thrawn books; Heir to the Empire, The Last Comman, Dark Force Rising, and Thrawn.

I always prefer original stories over adaptations. But adapting a book is much cooler than adapting a show because it opens up a whole new batch of fans (who may not read Star Wars novels) to this story from Zahn.

UPDATE: It appears this will be another mini-series akin to Star Wars: Thrawn. My guess is 6 issues. Here’s the full cover by Rod Reis.

Star Wars: Mace Windu Marvel Comic Coming This January

This comic will be written by Marc Bernadin (who’s fantastic fwiw) and will come out at the same time as Thrawn: Alliances. No idea at the moment if this will be a one-shot comic or a mini-series. I will update you when I know more.

UPDATE: This will be a mini-series to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Phatim Menace. Here’s the official cover art for the first issue.

Dark Horse To Produce New Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Graphic Novels

It was revealed that Dark Horse Comics will be creating two original graphic novels with stories about Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon.

Star Wars Hyperspace Stories – Qui-Gon will be written by George Mann (love his work) and illustrated by Andrea Mutti with a release date in the Spring.

Star Wars Hyperspace Stories – Obi-Wan will be written by Cecil Castelucci and illustrated by Lucas Marangon and will come out in the Summer of 2024.