Marvel Comics reacquires the Star Wars comic book license from Dark Horse Comics

It was announced earlier today that starting in 2015, Marvel Comics will once again be the home for the Star Wars license. Here’s Lucasfilm’s press release, as it appeared on USA Today:

Jedi, Sith, and the Rest of the Star Wars Universe Come to Marvel Comics in 2015

Marvel has continued to push comic book publishing forward with innovations and experiments like motion comics and digital-only releases, in addition to its deep, ongoing catalog of monthly series and graphic novels created by some of the industry’s most gifted artists and writers.

Dark Horse Comics’ founder Mike Richardson released a separate press release stating:

All things come to pass. So too, do all licensed deals. I am sad to report that Disney, the new owner of Lucasfilm, has notified us here at Dark Horse of their intention to move the Star Wars publishing license to another of their recent acquisitions, Marvel Comics, beginning in 2015. This will end a partnership that has lasted more than two decades.

It is ironic that this announcement comes at a time when Dark Horse is experiencing its most successful year ever. For obvious reasons, we have prepared for this eventuality by finding new and exciting projects to place on our schedule for 2015 and beyond. Will they take the place of Star Wars? That’s a tall order, but we will do our best to make that happen. In the meantime, 2014 may be our last year at the helm of the Star Wars comics franchise, but we plan to make it a memorable one. We know that fans of the franchise will expect no less. The Force is with us still.

While this turn of events isn’t unexpected—Disney acquired the Star Wars license in October 2012 and previously acquired Marvel Comics in 2007—fan reactions to this from the Dark Horse Comics blog are less than thrilled.

Though Marvel originally held the license from 1977 to 1986, it really wasn’t until Dark Horse Comics published Star Wars: Dark Empire in 1991 that the comics industry truly took a licensed property and made it feel like it was an epic sequel to a movie franchise. To this day, Dark Horse Comics is a highly regarded company known for treating film adaptations with great care. They have published many great Star Wars comic book stories ; Good Comics for Kids looked at the top 20 Star Wars graphic novels in a series of posts that begins here.

Marvel Comics will have some pretty big shoes to fill and hopefully the transition from Dark Horse Comics will be a smooth one. As a reader of the original Star Wars Marvel comic books since 1977, I feel that a lot of the stories were hit or miss, with some strong gems along the way. Many of Dark Horse Comics’ stories, especially with the team of John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, were even better than many of the movies in terms of characters and pacing, and here’s hoping that Marvel seriously considers keeping them on board after the transition. I’m not dreading the takeover—this isn’t unexpected at all—but I’m leery of how Marvel Comics will handle the new Star Wars line and whether they will continue with the great care that Dark Horse Comics has done. Considering that Marvel Comics has completely dropped the ball since acquiring the Disney license from BOOM! Studios (is it really that difficult to just translate monthly Mickey Mouse comic books from Italy, Marvel?), only time will tell if Marvel will take the time to work alongside Lucasfilm to tell great stories that rivaled Star Wars: Dark Empire or Star Wars: Legacy.

It’s yet unknown whether the stories originally published by Dark Horse Comics will be reprinted by Marvel’s trade paperback line.

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