About Star Wars Comic Books

History

• The universe of Star Wars made the leap into comic book form in 1978, when Marvel acquired the rights to create a title based on the property. The following year, Star Wars comic strips appeared in newspapers; they were to continue until 1984. In the 1990s, a smaller comic company called Dark Horse comics began a line of Star Wars books that became very popular with fans. It continues to this day.

Types

• There is a wide variety of comic-book titles set in the Star Wars universe. The following are some of the more popular:.

  Star Wars: The Clone Wars--These comics explore the battles that take place between Episode II and Episode III in the Star Wars time line.

  Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic--This series of comics explores the ancient past of the Jedi Council, when Jedi knights were more numerous and fought against the Sith.

  Star Wars: Boba Fett--This popular series details the adventures of one of the most infamous characters in the Star Wars pantheon.

Significance

• The most significant aspect of the Star Wars comic books is the effect they have had on the expanded universe (stories that take place outside those of the feature films). Star Wars comic books have created deep background history and a wealth characters that support the films, as well as other elements of the franchise. The character Ayala Secura is one such example. According to Starwars.com, she first appeared as a character in the Dark Horse Star Wars comics, and was later incorporated into the films.

Time Frame

• Star Wars comic books are set at all points on the fictional timeline of the Star Wars universe. Comics have depicted events that took place 5,000 years before the battle of Yavin--the major battle in "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope"--and as far in the future as 40 years past the events of that classic film.

Features

• One of the main features of Star Wars comic books is their in-depth exploration of characters in the Star Wars universe that may be background characters or not as developed in the films. Characters like Boba Fett and Aura Sing, who have a huge fan following despite a relatively small amount of camera time in the movies, are given room to stretch and grow. Because these stories do not have to take place in any sort of chronological order, artists and writers are free to examine elements of this fictional universe that they would enjoy fleshing out further without worrying about meshing the extra details into a film.