Marvel Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company's LucasFilm Ltd. announced Friday that Marvel now has “exclusive rights to create and publish ‘Star Wars' comics and graphic novels,” beginning in 2015.
Marvel originally published the ‘Star Wars' comics in March 1977 when they debuted with the original film. Star Wars #1 went on to sell more than 1 million copies. Marvel sold Star Wars comics for nine years before Dark Horse took over the license from in 1991.
Carol Roeder, director of LucasFilm franchise publishing, Disney Publishing Worldwide, said:
Dark Horse Comics published exceptional Star Wars comics for over 20 years, and we will always be grateful for their enormous contributions to the mythos, and the terrific partnership that we had. In 2015, the cosmic adventures of Luke, Han, Leia and Chewbacca will make the lightspeed jump back to Marvel, to begin a new age of adventures within the Star Wars universe.
Marvel Worldwide Publisher and President, Dan Buckley, also has commented on the deal:
We here at Marvel could not be more excited to continue the publication of Star Wars comic books and graphic novels. The perennial brand of Star Wars is one of the most iconic in entertainment history and we are honored to have the opportunity to bring our creative talent pool to continue, and expand Star Wars into galaxies far, far away.
Comic book fans have been waiting for this announcement since Disney purchased LucasFilm in 2012.
Moreover, 2015 will also see the release of the next entry in the film franchise, the J. J. Abrams-directed sequel Star Wars: Episode VII, scheduled for release on December 18th, 2015.
