STAR WARS Comics Return To Marvel

In 2015 the comic book license to Star Wars will go to Marvel Comics, a move everybody saw coming the minute Disney, who owns Marvel, bought Lucasfilm and Star Wars. It's a fitting home, as Marvel was the company that published the first ever Star Wars comic - which was a big deal at the time, as movie tie-in comics sold like shit. Stan Lee actually passed on the comic when first offered, but editor Roy Thomas pushed him to take the license, and it's a good thing he did - as Marvel hit rough spots in the 70s astonishing sales of the comics kept the company afloat. 

The original Marvel series lasted over 100 issues, but Star Wars comics have since become synonymous with Dark Horse, who held the license for decades. When the Disney/Lucasfilm deal was announced everybody knew it was just a matter of time before that license evaporated, and that time has come. Dark Horse will finish up current storylines and then Marvel will publish all new books starting in 2015, when Episode VII comes out. 

The big question is what will this do to Dark Horse. Star Wars has been a cornerstone of their business for years, and they've produced a lot of beloved titles over the decades. The company plans to move on, and it will be interesting to see how they fill that void. 

In the meantime I'm going to make a prediction: the new Marvel comics will be better than the movies. They'll be looser, more fun and more imaginative. That's just my bet.