I like the character design. What race is she?
That’s the big question in my mind. She looks Falleen (Xizor, Savan), but Falleen don’t have earlobes. She looks Twi’lek like Oola, but she has not head tails. She looks kind of Miralan (Barriss Offee), but he black face markings are different from the geometric face markings of other Miralan. I thinks she’s a new species. I can’t find an alien exactly like her.
The solicit says she has links to the High Republic. Maybe Vernestra Rwoh’s relation? I dunno.
Falleen:
Twi’lek:
Miralan:
Definitely going to try to get that one. The hair line on the Chang Variant looks off to me.
STAR WARS: WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS #4 (OF 5)
CHARLES SOULE (W) • LUKE ROSS (A) • Cover by STEVE MCNIVEN
THE WAR CONTINUES!
- The true machinations of the theft of HAN SOLO from BOBA FETT become clear, as one-time love of Solo QI’RA has returned her terrifying criminal organization, CRIMSON DAWN, to the galaxy.
- Qi’ra used Han to bring the most powerful players in the galaxy together, and now the pieces are moving toward their endgame.
- DARTH VADER, LUKE SKYWALKER, LEIA ORGANA, VALANCE, APHRA, THE HUTTS – all are vying for the ultimate prize, while Boba Fett’s stuck in the middle, a simple man just trying to get what’s his!
STAR WARS: WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS – BOUSHH #1
ALYSSA WONG (W) • DAVID BALDEÓN (A) • Cover by MAHMUD ASRAR
THE SECRET ORIGIN OF BOUSHH! A “WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS” TIE-IN!
Before PRINCESS LEIA acquired his armor to infiltrate Jabba the Hutt’s palace, BOUSHH roamed the galaxy as a bounty hunter. He and his team of lethal warriors were exiled from their homeworld; but what horrible event from Boushh’s past doomed them all to wander with no hope of ever returning? Desperate to survive, Boushh takes a suspicious job from a shadowy organization to assassinate DOMINA TAGGE, the leader of the powerful Tagge Family – a galactic dynasty stretching back countless generations. But Domina is the most dangerous enemy Boushh has ever faced, and the desperate exile has the most difficult choice of his life to make! ALYSSA WONG and David Baldeón’s one-shot is the third of four action-packed “War of the Bounty Hunters” tie-ins about the criminal underworld’s most notorious hunters and scoundrels, all told by the best STAR WARS writers and illustrators in the galaxy.
STAR WARS #17
CHARLES SOULE (W) • RAMON ROSANAS (A)
Cover by CARLO PAGULAYAN
“THE CHASE!”
- SITH LORD DARTH VADER has discovered that his son, Jedi Knight LUKE SKYWALKER, is finally within striking distance.
- He will pursue him to the very ends of space…Who is hunting whom?
- Meanwhile, LEIA ORGANA battles the forces of CRIMSON DAWN to regain her lost love, HAN SOLO.
STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA #14
ALYSSA WONG (W) • MINKYU JUNG (A)
COVER BY SARA PICHELLI
“REPEAT OFFENDERS”
- DOCTOR APHRA and SANA STARROS are imprisoned by a POWERFUL ENEMY!
- If they want to escape, they’ll have to work together with former foes JUST LUCKY and ARIOLE…
- And venture deeper into the heart of a CRIMSON DAWN FLAGSHIP!
STAR WARS: BOUNTY HUNTERS #16
ETHAN SACKS (W) • PAOLO VILLANELLI (A)
COVER BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
“SHADOW SOLDIERS”
- VALANCE and DENGAR make a last stand against DEATHSTICK!
- T’ONGA seeks help from a LEGENDARY BOUNTY HUNTER!
- The bounty hunters converge on a high-stakes auction as CRIMSON DAWN’S plans come into focus!
STAR WARS: DARTH VADER #16
GREG PAK (W) • RAFFAELE IENCO (A) • Cover by AARON KUDER
“TARGET SKYWALKER”
- All of DARTH VADER’S careful scheming and brutal power moves to claim HAN SOLO’S frozen body have one ultimate end goal: LUKE SKYWALKER, the only person who could challenge Vader’s primacy at the Emperor’s side.
- Now everything comes to a head as father closes in on son and Luke finally grasps a shocking truth…
- …one that will shape his destiny FOREVER!
Durge makes his first full canon comics appearance and first canon cover next week in Doctor Aphra #11. Confirmed:
Cameo on the last page of #10
So, in terms of timing, it is tied with Cover A of 11. In terms of print run, probably the winner. Expensive, though.
Has Durge had a non-canon cover before?
Ratio?
We don’t know yet. The solicits for the comics themselves just came out yesterday with the Cover As listed. this wasn’t part of that. Might be open order. We’ll see.
Figured. Good looks
Ok, guys, are you ready for this rabbit hole? I decided to research and confirm that this Sprouse Darth Vader #14 variant is indeed the first cover appearance of these Droids characters. I got more than I bargained for:
The summary is that this is the first cover appearance of all of these characters, but many appear in super obscure Spanish comics that are near impossible to find.
Here are some highlights:
Jann Tosh
Jann Tosh is a human male miner who was actually born on Naboo if you can believe it. Yep! Jann actually appeared in the ambiguously legitimate and impossible to find Spanish language “MyComyc” in 1986. The Spanish comic was lost until it was mentioned on a Star Wars forum in 2012:
Had it not been for the efforts of Spanish fan Adolfo Rodriguez in 2012, we still wouldn’t know about them. Rodriguez posted a note at Dark Horse Comics’ forum, letting English-speaking fans know of the strips’ existence. He and fellow fan Eddie van der Heijden then provided Dark Horse’s VP of publishing, Randy Stradley, with scans so the publisher could consider having them translated for reprint purposes … –Blast Off Comics
Although, Jann looks different, he appears in issue 4 of MyComyc in the two page Droids strip named The Sabotaged Droid. However, he has yet to appear on a comic cover making Darth Vader #14 his first comic cover appearance.
The MyComyc strips are of ambiguous legitimacy because when Dark Horse editor, Randy Stradley, asked Lucasfilm to include them in a reprint edition, Lucasfilm could find no documentation of the licensing. However, the copyright information included in the strips appears accurate and it was likely licensed at the time.
These MyComyc issues are nearly unheard of coming to market in the normal channels and you’d be extremely lucky to find them in the wild. Having said that, any comic shop with them in the back issue bins likely doesn’t know what they have and their significance.
Terrinald Screed
Screed’s an interesting character in terms of publishing history. Of all the characters featured on the Darth Vader #14 cover, he’s the only one who has been depicted in the current Star Wars canon! He first appeared in the Droids episode 4, A Race to the Finish , on September 28, 1985 and continued to make appearances throughout the remainder of the Droids series. He then appeared in the children’s book Escape from the Monster Ship (5/12/1986), then the PC Game Star Wars: Rebellion (2/28/1998), then the novel The New Jedi Order: Force Heretic I: Remnant (2/4/2003). Since Disney’s establishment of new canon, he has appeared in the novel Tarkin (11/4/2014), was mentioned in the Rebels junior novel, Servants of the Empire (10/6/2015), and appears in a hologram identified as “Terinald” in Chuck Wendig’s novel, Aftermath: Life Debt (7/12/2016).
But, you guessed it, he hasn’t ever appeared in or on a comic book. Darth Vader #14 is his first comic cover appearance.
Thall Joben
Thall Joben first appears in the very first episode of Droids, The White Witch . Now as far as comic appearances go, you guessed it, MyComyc is his first appearance. He appears in issue #1 of MyComyc in the story Neutralizing Trigon :
Joben doesn’t appear on the cover, though, making Darth Vader #14 his first comic cover appearance. While its true Terrinald Screed is the only character to actually appear in current Star Wars canon, an artifact of Joben’s exists in canon indicating that he exists somewhere in the new Star Wars canon yet to be revealed.
The Joben T-85 speeder bike was a speeder bike model manufactured by the Zebulon Dak Speeder Corporation, and named after the famous swoop racer Thall Joben.
It first appeared ridden by Kanan in the Star Wars: Rebels episode Idiots Array:
The speeder then first appeared in comics in Rebels Magazine issue #6 released by Egmont in the UK on June 17, 2015.
It was later identified by name in the Canon Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles. So, Joben was a famous enough swoop racer in canon to warrant the production of a signature bike.
Holy research, Batman!
