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!
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War of the Bounty Hunters #4 Vilanelli Blueprint and JTC IG-88 Action figure variant:
Bounty Hunters #16 Vilanelli Blueprint Variant:
Doctor Aphra #14 Vilanelli Blueprint Variant:
Star Wars #17 Vilanelli Blueprint Variant:
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Her name is Deva Lompop, she is a brand new character, a “Shani” species bounty hunter who has been around since the High Republic and is centuries old.
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Liking this addition to the Miracle Molly backstory.
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I knew it!! So the 1:25 and open order cover are the must haves. Tfaw Mon afternoon gonna be serious.
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My LCS already pulls all the ratio variants on Star Wars for me, but yes, yes it’s going to get serious up in here Monday afternoon!
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That’s good for you. I’m going to order the qualifier to get the ratio from Beedas and try for TFaw as well.
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Man, I should try Beedas. They still doing the pullbox sign up?
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Yeah man do it. 12 comics(35%) get you the ratio at cover price.
Why are they called “blue print” variants when it’s clearly a red print…??
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It’s the same old liberal propaganda, man. Can’t even have a red print anymore without getting blasted with a politically correct term.
This is one time I’ll say load up a little heavier on the variant rather than the regular cover since the new gal shows up on the variant.
Star Wars War of the Bounty Hunters Jabba Hutt #1 (Chang Variant)
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Just FYI for those interested in Durge’s first appearance:
Star Wars: Republic #51 - First appearance.
Star Wars: Republic #52 - Second app and first cover.
Here you all go, the full list of Star Wars WOBH Pre-Order list at TFAW:
- Star Wars Bounty Hunters #16 Wobh
- Star Wars Bounty Hunters #16 (Villanelli Blueprint Variant) Wobh
- Star Wars Bounty Hunters #16 (Sprouse Lucasfilm 50th Variant) Wobh
- Star Wars #17 Wobh
- Star Wars #17 (Villanelli Blueprint Variant) Wobh
- Star Wars #17 (Jtc Action Figure Variant) Wobh
- Star Wars #17 (Sprouse Lucasfilm 50th Variant) Wobh
- Star Wars Darth Vader #16 Wobh
- Star Wars Darth Vader #16 (Villanelli Blueprint Variant) Wobh
- Star Wars Darth Vader #16 (Sprouse Lucasfilm 50th Variant) Wobh
- Star Wars Doctor Aphra #14 Wobh
- Star Wars Doctor Aphra #14 (Villanelli Blueprint Variant) Wobh
- Star Wars Doctor Aphra #14 (Sprouse Lucasfilm 50th Variant) Wobh
- Star Wars War Bounty Hunters #4 (of 5)
- Star Wars War Bounty Hunters #4 (of 5) (Blueprint Variant)
- Star Wars War Bounty Hunters #4 (of 5) (Jtc Action Figure Variant)
- Star Wars War Bounty Hunters Boushh #1
- Star Wars War Bounty Hunters Boushh #1 (Noto Variant)
- Star Wars War Bounty Hunters Boushh #1 (Blueprint Variant)
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Been refreshing all day waiting for this.
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Here’s a story for pure entertainment and I’m curious to know if this happened to anybody…My buddy is a Star Wars fan, but casual comic book fan. As soon as I saw the image to Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha JTC black armor variant, I sent him a TFAW link. He was all in and bought 3 copies. One for himself, one for his 3 year old son, and one for posterity. I get a text from him a few weeks later saying I misled him. He was pissed that what he received in the mail was 3 comic books and not 3 action figures. The fact I sent him a link and he just ordered without reading the description still makes me laugh, but here we are. Just wondering if anybody else has a story like this.
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