by Leroy Douresseaux
Back in 2012, I was surprised to hear that George Lucas was selling his company, Lucasfilm, Ltd., to The Walt Disney Company. Through Lucasfilm, Lucas owned such franchises as Star Wars and Indiana Jones. After hearing about the sale, the first thing I thought was what is going to happen to Dark Horse Comics' license to produce Star Wars comic books.
Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Dark Horse lost the license, which it had held for over two decades. After all, Disney had gobbled up Marvel Enterprises (or whatever it calls itself), the owner of Marvel Comics, before they had consumed Lucasfilm. So why would Disney let Dark Horse produce Star Wars comic books when Disney owned its own comic book company, Marvel Comics?
Dark Horse recently sent out the following message from publisher Mike Richardson to the contacts on its press list:
A MESSAGE FROM MIKE RICHARDSON
The End of an Era
All things come to pass. So too, do all licensed deals. I am sad to report that Disney, the new owner of Lucasfilm, has notified us here at Dark Horse of their intention to move the Star Wars publishing license to another of their recent acquisitions, Marvel Comics, beginning in 2015. This will end a partnership that has lasted more than two decades.
For those who are new to the industry, Dark Horse revolutionized the treatment of comics based on films. After a history of movie properties being poorly handled with little regard for execution and continuity, Dark Horse took a new approach, carefully choosing licenses and approaching them with excitement and creative energy. Our goal was to create sequels and prequels to the films we loved, paying careful attention to quality and detail, essentially treating those films as though they were our own. Star Wars has been the crown jewel of this approach. We began chasing the title as far back as 1989, and with the launch of Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy’s Dark Empire, a new era in comics was born. I’m not ashamed to admit that we were Star Wars geeks, and we have been determined to spare neither effort nor expense in the pursuit of excellence.
It is ironic that this announcement comes at a time when Dark Horse is experiencing its most successful year ever. For obvious reasons, we have prepared for this eventuality by finding new and exciting projects to place on our schedule for 2015 and beyond. Will they take the place of Star Wars? That’s a tall order, but we will do our best to make that happen. In the meantime, 2014 may be our last year at the helm of the Star Wars comics franchise, but we plan to make it a memorable one. We know that fans of the franchise will expect no less. The Force is with us still.
Mike Richardson
About Dark Horse
Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent such as Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, Brian Wood, Gerard Way, Geof Darrow, Guillermo Del Toro and comics legends such as Will Eisner, Neal Adams, and Jim Steranko, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties such as The Mask, Ghost, Captain Midnight, and X. Its successful line of comics, books, and products based on popular properties includes Star Wars, Mass Effect, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Halo, Serenity, The Legend of Zelda, Game of Thrones and Domo. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading publishers of both creator-owned content and licensed comics material.
END of message
Over two decades, Dark Horse published an endless stream of Star Wars comic books, but it all began with one of the best works in what is now known as the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Star Wars: Dark Empire. Well, I'm ready to see what Marvel Comics, which first held the license from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, does this time around.
L
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