Star Wars Rebels' New Collection Is the Essential Prequel to A New Hope
Following the announcement that Dark Horse Comics will return to publishing Star Wars comics, it has been revealed that Star Wars: Rebels will be receiving a trade paperback later this year. The upcoming release will collect comics from Star Wars: Rebels Magazine.
Although Dave Filoni has been famously credited to the success of The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian, he is also responsible for Rebels. The animated series set before A New Hope adds new context to the saga, tying into some events from The Clone Wars. After losing his parents, young Ezra Bridger is pursuing a life as a Jedi Knight and receives training from a surviving Jedi, Kanan Jarrus. Joined by a Twi’lek pilot named Hera Syndulla, an artistic Mandalorian named Sabine Wren, the strong Zeb, and a astromech droid named Chopper, the rebels fight the Empire and promote their cause of liberty.
Dark Horse Comics will be collecting a variety of comics from Star Wars: Rebels Magazine including issues #1-#35, #37, and #39, along with Star Wars: Rebels Animation Magazine #1-4. The featured comics were written by Jeremy Barlow, Alec Worley, Martin Fisher, with art by Robert Molesworth, Ingo Romling, Eva Widermann, Ruairi Coleman, and Cosmo White. There haven’t been many collections of the 43 different comics from the two magazines, making this trade paperback particularly special. As the Ghost crew searches for the Rebel Alliance, they encounter pirates, creatures, and members of the Empire. The collection releases on July 6 for $29.99.
The Rebels trade paperback is among the first announced comics to come from Dark Horse Comics in the publisher’s new era with the franchise. Previously, Dark Horse returned to Star Wars comics shortly after it was announced that IDW would not continue to release comics alongside Marvel. Since IDW had been known for child-friendly stories set in the Star Wars galaxy, it wasn’t certain whether Dark Horse would return to publishing content intended for more mature readers, or if they would fill the void left by IDW.
However, with the upcoming Rebels release, it seems that Dark Horse might be going something somewhat different from what was expected. Before the publisher’s return to Star Wars, a trade paperback containing various comics from Rebels magazines might not have had a home with Marvel or IDW. Dark Horse could go onto collect more comics from Star Wars’ past, beyond material only intended for older or younger readers.