Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space-opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon.
An eponymous series by Marvel Comics began in 1977 with a six-issue comic adaptation of the original film and ran for 107 issues and three Annuals until 1986, featuring stories set between the original trilogy films, as well as adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. From 1985 to 1987, Marvel published two short-lived series based on the Star Wars animated series Droids and Ewoks. Briefly, the publishing rights were to Blackthorne Publishing, whom released a three-issue run of 3-D comics from 1987 to 1988. Then, three years later, the rights to publish Star Wars comics were acquired by Dark Horse Comics, who published the limited series Dark Empire in 1991 and ultimately produced over 100 Star Wars titles until 2014.
Following the October 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, in January 2014, it was announced that the Star Wars comics license would return to Marvel Comics in 2015 (Disney having previously purchased Marvel Entertainment and the Marvel Comics brand and publishing in 2009). In April 2014, Lucasfilm rebranded the majority of the Star Wars Expanded Universe as Legends, only keeping the theatrical Skywalker saga and the 2008 Clone Wars theatrical film and television series as canon. Most media released since then is considered part of the same canon, including comics.
An eponymous series by Marvel Comics began in 1977 with a six-issue comic adaptation of the original film and ran for 107 issues and three Annuals until 1986, featuring stories set between the original trilogy films, as well as adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. From 1985 to 1987, Marvel published two short-lived series based on the Star Wars animated series Droids and Ewoks. Briefly, the publishing rights were to Blackthorne Publishing, whom released a three-issue run of 3-D comics from 1987 to 1988. Then, three years later, the rights to publish Star Wars comics were acquired by Dark Horse Comics, who published the limited series Dark Empire in 1991 and ultimately produced over 100 Star Wars titles until 2014.
Following the October 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, in January 2014, it was announced that the Star Wars comics license would return to Marvel Comics in 2015 (Disney having previously purchased Marvel Entertainment and the Marvel Comics brand and publishing in 2009). In April 2014, Lucasfilm rebranded the majority of the Star Wars Expanded Universe as Legends, only keeping the theatrical Skywalker saga and the 2008 Clone Wars theatrical film and television series as canon. Most media released since then is considered part of the same canon, including comics.