Here’s some new cover reveals from product listings at Amazon.

Clone Wars Adventures: The Official Guide to the Virtual World (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) (September 29, 2011) Grosset & Dunlap [Link]
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Here’s some new cover reveals from product listings at Amazon.

Star Wars: Darth Vader: A 3-D Reconstruction Log (Oct 1, 2011) [Link]

Lego Star Wars: Darth Maul’s Mission (Sep 1, 2011) [Link]

Lego Star Wars: Anakin: Space Pilot (3D) (Sep 1, 2011) [Link]

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Here’s a couple of new cover reveals from product listings at Amazon.

The Clone Wars: Incredible Vehicles (August 15, 2011) [Link]

LEGO Star Wars: Character Encyclopedia (October 3, 2011) [Link]

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This year’s Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo provided much in the way of Star Wars product announcements. Here is a rundown of the main announcements from Del Rey (via Star Wars Action News) and Dark Horse (via ForceCast).

Del Rey

• James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis novel is finished and will be out in the next year.

• The Phantom Menace and Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter novels to each have a new James Luceno short story featuring Darth Maul.

• Aaron Allston’s new ‘Wraith Squadron’ novel is due to be released next summer; the manuscript is being written at this time.

• Nothing is planned at the moment, but Del Rey would like to publish another “Tales Of” book.

• The Making Of Return of the Jedi was officially announced.

• Original short stories are returning to Star Wars Insider. Next will be “First Blood” by Christie Golden then “Buyer’s Market” by Timothy Zahn featuring Lando Calrissian.

Dark Horse

• New Comic Series: Agent of the Empire

• Darth Vader and the Last Command will be collected as a hardcover

• The next Dark Times arc will feature Darth Vader on the hunt for Jedi Jennir.

• Knight Errant: Deluge starts in August. Kerra Holt will be back. Hang glider-like starfighters will be featured.

• Darth Revan will be featured on the cover for 2nd issue in the next The Old Republic arc.

• Crimson Empire III will take place 2 years after Crimson Empire II.

• There are no plans for Star Wars Battlefront, Rogue Squadron or Darth Bane comics, but “never say never”.

• John Ostrander and Jan Duursema are working on a new untiltled series.

• Dark Horse is hoping to build a more integrated relationship with Del Rey regarding Star Wars novels.

• Expect more direct tie ins to The Clone Wars from Dark Horse in the future.

• George Lucas: No Quinlan Vos comic stories for now.

• Look for Dark Horse to continue with 3 to 4 Star Wars comic books per month for this year at the least.

• Star Wars will be featured in the new “Dark Horse Presents” in some way, shape or form.

• Dark Horse is shying away from the era between the Star Wars movie trilogies.

I’ve wanted to do an article on this for some time, and I believe I’m ready to offer my thoughts. The question is: Is the harsh fan criticism of the series fair? We’ll get to my personal opinion of that later. I first want to address what seems to be the overall atmosphere of Star Wars opinion in general, which, if the internet is a true indicator, is becoming more and more negative.
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We’ve seen the black and white version from the Random House summer catalog for a few days now, but here is the color version from the Random House product page…

Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare is due to be released on August 16, 2011.

SOURCE: Random House (via NJOE)

SEE ALSO:
The Essential Guide to Warfare Book Preview
Review: The Essential Guide To Warfare
Del Rey Facebook Page
(The Essential Guide To Warfare Concept & Approved Images)

Kinda.

No, the voice of Ahsoka, Ashley Eckstein, held a quick interview with Catherine Taber (Padme Amidala, The Clone Wars; Mission Vao, Knights of the Old Republic) and Nika Futterman (Asajj Ventress, Sy Snootles, The Clone Wars) during the LA The Clone Wars screening. Also interviewed is Bonnie Burton, Lucasfilm Online developer and author. She goes by the name bonniegrrl on the starwars.com forums.

Check out the videos below, and also the original posting from Ashley Eckstein’s site Her Universe. Her Universe Blog

A man who needs no introduction to Star Wars fans, famed The Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner has died. He was 87. Mr. Kershner had been fighting a long illness.

He worked on many projects throughout his life, but most notable to nearly anyone living was The Empire Strikes Back. He directed what many have said is the best movie in the Saga. TESB is very different from the rest of the Saga, mainly because it focuses primarily on character development and it’s darker tone. In TESB, we are given the opportunity to go underneath the surface, even into the mind of the main character, Luke Skywalker. We feel his emotions, especially his pain. TESB had many pivotal moments in the Saga, including the astonishing revelation that Darth Vader is actually Luke’s father.

All of those moments are part of the movie anyway, but it was Kershner that brought the absolute best out of each and every one them. His contribution to Star Wars will never be forgotten and nor will he.

News Article
Wikipedia
Wookieepedia

Lucasfilm Internet Content Developer and author Pablo Hidalgo recently sat down with Datapad de Korpil to share info about himself and about working with Lucasfilm. One answer he provided is likely of particular interest to Expanded Universe fans. We’ve quoted the question and answer in-part below.

Question…

What do you think about Star Wars: The Clone Wars not following the continuity established previously in books and comics for the timeline between Episodes II and III? Could all those events that are being unfolded ever be folded into a coherent timeline?

Answer…

As far as continuity, I see The Clone Wars as being no different than the arrival of the prequels in 1999. We fans knew that those movies would be a representation of the true Star Wars universe as imagined by George Lucas, and in some cases, it would not perfectly match the stories told by Expanded Universe authors. So, we had to unlearn all we had learned about the Mon Calamari being discovered by the Empire, about Boba Fett being Jaster Mereel, and about the Republic having a standing military.

I think with each episode, we start to get a better understanding about what the real Star Wars universe is like, and it won’t be until whenever the series ends that we’ll be able to accurately decide how the older EU material fits into the big picture.

We report, you decide.

He also gave some info about the upcoming Star Wars: The Essential Reader’s Companion…

It’s still coming together. In a nutshell, it’s basically Star Wars: The Comics Companion but for prose fiction. A high-level summary of all the novels, short stories and young reader novels in a chronological reading order, with what I hope are interesting footnotes that track the evolution of the expanded universe. A big bonus is that there will be all new art to depict characters and events that have yet to be depicted.

Read the interview in full here.

For those that don’t know (which is evidently becoming a very short list) a little girl named Katie was the focus of school bullies, simply because she brought some Star Wars items to school with her.

At summer’s end, Katie and I went to Target to pick out her backpack, lunchbox and water bottle for the new school year. After great deliberation, she chose a Star Wars water bottle to match her Star Wars backpack.

Katie loves Star Wars, and she was very excited about her new items. For the first few months of school, she proudly filled her water bottle herself and helped me pack her lunch each morning.

But a week ago, as we were packing her lunch, Katie said, “My Star Wars water bottle is too small. It doesn’t hold enough water. Can I take a different one?” She searched through the cupboard until she found a pink water bottle and said, “I’ll bring this.”

I was perplexed. “Katie, that water bottle is no bigger than your Star Wars one. I think it is actually smaller.”

“It’s fine, I’ll just take it,” she insisted.

I kept pushing the issue, because it didn’t make sense to me. Suddenly, Katie burst into tears.

She wailed, “The first grade boys are teasing me at lunch because I have a Star Wars water bottle. They say it’s only for boys. Every day they make fun of me for drinking out of it. I want them to stop, so I’ll just bring a pink water bottle.”

I hugged her hard and felt my heart sink. Such a tender young age, and already she is embarrassed about the water bottle that brought her so much excitement and joy a few months ago.

Original Blog Post

Now, I’m not going to sit here and ridicule the boys, because these are all 1st graders, but come on kids. There is nothing wrong with a girl showing her love for Star Wars. Star Wars is for boys and girls, men and women, and even pets of all ages.

This incident has literally swept across the net in just a few days. I think these boys and any others who bully girl fans will get the point. Your teasing is unsupported by the entire Star Wars fan base.

Katie, a personal message to you from Knights Archive: no matter what personal difficulties that you are going through, in addition to the bullying, which hopefully will cease, you are amongst a family consisting of literally millions. Pay no mind to the bullies. Embrace your individuality and your love for Star Wars. Keep your chin up.

And always remember… the ability to crush a spirit is insignificant next to the power of the Force.

In a stunning move… (hehe, couldn’t resist). StarWars.com has announced that long time Lucasfilm Head of Fan Relations Steve Sansweet has decided to leave his post in order to ‘start a new chapter’.

Nearly 15 years ago I left my post as Los Angeles Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal to follow my bliss and take a ‘one-year job’ as Lucasfilm’s Star Wars ambassador,” said Sansweet. “Now it’s time for another change and new challenges, while still maintaining an active role in the Star Wars fan community.

Most, if not all Star Wars fans have heard of the man who was very active within the community. If they didn’t get a chance to see him at the many conventions he appeared at, they’ve certainly read his publications, or his “Scouting the Galaxy” articles in Star Wars Insider. Personally, his articles in the Insider was one of the first places I went too, because I couldn’t wait to hear his answers to questions posed about SW collectibles.

The publications he authored, ranging from collectibles to the amazing Star Wars Encyclopedias have received much praise from fans.

While this announcement in no way seems to imply that we’ll never see or hear of him again within the SW community, it’s sad to lose such a talented man who has contributed much to the company and it’s adoring fans. Mr. Sansweet, we wish you all the best in your future endeavors. May the Force be with you, always!

Read the entire announcement by clicking the link below.

Source ~ SW.com

Fan site admins truly cherish their little corner of the Star Wars Universe. It really is a thrill for most to be able to post stuff about SW for all to see, and to come together and chat about our little hobby. Those of us who keep up with breaking SW news within the context of our sites normally do so in a timely and honorable fashion.

Posting original content is the best (and the most thrilling to me) but there are times when fan sites catch an article from a fellow site that they, in turn, would like to post about. Ok, cool. No problem. But give credit where credit is due. Don’t take their content and literally make it your own. Elementary, you’d think.

Well, respected fan site Club Jade just made a rather disturbing discovery. Much of their recent content had been literally copied and pasted by another fan site, swtorstrategies.com To make matters worse, a simple investigation was launched by Club Jade that revealed more content stolen from other fan sites.

I’m not going to use this site to criticize swtorstrategies.com, unless of course they attempt to copy my content without any kind of credit. This post is to once again call attention to the problem of plagiarism, and to encourage original thinking, and to spread the message that Club Jade is wanting to send.

Club Jade has officially responded to this situation here… SWTORstrategies.com offers lessons in lazy plagiarism

I wouldn’t be surprised if more sites release their own stinging response.