As announced by Marvel partner, “The Uncanny” Omar Valdivieso on his channel ‘Near Mint Condition’ (link below), 2021 will finally see some old school Dark Horse Star Wars material in Marvel omnibus format. For a quick rundown of the history of Star Wars comics, read this article:
Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic Omnibus is set to go on sale on July 7, 2021. Retailing for $125 USD (around £100) and clocking in at a krayt dragon-sized 1,344 pages, the book collects Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #1-50, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – War #1-5, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Handbook and material from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic/Rebellion #0.
This is not the first time we’ve seen Marvel release Dark Horse Star Wars material in oversized format – Episodes 1 through 3 of the movie adaptations saw the same treatment a few years ago. Arguably though, those books are still “canon”. With the announcement a few months ago that Marvel would publish Dark Horse material of Alien in omnibus format, fans have been begging for an omnibus edition of some Star Wars content.
A page from Knights of the Old Republic #39. One of the few pages with little to no dialogue.
Marvel have been doing a great job with their ‘Epic Collection’ line, curating the entire Star Wars ‘Legends’ continuity in affordable, decent sized trade paperbacks. As Dark Horse lost the licence for Star Wars, many of the books dropped out of print. Marvel have taken their time, but the epic collection is looking to be a complete readthrough of the entire old expanded universe in chronological order. Sadly, though, some of the books have since gone out of print. ‘The Old Republic’ being one of them.
Fear not, however, as every single comic by critically acclaimed sci-fi writer John Jackson Miller is being collected in this weighty tome. The original series, first published between January 2006 until February 2010, was set entirely during the ‘Old Republic’ era (save for the time-leaping crossover ‘Vector’), set roughly eight years before the first ‘Knights of the Old Republic’ RPG videogame by Bioware. This places the series at roughly four thousand years before the original trilogy. The comic series featured a host of entirely new and original characters such as Zayne Carrick, Marn “Gryph” Hierogryph, Jarael, Gorman “Camper” Vandrayk, Elbee, Rohlan Dyre and Lucien Draay. Rohlan Dyre may seem familiar to fans of the Disney era of Star Wars, given he is an early Mandalorian soldier.
“A long, long time ago, the Star Wars galaxy was a very different place. Welcome to the Old Republic! When young Jedi Zayne Carrick is framed for murder by his own masters, he goes on the run with three unlikely allies: con artist Marn Hierogryph, fugitive scientist Camper and bodyguard Jarael. But can they survive long enough to clear Carrick’s name, uncover a conspiracy and maybe gain a bit of profit along the way? Strap in for an adventure that spans the galaxy as this ragtag group of heroes face corrupted Jedi, deadly Mandalorians, the power of the Sith and more!”
Collecting STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC #1-50, STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC — WAR #1-5, STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC HANDBOOK and material from STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC/REBELLION #0
CHING COVER ISBN: 978-1-302-93061-5
WEAVER COVER ISBN: 978-1-302-93062-2
‘Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic Omnibus’ goes on sale in the direct market on the 7th July, 2021, with ordinary retailers selling the book from around two weeks later.
Words: Graeme Small
