Star Wars Tales
From Wookieepedia, the Star Wars wiki.
Star Wars Tales is a series of comics that began on September 29, 1999 and ended on July 13, 2005 published by Dark Horse Comics. Each issue is an anthology of stories from various eras of the Star Wars timeline. Although the stories themselves are unrelated, many issues were themed around a single character, group or era. Each story varies in length, with six or so stories in each issue, adding up to a total of 64 pages. Two covers were produced for each issue, one illustrated, another a photo-cover.
Issue #1 to Issue #20 were edited by Peet Janes (Issues 1 and 2) and Dave Land (Issues 3-20) and were labeled Infinities, placing them outside the canon (though this is not to say that the events depicted are permanently outside of the official continuity, just that they should not be considered canon unless or until they are endorsed by a canon source).
However, in-universe, the premise is that the stories of the Tales series are holo rentals from Peeja Mobet's Holo Emporium. Peeja Mobet introduced the first two issues (before editor Peet Janes left the series and Dave Land took over), talking about the stories presented. Even he admits not everything that is found in his shop is "historically accurate." In his words (taken from Issue 1):
"Some folks take liberties with their characters, others ignore potentially significant events, and still others speculate about what might have happened if something didn't occur when and where it should have. Or vice-versa for that matter. And then of course there's them hoo-ha stories, which make none of the pretense about tying in so long as you're doubled over and crackin' up!"
From Issue 2: "Now, the stories that I carry in this shop have been told from as many points of view as there are thinking beings on this planet. That makes for some interesting perspectives, even on the same stories that we've heard over and over again. Everybody's got his or her own personal spin on events, and ideas of the outcomes too, that may rankle some folks: 'Hey, I was there! He didn't do that!' they shout over their half-drained lomin-ales. Then somebody else pipes in with 'What do you know? You weren't even hatched when that happened!' and then the place devolves into a classic brawl.
I have a little more respect for the differing viewpoints. For one, every different viewpoint is another story I can rent! For another, despite the fact that our perceptions are based on the same incoming information, everybody has his or her own interpretations of things, no matter what lobe they're using or how glitterstimmed their ganglia may be. That's what makes this the most colorful galaxy in the universe, eh?
The most important thing is: is it a good story? Does it have all the parts, in a semblance of order, and make sense as a whole? Did you laugh at the end, or did your hearts jump and make you wonder about the final outcome, the fate of some endearing (or reviled!) character? I hope so; otherwise I'm not doing my job and you'd better tell me!"
Jeremy Barlow became the next editor, and edited Issue #21 to Issue #24. All the tales from these issues are considered to be canon, unless labeled otherwise.
Tales also produced a 16-page Free Comic Book Day Edition, released in May 2002.
Many Tales stories and events from the first twenty issues have been referenced in other Star Wars publications. This elevates the referenced aspects of the story into the canon, but does not necessarily mean that the entire story should be considered within the official continuity. For a list of all Tales stories that have had elements incorporated into continuity, see the list of Tales stories with elements of continuity.
The 24 issues of Tales have been collected in six volumes of trade paperbacks, collecting four full issues each.
Contents |
[edit] Notable contributors
[edit] List of Star Wars Tales by Issue
[edit] Issues considered infinities
(Note: Some stories in these issues, such as "Lady Luck" in issue #3 by Rich Handley and Darko Macan, have been referenced in other resources, rendering them canonical.)
[edit] Star Wars Tales Volume 1
[edit] Star Wars Tales Volume 2
[edit] Star Wars Tales Volume 3
[edit] Star Wars Tales Volume 4
[edit] Star Wars Tales Volume 5
[edit] Canonical issues
[edit] Star Wars Tales Volume 6
- Star Wars Tales 22
- Honor Bound
- Nomad, Chapter Two
- Marooned
- Star Wars Tales 23
- Shadows and Light
- Nomad, Chapter Three
- Lucky
- Star Wars Tales 24
- Marked
- Fett Club (non-canon)
- Unseen, Unheard
- Nomad, Chapter Four
[edit] Trivia
- The tales Thank the Maker!, where Darth Vader recognizes C-3PO on Bespin, and Resurrection, where Vader duels with Darth Maul were both selected for Star Wars Insider 83's 20 Most Memorable Moments of the Expanded Universe list.
