"Into the garbage chute, flyboy!" Dark Horse loses Star Wars license

"This will be a day long remembered," and probably not in a good way. Local publisher Dark Horse Comics announced that this will be their last year releasing Star Wars titles. "I am sad to report that Disney, the new owner of Lucasfilm, has notified us here at Dark Horse of their intention to move the Star Wars publishing license to another of their recent acquisitions, Marvel Comics, beginning in 2015," explained Publisher Mike Richardson. "This will end a partnership that has lasted more than two decades." 

Disney has new Star Wars movies gearing up for release in 2015, and as Disney continues to expand, these kind of consolidations are almost inevitable. 
This must come as a significant blow to Richardson and Dark Horse - they typically print between four to six different Star Wars titles a month, running concurrently. Dark Horse has made licensed film properties a big part of their business for years, with Alien, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly/Serenity being some of the more prominent franchises. Says Richardson, "For obvious reasons, we have prepared for this eventuality by finding new and exciting projects to place on our schedule for 2015 and beyond. Will they take the place of Star Wars? That's a tall order, but we will do our best to make that happen. In the meantime, 2014  may be our last year at the helm of the Star Wars comics franchise, but we plan to make it a memorable one." 

Marvel originally published Star Wars comics from 1977-1986. Dark Horse took over and published their Dark Empire series in 1991-1992, a significant improvement from the rabbit-eared cartoon aliens that Marvel had been turning out...

Marvel is certainly a different place than it was back then - they're undoubtedly going to feel huge pressure to retain the tone and quality that has drawn so many fans to Dark Horse. It's going to be interesting to see what happens, to be sure - I'm fascinated to see what kind of new projects Dark Horse has up their sleeves. Hang in there, Mike!