Marvel has announced a new Star Wars Epic Collections program, bringing 35 years of Star Wars comic publishing to the oversize full-color format in April, beginning with Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Empire Vol. 1.The first volume will focus on the period right after Star Wars: Episode III, with the end of the Clone Wars and the rise of the Galactic Empire, which is the time period covered by Disney’s new Star Wars Rebels animated series (see "'Star Wars Rebels' Launch Plans Revealed"), though from the opposite side of the battle. The collection consists of material from Dark Horse Comics releases: Star Wars: Republic 78-80, Star Wars: Purge 1, Star Wars: Purge--Seconds to Die 1, Star Wars: Purge--The Hidden Blade 1, Star Wars: Purge--The Tyrant’s Fist 1-2, Star Wars: Darth Vader and The Lost Command 1-5, and Star Wars: Dark Times 1-5. The 440-page volume has an MSRP of $34.99.
"We’re thrilled to be bringing our innovative Epic Collections to a galaxy far, far away," says Marvel SVP Sales & Marketing David Gabriel. "We’ll be bouncing around to different periods of Star Wars history with each Epic Collection, constructing one huge tapestry, collecting full unbroken runs of all the greatest Star Wars comics."
Marvel has already announced it will release Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years (see "Marvel Kicks Off 'Star Wars' Program") as well as starting three new series (see "Marvel Launching 3 'Star Wars' Comics") in January 2015.
This comic material is not canon, but is instead part of the "Expanded Universe" (see "Lucasfilm Formally Defines Position on the 'Star Wars' Expanded Universe").
