First appearances of beloved characters are one of the main drivers of comic sales these days, and there have been few characters in the last five years that were more beloved by fans than Din Djarin and Grogu from The Mandalorian (see "'The Mandalorian' Cracks Nielsen Top 10"). Despite the popularity of these characters, they have yet to truly make a first appearance in a standard-sized Star Wars comic book. The closest the pair have come to showing up in comics is their appearance in a Peach Momoko cover for Star Wars Insider #200 and a brief cameo crowd appearance by Grogu doppelganger in Robert Kirkman's Die! Die! Die! #14 published via Image Comics.

Well, the wait is nearly over (at least for a first cover appearance). Marvel has been releasing a series of Christopher Sprouse cover variants for various Star Wars comics since mid-2021, and they've slipped in a variant cover that features both The Mandalorian and his companion Grogu. This would be the pair's first cover appearance in a standard-sized comic book. There are two versions of this cover rendered: a gold version (first print) and a Beskar-silver version (second print). The gold version of this comic book is already preordering at around $30 from sellers on eBay.

Both versions of this variant will have an initial cover price of $3.99, and are scheduled to hit stores in February 2022.

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