Summary
- First official Star Wars manga announced at Star Wars Celebration for A New Hope.
- The manga, produced by Dark Horse, features original artboards and exclusive features.
- Available on Kickstarter with special editions, will later be sold at major retailers.
Star Wars Celebration 2025 is in full swing this weekend, and the announcements just don't stop coming. Between two new major films announced, several TV shows, video game updates and more, there has been plenty of Star Wars news to keep fans hyped and happy. In between all the other franchise updates, though, was a special announcement that is most exciting specifically for otaku, and is an especially fitting announcement considering Star Wars Celebration is in Tokyo this year - a special edition of the first ever Star Wars manga.
The very first official Star Wars manga was announced during Star Wars celebration, with the project launching soon on Kickstarter before it moves to general retail stores. The manga is being produced by Dark Horse, and is based on the original story board art for Star Wars IV: A New Hope, drawn by manga artist Hisao Tamaki. This special edition release will have features that have never been seen before, and promises to be an incredible piece for collectors.
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A Star Wars Manga for A New Hope
All the Original Artwork, Unaltered
This special edition manga is titled The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope – The Manga, and is a compilation of the original artboards created by Hisao Tamaki. This will be the first time the manga is being released in hard cover, in a deluxe two-volume set and an all-new English translation. The manga was originally published in Japan as an adaptation of Star Wars Episode VI: A New Hope in 1997, before being published in English by Dark Horse in 1998.
The Kickstarter page for the project describes this new edition of the manga as:
A long time ago, in the center of Japan’s exploding otaku culture, artist Hisao Tamaki reimagined Star Wars: A New Hope in a bold new way—earning an Eisner Award in the process and capturing the hearts of fans worldwide with his manga adaptation of the landmark motion picture.
Now, Dark Horse Comics and Lucasfilm celebrate this iconic adaptation with The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope—The Manga, a deluxe hardcover release showcasing Tamaki’s never-before-seen art boards in their original right-to-left orientation. For the first time, fans will be able to experience Tamaki’s stunning unaltered artwork complete with blue pencil marks, pasted captions, and editorial notes that offer a rare window into the creative process, along with a new English translation of the boards’ original lettering.
Usually, manga and comics are not published with any of these editor marks, and readers only get to see a "clean" final version. However, The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope – The Manga is special, and it will give Star Wars fans a chance to see inside the creative genius of Tamaki's mind. They can enjoy the artwork itself, but also explore the way it came to be, and see the creative process behind Tamaki's creation.
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Where to Buy the New Star Wars Manga
From Kickstarter to General Retailers
Another thing that makes The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope – The Manga special is how it is going to be released. The project is currently about to launch on Kickstarter, where it will be available to purchase first. The Kickstarter page reports that, "special Collector’s and Masterpiece Editions—featuring exclusive covers, formats, and signed versions" will only be available through that project, and will not be for sale anywhere else.
After the project releases on Kickstarter, though, The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope – The Manga will be available at major retailers, letting everyone purchase regular editions. This is the first time that Dark Horse has launched anything via Kickstarter, so it will be interesting to see how much traffic the project gets, and how many people order the various special editions that will be available. While the project has not launched yet, you can already sign up to get a notification when it officially opens to be sure you can place an order for the edition that you want.
A few other projects were also announced at Star Wars celebration, though with far fewer details. AnimeNewsNetwork reports,
Disney Publishing also announced at Star Wars Celebration Japan that it will publish adaptations of Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts' 2019 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order game and Timothy Zahn's 2017 Star Wars: Thrawn novel. Mangado (Hazama Tukuru and sak) drew the storyboards and character designs for the Jedi: Fallen Order adaptation, and Sideranch supervised the project. Man Tsang penned and illustrated the Thrawn adaptation. Jedi: Fallen Order and Thrawn both inspired previous comic adaptations in 2019 and 2018, respectively.
It looks like an exciting future for Star Wars fans who also love reading manga and watching anime, especially with the latest season of Star Wars: Visions coming hopefully in 2025.
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Sources: AnimeNewsNetwork, Kickstarter
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