How Marvel Is Going To 'Retell' 'The Mandalorian Season 1

What The Media Giant Has In Store

By Culture SlatePublished 2 years ago • 4 min read

Spring and summer of 2022 promise to be a busy (and also quite extensive) time for Star Wars comic collectors and completionists. In addition to long-running titles like the main Star Wars series, Darth Vader, Doctor Aphra, Bounty Hunters, and The High Republic, Crimson Reign, the story of Q’ira and her crime syndicate, will end in May only to be followed up by The Hidden Empire in June. Star Wars: Halcyon Legacy, a 5-issue miniseries based around the brand-new Galactic Starcruiser experience, started in February and will run until June. Then in May, the first issue of Star Wars: Obi-Wan, also slated for five issues, will be published just in time for the premiere of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+. The Star Wars month will also see the release of the one-shot Krrsantan, collecting all of the previous comic appearances of the Wookiee bounty hunter and former gladiator in one handy format.

But wait, there is another.

StarWars.com recently announced, that starting in June of 2022, Marvel will release a comic adaptation of the first season of The Mandalorian. Like the television show itself, the miniseries will consist of eight issues, each chronicling an episode of the hit Disney+ show. There is no word yet if the comics will include any additional scenes or dialog that were not shown on the small screen like the adaptations of The Last Jedi, Rogue One, and Solo.

Although it was only at the end of February when Lucasfilm finally confirmed that the adventures of Din Djarin, IG-11, Greef Karga, and Kuiil will be retold in comic form, the first announcement of a The Mandalorian comic already stemmed back in June 2020 when the publishing program for the new hit-series was first announced. Aside from The Art of... and several books for younger readers, the news article on StarWars.com also mentioned “The Mandalorian-inspired comics are coming from Marvel and IDW Publishing.”

The Mandalorian comic series will be written by Rodney Barnes, who had previously contributed to Star Wars lore with the miniseries Lando – Double or Nothing in 2018 and the more recent one-shot War of the Bounty Hunters – IG-88 (2021). He seems more than pleased to be able to return to the galaxy far, far away:

“The story of the Mandalorian checks so many boxes of the stuff I’m passionate about. I love Westerns, fantasy, science fiction, comedy, drama…it’s a dream gig for any writer. I’m just glad I was chosen for this assignment!”

His partner in crime on this project will be illustrator Georges Jeanty, who is also not new to Star Wars. He has provided the visuals for the current The High Republic comic series. Jeanty looks forward to drawing all the little details, of which there surely won’t be a lack of in The Mandalorian:

"I’ve always thought an artist’s style is a lot like writing in short hand. It’s very subjective. What I bring to Star Wars is my detail and love for a galaxy far, far away. Star Wars, especially where bounty hunters are concerned, is a messy landscape. I love drawing all the little details. My look has always be detail oriented, and with The Mandalorian there is so much going on with the character and in the background, and I look forward to adding visually to the already rich tapestry that makes up this universe!”

The main cover for the first issue shown above is by Ads Granov. There surely will be a lot of variant covers as well as with previous first issues of Star Wars comics.

The summer release for the comic adaptation is surely not a coincidence. It will perfectly bridge the time gap between the end of The Book of Boba Fett, which also featured Djarin and Grogu quite extensively, and the launch of season 3 of The Mandalorian towards year’s end. It might also serve as a testing ground for how well comic adaptations of Star Wars live-action series will be appreciated by fans, possibly paving the way for another comic series covering season 2 of The Mandalorian, as well as other upcoming television series in the Star Wars universe, like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and Ahsoka.

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