Guide to Star Wars Canon & Legends (Early Access for Crushing Comics Club members)

This is my biggest ever launch of multiple pages in over half a decade, since I first expanded the X-Men Guide to include Avengers back in 2011. I cannot think of any other fictional universe more-deserving of the distinction or effort.

Guide to Star Wars Comics, Films, Canon Stories, & Legends Comics

Log in to CK to access this guide. Leave a comment if you do not have access to your CK login and I'm happy to help! This guide is currently planned for release to the general public on May the fourth.

This is not just a guide to comics. The guide includes all of Marvel's current Star Wars comics, a complete Star Wars canon viewing/reading order broken up by film, and a chronology of the old Expanded Universe comics - now known as "Star Wars Legends" and collected in Epic Collections and Omnibuses.

It's big.

At this point you all I have no concept of doing anything in such a fashion that I might perceive as "half-way." Thus, while I've had a page full of Star Wars notes since Marvel took over the comics license in 2015, it never seemed like enough of a reason to create a Star Wars guide. 

Just as I was hesitant to create a DC guide because the web already contains so many DC resources, when it comes to Star Wars I'll never approach  being the biggest or most well-informed geek on the internet. I just don't have the time to consume all of the Star Wars stuff! 

Two things changed my mind about making the guide (even if I am resigned to never being the biggest Star Wars geek on the internet). 

First, creating the DC guides gave me perspective on how I simply do things a little bit differently than anyone else. Browsing through all of the amazing Star Wars guides out there, I was struck that there were many great timelines and wikis, but not a single really great way to quickly browse through current canon relative to films and then consume it by buying it. Everything felt like a reference for people who already owned everything.

(Also, I had a ton of conversations with other parents who wanted to show their 3-6yr-olds Star Wars stuff and had no idea there were young readers versions and Little Golden Books corresponding to every film in the series.)

Still, I was nervous that my guide would be up to snuff. As I pounded away at the guide in a giant text file, I made a note on my Star Wars Trello card that said, "find that Star Wars expert on CBR and ask if he will help proofread." I half-remembered getting into a deep conversation with someone when the Star Wars Epics were first announced and saying to myself, "Wow, if I ever really want to publish a Star Wars page, I need this guy's help."

Then, out of the blue, a few weeks ago I received a message from Taral-DLOS - the very expert whose name I had forgotten! Not only that, his message was to inform me it was time for me to make a Star Wars guide and that he would be happy to help.

Seriously, he messaged me out of the blue to say that. 

With Taral's help and notes and the deadline of May 4th looming on the horizon, I kicked my editing into high gear and finished the nine pages of this guide. Since he was such a huge help to me, I encourage you to check out Taral Books and Comics  and encourage him to keep blogging about the comics he reads!

There is still a bit more I'd like to add prior to May 4th - particularly, better cross-referencing from the comics to the continuity guide, clearer reading orders in the Legends guide, and more links to the old Dark Horse Legends collections.

What's up next? Well, I have a few days of blog editing to catch up on after this big Star Wars push. We're in the middle of voting for The 5th Annual Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot, presented by Tigereyes and I'd like to have fresh content related to that up almost every weekday between here and May 31st. As for guides, I've got a solid start on Scarlet Witch that I need to wrap up for you before I can bang out either Aquaman or Justice League.

Wow, I just noticed that there are only seven days left in the month. I better get moving!

PS: I am keeping this new set of guides a surprise until the fourth, so you won't see any public chatter on the topic.