Star Wars: First Details Of What Happened Between Return Of The Jedi And The Force Awakens
What happened in the thirty years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens? In March, Disney announced they would release a series of books called Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which would fill in that gap through a mix of novels, comics, children's books and young adult stories (all considered official Star Wars canon).
One of the 20 books which will hit store shelves in December 2015 is a prequel comic book called Star Wars: Shattered Empire. We now have our first official synopsis for Star Wars: Shattered Empire which gives us our first peek at the events which happened after Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and before JJ Abrams' Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
Marvel Comics has now revealed the Star Wars: Shattered Empire synopsis in PREVIEWSworld:
In December, a new chapter in the Star Wars saga will begin when Star Wars: The Force Awakens — the seventh Star Wars film and the first to take place after Return of the Jedi — arrives in theaters. As the excitement for the new film builds, Lucasfilm and its partners will explore the aftermath of Return of the Jedi in a series of canonical projects debuting in September, and Marvel Comics leads the way with Greg Rucka and Marco Checchetto's Star Wars: Journey to The Force Awakens: Shattered Empire #1 (JUL150767)!Emperor Palpatine's twenty-year reign of terror came to an abrupt and fiery end in the skies above the forest moon of Endor. A decisive victory for the Rebel Alliance, to be sure, but even with the loss of its leadership, the Empire's Moffs and regional governors retained their hold on important systems from the Core to the Outer Rim, thanks to the might of the Imperial Starfleet. Now, with a power vacuum atop the Empire, those Moffs will jockey for position and control, and the heroes of the Rebel Alliance will soon discover that a wounded and fractious Empire may be more dangerous than any threat they faced before!Greg Rucka, the acclaimed writer of Wolverine and Cyclops, reteams with his collaborator on The Punisher, Marco Checchetto, for a Star Wars tale that will reveal the untold story of the aftermath of the Battle of Endor and the political machinations that ensued. The Rebellion's desperate struggle to liberate the galaxy from the Empire's tyranny will face new challenges, and Rucka and Checchetto will bring their incisive storytelling to a story that no Star Wars fan will want to miss.A new addition to the Star Wars canon, Star Wars: Journey to The Force Awakens: Shattered Empire will take readers into uncharted territory and set the groundwork for the new Star Wars film. Put your Empire Strikes Back soundtrack in the stereo and cue up "The Imperial March" when you read Rucka and Checchetto's Star Wars: Journey to The Force Awakens: Shattered Empire #1 (JUL150767) this September!
Not a ton of new information here, although I bolded the key paragraph. I'm sure we'll learn a bit more about this series at San Diego Comic Con International next week. The below Star Wars: Shattered Empire cover image by artist Phil Noto was revealed with the announcement in March 2015. The image above is the variant art cover. The first issue in the four issue miniseries is scheduled to be published on September 2, 2015, with a trade paperback collecting the series scheduled for release on November 17th 2015.
