Journey Back to a Galaxy Far, Far Away with “Legends of Luke Skywalker: The Manga”

Need more Star Wars in your life now that The Mandalorian is on hiatus and Rise of Skywalker is in theaters? Looking for something to help bridge the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens? Check out the Star Wars: Legends of Luke Skywalker manga from VIZ Media!

VIZ Media, one of the foremost English imprint manga and anime publishers, in collaboration with Lucasfilm, debuted today the manga Star Wars: Legends of Luke Skywalker. Written by Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy award-winning author Ken Liu and based on his book Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Legends of Luke Skywalker follows Luke’s story after the death of Darth Vader until his mysterious disappearance.

“Encounters with the elusive Jedi Luke Skywalker have mystified many in a galaxy far, far away,” states the official press release from VIZ for Legends of Luke Skywalker, which promises to pack in “all the adventure that fans would expect from Star Wars”.

Liu’s writing is illustrated by a team of renowned manga artists from Japan – Akira Himekawa, Haruichi, Subaru, Akira Fukaya, and Takashi Kisaki. All of the artists are fans of Star Wars. Haruichi is the creator of the Japanese webtoon Leia Organa: Ordeal of the Princess. Fukaya says that the planets, starships, and character designs of the original trilogy are what inspired him to create stories of his own. Artist duo Akira Himekawa, meanwhile, have always wondered what happened to Luke between his adventures.

The official Star Wars Twitter has posted a preview of the first five pages here.

I know many were unhappy with the turn that Luke’s arc took in the new trilogy, so perhaps reading this manga will help bring back the character they remember. (I actually liked his arc but I can see why people didn’t so we won’t get into that.)

With such a time jump between Episode VI and Episode VII, there are many opportunities for authors to fill in the gaps. Officially, since this is published by Lucasfilm, these stories would be considered canon. But I’ve always been a person who doesn’t consider something canon unless it’s actually on my screen, so take it however you like.

Legends of Luke Skywalker is available today from VIZ Media.

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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