One of the hardest parts of writing a topical comic is that sometimes news comes along that you can't not do. Disney buying Star Wars? That's required material when you write a comic called Nerd Rage. Unfortunately, I didn't find this all that inspiring for a comic. As stated best over at David Willis's Shortpacked, all the 'good' jokes were made when Disney bought Marvel; every other joke had already been made within the first 30 seconds of the news. In short, Disney buying Star Wars is a retread and leaves very little for comedy.
I've seen a surprising number of people who are upset about the prospect of a new Star Wars movie (or trilogy, as Disney is insisting). I'm surprisingly optimistic. Of course, I say this as someone who went and saw three prequel movies and somehow learned nothing about curbing one's expectations, because I don't like any of them. Star Wars never stopped producing new content, whether it's the fanfiction-grade side stories of the Expanded Universe, the Bioware-produced Knights of the Old Republic, the comics, or one of the Clone Wars cartoons (it says something that we actually have more than one). They never stopped adding to or rewriting Star Wars.
In the hollowed words of Plinkett, you might not care about them books or video games or comics. "This is editing the original film canon!" The way -- gasp -- Lucas does with every new release of Star Wars?
I'd like to look at this as a bright future for Star Wars. Disney is a really good fit for the property. When I went to Disney World, Star Tours was my favorite experience of the entire park. And let's not forget that Disney bought out Marvel, fans panicked, and everything turned out fine.
Lucas has created and inspired a very, very interesting universe. We all need to remember that the arguably best Star Wars film is the direct result of giving the script to someone besides George, and letting someone else direct it. There's a new generation of creators and film makers and they're being handed the baton. Who says the same magic can't happen again?
Oh, and for those hoping that Disney will reissue the theatrical versions of Star Wars like I had initially hoped: Fox owns the rights to issue the films until 2020. Oops. Except for A New Hope, which they have indefinitely. Disney will have to negotiate before we see them reissue the first six movies. And Fox may not be too happy that long-time partner Lucasfilm sold to a direct competitor. I guess we'll just have to see how that pans out.
