Star Wars Tales



Star Wars Tales is a series of comics that began on September 29, 1999 and ended on July 13, 2005 published by Dark Horse Comics. Each issue is an anthology of stories from various eras of the Star Wars timeline. Although the stories themselves are unrelated, many issues were themed around a single character, group or era. Each story varies in length, with six or so stories in each issue, adding up to a total of 64 pages. Two covers were produced for each issue, one illustrated, another a photo-cover.

Issue #1 to Issue #20 were edited by Peet Janes (Issues 1 and 2) and Dave Land (Issues 3-20) and were labeled Infinities, placing them outside the canon (though this is not to say that the events depicted are permanently outside of the official continuity, just that they should not be considered canon unless or until they are endorsed by a canon source).

However, in-universe, the premise is that the stories of the Tales series are holo rentals from Peeja Mobet's Holo Emporium. Peeja Mobet introduced the first two issues (before editor Peet Janes left the series and Dave Land took over), talking about the stories presented. Even he admits not everything that is found in his shop is "historically accurate." In his words (taken from Issue 1):

"Some folks take liberties with their characters, others ignore potentially significant events, and still others speculate about what might have happened if something didn't occur when and where it should have. Or vice-versa for that matter. And then of course there's them hoo-ha stories, which make none of the pretense about tying in so long as you're doubled over and crackin' up!"

From Issue 2: "Now, the stories that I carry in this shop have been told from as many points of view as there are thinking beings on this planet. That makes for some interesting perspectives, even on the same stories that we've heard over and over again. Everybody's got his or her own personal spin on events, and ideas of the outcomes too, that may rankle some folks: 'Hey, I was there! He didn't do that!' they shout over their half-drained lomin-ales. Then somebody else pipes in with 'What do you know? You weren't even hatched when that happened!' and then the place devolves into a classic brawl.

''I have a little more respect for the differing viewpoints. For one, every different viewpoint is another story I can rent! For another, despite the fact that our perceptions are based on the same incoming information, everybody has his or her own interpretations of things, no matter what lobe they're using or how glitterstimmed their ganglia may be. That's what makes this the most colorful galaxy in the universe, eh?''

''The most important thing is: is it a good story? Does it have all the parts, in a semblance of order, and make sense as a whole? Did you laugh at the end, or did your hearts jump and make you wonder about the final outcome, the fate of some endearing (or reviled!) character? I hope so; otherwise I'm not doing my job and you'd better tell me!"''

Jeremy Barlow became the next editor, and edited Issue #21 to Issue #24. All the tales from these issues are considered to be canon, unless labeled otherwise.

Tales also produced a 16-page Free Comic Book Day Edition, released in May 2002.

Many Tales stories and events from the first twenty issues have been referenced in other Star Wars publications. This elevates the referenced aspects of the story into the canon, but does not necessarily mean that the entire story should be considered within the official continuity. For a list of all Tales stories that have had elements incorporated into continuity, see the list of Tales stories with elements of continuity.

The 24 issues of Tales have been collected in six volumes of trade paperbacks, collecting four full issues each.

Star Wars Tales Volume 1

 * Star Wars Tales 1
 * Life, Death, and the Living Force
 * Mara Jade: A Night on the Town
 * Darth Vader: Extinction, Part 1
 * Skippy the Jedi Droid


 * Star Wars Tales 2
 * Routine
 * Darth Vader: Extinction Part 2
 * Stop That Jawa!
 * Incident at Horn Station


 * Star Wars Tales 3
 * The Death of Captain Tarpals
 * Deal with a Demon
 * Lady Luck
 * Three Against the Galaxy


 * Star Wars Tales 4
 * Moment of Doubt
 * A Death Star Is Born
 * Spare Parts
 * Sand Blasted

Star Wars Tales Volume 2

 * Star Wars Tales 5
 * Yaddle's Tale: The One Below
 * What They Called Me
 * A Summer's Dream
 * Hoth
 * Lando's Commandos: On Eagles' Wings


 * Star Wars Tales 6
 * ''The Hovel on Terk Street
 * A Hot Time in the Cold Town Tonite
 * Fortune, Fate, and the Natural History of the Sarlacc
 * Junkheap Hero
 * The Hidden
 * Thank the Maker!


 * Star Wars Tales 7
 * Single Cell
 * Nerf Herder
 * Jedi Chef
 * Outbid But Never Outgunned
 * Force Fiction


 * Star Wars Tales 8
 * Captain Threepio
 * The One That Got Away
 * The Secret Tales of Luke's Hand
 * Death Star Pirates
 * Bad Business

Star Wars Tales Volume 3

 * Star Wars Tales 9
 * Resurrection
 * Hate Leads to Lollipops
 * The Rebel Four


 * Star Wars Tales 10
 * Trooper
 * Skreej
 * Nameless
 * A Wookiee Scorned
 * Free Memory


 * Star Wars Tales 11
 * Prey
 * In the Beginning
 * The Princess Leia Diaries
 * Tall Tales
 * Ghost


 * Star Wars Tales 12
 * A Day in the Life
 * A Jedi's Weapon
 * The Revenge of Tag & Bink
 * Once Bitten
 * The Duty


 * Star Wars Tales: Free Comic Book Day Edition

Star Wars Tales Volume 4

 * Star Wars Tales 13
 * Puzzle Peace
 * The Secret of Tet-Ami
 * Survivors
 * Stones
 * The Sith in the Shadow
 * Children of the Force


 * Star Wars Tales 14
 * Apocalypse Endor
 * The Emperor's Court
 * Urchins
 * Tides of Terror
 * The Lesson
 * Smuggler's Blues
 * Mythology


 * Star Wars Tales 15
 * Sandstorm
 * First Impressions
 * Falling Star
 * Do or Do Not
 * Slippery Slope
 * Lucky Stars


 * Star Wars Tales 16
 * The Other
 * Best Birthday Ever
 * The Long, Bad Day
 * Kessel Run
 * Lunch Break
 * Heart of Darkness

Star Wars Tales Volume 5

 * Star Wars Tales 17
 * Planet of the Dead
 * All for You
 * Phantom Menaces
 * Ghosts of Hoth
 * The Apprentice
 * Dark Journey


 * Star Wars Tales 18
 * Number Two in the Galaxy
 * Payback
 * Being Boba Fett
 * The Way of the Warrior
 * Revenants


 * Star Wars Tales 19
 * Collapsing New Empires
 * The Value of Proper Intelligence to Any Successful Military Campaign is Not to Be Underestimated
 * Rather Darkness Visible
 * The Rebel Club
 * The Lost Lightsaber
 * Into the Great Unknown
 * Storyteller


 * Star Wars Tales 20
 * George R. Binks
 * Who's Your Daddy
 * Fred Jawa
 * Luke Skywalker: Detective
 * Hunger Pains
 * Failing Up With Jar Jar Binks
 * Nobody's Perfect
 * Problem Solvers
 * Melvin Fett
 * Young Lando Calrissian

Star Wars Tales Volume 6

 * Star Wars Tales 21
 * Nomad, Chapter One
 * Walking the Path That's Given
 * Equals and Opposites


 * Star Wars Tales 22
 * Honor Bound
 * Nomad, Chapter Two
 * Marooned


 * Star Wars Tales 23
 * Shadows and Light
 * Nomad, Chapter Three
 * Lucky


 * Star Wars Tales 24
 * Marked
 * Fett Club (non-canonical story)
 * Unseen, Unheard
 * Nomad, Chapter Four

Trivia

 * The tales Thank the Maker!, where Darth Vader recognizes C-3PO on Bespin, and Resurrection, where Vader duels with Darth Maul were both selected for Star Wars Insider 83's 20 Most Memorable Moments of the Expanded Universe list.