Star Wars #1

History

The series was announced in January 2025, with StarWars.com revealing writer Alex Segura — a Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner who had just completed the twelve-issue Star Wars: Battle of Jakku trilogy — as the new steward of the flagship title, paired with artist Phil Noto, a veteran of Marvel's Poe Dameron and High Republic comics. Noto noted that the post-Return of the Jedi setting gave him unusual creative latitude: with no existing film or television depictions of the characters in this era, he could design new looks for Luke, Leia, and Han using only 1980s photographic reference as a guide. The issue was preceded by a Free Comic Book Day 2025 prelude story titled 'Past is Prologue,' also by Segura and Noto, which served as an on-ramp into the new ongoing. Marvel had wound down all its previous Star Wars titles before this relaunch, positioning issue #1 as a clean-slate jumping-on point set roughly two years after Return of the Jedi — approximately 6 ABY in the Star Wars timeline.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published May 7, 2025 by Marvel Comics; written by Alex Segura, with full art (pencils, inks, colors) by Phil Noto and letters by VC Clayton Cowles.
• First issue of the 2025 ongoing series and the first Marvel Star Wars ongoing set in the post-Return of the Jedi / early New Republic era, placing events approximately 6 ABY — two years after the Battle of Endor.
• Continues directly from the Free Comic Book Day 2025 Star Wars prelude story 'Past is Prologue,' making that FCBD issue the recommended reading prologue.
• Rynn Zenat — a New Republic pilot who originated in Segura's Star Wars: Battle of Jakku — Insurgency Rising (October 2024) — appears here as a co-lead alongside Luke Skywalker in the issue's action thread, marking her first appearance in the ongoing series.
• Kith Alaytia — also introduced in Battle of Jakku: Insurgency Rising — appears as a New Republic Councillor attending diplomatic talks with Leia and Mon Mothma; her former Imperial past is explicitly raised as a political liability within the story.
• Beilert Valance appears alongside Han Solo in the issue's underworld thread; Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) and Darth Sidious (Sheev Palpatine) appear only as vision/cameo references, reflecting the series' post-Empire setting.
• Ubrik Adelhard — the Grand Moff antagonist of the Battle of Jakku cycle — is referenced within the story's diplomatic dialogue as part of the political fallout shaping the New Republic's fragile standing.
• The issue carries a large roster of variant covers, including a 1:50 ratio variant by Leinil Francis Yu (featuring Valance), a 1:25 by Pepe Larraz, a 1:100 by Gabriele Dell'Otto, and a 1:200 by David Nakayama, plus a John Tyler Christopher action-figure variant and a Force Awakens 10th Anniversary variant by Chris Sprouse.

Cast · 11 characters

Full credits

Variants (11)