A Beginner’s Guide To Star Wars Comics (Best Reading Order)

The first Star Wars comic series to be published by Marvel came in 1977, which ended a decade-long run in 1986. Two years after acquiring Lucasfilm in 2012, Disney announced their plans to continue the Star Wars saga through Marvel Comics once again. The first issue in the ongoing series was Star Wars Vol. 1: Skywalker Strikes, published on October 6, 2015.

Several ongoing Star Wars comic series have been released through Marvel in the last five years. Many of the most iconic characters in the series are featured in their own specific spinoff series. For the uninitiated, here is the most optimal way to become acquainted with Marvel’s recent Star Wars Comics.

10 Star Wars Vol. 1: Skywalker Strikes

Picking up on the events depicted in Star Wars: A New Hope, the Rebel Alliance has newfound confidence after destroying the Death Star. In Skywalker Strikes, Luke, Han, and Leia plot to raze a weapon’s warehouse but are interrupted when Darth Vader appears.

As Luke grapples with his true nature, Vader continues to search for the culprit who destroyed the Death Star. Both Luke and Vader end up in the ever-familiar Tatooine.

9 Star Wars Vol 2: Showdown On The Smuggler’s Moon

In the six-part Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon, Luke grapples with the existential nature of being a Jedi. When he gullibly lets his guard down, he’s caught and forced to battle in front of Hutt’s Romanesque entertainment ring.

The series includes Han’s wife, Sana Starros, who helps Han, Leia, and Chewie mount a daring search and rescue mission. As he waits for help, Luke ruminates over Obi-Wan’s Tatooine diary and learns of the Jedi Master’s time intimately looking after Luke as a child.

8 Star Wars: Vader Down

In the first crossover edition of the ongoing Marvel series, Star Wars mashes-up with Darth Vader in Vader Down. The issue centers on Vader’s dogged attempt to capture Luke, whom he now knows is his biological son.

Vader enlists the help of evil archeologist and powerful Sith Lord, Dr. Aphra, to help locate Luke. Fortunately, Vader’s spacecraft is gunned down by Rebel Forces, allowing them to potentially bring down the Empire’s most dangerous weapons. Still, Vader grows angrier and more determined to capture Luke at once.

7 Star Wars Vol. 3: Rebel Jail

In Rebel Jail, a plotline concerning Eneb Rey is featured. Rey is the Alliance’s double-agent who spies on Coruscant while attempting to put an end to the Galactic War.

However, the crux of the series focuses on Leia and Sana’s dogged attempt to put Dr. Aphra behind bars in the furtive Alliance jailhouse. Unfortunately, one of Leia’s acquaintances betrays her plan by locating the prison and put a stop to her mission.

6 Star Wars Vol 4: Flight Of The Harbinger

In the Flight of the Harbinger series, Luke, Han, and Leia daringly overtake an Imperial star Destroyer in order to quell the Empire’s latest offensive. Meanwhile, Vader continues his search for Luke with help from his Scar Squadron of top-ranked Storm Troopers.

The Scar Squadron leader, Commander Kreel, expresses his intentions and loyalty to the Empire. Elsewhere, another entry from Obi-Wan’s diary is revealed.

5 Star Wars Vol. 5: Yoda’s Secret War

A trio of harrowing Jedi vignettes converges in the six-part Yoda’s Secret War series. As Luke pours through Obi-Wan’s journal entries, he learns that Yoda ventured to a hidden planet where children were in charge before the rise of the Empire.

The children on the hidden planet harness power from cryptic blue crystals mined from a nearby mountain range. As Luke and Obi-wan’s narratives combine, Yoda reluctantly uses his powers to prevent global destruction. Elsewhere, Leia encounters a stranger who must decide which side of the Galactic War to fight on.

4 Star Wars: Screaming Citadel

Screaming Citadel marks the second crossover issue in the Marvel Star Wars saga. In a strange turn of events, Luke teams up with Dr. Aphra to investigate a ritual known as the Screaming Citadel.

The ritual includes an annual gathering led by a cryptic queen with immense powers. When Luke and Dr. Aphra attempt to use the Queen’s powers to open a Jedi relic, she focuses her interest on Luke’s Jedi powers instead. The series ends with another bold rescue attempt by Luke’s closest pals.

3 Star Wars Vol. 6: Out Among The Stars

The Out Among the Stars series is comprised of five standalone stories that tie into the larger Star Wars canon. As such, the pace slows while the intimacy increases. For instance, when Luke and Leia are marooned on a distant planet, they use the downtime to take stock of their stations in life.

Elsewhere, Sana assists Lando with a daring robbery while Han and Chewie transport the perilous Grakkus Hutt to jail. R2-D2 makes a daring attempt to save C-3PO from the Empire, while Obi-Wan’s diary reveals a different look at the Sand People of Tatooine.

2 Star Wars Vol 7: The Ashes Of Jedha

In the Ashes of Jedha, the Empire goes back to the razed planet Jedha in order to excavate Khyber crystals for reasons that are not divulged. Luke, Han, and Leia attempt to slow the Imperial advances by teaming with the survivors of Saw Gerrera’s army, including his righthand-man Benthic.

The Rebel Alliance mission is complicated when a Jedi base on the planet gets destroyed by the Empire, causing a fissure in the Jedi Force.

1 Star Wars Vol 8: Mutiny At Mon Cala

Princess Leia plots to bolster the Rebel Alliance by freeing the people of Mon Cala, the Imperially dominated home planet of Admiral Ackbar. If successful, the Rebellion will be large enough to take on the Empire.

The only way for Leia to exact her plan is to find the King of Mon Cala, who has been captured, hidden, and made to be compliant by Mon Cala’s administer. The series ends the first 49 issues of the ongoing Marvel Star Wars comics. For beginners, this is the best way to read the series.