The Star Wars The Star Wars is an eight - issue comic book series launched in September 2013 by Dark Horse Comics . It adapts George Lucas ' s for " " from 1974 , in which Luke Skywalker is older and already a Jedi , and the main protagonist is Annikin Starkiller . The series is written by J . W . Rinzler , illustrated by Mike Mayhew , and edited by Randy Stradley . Plot . The plot of " The Star Wars " bears similarities to the 1977 product , but also differs sharply in a number of areas . The universe of " The Star Wars " features the Jedi - Bendu as having been the personal bodyguards of a generally benevolent Emperor for 100 , 000 years , before the rise of the villainous Knights of Sith . At its core , the story features a young Annikin Starkiller , son of former Jedi Bendu Kane Starkiller , leaving their homeworld Utapau in the Kessil system for Aquilae , a planet which is still independent of the New Galactic Empire . Whereas the finished " Episode IV " featured Obi - Wan Kenobi in the role of the wise elder , " The Star Wars " has an older Luke Skywalker in the role of teacher to young protagonist Annikin Starkiller . Aquilae , home of Princess Leia , is targeted by the Empire for conquest due to its advanced cloning technologies . The Aquilaen King learns of the plot from one of his spies , Clieg Whitsun , who is an operative on the Imperial capital planet Alderaan . In defense of his world , the Aquilaen King attacks the Empire ' s Space Fortress , causing a pair of droids to crash down into the inhospitable Jundland Wastes region of the planet . The King dies shortly thereafter , moving Princess Leia into the position of the Empire ' s target for a puppet ruler . Annikin Starkiller is now Padawan to Luke Skywalker , and the pair travel to protect the Princess . After rescuing her , the pair lead her through the Jundland Wastes to the spaceport town Gordon , where they meet Han Solo . In this story , Solo is a Urellian , a tall reptilian with a reputation for hunting Wookiees on their home planet of Yavin . Solo , an old friend of Kane Starkiller , charters a freighter off - world , captained by an individual named Valorum . While escaping from Imperial patrols , Kane dies sacrificing himself to save the others , and Valorum is revealed as a Sith Knight . After escaping from Valorum by stealing an Imperial ship , the protagonists are chased through an asteroid field and forced to land on the Wookiee homeworld . There they align with the Wookiees , who are in the midst of fighting Urellians , and meet a Wookiee named Chewbacca . The group gathers at the home of a pair of anthropologists , Owen and Beru Lars , while Leia is recaptured by Imperial forces and taken to the Space Fortress . Rushing back to Aquilae to save Leia , Annikin dons stormtrooper armor to infiltrate the Space Fortress , but is captured in the process . A largely off - screen Darth Vader orders Valorum to kill Starkiller , but Valorum has a change of heart and sets Starkiller free . Starkiller rescues Leia and escapes just in time , as Luke Skywalker leads a squadron of fighters piloted by Wookiees to destroy the Space Fortress . Returning to Aquilae , now - Queen Leia appoints Annikin Starkiller " Lord Protector of Aquilae . " Development . On March 31 , 2013 , it was announced at WonderCon that Dark Horse Comics was in the process of adapting the as an eight - part comic series . A number of early panels were shown there , which were subsequently published at Bleeding Cool . This was followed by a more detailed press release the next day , and subsequently confirmed on Dark Horse ' s Twitter account and website . The series ' art , by Mike Mayhew , takes its cues from the earliest concept art by Ralph McQuarrie , Joe Johnston , and Colin Cantwell , while the story is said to be even more obviously inspired by " " . On May 4 , 2013 , Dark Horse comics released an exclusive digital preview for the first issue . It covered pages 6 – 8 of the comic , focusing on the meeting between King Kayos and his various staff regarding how to deal with the Empire , ending when Kayos sent Count Sandage to find out the Empire ' s intentions as well as learning from his sons Biggs and Windy that Leia is leaving abruptly . A second preview was issued on August 20 , 2013 . In addition to showing both the cover and the first seven pages , it featured a trailer for the comic . Instead of using John Williams ' score , it utilized the classical music piece " " by . The entire collection was reprinted as part of " " , released on December 29 , 2015 .