Star Wars Manga: Black

This article is non-canon within the Star Wars Legends continuity.

This article covers a Star Wars Legends subject that was published under the Infinities label or that Lucasfilm otherwise declared non-canon within the Legends continuity.

Star Wars Manga: Black is a manga one-shot published by Tokyopop in the vein of Star Wars Tales. It is the first issue, followed by Star Wars Manga: Silver. It is currently available for sale in both Japan and the United Kingdom, but as of yet there are no plans to release it in the United States. Although when it was first announced it was labeled as Infinities, it was released with no Infinities label and Leland Chee himself has stated that their canon status is fuzzy. However, the most recent versions published in French have an Infinities label on the back cover, establishing the material in these stories as non-canonical.

Author Daniel Wallace stated definitively in the article We Need to Talk About Jar Jar, written for Star Wars Insider 131 in February 2012, that the stories included in the Star Wars Manga: Black comic trade paperback are non-canon.^[2]

Publisher's summary[]

This month, Tokyopop will release a Star Wars Manga anthology filled with uniquely bold tales set in a peculiarly Japanese incarnation of that galaxy far, far away... For their daring plots and offbeat directions, these stories are definitely "Infinities"—that is, they don't actually fit into Star Wars continuity. Nonetheless, they are rich in character, detail and action and are definitely worth a look. This anthology, which is a mix of black and white comics with a few color spreads of original illustrations, will only be available initially in Japan.

In addition to these comics stories, there are full color poster-like illustrations included in the book. A striking work by Kia Asamiya features a contemplative Darth Vader framed by the crossed lightsaber blades of his past and present weapons. Yuji Kaida illustrates Vader before the work-in-progress Death Star, while Tsutomu Takahashi offers a moody portrait of a saber-carrying Dark Lord.