Marvel to Offer Free ‘Star Wars Sampler’ in Advance of ‘Force Awakens’ Opening

Marvel Entertainment’s Star Wars comic books has consistently been its top-selling line since launching at the beginning of 2015, but with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens a little over a month away, Marvel has announced a free sampler to try to lure in even more readers.

The 56-page Star Wars Sampler will be released Dec. 9 to comic book retailers, and include previews from the first issues of the current Star Wars series, as well as spinoff titles Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Lando, Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens — Shattered Empire and upcoming crossover Vader Down. The release is being promoted by Marvel as “perfect for distribution at movie theaters and other promotional events.”

January’s Star Wars No. 1 went through nine printings, selling upwards of 1 million copies upon release, with the franchise quickly expanding to three continuing monthly series (Star Wars, Darth Vader and the Star Wars: Rebels tie-in, Star Wars: Kanan), in addition to one or two miniseries running parallel on an ongoing basis. Star Wars titles amount to around 20 percent of Marvel’s comic book sales each month, a feat even more impressive when you consider that the line makes up only around 5 percent of its output.

The next Star Wars launches for Marvel are this month’s Star Wars: Vader Down, December’s Force Awakens prologue C-3PO and January’s miniseries Star Wars: Obi-Wan and Anakin.

Related Stories

Related Story

Marvel's First 'Star Wars' Collection to Top 225,000 In Orders