By George Bate
Titan Magazines recently released Star Wars Insider 200, a hallmark issue of the acclaimed Star Wars magazine. Coupled with the issue’s main piece, 200 Reasons Why We Love Star Wars (a fitting article to commemorate such an event in the magazine’s history), Star Wars Insider 200 also features an interview with Charles Soule, author of works such as The Rise of Kylo Ren, Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith, and, most recently, The High Republic: The Light of the Jedi.
Included here is an exclusive excerpt and spread from Charles Soule’s insightful interview with Amy Richau in Star Wars Insider 200:
Charles Soule’s Star Wars journey began while he was practicing law—first at a large firm in Manhattan doing corporate law, and later focusing on immigration law at his own practice. The transition from lawyer to writer didn’t happen overnight. “I found my work very rewarding, and things were going well, but I always knew I wanted a life based in creativity,” explains Soule. “So, on the side, in my tiny bits of spare time, I wrote. First, a novel (which remains unpublished, maybe for the best) and then comics. I started to get traction in comics after four or five years of learning the craft and the business, and around four years later I started writing Swamp Thing for DC Comics—that was my first big gig in comics, and it led somewhat rapidly to work at Marvel, where I signed an exclusive contract for four more years. During that time, I put out some creator-owned comics featuring my own characters, and two novels, The Oracle Year and Anyone. Somewhere in there, Star Wars came calling.”
When Marvel re-launched Star Wars comics in 2015 with the flagship Star Wars title, Darth Vader, Soule reached out to Marvel editor Jordan White to let him know he was interested in writing a new Star Wars story. “I pitched for two characters: Palpatine and Lando. It could have gone either way, but I ended up writing for Lando, and I’m glad I did. I love that book, and it led to so much more.”
Now, Soule is one of five writers behind an ambitious publishing program initially dubbed Project Luminous, set in an era 200 years prior to Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999).
The High Republic opens with Soule’s novel, Light of the Jedi, which centers around a catastrophe in hyperspace. “I was just really fortunate,” says Soule of the opportunity to pen the first release. “I’d come off some very high-profile, challenging Star Wars gigs that had done well (Vader and The Rise of Kylo Ren, in particular), and I think that helped in terms of giving Lucasfilm the confidence that I could introduce The High Republic to the world. I love writing novels, and I had a clear vision for what I thought Light of the Jedi could be. This can be a challenging, complex job, but it’s been very rewarding to create all these new ideas. I’m very proud of the book.”
Read the full interview and the second part of Soule’s The High Republic short story in Star Wars Insider #200 – on sale NOW!
And check out this great deal on Star Wars Insider:
8 issues for $47.99 – saving 40% on the newsstand price! Just click the link: https://bit.ly/36FjF1t
Images courtesy of Titan Magazines
Interview “Soule Man” conducted by Amy Richau for Star Wars Insider