Marvel Star Wars Explorers

As the remnants of the defeated Emperor's fleet prepare for a return to the Galactic Stage, Sam and Brian return to your podcast feed for the first part of their coverage of Dark Empire II! And joining us from a toppled clone tank is none other than Eric Ambler, who's ready to dive in with us as we examine the good, the bad, and the familiar, in Issue 1. Plus, we finally open The Book of Boba Fett! The Marvel Star Wars Explorers Strike Back! 

Ho Ho Horliss-Horliss, and a Merry Life Day to you! Brian and Sam welcome Sean Davis back to the cast to close out the year and to close the book on Marvel Star Wars comics (of the 70s and 80s)! We're unwrapping three new tales this time, including a rumination on the belief systems of discarded droids, an origin story for the Millenium Falcon, and Luke's harrowing journey into the heart of darkness. We're also talking about the newly announced Star Wars: Eclipse, reflecting on the UK comics as a whole, naming our favorite characters, covers and storylines from the run, and considering what's next for the podcast. Thank you for another wonderful year of Exploring with us, listeners! We'll be back for more in 2022!

Sam and Brian enter new territory as they cover two different strange and surreal short stories written by Alan Moore. Fortunately, they have a guide in Jack Stovold, who shares his childhood memories of Cronenbergian Stormtrooper monstrosities, time paradoxes and childish godlike beings. Beyond that, there's pre-Return of the Jedi Vader characterization, our current feelings on Bor Gullet and Saw Gerrera, the latest and greatest Star Wars comics featuring Life Day and Hoojibs, AND we talk about a commercial for a hotel! Star Wars is money.

As Luke and Leia race across the surface of Jerne in search of a long lost crystal with time distorting properties, David Robertson makes his return to the podcast to talk with us about his recently published comic collection, to weather Sam's growing Star Wars cynicism, to offer up some history regarding Captain Britain, and to weigh in on the inclusion of time travel elements in Star Wars and other well-known properties. Happy Life Day, listeners!

As Han and Leia find themselves in the clutches of five evil-worshipping extra-dimensional fanatics, Sam and Brian find themselves in the charms of Josh Lee, for a discussion that covers the newest, hottest Book of Boba Fett trailer, our ideas for a Star Wars action figure-based sitcom plot, and our takes on famed comic book luminary Alan Moore's contributions to the Star Wars galaxy.

As Luke wanders through a frightening hellscape of horrors, your two best Star Friends celebrate Halloween in style, by inviting Barm back to the podcast for a demonic discussion of nightmare demons in Star Wars, to wickedly weigh in on Dune, and to celebrate the surreality caused by a little creature named Reist. Happy Wuhoween, everyone!

As all our favourite Star Heroes explore a vast underground lost city of space, we invite Sean Davis back for the thrilling conclusion of this epic tale, and to unpack Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales, to analyze what did and didn't work for us in this nine-part adventure, and to bid farewell to the newest Star Warrior, Mici Shabandar.

As Luke and Leia make their way across the harsh surface of Alashan with some unlikely allies, we find ourselves once again joined by our most likely ally, Sean Davis, to rank our top three episodes of Star Wars: Visions, to hear Sam's exciting new podcast announcement, to discuss the slow build of tension in these classic comics and to address listener mail about Star Wars video game remakes.

As the Star Warriors fly from Foundry in a stolen Imperial prototype, Sean Davis flies back onto the podcast to give us his thoughts on the latest Disney Gallery episode, to debate the canonicity of non-cinematic Star Wars works, and to welcome Mici into A Galaxy Far, Far Away. This episode gets 10 out of 10 rings. And is canon.

As Leia recounts the tragic tale of her training under the tutelage of Giles Durane to her fellow Star Warriors, we welcome Blythe Rudloff back to the cast to react to the end of The Bad Batch and the Firespray backlash, to fawn over our new favorite character, Gimlet, and to take a dive into our deep well of listener iTunes reviews.

As a certain Star Warrior, riding the highs of his recent victory, finds himself in a Space Duel for his life, we find ourselves riding the highs of having Eric Ambler rejoin us on the podcast to talk with us about our Tamagotchi memories, Star Wars trilogy novelizations, Chewie's medal, and the surprisingly deep characterization of Luke Skywalker in this story.

As Han Solo and Chewbacca complete the earliest version of the Kessel Run, we welcome Geoff Clarke back to the podcast to school us on the metrication of Canada, to hear about the latest news on Batuu, to wax nostalgic about the joys of Solo: A Star Wars Story, and to give us his two pence on British Marvel comics of the seventies.

As Luke and Leia attempt to unthaw communications with Colonel Odan on the ice world of Akuria, Nate Tapp keeps things chill by joining us to discuss our frosty feelings about Black Widow and the MCU, to see how many ice-cold instances of worms we can remember from the Star Wars universe, and to let us snow what he thinks about the old-school style of Marvel Star Wars comics in the seventies. 

As Luke, Leia and the droids set off from Yavin 4 to contact another band of rebels, Sam and Brian set off on their latest explorations, starting with a storyline first printed in the pages of a children's magazine from 1977! Sean Davis joins to help them usher in the era, to weigh in on the great debate involving Boba Fett's Starship™, to talk about the myriad delights in the pages of Pizzazz, and to return to a time when the rules of Star Wars were not yet set in stone!

As Leia prepares for the ultimate confrontation with the revived Emperor, we revive our old Star Friend, Jack, for our final trip to 1992, a re-evaluation of Regular Jefferson, our dream role for General Hux in The Ninth Star Wars Film, and yet another excessive deep dive into the nature of THE FORCE.

As Leia and the Emperor chat about the future of her child, we chat with Cam Siemer about our pasts in the nineties, hear about Brian's present-day adventures at Disney's Avengers Campus and struggle to stay on topic as we repeatedly compare Dark Empire to the films of the sequel trilogy.

As Leia and Han flee Nar Shaddaa with Boba Fett and Dengar hot on their tail, we welcome new Star Friend Derek Lavender onto the show to have him share with us his deep knowledge of the old Expanded Universe, to reminisce on the cultural touchstone that was Batman Returns, and to hear his thoughts on The Bad Batch and the current state of the Star Wars world.

As Lando and Wedge attempt a daring rescue of the beleaguered Mon Calamari homeworld, we're rejoined by the daring Daniel Borders-Ashe to discuss some truly classic family movies of 1992, to hear Brian's thoughts on The Bad Batch and Sam's equally compelling thoughts on Star Wars: Biomes, and to discuss the Expanded Universe debut of the gritty underbelly of a Galaxy Far, Far Away.

Once again, your two best Star Friends are looking back on the previous year's films and discussing comic book movies, their biggest disappointments and what our overall favorite films were! In addition to that, we'll also be discussing some new(!) Golden Hoojib categories, looking back at The Falcon and The Winter Solider, tackling the latest Star News, and weighing in on this year's academy awards. It's a mega-size extravaganza and it wouldn't be complete without our de facto Golden Hoojib co-host, Kevin Young! We hope you enjoy and don't worry, we'll be back soon with more of the Dark Empire content you CRAVE.

The dead speak! Again! or... for the first time? As Luke Skywalker finds himself being transported to the dark center of the universe to confront a familiar nemesis, we find ourselves joined once again by best Star Friend Sean Davis to discuss Radio Flyer anecdotes, whether the return of Palpatine feels justified in Dark Empire or The Rise of Skywalker, and to dive deep into what it truly means to study the dark side of the force.