Star Wars Announces New Manga and Competition

When Star Wars and Japan clash, it is always something to get excited about. Today on a popular social media platform in Japan, LINE, it was revealed that there will be a manga adaptation of Claudia Gray's Lost Stars novel. The new novel will be drawn by Yusaku Komiyama, who is known for his work on Avengers: Zombie Assemble, and Ixion Saga. The new manga series will debut for free in the LINE Manga app on May 4, with new chapters debuting every other Thursday.

The Star Wars official website describes the novel's story below:

The reign of the Galactic Empire has reached the Outer Rim planet of Jelucan, where aristocratic Thane Kyrell and rural villager Ciena Ree bond over their love of flying. Enrolling at the Imperial Academy together to become fighter pilots for the glorious Empire is nothing less than a dream come true for the both of them. But Thane sours on the dream when he sees firsthand the horrific tactics the Empire uses to maintain its ironclad rule.Bitter and disillusioned, Thane joins the fledgling Rebellion — putting Ciena in an unbearable position to choose between her loyalty to the Empire and her love for the man she's known since childhood.

Now on opposite sides of the war, will these friends turned foes find a way to be together, or will duty tear them — and the galaxy — apart?

The new manga will launch a new campaign on the app, Manga Indies Program, which allows users to submit their own original manga. Users can submit their manga from May 4 to August 31. A committee and Lucasfilm will nominate a list out of the submitted manga. The app's users will then have a chance to vote for their favorites out of the list of nominees. After fans have voted, Lucasfilm and the LINE Manga editorial department will award the Grand Prix award and Lucasfilm Award. The list of nominated works will be announced on October 27, and the voting period will run from October 27 to November 9.

The winner of the competition will be announced on December 1. The app will release the Grand Prix winner's manga, and the chosen winner, will also have their manga published as physical copies. The winner will also get to tour Lucasfilm Studios in San Francisco and receive a $9,000 monetary prize. The Lucasfilm Award winner will also win a custom X-Wing pilot helmet, and the nominated works that do not win the grand prize will receive a Star Wars Sharbo X pen.