Almost three decades after it first hit print, Hisao Tamaki’s legendary interpretation of A New Hope is getting new life as part of a luxurious new artbook celebrating Star Wars‘ history with Japanese comics.
io9 can exclusively reveal that during Star Wars Celebration Japan today, Dark Horse confirmed that The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope – The Manga will launch as a two-volume collection next year, spotlighting Tamaki’s iconic artwork from newly acquired scans of Tamaki’s original storyboards, alongside a new English-language translation. Ahead of the release, however, Dark Horse will launch its first-ever Kickstarter to take orders of exclusive editions of the book, including one collector’s variant you won’t be able to find at retail.
Ahead of the retail release, the Kickstarter for The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope – The Manga will let readers get access to two exclusive editions: a Collector’s Edition, which will be the same as the eventual standard retail release but with Kickstarter-exclusive variant covers, and a Masterpiece Edition that will be exclusively available through Kickstarter. As well as reprinting Tamaki’s work in two volumes at its original size, the Masterpiece Edition will include a third auxiliary volume, giving even more insight into how this unique corner of Star Wars‘ long symbiotic relationship with Japanese culture came to life.
The prelaunch page for the Art of Star Wars: A New Hope – The Manga Kickstarter is available for fans to follow now. The standard retail release of the collection will hit comic book stores and bookshops starting summer 2026.
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