Good Morning Youtinians.  Happy New Year to all. We are so grateful you have stuck with us, especially the newsletter, for almost a year. We continue to improve and deliver the best in Star Wars news to your inbox weekly. Thank you for your support!

— JG Carse, Emmi Conner, and Doc B

Star Wars Publishing January Releases!

We don’t have any new novels coming out this month, but there are tons of great comics to look forward to! Here are the three we’re most excited about here at Youtini:

• The High Republic Adventures: Saber For Hire by Cavan Scott and Rachel Stott: This trade paperback collects the four-issue miniseries and tells the Phase III story of the lightsaber-wielding monster hunter Ty Yorrick. It releases on January 28th.

  • This comic provides an additional peak behind the curtain of the Nihil’s Stormwall at what life truly entails in Nihil space.

  • If you’ve been missing Chancellor Soh’s son, Kip, since Phase I, this is the miniseries for you.

  • Ty Yorrick’s trial includes protecting young Force users trapped inside the Occlusion Zone from the Nihil, a Jedi tale as old as time.

• Jango Fett: Trail of Lost Hope by Ethan Sacks: This character-focused trade paperback releases the same day as Saber for Hire, January 28th.

  • If you’re looking for some Prequel-era fun, this is definitely the miniseries for you! Jango takes on a new bounty across 4 issues, and it makes for classic Star Wars fun.

  • Jango isn’t the only familiar Bounty Hunter in this comic; you can also be on the lookout for Aurra Sing.

  • If you enjoy Jango Fett: Trail of the Lost Hope, we recommend checking out Darth Maul (2017) by Cullen Bunn and Luke Ross.

• A New Legacy by Charles Soule, Jason Aaron, and Kieron Gillen: We don’t know much about this one-shot comic, but the author list is impressive enough to make us very excited!

  • This comic will feature three stories, one from each heavy-hitting author.

  • Check out the cover to see some very familiar faces for regular Star Wars comic readers, including Doctor Aphra, Black Krrsantan, and even Darth Momin.

  • This celebratory one-shot marks ten years of Star Wars comics published by Marvel and will be released on January 29th!

We're all fine here now — how are you? These are just a few Star Wars reads we can’t wait to check out next month. Be sure to check out The Cosmic Force podcast to see what Youtini thinks of these upcoming comics!

We’re Not Alone Down Here

In the first few moments of the latest episode of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (S1:E6 "Zero Friends Again," check out our review here), we're reminded that few franchises do creatures quite like Star Wars!

Yes, friends, we fondly remember the ground-breaking work of what is now known as Tippett Studios to create never-before-seen creatures using stop-motion techniques.

• The magic first appeared in 1977’s Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope.

• More recently, Tippett Studios created the holochess pieces in Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, just to mention three. 

What a joy it was then to witness Tet’niss, or Mama Crab, scramble up over the junk heap on the new planet of Lanupa, surrounded by her children!

• In an interview with starwars.com, visual effects supervisor Chris “CMo” Morley explains the process.

• Morley says: “We 3D printed a lot of the parts that went onto the crab, but the thing that really took it to the next level for detail was the handcrafted elements that were placed on it: the antennas, the wires, and all of those little things that really gave it that sense of scale.” 

• On the topic of scale, Tet’niss is the heaviest creation ever made by Tippett Studios for a Star Wars story.

• Fingers crossed, their work in this new series may just add to the tally of two Academy Awards, one BAFTA, and two Emmys. How lucky are we that this partnership just keeps on giving!

We’re all fine here now — how are you? The list of credits for Phil Tippett’s Star Wars collaboration for over three decades is impressive and includes iconic characters and creatures.

🛰️ In the Youtiniverse

• Join the Bounty Hunt crew as they return from a holiday break to cover the two most recent episodes of Skeleton Crew.

• Grab your cozy beverage and join Emmi, Hannah, and JG as they discuss Tempest Breaker on the latest episode of The Youtini Canon Book Club.

• Youtini staff member Sam wrote about his journey with Star Wars and audiobooks and their impact on his life.

🚀 Ready for Dispatch

• Josh Gad had to explain new Star Wars lore to Mel Brooks for the upcoming sequel to Spaceballs.

• Discover what new LEGO Star Wars sets are being released this month!

• Kyriana Kratter recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to share stories from making Skeleton Crew and how she created KB’s journey!

Want to create a newsletter just like The Youtini Dispatch? Sign up for Beehiiv and Youtini gets a commission.