If there’s one thing Expanded Universe devotees can understand, it’s completionism. Even now, in the wake of the reboot, I’ve seen and heard from several people who are doggedly trying to scoop up the last of the Legends material they don’t own yet—or even, in at least one case, actually starting up their own Legends collections. In a way, the end of that continuity was the biggest gift Lucasfilm could’ve given the completionists, because you can’t complete something that’s forever ongoing. Now, though, they have a target.
But I’m not here to talk about those people. Another group of fans (but let’s be honest, I’m sure there’s plenty of spillover) is seizing on the reboot as a second chance to own Every Star Wars Book, without chaining themselves to forty years of old newspaper strips, Spanish-language cartoon spinoffs, adventure journals, and whatever the hell this is. The same way I’m using it as an opportunity to start a new diversity database from scratch, these people—many of whom likely dabbled in the EU but realized it was ultimately beyond their depth—are finally able to indulge their own completionist sides, and brag to their friends that they’ve read the entire Star Wars library—no, not that one, the current one. Read More
At the start of all this, when we found out about the reboot I was excited. I get that these things don’t happen overnight but there is some millennial generation in me that wants things instantly and the wait for a new book began to weigh on me. Would I care about the characters anymore? I admit that part of me stayed with the EU because I just couldn’t handle not knowing what was happening to “my people”. Was Corran Horn being treated all right by the authors? Did Wedge Antilles ever get married? Would Gavin Darklighter ever lead Rogue Squadron? I had to know. How could the new universe ever replace the 17 year relationship I had with some of the EU characters. Those characters helped me through high school, college and some dark times in my life. How can I betray them by starting a relationship with new characters while not knowing if they’re going to be grandfathered in to the new universe? 
So, Star Wars rebooted huh? Big deal, it’s happened before elsewhere with about as much success and failure. 2010-11 saw two comic companies reboot their superhero lines – Top Cow and DC. Of these two, the DC one was by far the most controversial. The reason for it being that, demonstrated by the comics, the creative teams got two months to wrap up their stories and if they failed to do so? Too bad. More than a few such end issues indicated there were longer plans in place, which were no longer in the picture!
We all have fond memories of the time when Bantam held the Star Wars publishing license- a time that brought us everything from the Thrawn trilogy to The Crystal Star. It’s a universe rife with opportunities and new ideas, full of unexplored territory and possibilities. The sense of wonder and exploration is one vital to the Star Wars universe, and the first authors to set pen into a much wider universe established many precedents. Some of this era has been retconned, some is known well as the strangest things of the EU, and some is lauded as the best of the best. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and see why Bantam’s contributions to the EU are so vital, warlord of the week notwithstanding.