Marvel and Star Wars celebrate Black History Month with variant covers

Star Wars: Black History Month variant cover art
Star Wars: Black History Month variant cover art (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Marvel and Lucasfilm will celebrate the Black heroes of a galaxy far, far away in a series of February variant covers timed to Black History Month.

Star Wars #31 Black History Month variant cover (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Ten variant covers on all of Marvel's February Star Wars comics by artist Mateus Manhanini will highlight Black characters throughout the franchise, including films, streaming series, and Marvel comic books.

"When we asked Mateus if he'd be interested in designing a set of covers to showcase these great characters, we were delighted to find out he's a big Star Wars fan and his love for the franchise really showed," editor Mark Paniccia says in Marvel's announcement. "What he came back with is exciting, elegant, and powerful."

Here's a list of the characters featured and (where provided) the issue their variant cover will appear on, along with Marvel's description of the character:

  • Lando Calrissian, legendary character who first appeared in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (interestingly, the cover's likeness resembles Donald Glover's version of the character in Solo: A Star Wars Story, rather than Billy Dee Williams' Lando from the original trilogy) - February 15's Star Wars #31
  • Mace Windu, revered Jedi and member of the Jedi High Council known for his epic feats throughout the prequel trilogy
  • Finn, former First Order stormtrooper turned hero of the resistance from Star Wars: The Force Awakens - February 8's Star Wars: Hidden Empire #3 (of 5)
  • Jannah, former First Order stormtrooper turned freedom fighter from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - February 8's Star Wars: Darth Vader #31
  • Greef Karga, the Bounty Hunters Guild leader from Star Wars: The Mandalorian - February 15's Star Wars: The Mandalorian #8
  • Sana Starros, the "breakout character" from Marvel's Star Wars comics who will headline her first solo series in February
  • Phel Starros, Sana's brother who will make his first appearance in the Star Wars: Sana Starros comic series - February 1's Star Wars: Sana Starros #1 (of 5)
  • Keeve Trennis, the young Jedi who starred in Marvel's first Star Wars: The High Republic comic series 
  • Oliviah Zeveron, the Jedi Knight who will play a major role in Marvel's current Phase II Star Wars: The High Republic comic series - February 8's Star Wars: The High Republic #5
  • Lt. Haydenn, Imperial officer under the command of Darth Vader who recently debuted in Marvel's Star Wars: Bounty Hunters comic series and is "on track to have a dramatic showdown with Beilert Valance in upcoming issues" - February 15's Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #31

The remaining characters - Mace Windu, Sana Starros, and Keeve Trennis will appear on February 22's Star Wars: Yoda #4, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #29, and Star Wars: The High Republic — The Blade #4, and in our best guess, in that respective order. 

"Making these covers was an honor, something I could never have imagined I would do!" Manhanini tells StarWars.com. "I felt a great responsibility to represent these characters, but I transformed this challenge into a thirst to do my best."

See all seven Star Wars: Black History Month covers Marvel has released below. 

I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.

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