No other Star Wars comic has dared to go all the way from the foundations of the Jedi Order to beyond the Yuuzhan Vong war and even venture into the real world and to other franchises. Being one of the longest lasting and most celebrated of all Star Wars comics, Star Wars Tales has endured the test of cancellation and still remains in the hearts of several readers.
According to editor Dave Land in a 2003 interview, "It seems like the idea for Tales has been around since I started working at Dark Horse seven years ago. I'm not sure who came up with the original idea. Once upon a time Tales was going to be a magazine with both comics and feature articles. Unfortunately, we were unable to make that happen. The whole thing almost died at one point and then it was recasted as a regular comics anthology... And the rest is history."
The first issue was released on September 29th, 1999 and immediately struck the chords of fans. This was the first Star Wars comic to go into the "Infinites" realm (in fact, Star Wars Tales coined the term “Infinities” before the Infinities series came to be), which meant that none of the issues were bound by continuity and led to some crazy stories and the ever present humor pieces.. The comic went on to last many years and were reprinted multiple times in trade paperback form. In July 2005, Star Wars Insider declared two Star Wars Tales stories ("Thank the Maker" from Issue 6 and "Resurrection" from Issue 9) as two of the most memorable moments of the expanded universe.
However, in 2004 Dark Horse decided that a new change in direction was needed for the comic. Dave Land was ousted and replaced by editor Jeremy Barlow and the comic took a whole new direction. Star Wars Tales was no longer Infinities but every story fit within the established canon and became official. On October 20th of the same year Issue 21, the first of the new format issues was released an instantly hailed by the fans. The new stories were a pleasant change and the readers loved seeing stories from their favorite Lucasarts games such as Knights of the Old Republic and Republic Commando. Star Wars Tales had reached a new high.
However, even success couldn't keep the comic immortal. Star Wars Tales ended in July 2005 with issue 24, but surprisingly it wasn't due to poor sales. When Dark Horse was looking over their plans for the revamped 2006 season, the comic didn't fit into their desired plans so they cancelled it. For six years and 24 issues Star Wars Tales entertained the hell out of us readers. Yes, it never won any Eisners. Every issue may not have sold out the first day. But this comic has made a dent in our hearts that would be damn near impossible to take away, and only a true winner like Star Wars Tales could do that.