The start of a new era begins with Wednesday’s release of “Star Wars No. 1,” the first Star Wars comic published by Marvel Comics since 1991.

This comic is incredibly important to the Star Wars universe, as it is the first to establish canon events within the storyline. When Lucasfilm — which is joining with Marvel to publish the comic — was acquired by Disney, Disney declared everything from the established extended universe from before the acquisition to be non-canon. That means material in the hundreds of books, videogames and other media from that time does not truly exist in the Star Wars universe.

Basically, this comic is entirely fresh, with exciting, new material. The stats on this book are already staggering: The comic has made 1 million direct sales, making it the largest-selling single issue in more than 20 years, according to Forbes. There are 13 variant covers of the momentous book, with some fetching as much as $50 on Ebay already. Written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by John Cassaday, this comic delivers in big ways that are sure to please fans and newcomers alike.

Set between “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” and “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back,” this comic sees Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo attacking an Empire outpost shortly after the destruction of the first Death Star. They suffered a tremendous blow, but the Empire was far from defeated.

The dialogue is crisp, with the expected witty back-and-forths between the main three characters, as well as Chewbacca and the crew’s two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO. The darker nature of the Empire is also explored in the comic; I won’t spoil anything, but the Empire’s cruelty is quite evident. There is even an appearance of Darth Vader, who is as terrifying and as powerful as he is in the movies.

The art is filled with detail that embodies a dramatic quality, almost as if you are in the middle of a brand new Star Wars film.

There is an overall feeling of excitement as you see the familiar characters become fleshed out. This story is meant to tie together the first two classic films but also create something entirely new. The comic is going to pave the way for a new extended Star Wars universe. With the release of this comic, as well as “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” in December, 2015 is truly the year of Star Wars.