The Dark Horse 20th Anniversary panel just concluded in Chicago, and here's some news we got via Jimmy Mac of The ForceCast.

A new series was just announced (and can also be seen at StarWars.com). This new series, called Star Wars: Agent of the Empire is "James Bond meets Star Wars" and takes place 3 years before A New Hope. The series will be written by John Ostrander and include strong female figures including possibly Leia, Winter & Isard. It will star Jahan Cross and feature a droid assassin, as well as movie characters form the Original Trilogy, but not in main roles. Issue #1 ships in December of 2011.

Also of note from the panel: the mini series, Darth Vader and the Lost Command will be collected in hardcover. George Lucas has asked that Quinlan Vos not be featured in any comics at the moment, and John Ostrander mentioned that the company is focusing less on the time between the Prequel and Original Trilogies.*

There will be more direct tie-ins to The Clone Wars television series, as well as an enhanced relationship with Del Rey and their publication of Star Wars novels.

Ostrander and Jan Duursema are working on a new untitled series, and they mention that don't expect all the Legacy characters to live thru the current series!

Finally, some last little tidbits: Crimson Empire III will take place 2 years after Crimson Empire 2; Darth Revan will be featured on the cover for 2nd issue in next Old Republic arc; in Knight Errant "Deluge," starting in August, Kerra Holt will be back and there will be hang glider-like starfighters featured; and the next Dark Times arc will feat. Vader on hunt for Jedi Jennir, and "He will use his saber!"

Be sure to stay tuned for all the late breaking news!

*UPDATE: Jimmy Mac clarifies this John Ostrander quote for us: "The tweet [I made] was "Dark Horse shying away from era between movie trilogies". Here is the full story. When asked about exploring the time period between the trilogies, writer John Jackson Miller said "That's some pretty valuable real estate." Writer John Ostrander said "So George is playing there, Mr Lucas, you really don't want to be going there because you don't know what he will be doing and there are continuity minefields to avoid, if you can." This was obviously a reference to the Live-Action series. Not a reflection on Dark Times or the upcoming Agent of the Empire." Thanks for the heads up Jimmy! So hopefully that should clarify the quote which I misquoted and took slightly out of context originally.