I'm sure it's not the first time it's happened, either.  It's just timely now.

Okay, I'm also going to admit, despite my self-dictated blackout, I picked up the first Star Wars graphic novel (I got one for my brother for Xmas, so I picked up one for myself0 and I quite dug it.  Really did feel like an extension of the movie, though if I have one issue, it's that almost everything is medium or close-up shots... there aren't any awe-inspiring vistas or neat new things, so in that regards it doesn't FEEL like watching a movie, even though all the characters look perfect.