For many, what is regarded as the first appearance of Boba Fett in comics depends greatly on what is consider a comic book. There are four different formats of The Empire Strikes Back comic adaptation: the traditional comic book or pamphlet which ran in the Star Wars title from issues #39 - 44, a magazine formatted Marvel Super Special #16, a treasury sized Marvel Special Edition #2: The Empire Strikes Back, and the paperback sized Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of the Empire Strikes Back.
Marvel Super Special #16a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (1980) 2nd or 3rd printing of art containing 1st Boba Fett appearance in comics
Boba Fett's first appearance in the traditional comic book format was in Star Wars #42. By the time this issue went on sale in September 1980, Marvel would have known about the popularity of the bounty hunter scene in the Empire Strikes Back and Boba Fett in particular, so it probably didn't take much discussion in-house for this cover to feature three of the bounty hunters from the movie with Boba Fett displayed prominently front and center.
Star Wars #42a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (December 1980) Newsstand 4th printing of art containing 1st Boba Fett appearance in comicsStar Wars #42b - Marvel Comics, U.S. (December 1980) Direct 4th printing of art containing 1st Boba Fett appearance in comics
While Star Wars #42 has the distinction of being the first comic book format appearance of Boba Fett in the U.S., it is actually the 4th printing of the art used in the other 3 formats in the U.S. Marvel wanted to have the complete adaptation available around the time the movie came out, so Marvel published the other three formats in the spring of 1980 to coincide with the release of the movie. But one of these other three comic adaptation formats is notably different than the other two and has the distinction of containing the first printed art containing Boba Fett in comics, and that is the Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of the Empire Strikes Back published in May 1980. This format gets the distinction for being the first printed art because it contains an alternate Yoda depiction. The Yoda drawn in this paperback is based on a Ralph McQuarrie sketch which has a more gnome-like Yoda. This art was changed in the later publications to reflect Yoda's look in the movie.
Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of The Empire Strikes Back - Marvel Comics, U.S. (May 1980) 1st printing of art containing 1st Boba Fett appearance in comics
On the inside of Star Wars #42, Boba Fett appears on the splash page and in two panels on another page. He even speaks lines not in the movie.
Star Wars #42 - Marvel Comics, U.S. (December 1980) splash page with Boba Fett appearanceStar Wars #42 - Marvel Comics, U.S. (December 1980) Boba Fett appearance
That is it as far as Boba Fett's appearance inside Star Wars #42!
The Empire Strikes Back Weekly #129 contains the last 1/3rd of Star Wars #42 and features a Boba Fett cover. This U.K. publication has a cover date of August 14, 1980, which probably makes it the 1st Boba Fett cover. I would like to thank valiantman over on the CGC forums for this information.
You're actually wrong.. His first comic appearance was in the LA times comic strips. All of these strips predate the movie and the release of any marvel comics.
I have these clippings, the dates all predate anything you have referenced. Cheers, ISG
The newspaper strips are not the first appearance of Boba. The first appearance is the UK Annual which at the very least came out at the same time as the paperback which we know was in May 0f 1980. The paperback is really just a sc gn before we called such things graphic novels. It is not a book at all. there are 2 versions of the UK annual, some of which are signed.
You're actually wrong.. His first comic appearance was in the LA times comic strips. All of these strips predate the movie and the release of any marvel comics.
ReplyDeleteI have these clippings, the dates all predate anything you have referenced. Cheers, ISG
Boba Fett's newspaper strip appearances are between June 19, 1980 and August 10, 1980. Here is his 1st appearance in the comic strip:
Deletehttp://dailysw.blogspot.com/2010/06/frozen-world-of-ota-originally_2217.html
If you have an image of a strip that is before 6-19 (you can see the date on the image in the link above) I would be interested in seeing it!
DeleteSo your saying June 19,1980 doesn't occur after May 1980? Did you even read the article? Smh
ReplyDeleteThe newspaper strips are not the first appearance of Boba. The first appearance is the UK Annual which at the very least came out at the same time as the paperback which we know was in May 0f 1980. The paperback is really just a sc gn before we called such things graphic novels. It is not a book at all. there are 2 versions of the UK annual, some of which are signed.
ReplyDelete