British Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of Star Wars

It should come as no surprise that Star Wars was a huge hit in England since much of Star Wars was shot at Pinewood Studios, London. Many of the secondary characters are played by British actors as is evident by several imperial officers with noticeably British accents.  In an effort to capture the original movie's zeitgeist, parts of the next movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is also being shot at Pinewood Studios.

What might be surprising is there were more formats of the original Marvel Star Wars story printed in England than in the U.S.  The main publication is the Star Wars Weekly magazine, but they also had a regular pamphlet sized comic (which is sadly missing an issue #1 and differentiates itself from the U.S. version by having the price in pence), the Treasury sized adaptations (also the same as the U.S. versions but in pence), a hardcover annual, and of course the paperback sized Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of Star Wars.  The U.S. version was published by Del Rey, but the British version was published by Sphere Books.

Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of Star Wars - Sphere Books, England
Reprints Star Wars #1 - 6 (black & white)

My guess is these British formats are included in the calculations that state Star Wars #1 sold over a million copies.