Friday, February 13, 2015

Retro Foreign

British Star Wars Weekly #117

The final issue of the British Star Wars Weekly has a cover date of May 21, 1980.  The title would be renamed to The Empire Strikes Back Weekly with the next issue which starts the adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back movie.  Star Wars Weekly #117 contains the second half of the U.S. Star Wars #38.  The cover is actually take from an interior page of the comic and features Michael Golden's art.

Star Wars Weekly #117a - Marvel Comics, England (May 21, 1980)
second half of Star Wars #38
The back cover to Star Wars Weekly #117 contains an ad for the theatrical movie Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack. Battlestar Galactica was a TV series created by Glen A. Larson that ran for one season in 1978.  Inspired by Star Wars, the series followed the adventures of Apollo and Starbuck, two pilots for the spaceship Battlestar Galactica.  Humans have been chased from their home planets, the Twelve Colonies, and are pursued by a race of aliens known as Cylons.  Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack is a re-edit of 3 episodes from the TV series, including those featuring Commander Cain and the Battlestar Pegasus.

Star Wars Weekly #117a - Marvel Comics, England (May 21, 1980)
back cover
There is no doubt Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack was timed to be released with The Empire Strikes Back in foreign markets.  At the time, 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios were embroiled in a lawsuit over Battlestar Galactica's similarities to Star Wars.

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