In two previous postings about Indonesian Star Wars comics, we looked at digest-sized comics that contained reprints of Marvel Star Wars content[1] and digest-sized comics that contained original Star Wars content.[2] What all those comics have in common is cover art that was taken from Marvel Star Wars covers.
These following comics are also black and white digest-sized comics, but they all contain original cover art.
Star Wars: Planet Kelabu a - Yayasan Karya Bhakti Bandung, Indonesia (1980s) original story and cover
This comic contains a lead Star Wars story and another non-Star Wars backup story. The title is Planet Kelabu or Grey Planet. The cover has the vanishing point version of the Star Wars logo flanked by a bust of Darth Vader and Chewbacca. In the foreground is an X-Wing and the Death Star. The art on this cover is very apropos of the interior art for many of these original art issues.
Star Wars: Tanah Buang a - Yayasan Karya Bhakti Bandung, Indonesia (1980s) original story and cover
This comic has a tenuous connection to Star Wars. In the first story, titled Tanah Buang or Waste Land is a Luke Skywalker-like male character shown on the cover and inside. In the story, he starts off wearing the infamous white tunic that Luke wears in Star Wars. And it looks like the character is holding a lightsaber on the cover. I am not sure who the female character is; maybe it is Princess Leia but it is a poor depiction of her. Inside, even though the story is black and white, this character has black hair so the portrait on the cover at the top is interesting since it shows her as having blonde hair. The ape looking creature on the cover is not Chewbacca, but the villain of the tale. Outside of Luke Skywalker and the lightsaber, the only other relationship this content has to Star Wars is the spaceship the main character is flying looks somewhat like the Millennium Falcon.
Star Wars: Planet Liar a - Yayasan Karya Bhakti Bandung, Indonesia (1980s) original cover
If the previous comic had a loose connection to Star Wars, this comic only has the Star Wars logo and the cover art going for it. The cover is titled Planet Liar or Wild Planet and the lead story has the same title, but it is not a Star Wars story. In fact, there is no Star Wars story whatsoever inside this comic! The cover has a decent depiction of the principal characters: Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Darth Vader. Leia is sporting an incredibly short dress and Chewbacca looks like he had the hair on his feet shaved.
Hey Ron, Good job on these essays. There is one that you left out, a comic called Star Wars: Giant Ant. The publisher might be the same as the ones you listed, as it has that "A Studio Group" listed on the cover: http://hassleinbooks.com/rich/sw-giant-ant.pdf. I'm interested in finding these, translating them and publishing them on my site (www.starwarstimeline.net) for everyone to enjoy. Do you have any idea where I might track them down. Neither Ebay nor Amazon have a site for Indonesia.
Joe, thanks for the information about Star Wars: Giant Ant. It's funny you mentioned it and linked to those pictures because I have a copy (which is the very copy you linked to) coming in the next few weeks. In fact, I have several more Indonesian Star Wars comics that I have yet to put up on my blog, including an abbreviated Star Wars Annual #1 with a photo cover (with modifications of course) and an Empire Strikes Back comic.
I have about 400-500 more foreign comics in my collection that I have not created blogs for yet and I'm always adding to the collection. Just this week, I started scanning more Star Wars Weeklies and I picked up 2 more Philippine comics in addition to that Indonesian one. As I find interesting things to write about, I'll add blogs for them. I have comics from countries that I have not even shown yet including Sweden, Brazil, Philippines, Spain, and Argentina. I have more to show from China, Mexico, UK, France, Germany, etc. Honestly, it feels like I've just begun ...
I will be creating these blogs for many, many years. it is nice to know there is someone reading and enjoying them. What is fascinating to me is my favorite blogs to write are about foreign comics, but the blogs that get the most hits are those about speculation and modern Marvels! And the blog about the 1st appearance of Boba Fett is the most hit blog!
As for finding the Indonesian comics, it takes a lot of sweat and luck. I hit websites, send email to complete strangers, and have established contacts in many foreign countries to help me track down these comics.
I'm glad you're doing this! It's important to document this kind of thing, and I'm surprised no one else beforehand has done so, particularly since we're not just looking at foreign language translations, but original unique covers and interior artwork in some cases.
For my purposes, I'm particularly interested in new stories. As you can see from my site, I've published English translations of the Spanish Droids and Ewoks comics (thanks to Rich Handley and Abel Pena, amongst others) and would like to do the same for any "lost" Star Wars tales, including those from Indonesia (though finding a translator's going to be a lot harder).
If you can obtain a set of these for me, I can Paypal you the balance. Otherwise, would you consider scanning each page of the original stories at hi-rez? With those we can work on getting translations and eventually posting them online.
Joe, I've been considering how to provide scans of the interior of many of these foreign comics without destroying the comics in the process. I did provide the interior scans for one Indonesian adaptation of Star Wars, but that was easy because the comic already had enough spine damage that opening the book and taking pictures of the interior did not damage the comic further. As you can imagine, preserving the condition and taking pictures of the interior of these comics will be time consuming. I will let you know as I find the time to undertake this task.
Unfortunately, some of these comics are rare enough that finding 1 copy, let alone duplicates, is challenging. I have no doubts there are more copies of these comics to be found. Right now, comics from Asia and South America have been tricky to obtain, but I believe it will get easier.
Hey Ron, Good job on these essays. There is one that you left out, a comic called Star Wars: Giant Ant. The publisher might be the same as the ones you listed, as it has that "A Studio Group" listed on the cover: http://hassleinbooks.com/rich/sw-giant-ant.pdf. I'm interested in finding these, translating them and publishing them on my site (www.starwarstimeline.net) for everyone to enjoy. Do you have any idea where I might track them down. Neither Ebay nor Amazon have a site for Indonesia.
ReplyDeleteJoe, thanks for the information about Star Wars: Giant Ant. It's funny you mentioned it and linked to those pictures because I have a copy (which is the very copy you linked to) coming in the next few weeks. In fact, I have several more Indonesian Star Wars comics that I have yet to put up on my blog, including an abbreviated Star Wars Annual #1 with a photo cover (with modifications of course) and an Empire Strikes Back comic.
ReplyDeleteI have about 400-500 more foreign comics in my collection that I have not created blogs for yet and I'm always adding to the collection. Just this week, I started scanning more Star Wars Weeklies and I picked up 2 more Philippine comics in addition to that Indonesian one. As I find interesting things to write about, I'll add blogs for them. I have comics from countries that I have not even shown yet including Sweden, Brazil, Philippines, Spain, and Argentina. I have more to show from China, Mexico, UK, France, Germany, etc. Honestly, it feels like I've just begun ...
I will be creating these blogs for many, many years. it is nice to know there is someone reading and enjoying them. What is fascinating to me is my favorite blogs to write are about foreign comics, but the blogs that get the most hits are those about speculation and modern Marvels! And the blog about the 1st appearance of Boba Fett is the most hit blog!
As for finding the Indonesian comics, it takes a lot of sweat and luck. I hit websites, send email to complete strangers, and have established contacts in many foreign countries to help me track down these comics.
ReplyDeleteHey Ron,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're doing this! It's important to document this kind of thing, and I'm surprised no one else beforehand has done so, particularly since we're not just looking at foreign language translations, but original unique covers and interior artwork in some cases.
For my purposes, I'm particularly interested in new stories. As you can see from my site, I've published English translations of the Spanish Droids and Ewoks comics (thanks to Rich Handley and Abel Pena, amongst others) and would like to do the same for any "lost" Star Wars tales, including those from Indonesia (though finding a translator's going to be a lot harder).
If you can obtain a set of these for me, I can Paypal you the balance. Otherwise, would you consider scanning each page of the original stories at hi-rez? With those we can work on getting translations and eventually posting them online.
Either way, I appreciate your efforts!
Joe, I've been considering how to provide scans of the interior of many of these foreign comics without destroying the comics in the process. I did provide the interior scans for one Indonesian adaptation of Star Wars, but that was easy because the comic already had enough spine damage that opening the book and taking pictures of the interior did not damage the comic further. As you can imagine, preserving the condition and taking pictures of the interior of these comics will be time consuming. I will let you know as I find the time to undertake this task.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, some of these comics are rare enough that finding 1 copy, let alone duplicates, is challenging. I have no doubts there are more copies of these comics to be found. Right now, comics from Asia and South America have been tricky to obtain, but I believe it will get easier.