Finding information about non-Western comics can be a chore at times. Sometimes I get lucky and find a web posting or talk to someone who has information that helps me better understand the comic. In the case of the Arabic Star Wars trade paperback, all I have been able to determine is it was part of a series that included comic adaptations for Close Encounters, Battlestar Galactica, Meteor!, James Bond: For Your Eyes Only, and Charlies Angel's. Most of these are adaptations from Marvel Comics, but the Charlies Angel's comic is unknown to me. It might be a collection of the comics that ran in the British Look-in magazine in the early 1980s. What all these comics have in common is they are based on properties that were popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s, making it likely the Arabic Star Wars comic was published in the early to mid 1980s. Based on the logo on the cover which matches the logo found on the Beyond the Universe issues with Star Wars inside, I believe the publisher is Flying Carpet from Lebanon.
Arabic Star Wars Trade Paperback - Flying Carpet, Lebanon (early to mid 1980s)
This trade paperback is read in reverse from how we read books in the U.S. For this reason, the images on the interior pages are mirror images of the pages published in the U.S. This comic is slightly smaller than a modern U.S. comic. Pages are in black and white or color and the last few pages of the trade paperback contain pictures from the movie with text. The front cover shows the famous Brothers Hildebrandt poster created for the movie.
Arabic Star Wars Trade Paperback - Flying Carpet, Lebanon (early to mid 1980s) back cover
The back cover is the same as the back cover for Star Wars Marvel Special Edition #2, except the Arabic cover zooms in on Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia's swing across the Death Star chasm and cuts off much of the Death Star and the action around it.
As always, if you have more information concerning this comic, I would appreciate hearing from you.
I believe these are Lebanese, as there was a great deal of comics published in the early 70s until the early 80s featuring Superman, The Flash, Batman, Tarzan, Turok, and others. I have never seen Star Wars but the binding, calligraphy, graphics and artistry are exactly the same as all the others. If you do not mind letting me know where you acquired them that would be awesome as they would make a great addition to my collection of Arabic comics :)
I believe these are Lebanese, as there was a great deal of comics published in the early 70s until the early 80s featuring Superman, The Flash, Batman, Tarzan, Turok, and others. I have never seen Star Wars but the binding, calligraphy, graphics and artistry are exactly the same as all the others. If you do not mind letting me know where you acquired them that would be awesome as they would make a great addition to my collection of Arabic comics :)
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