The Empire Strikes Back adaptation was published in Colombia by Carvajal S.A. Publicaciones in 1980 as the 2-part Star Wars: El Imperio Contraataca magazine. According to prices printed on the cover, these were distributed in Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador for Spanish readers. Carvajal published other Marvel comics in the early 1980s, but not many based on the scant information found online.
Star Wars: El Imperio Contraataca #1a - Carvajal S.A. Publicaciones, Colombia (1980) Star Wars #39 - 41Star Wars: El Imperio Contraataca #1a - Carvajal S.A. Publicaciones, Colombia (1980) back cover
Star Wars: El Imperio Contraataca #1 is fashioned after Marvel Super Special #16 including the dimensions of the publication and the front cover artwork. Even the indicia inside says the title is Marvel Super Special although that title is not used on the cover.
Star Wars: El Imperio Contraataca #2a - Carvajal S.A. Publicaciones, Colombia (1980) Star Wars #42 - 44Star Wars: El Imperio Contraataca #2a - Carvajal S.A. Publicaciones, Colombia (1980) back cover
Star Wars: El Imperio Contraataca #2 uses the same cover artwork as the first issue, except the title is in blue instead of red. It also has a green banner in the upper left hand corner that states Segunda Parte (Conclusion) or Second Part (Conclusion). The Yoda depicted inside is the redrawn version which makes sense since these are foreign editions of Marvel Super Special #16.
These issues are rarely seen for sale and I only recently acquired the first issue after having owned the second issue for a few years.
Blackthorne Publishing released Star Wars 3D #1 in December 1987 with a cover blurb announcing it as the 10th Anniversary Series! This first issue sold well enough that Blackthorne went back to print in the summer of 1988. The second print is shown in the indicia on the first page. Additionally, there are two different back covers for the second print.
Star Wars 3-D #1a - Blackthorne Publishing, U.S. (December 1987)
The first print has a back cover with an ad for Transformers 3-D #2.
Star Wars 3-D #1a - Blackthorne Publishing, U.S. (December 1987) Transformer 3-D comic ad on back cover
One of the second prints has a back cover with an ad for a Rambo III 3-D comic.
Star Wars 3-D #1b - Blackthorne Publishing, U.S. (Summer 1988) 2nd print Rambo III 3-D comic ad on back cover
The other second print shows an ad for the Michael Jackson Moonwalker 3-D comic on the back cover. Interestingly, it is the licensing of the Moonwalker 3-D comic that was a major contributor to Blackthorne Publishing's eventually demise.
Star Wars 3-D #1c - Blackthorne Publishing, U.S. (Summer 1988) 2nd print Michael Jackson Moonwalker 3-D comic ad on back cover
It took me several years of hunting to find the Moonwalker variant of this comic.
Alex Ross is an American comic book artist who is best know for his realistic painted covers. There are many popular artists today known for their painted covers, including Gabriele Dell'Otto and Francesco Mattina, but Ross has been around much longer, achieving numerous awards for his work starting in the 1990s. Ross is a favorite of many comic fans because his Norman Rockwell-style work captures the heroic essence of many heroes.
Alex Ross' breakout title is the 1994 4-part mini-series Marvels and received further acclaim drawing the covers for the 1995 6-part mini-series Astro City from Image. In 1996 he cemented his status as a fan favorite with the 4-part mini-series Kingdom Come from DC. His first professional work was for Now Comics on the Terminator: The Burning Earth 5-part mini-series.
Terminator: The Burning Earth #1a - Now Comics, U.S. (March 1990)
In recent years, Alex Ross has mostly done cover artwork. His first Star Wars cover was for the 2013 Star Wars #1 from Dark Horse. The title was well received and the first issue went back to print three times.
Star Wars #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (January 2013)Star Wars #1b - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (February 2013) 2nd printStar Wars #1c - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (March 2013) 3rd printStar Wars #1d - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 2013) 4th print
Ross provided the cover artwork for the following three issues in the series.
Star Wars #2a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (May 2013)Star Wars #3a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (June 2013)Star Wars #4a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (July 2013)
Sketch covers for the first four issues were distributed to retailers to thank them for the success of the title.
Star Wars #1g - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 2013) Retailer sketch variantStar Wars #2b - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (May 2013) Retailer sketch variantStar Wars #3b - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (June 2013) Retailer sketch variantStar Wars #4b - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (July 2013) Retailer sketch variant
When Marvel reacquired the Star Wars license in 2015, they published innumerable variant and exclusive covers for Star Wars #1. Alex Ross provided a cover that pays homage to the original 1977 Star Wars #1. This variant was initially released in a 1:50 ratio.
Star Wars #1j - Marvel Comics, U.S. (January 2015) Alex Ross variant
A sketch version of the cover artwork was initially released in a 1:200 ratio.
Star Wars #1l - Marvel Comics, U.S. (January 2015) Alex Ross sketch variant
An exclusive from the Alex Ross Store was also published. This cover shows Luke Skywalker standing in a typical Alex Ross heroic pose.
Star Wars #1ak - Marvel Comics, U.S. (January 2015) Alex Ross Store exclusive
With the exception of Vader Down #1, Alex Ross would provide cover artwork for all the Star Wars first issues released in 2015. He artwork for Darth Vader #1 shows a dynamic Vader flanked by Stormtroopers. This cover was initially released in a 1:50 ratio. There is also a sketch version of this cover initially released in a 1:200 ratio that I do not have.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #1j - Marvel Comics, U.S. (February 2015) Alex Ross variant
His Alex Ross Store exclusive for Darth Vader #1 features Boba Fett and is inspired by Fett's appearance in the Star Wars Holiday Special.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #1p - Marvel Comics, U.S. (February 2015) Alex Ross Store exclusive
My favorite Alex Ross cover is for Princess Leia #1. Initially released in a 1:50 ratio, this striking cover shows Princess Leia in action wearing the same flowing gown she wears on the famous Tom Jung Star Wars poster. The layout is dynamic and the colors used are wonderful.
Star Wars: Princess Leia #1j - Marvel Comics, U.S. (March 2015) Alex Ross variant
A sketch version of the cover artwork was initially released in a 1:200 ratio.
Star Wars: Princess Leia #1k - Marvel Comics, U.S. (March 2015) Alex Ross sketch variant
(Sorry for the quality of the above picture, my copy of this comic is in a CGC slab.)
Princess Leia #1 also has the final Alex Ross Store exclusive. The artwork shows Luke Skywalker superimposed over an image of Darth Vader. The art is decent, albeit minimalist, and this is my least favorite of the Alex Ross Star Wars covers.
Star Wars: Princess Leia #1n - Marvel Comics, U.S. (March 2015) Alex Ross Store exclusive
The Alex Ross variant cover for Lando #1 is another dynamic piece showing Lando Calrissian running through the streets of Cloud City. This cover was initially released in a 1:50 ratio.
Star Wars: Lando #1i - Marvel Comics, U.S. (July 2015) Alex Ross variant
A sketch version of the cover artwork was initially released in a 1:200 ratio.
Star Wars: Lando #1j - Marvel Comics, U.S. (July 2015) Alex Ross sketch variant
For Chewbacca #1 Alex Ross provides homage to another 1977 Star Wars cover, this time for issue #7. My second favorite Alex Ross cover, this artwork uses a color palette similar to his Princess Leia cover. This cover was initially released in a 1:50 ratio.
Star Wars: Chewbacca #1f - Marvel Comics, U.S. (October 2015) Alex Ross variant
A sketch version of the cover artwork was initially released in a 1:200 ratio.
Star Wars: Chewbacca #1g - Marvel Comics, U.S. (October 2015) Alex Ross sketch variant
I'm a big fan of Alex Ross' art style. His ability to depict dynamic heroism is unparalleled as he has demonstrated by aptly handle our heroes. He was a great choice to pay homage to the original Star Wars #1 and it is unfortunate we have not seen more covers from him, especially on characters from other eras.
Star Wars: Lost Stars is a 2015 novel by Claudia Gray and is considered one of the better Star Wars books published during the Disney era. In 2017 an online manga adaptation of the novel was started by Japanese artist Yūsaku Komiyama. Even though the adaptation has not been completed online for Japanese readers, Yen Press, a publisher of manga for U.S. readers, released Star Wars: Lost Stars #1 based on Yūsaku Komiyama's work.
Star Wars: Lost Stars #1a - Yen Press, U.S. (May 2018)Star Wars: Lost Stars #1a - Yen Press, U.S. (May 2018) back cover
This 256-page, black and white book follows the format of many manga and is read from right to left. Yen Press is the fifth publisher to release a Star Wars comic in the U.S. in the past couple of years, following Marvel, IDW, Disney-Lucasfilm Press, and Joe Books.
Japanese publisher Shueisha is best known to comic fans for publishing Weekly Shōnen Jump. Weekly Shōnen Jump was the magazine that introduced the popular Dragon Ball to manga fans and had circulation numbers north of 6 million copies a week in the mid 1990s and, while those numbers are down today, it still sells well over 1.5 million copies a week today. Shueisha publishes many other magazines, including Weekly プレイボーイ or Weekly Playboy. Like the U.S. counterpart it is fashioned after, Weekly Playboy is aimed at adults and contains nude pictures of females. Unlike the U.S. magazine, this Japanese magazine heavily features manga.
The January 1978 issue of Weekly Playboy contains a black and white, 30-page Star Wars story. The story is raunchy and focuses on Princess Leia, although it also contains Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, and Stormtroopers.
Weekly プレイボーイ #1a - Shueisha, Japan (January 1978)
What makes this manga interesting is not the smutty material, but the early date it was published with art by Go Nagai. Star Wars was not released in Japan until June 30, 1978, making this possibly the first Star Wars manga released in the world and the first Star Wars comic material released in Japan. Go Nagai's work paved the way for the Japanese view on eroticism in manga. He is best known for creating Mazinger Z, imported into the U.S. as a Shogun Warrior, and Devilman.
The cultural influence of Star Wars was huge and this is an interesting and early example of the breadth of that impact.
The third Forces of Destiny one-shot published in January 2018 stars Hera Syndulla. Hera previously appeared in the Forces of Destiny - Leia one-shot. In her own title, she travels with Chopper to the farming community Fekunda Outpost hoping it will be a food source for the Rebellion. It turns out the Empire arrived before Hera with the same intent, so Hera instructs the inhabitants on how to foment discord so the Empire leaves. The story ends with the Imperials leaving resulting in Hera's mission to secure a supply line with Fekunda Outpost a success. This is an original story, but interestingly, it could have a tentative tie to the season 1, episode 14 Forces of Destiny short An Imperial Feast. In that tale, Princess Leia sends Han Solo and Chewbacca to get a crate of ration sticks from Hera. Leia hopes giving the food to the Ewoks will prevent them from eating Imperial Stormtroopers they captured. I like to think Leia knows Hera has the food supplies because of her successful mission to Fekunda Outpost.
Star Wars Adventures: Forces of Destiny - Hera a - IDW Publishing, U.S. (January 2018)Star Wars Adventures: Forces of Destiny - Hera b - IDW Publishing, U.S. (January 2018)
The retailer incentive is a wrap-around animated variant which was initially released in a 1:10 ratio.
Star Wars Adventures: Forces of Destiny - Hera c - IDW Publishing, U.S. (January 2018) retailer incentive variant
The convention exclusive is the same artwork as the Elsa Charretier cover b artwork, except the front cover does not contain any text.
Star Wars Adventures: Forces of Destiny - Hera d - IDW Publishing, U.S. (January 2018) Convention exclusive
Hera Syndulla also made comic book appearances in both the main Star Wars and Doctor Aphra titles from Marvel in 2018.
Mile High Comics had ended their uninterrupted run of exclusive covers for the main Star Wars title with issue #46. It was an impressive undertaking for a comic retailer to solicit so many exclusive covers for a single title.
Star Wars #46d - Marvel Comics, U.S. (April 2018) Mile High Comics exclusive
This final cover is by Paul Renaud who has created Star Wars covers for not only Marvel, but also for Dark Horse. The cover is a nice visage of Princess Leia. In the foreground is a reference to the opening scene of A New Hope where the Tantive IV is trying to outrun a pursuing Star Destroyer.
The first title published by Dark Horse Comics was the anthology Dark Horse Presents in July 1986. The title ran for 162 issues and ended in September 2000. Approximately 25 years after the first issue was published, Dark Horse revived the title in April 2011. This second volume uses an 80 page format and the first issue contains 8 comic stories. Appropriately, Paul Chadwick's Concrete is the first story and other notable contributions are made by Howard Chaykin, Neal Adams, and Richard Corben. The final story by Randy Stradley, The Third Time Pays For All, is a prelude for Star Wars: Crimson Empire III.
Dark Horse Presents #1 a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 2011)Dark Horse Presents #1 b - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 2011)
The eight page Star Wars story sets up the status quo for the third Crimson Empire mini-series. Emperor Palpatine has been dead for ten years and Kir Kanos, a former Royal Guard, is operating as a bounty hunter. While pursuing and catching his prey, Lem Krarr, and transporting him to collect the reward, Kir Kanos thinks back on the two times he has crossed paths with Mirith Sinn. He knows he will meet her again in his pursuit of revenge against Luke Skywalker for his role in killing Palpatine. When Kanos arrives at his destination to collect the bounty, he learns that Krarr killed fourteen younglings. Kanos summarily executes Krarr, settling for six thousand credits instead of the ten thousand credits if Krarr was brought in alive. Meanwhile on Coruscant, Mirith Sinn is thinking about Kir Kanos when Leia approaches her. Leia explains Mirith should not fixate on one man since she will soon be her head of security. As Leia leaves, Mirith vows to kill Kir Kanos if she ever sees him again.
Neither of the two standard covers contains Star Wars artwork, although both contain a blurb Star Wars: Crimson Empire. The first cover features Concrete by Paul Chadwick and the second cover is by Frank Miller, previewing Xerxes, the prequel to his acclaimed 300. (Interestingly, Xerxes did not begin publication until April 2018.) A third variant cover was also issued, featuring artwork by Paul Pope. This cover was originally released in a 1:20 ratio with the other two covers.
Dark Horse Presents #1 c - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 2011)
I want to bring your attention to an important book that is being published by MA Books and written by José Gracia Pont and Eduardo Serradilla Sanchis, Los Cómics de las Galaxias. La Era Marvel (1977-1986). Eduardo Serradilla Sanchis follows this blog and is an avid Star Wars comic fan. His and José Gracia Pont's devotion to the hobby prompted them to write this book detailing Star Wars comics published around the world during the period of 1977 to 1986. To me, this is a book all fans of Star Wars comics have been asking for and I'm excited about it's existence. To pre-order a copy, send email to mabooks18@gmail.com. Additional information can be found on the MA Books Facebook page.
The book Los Cómics de las Galaxias. La Era Marvel (1977-1986) focuses on the process which took George Lucas’s first galactic film to land in Marvel Comics. Added to that the book ponders on the different graphic adaptations of the movies which were published all around the world as well as the development of the so-called “Expanded Universe”.
For more information, please contact mabooks18@gmail.com
I apologize for the long absence. This has been happening quite a bit since late last year. In October, my mom passed away, and honestly, my heart was not into posting and I believe many of my posts around that period show it. Then in February, I was promoted at work which has kept me pretty busy. I feel like I'm at a point where I can get back to more frequent postings. I cannot promise there will be no more lengthy absences, but I can promise it is not my intent to abandon this blog indefinitely.
Now that things have settled down at work, I'm ready to dive back into giving back to this incredible hobby we share. Looking at the site, I miss having the image galleries and I'm going to be devoting some time in the next month to restoring them. If you recall, they went away because of the whole Photobucket fiasco and I could not be happier with Imgur.
Of course, while my acquisition of new books has slowed the past 6 months or so, I still have some terrific comics to share. I'm always astonished when a vintage books is discovered I never knew about and I have some cool books to share in the coming months.
Revealed in the Marvel solicitations released this week for comics published in August, Woody Harrelson's character, Tobias Beckett, from Solo: A Star Wars Story is getting a one-shot comic. The 40 page comic, Star Wars: Beckett #1, will be written by Gary Duggan who also wrote the 5-issue Chewbacca mini-series published in 2015. A trio of artist, Will Sliney, Edgar Salazar, and Marc Laming, will provide the interior artwork.
Solo: A Star Wars Story is set to be released this week and it has already been revealed by director Ron Howard that the comedic duo, Tag and Bink, will make a cameo appearance in the movie. This has resulted in the Tag & Bing Are Dead mini-series seeing a nice rise in value and Marvel has cashed in on the speculation by releasing the Tag & Bink Were Here reprint collecting the mini-series. In addition to the mini-series, what other comics might receive a bump due to the new movie? A word of caution, while I have not seen the film nor do I have any inside information concerning it, much of this can be construed as spoiler material. If you don't want to be spoiled, please do not proceed with reading this.
Star Wars #2a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (August 1977) Newsstand 1st appearance of Han Solo
Star Wars #2 is full of first appearances; Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and the Millennium Falcon all make their comic debut in this issue. What is better than owning the first appearance of the Corellian who made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs and the star of his own movie?
Star Wars (1977) #8 and 9
Star Wars #8a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (February 1978) Newsstand 1st appearance of Cloud Riders
We know from advance material that Enfys Nest leads a group of outlaws called the Cloud-Riders. Serji-X Arrogantus and his band of Cloud-Riders make their first appearance in Star War #8. Han Solo is hired by villagers on Aduba-3 to defend them from these outlaws and Han cobbles together a motley crew to do just that. How could the film's Cloud-Riders not be inspired by this group from the original Marvel run?
Star Wars #9a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (March 1978) Newsstand 1st cover appearance of Cloud Riders
The Cloud-Riders are shown on the cover of Star Wars #9.
Star Wars (1977) #43
Star Wars #43a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (January 1981) Newsstand 1st appearance of Lando Calrissian
Before the fans have even seen Solo: A Star Wars Story, many are declaring Donald Glover's Lando Calrissian the breakout character of the film. Lando is suave, a sharp dresser, and the original owner of the Millennium Falcon. He also makes his first comic book appearance in Star Wars #43, the fifth part of The Empire Strikes Back adaptation.
Star Wars Weekly #94 - 96
Star Wars Weekly #94a - Marvel Comics, England (December 12, 1979)
Star Wars Weekly published in the United Kingdom ran out of U.S. stories to publish, so several original stories were created for the title. Star Wars Weekly #94 - 96 contains Way of the Wookiee which takes place before the original Star Wars movie. In the story, Han Solo and Chewbacca cross paths with an Imperial prison ship full of slave Wookiees bound for the Spice Mines of Kessel. Also, Han Solo dumps a spice delivery for Jabba the Hutt, providing a back story for the events of the original movie.
Star Wars Weekly #95a - Marvel Comics, England (December 19, 1979)Star Wars Weekly #96a - Marvel Comics, England (December 26, 1979)
If the new movie shows the Spice Mines of Kessel and Wookiee slaves, these issues could prove to be interesting.
Classic Star Wars: Han Solo at Stars' End
Classic Star Wars: Han Solo at Stars' End #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (March 1997)
This adaptation of the first Han Solo book, Han Solo at Stars' End, was original published as a newspaper strip before Dark Horse formatted it for comics. Even back in the late 1970s, it was recognized that Han Solo was a character that needed more stories.
Classic Star Wars: Han Solo at Stars' End #2a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 1997)Classic Star Wars: Han Solo at Stars' End #3a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (May 1997)
The Corporate Sector Authority is introduced in this book as well as an early love interest, Jessa. In the story Han and Chewbacca are accompanied by the droids Bollux and Blue Max, Atuarre, and Pakka to the prison facility Stars' End on Mytus VII. The book is rife with ideas, species, and characters that could be used in the new movie.
Star Wars (2015) #4 and Star Wars (2015) #9
Star Wars #4a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (April 2015) 1st Sana Starros (3 pages - unnamed and masked)
An early rumor was Sana Starros was set to appear in the Han Solo movie. Marvel has yet to have a comic character appear in a movie, unlike Dark Horse who introduced Tag and Bink to Star Wars fans. Since Disney has taken over, there has been an emphasis on all Star Wars stories across all media taking place in continuity and it is only a matter of time until a character introduced by Marvel appears in a movie. Sana Starros has history with Han Solo and she is the Marvel character most likely to make the jump into a Han Solo movie.
Star Wars #9a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (September 2015) 1st Sana Starros cover
Sana Starros made several appearances before getting her first cover appearance on Star Wars #9.
Star Wars Annual #1
Star Wars Annual #1a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (December 1979) Newsstand
There is a character named Val who is shown briefly in several of the Solo television spots. She bears a striking resemblance to Katya M'Buele introduced in Star Wars Annual #1. Katya is a smuggler who is acquainted with Han Solo. In the story, Han trusts her and a past romance is hinted at, but unfortunately she is killed early in the story before her character is explored.
Could she be the inspiration for Val who is in the movie?
