The earliest gambar umbul or banner pictures were published in Indonesia in the 1940s. A marriage between cigarette cards and comics, these early banners were single-sided and consisted of 25 panels which tell a story not unlike a comic strips. Where they differentiate themselves from comic strips is the layout and intent of the images. The images are all uniform size on a banner and numbered. Aimed at children, these banners were meant to be cut up and used as game pieces. The early banners featured the wayang puppets like Petruk and Gareng, but also had characters like Flash Gordon and Mickey Mouse. By the 1970s, the banner contained 50 pictures and in the 1980s they dropped down to 36 pictures, were printed on thicker paper, and were double-sided. Banners were made featuring all sorts of comic and cartoon characters as well as television series and movies.
In the late 1970s or early 1980s, publisher Gunung Kelud printed a single-sided banner for Star Wars. This banner measures 8" x 10 3/4" and, containing 50 pictures, the images are fairly small. It is understandable why later banners went with a smaller picture count which allowed for larger images because your eyesight has to be very good to be able to read the words on these 50 picture banners!
Gambar Umbul Star Wars a - Gunung Kelud, Indonesia (late 1970s/early 1980s) banner with 50 pictures
What is cool about this banner are the images which are taken from the Marvel Star Wars adaptation. The artwork, with few exceptions, is redrawn from the comic. The story ends where Princess Leia is rescued on the Death Star, which is the end of Star Wars #3.
Picture #1 is taken from the cover of Marvel Special Edition Star Wars #2 and picture #2 is the splash page from Star Wars #1.
Gambar Umbul Star Wars a - Gunung Kelud, Indonesia (late 1970s/early 1980s) banner picture #1Gambar Umbul Star Wars a - Gunung Kelud, Indonesia (late 1970s/early 1980s) banner picture #2
Picture #4 is two comic panels and picture #9 is the splash page from Star Wars #2. On this last image, the Krayt Dragon sound effect is drawn, but so are question marks and exclamation points near the heads of the Tusken Raiders that are not found on the original artwork.
Gambar Umbul Star Wars a - Gunung Kelud, Indonesia (late 1970s/early 1980s) banner picture #4Gambar Umbul Star Wars a - Gunung Kelud, Indonesia (late 1970s/early 1980s) banner picture #9
Because this banner is telling three issues worth of story, some of the pictures are drawn to tell the story in a more economical manner. Picture #11 and 22 are examples of how the artwork tells the story by taking shortcuts.
Gambar Umbul Star Wars a - Gunung Kelud, Indonesia (late 1970s/early 1980s) banner picture #11Gambar Umbul Star Wars a - Gunung Kelud, Indonesia (late 1970s/early 1980s) banner picture #22
While the banner is brightly colored, the color palette is definitely limited. In the comic, the panel showing the Millennium Falcon's arrival in the Death Star's docking bay is less colorful than the image show in picture #32.
Gambar Umbul Star Wars a - Gunung Kelud, Indonesia (late 1970s/early 1980s) banner picture #32
Picture #50 has the publisher information. Gunung Kelud or Mount Kelud is an active volcano in Indonesia and obviously the inspiration for the publisher's name and logo.
Gambar Umbul Star Wars a - Gunung Kelud, Indonesia (late 1970s/early 1980s) banner picture #50
A cool aspect of collecting foreign Star Wars comics is seeing the different formats that were used to entice buyers. These gambar umbul are akin to the Chinese Lianhuanhua in their uniqueness.
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