When the Special Edition of A New Hope was released to theaters in January 1997, Dark Horse was ready with an all new adaptation of the movie. They were not the only publisher to take advantage of the release to put out a comic based on the story. MediaWorks in Japan also published an adaptation of A New Hope in 1997, but this version is contained in two volumes using the Japanese manga style of artwork. Artist Hisao Tamaki's interpretation of Star Wars is among his best known work and it has been translated into many languages around the world, including into English for American readers by Dark Horse in 1998. The manga version is based on the updated movie and includes scenes like Han Solo's confrontation with Jabba the Hutt in Mos Eisley.
Unfortunately, the Japanese cover artwork was not used in other countries, most likely due to Dark Horse translating the manga adaptation into a 4-issue mini-series. The cover artwork for volumes #1 and 2 combine to create one piece.
Star Wars: A New Hope Volume #1a - MediaWorks, Japan (1997)Star Wars: A New Hope Volume #2a - MediaWorks, Japan (1997)
In 1998, MediaWorks published adaptations for the other two movies in the trilogy. Artist Toshiki Kudo provides the artwork for the Empire Strikes Back. The cover artwork for volumes #3 and 4 combine to create one piece. Volume #3 below is missing the obi, a removable paper strip found around the bottom of the other books in this set.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Volume #3a - MediaWorks, Japan (1998)Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Volume #4a - MediaWorks, Japan (1998)
The Return of the Jedi manga adaptation has artwork by Shin-Ichi Hiromoto. The cover artwork for volumes #5 and 6 combine to create one piece.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Volume #5a - MediaWorks, Japan (1998)Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Volume #6a - MediaWorks, Japan (1998)
Like A New Hope, Dark Horse published English translations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi manga as 4-issue mini-series.
The cover artwork for these volumes is similar to the artwork found on prose Japanese Star Wars novels. Japanese novels also split the story into two parts and joining the cover artwork on the two parts creates a larger image.
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