Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Retro Marvel

Pizzazz #1 - 16

The Star Wars newspaper strip would not begin until 1979, so in those nascent years of the late 1970s, Marvel was the only publisher who had material for comic fans eager for more Star Wars stories.  In addition to the single Star Wars title which began publishing new content after the movie adaptation ended in issue #6, Marvel also published an original 3 page Star Wars strip in Pizzazz magazine.  Pizzazz was Marvel's version of Scholastic's Dynamite magazine, so it made sense that they included this strip in a periodical devoted to pop culture that was relevant to kids at the time.

Pizzazz only ran for 16 issues from October 1977 to January 1979, but each issue contained the 3 page Star Wars strip.  The Keeper's World story was told in Pizzazz #1 - 10 and The Kingdom of Ice in Pizzazz #11 - 16.  Unfortunately, The Kingdom of Ice story was not completed in Pizzazz #16.  The end of that story was published for British readers a few months later in Star Wars Weekly #60.  American readers had to wait until 1981 for the end of the story when it appeared in the paperback Marvel Illustrated Books Star Wars.

Pizzazz #1a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (October 1977)
The Keeper's World (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #2a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (November 1977)
The Keeper's World (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #3a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (December 1977)
The Keeper's World (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #4a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (January 1978)
The Keeper's World (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #5a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (February 1978)
The Keeper's World (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #6a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (March 1978)
The Keeper's World (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #7a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (April 1978)
The Keeper's World (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #8a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (May 1978)
The Keeper's World (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #9a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (June 1978)
The Keeper's World (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #10a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (July 1978)
The Keeper's World (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #11a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (August 1978)
The Kingdom of Ice (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #12a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (September 1978)
The Kingdom of Ice (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #13a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (October 1978)
The Kingdom of Ice (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #14a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (November 1978)
The Kingdom of Ice (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #15a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (December 1978)
The Kingdom of Ice (3 pgs.)
Pizzazz #16a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (January 1979)
The Kingdom of Ice (3 pgs.)
Star Wars is mentioned on eight covers and images appear on three covers of this title.  Pizzazz #1 shows a photo of C-3PO and R2-D2 on the Tantive IV, C-3PO is the drummer for Linda Ronstadt on the cover of Pizzazz #5, and Darth Vader is joined by Spock and the alien from Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind for Pizzazz #7.

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