Wookieepedia

READ MORE

Wookieepedia
Register
Wookieepedia
No edit summary
Tag: sourceedit
m (Bot: Changing template: Marvel)
Tag: apiedit
Line 256: Line 256:
 
*[http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=186 Jim Shooter interview at Comic Book Resources]
 
*[http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=186 Jim Shooter interview at Comic Book Resources]
   
{{Marvel}}
+
{{MarvelStarWars}}
   
 
{{Interlang
 
{{Interlang

Revision as of 04:51, 27 January 2016

This article is about the original Marvel Star Wars comic series from 1977 to 1986. You may be looking for Marvel's new Star Wars comic series, which debuted in 2015.

Warning: The following parameters in the infobox are unrecognized: era

"Long ago in a galaxy far, far away... there exists a state of cosmic civil war. A brave alliance of underground freedom fighters has challenged the tyranny and oppression of the awesome Galactic Empire. This is their story!"
―Introduction to many issues of Marvel's Star Wars[src]

The Marvel Star Wars series of comic books was the first ever comic series created for the saga. It spanned 107 issues, with three special Annual issues. The series was relatively long-running, lasting from 1977 to 1986. It was published by Marvel Comics. The series was such a smash hit for Marvel in an otherwise dismal sales year that many who worked at Marvel in 1977 consider it to have singlehandedly saved them from financial ruin.[1]

Issues 1–6 adapted the events of A New Hope and Issues 39–44 adapted The Empire Strikes Back; however, the Return of the Jedi adaptation was published as a separate four-issue mini-series outside of the regular series.

Marvel Illustrated Books Star Wars 1, Marvel Illustrated Books Star Wars 2, and Classic Star Wars: Devilworlds 1 and 2 included additional stories published as part of the Marvel UK Star Wars series, which, due to running weekly, included additional stories. The only story that hadn't been reprinted in the US is Death Masque until its ultimate appearance inside the 2013 Omnibus: Wild Space Volume 1.

Many issues of the regular series included a letter column titled Star-Words.

Canonicity

Echo Station: "What kind of approval process did you need to adhere to?"

Archie Goodwin: "In the beginning I would send a synopsis of the story line I was planning to do to Lucasfilm and the folks in their licensing department would check over what I was doing. (I dealt with) a lady named Carol Titleman - practically a one person licensing department for Lucasfilm. Later on, as they hired more people, there would be an editor that I worked with and submitted material to...

We have what we call Canon, which is the screenplays, novelizations, and other core works that are directly tied into the continuity, and then there are a lot of marginal things, like the old Marvel Comics series, that we don't really try to work into the continuity when we're planning new projects.

Allan Kausch from 1996, referring to the Shadows of the Empire multimedia project

According to Leland Chee, however, all of the Marvel Comics are considered S-Canon unless referenced by a C-Canon source, in which case that particular comic becomes C-Canon.[2]

Issues

Annual Issues

Return of the Jedi Movie Adaptation Mini-series

Collections

A New Hope

The Empire Strikes Back

Return of the Jedi

Marvel Illustrated Books

Classic Star Wars

A Long Time Ago...

Devilworlds

Omnibus

A Long Time Ago...

  • Omnibus: A Long Time Ago... Volume 1
  • Omnibus: A Long Time Ago... Volume 2
  • Omnibus: A Long Time Ago... Volume 3
  • Omnibus: A Long Time Ago... Volume 4
  • Omnibus: A Long Time Ago... Volume 5

Wild Space

Publication dates

When the series started in 1977, the direct market for comic books was still in its infancy and comic book specialty shops were rare. Because of this, Marvel kept dual records for publication dates: shipping dates and on-sale dates.

Shipping dates described when comics left the printer to go out to newsstands, groceries, and drug stores, which would generally put them on sale upon arrival. On-sale dates were provided by Marvel as a uniform Tuesday intended for all outlets—but particularly comic book shops—to place a comic on sale. For the length of the Star Wars series, the on-sale date is usually three weeks after the shipping date. Depending on a reader's region of North America, some may have received a comic shortly before the on-sale date, but all readers should have had access to the issue by that date.

Like with most magazines, the date on the cover is intended to tell retailers when to remove the book from store shelves, not relate when the item went on sale. For Star Wars, the cover date was normally three months after the shipping date, and two months after the on-sale date.[3]

Non-English variations

Sweden

Translated to Stjärnornas krig ("War of the stars"); Marvel's Star Wars comics were published by Semic Press AB between 1977 and 1987. The first years only as annual king-sized albums, that collected issues 1-6, 11-15, 18-23, 25-26, 31-34 and 39-44.

The first regular issue of the Swedish Star Wars comic book is listed as #1 1983/84. It was released bimonthly, but with comics from two American issues in every Swedish issue. 1985, the Star Wars title merged with the Indiana Jones title under the new title Månadens äventyr ("Adventure of the month") where every other issue "starred" Indiana Jones instead of Star Wars

Every American issue from 45 to 107 except 94 and 100 was published in the Swedish comic books, although the order of the issues was a bit more complex: 51-52, 55, 49, 56-63, 65, 68-91, 93, 92, 45-48, 50, 53-54, 64-67, 95-99, 101-107. Issue 65 was released twice.[4]

Portugal, Spain, Mexico and Brazil

In these countries the comics had been published on the same collection, Comics Star Wars, by Planeta DeAgostini, each with their own translation. Twelve issues, containing from eight to eleven stories, were published in total, all hardcovers.

Marvel Italy Guerre Stellari

In 1978, Marvel Italy, Italian branch of Marvel Comics, has published a series of thirteen issues titled Guerre Stellari ("Stellar Wars"), had many differences from all the other nations, but kept the spirit of Marvel's comics and Star Wars.

A fourteenth issue was a special edition: the adaptation of Return of the Jedi, titled Il Ritorno dello Jedi.

Bibliography

Notes and references

Wiki-shrinkable
Explore all of Wookieepedia's [[:Category:{{{soundcat}}}|audio files]] for this article subject.

External links