Hey, it’s green Darth Vader!
The primary Star Wars saga comes to a close this December with the release of The Rise of Skywalker — and to celebrate, Marvel is turning back the clock all the way to the beginning with the Star Wars #1 Facsimile Edition.
The publisher is also going to be releasing a set of True Believers dollar reprints and you can click here to read more about those titles, which include a bevy of stories from the original comics series.
(Facsimile Editions are notable for including all the original ads and whatnot, while True Believers issues typically just contain stories.)
But back to the Star Wars #1 Facsimile Edition, which is like a comic-book time capsule from 1977.
Dig the official solicitation info, which will be formally released soon by Marvel:
STAR WARS #1 FACSIMILE EDITION
Written by ROY THOMAS
Penciled by HOWARD CHAYKIN
Cover by HOWARD CHAYKIN
Months before the first Star Wars movie had even arrived in theaters, Marvel Comics’ STAR WARS #1 hit the stands, and introduced eager readers to a galaxy far, far away! Its cover asked: “Luke Skywalker: Will he save the galaxy or destroy it?” – and inside, readers eager to know the answer joined Luke on the first, fateful steps of his epic journey from the deserts of Tatooine to the very heart of the Rebellion! This opening chapter of Marvel’s adaptation of George Lucas’ cinematic masterpiece features the debuts of some of the most beloved characters in cinematic history – including Princess Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO, and of course, the ruthless enforcer of the Galactic Empire, Darth Vader! It’s one of the all-time great Marvel comic books, boldly re-presented in its original form, ads and all! Reprinting STAR WARS (1977) #1.
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
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A lot of people forget that Star Wars #1 actually predated the movie by several weeks, giving fans something of a sneak preview of the landmark space opera.
And getting a nice copy of an original can cost you a lot of credits, so picking up a Facsimile Edition for a mere $3.99 is pretty wizard. (Oops. Sorry.)
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MORE
— EXCLUSIVE: Marvel to Release Five STAR WARS Dollar Reprints. Click here.
— Marvel’s STAR WARS #7: My First Step Into A Larger World. Click here.
September 12, 2019
A hugely important title for Marvel in the 1970s, and it attracted some great comic talent over the years (Infantino, Goodwin, Williamson, Simonson, Golden, etc). I doubt that was the rationale behind reprinting this title at this particular time, but it’s a good choice for the facsimile line, nonetheless. Can’t wait to pick it up…again 🙂
September 12, 2019
I appreciate this kind of milestone. 🙂
September 13, 2019
It was the spring before the movie came out. I was sitting in a Sunday School class with two other boys led by the ‘cool mom’ in church; a lawyer’s wife. As we sat in a hallway of the upper floor for this week’s lesson, it didn’t seem she had a biblical lesson prepared that morning, but the topic of the Star Wars movie came up and we based the morning’s devotion around that. She had heard of it and so had the other boys. So had I, sort of. They all spoke glowingly of this new movie. I’d seen the adds in the comics for the movie. I’d bought the first issue. Yawn. It didn’t have the least amount of interest to me. It seemed a dumb, boring concept. I didn’t like the art. I didn’t like the characters. I didn’t get the concept. It seemed like such a waste of effort.
But because I was a true blue Marvel fan I remember vividly going to see it because I was, in my 5th grade mind,…supporting Good Ole’ Marvel. (little did I know that this whole thing helped save Marvel from bankruptcy) Maybe my effort helped a little.
I had no idea what to expect but I remember being totally blown away. The story, the lightsabers, the music. All,….just amazing.
I guess I need to go back and revisit the comic to see if my mind has changed on it. Maybe I’ll pick this one up.
September 17, 2019
When does this and the other new Legends reprints get released?
September 20, 2019
Curiously, the “monumental 20th Century Fox movie” line has been deleted from the “A Film By George Lucas” box on the cover…