By Joshua H. Stulman

Circa 1976 a lanky man with a beard and bushy hair was waiting for over an hour at the Marvel offices in New York City. As Roy Thomas tells the story, Stan Lee had never heard of George Lucas or the sci-fi space opera, Star Wars, that he was about to pitch. But George Lucas knew the work of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby very well. You see it wasn’t too long before that the young film maker was just an ordinary teen reading the latest intergalactic adventures of the Fantastic Four or perhaps the western bar fights of Kid Colt.

Marvel Comics had a profound influence on George Lucas while developing the story and characters for Star Wars. It wasn’t just fate that George Lucas went to Marvel, he deliberately picked them to produce the comic adaption. In its original series, Marvel’s Star Wars ran for 107 issues from 1977-1985!

10 Facts about Marvel’s Vintage Star Wars Comics:

10. Original Stories

Marvel initially planned six issues to adapt the film. However, Star Wars was so unbelievably popular that Marvel continued the series with original content starting with issue # 7. The comic continues right where the movie left off. Ever wonder what happened when Han Solo tries to deliver the money he owes to Jabba the Hutt? The Marvel Star Wars series filled in the time period between films and often explored (with editorial limitations) some key areas of Star Wars lore.

9. New Characters

Marvel Star Wars editors encountered alot of restrictions with exploring established characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, Yoda and even the Bounty Hunters. So to get around these limitations, Marvel introduced new characters and extended their storylines to run throughout the series. New Imperial villains included Domina and Orman Tagge, the rebel leaning Rik Duel and Dani, Luke Skywalker’s first Jedi apprentice, Kiro. In the aftermath of Return Of The Jedi, Marvel introduced Darth Vader’s apprentice, the Sith Lord Lumiya who served as the main villain.

8. New Art for UK

When Marvel Comics were sold overseas, sometimes they were re-packaged to accommodate foreign publishing schedules. Such was the case in the United Kingdom, which had Star Wars on a weekly rotation. The Star Wars magazine sectioned the USA monthly 22 page story into four segments. This meant that new cover art had to be created exclusively for the UK versions to fill the remaining weeks in the month.

7. Based on the Original Cut

Marvel’s Star Wars comic book was timed to coincide with the release of the 1977 film. To help make sure that the artwork was created in time, Lucas made available the rough cut of the film. This version was pretty close the final version, but fans who read the comics were treated to a few “unseen” scenes including the original opening introduction to Luke Skywalker, as well as Luke hanging out with Biggs Darklighter and friends at the Toshi Station.

6. Boba Fett Lives

Marvel Star Wars was highly restricted about telling details that would spoil plot points for Return of the Jedi. Therefor the comics couldn’t feature Boba Fett during the break between Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi (Star Wars#45-80). As fans continued to demand info on Boba Fett, Marvel acquiesced to fan requests by revealing Boba Fett’s origin and past on Mandalore. After the Return of The Jedi mini-series concluded in 1983, Marvel quickly resumed the Star Wars comic series with #81 revealing that Boba Fett indeed survived the Sarlaac Pit.

5. First Clone Wars Reveals

The Clone Wars were a mystery to Star Wars fans since it was first mentioned by Obi Wan on Tatooine. Marvel fans were treated to a flashback story of Obi-Wan as a Jedi Knight during the Clone Wars. The story caught the eye of the folks at Lucasfilm, which promptly made any references or stories about Obi-Wan and Clone Wars “Off Limits” for Marvel writers, making Star Wars # 24 the only story to feature Obi-Wan outside the film adaptions.

4. Howard Chaykin- The Star Wars Artist 

Howard Chaykin was a young comic artist when he was sought out by George Lucas to produce the first movie poster for Star Wars (seen on the right) from 1976! The image had an early logo for Star Wars and featured a comic themed illustration rather than the later painted posters. The poster was so successful that Chaykin was tapped to adapt the movie to comic format. This formed the initial Marvel Star Wars comic, and his original poster artwork was revisited for the cover to issue # 1. Chaykin would be the artist on Star Wars for the original first ten issues.

3. Jabba’s First Appearance 

So you think Jabba is a giant green slug? Guess again! Star Wars # 2 has the original Jabba scene with Han Solo that was edited out of the theatrical version of Star Wars. The original film version of the Jabba scene had a human stand in, however it was known at the time that human was supposed to be replaced by an alien. Chaykin picked one of the cantina aliens and developed him as Jabba. Jabba made two additional appearances in Star Wars #28 and Star Wars # 37.

2. Star Wars Saved Marvel from Bankruptcy 

Inflation was dealing a mighty blow to comic book publishers in the 1970’s. Prices were climbing almost every year, and the page count for stories were getting as short as 19 pages out of 32. The rest were all ads! Marvel was seeing a severe downturn until Roy Thomas brought Star Wars to Marvel. Previously, Marvel had created and developed its own content and rarely considered licensed projects. Star Wars changed all that. The comic was so successful that Marvel began an initiative for licensed comics like Godzilla, Battle Star Galactica, 2001: A Space Odyssey and even Star Trek!

 1. Darth Vader is Doctor Doom

Before there was Darth Vader, there was Doctor Doom. Doom first appeared in Fantastic Four # 5 from 1962 as a dark sorcerer and a tyrant ruler. Clad from head to toe in metal armor, he wore a cape and tunic as well. He often employed robot stand-ins because he so closely resembled a robot himself. He was obsessed with controlling cosmic power and learning dark forces to save his mother. His iconic metal mask hid his face from view and sparked speculations for over 20 years as to how he appeared underneath. Change Doom’s costume to black and hand him a lightsaber, I give you Darth Vader!

Check Out our great selection of Vintage Star Wars Comics: CLICK HERE

Joshua H. Stulman

Owner, Brooklyn Comic Shop