Marvel Special Edition Featuring Star Wars #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Special Edition Featuring Star Wars #1 is the first treasury-format reprint of the comic adaptation that helped save Marvel Comics from financial ruin in the mid-1970s — bringing the full cast of the original Star Wars film into sequential art for a mass audience before most people had even seen the movie. Presented in an oversized 10×14-inch format that made Chaykin's kinetic artwork dramatically more immersive than the standard-size originals, it also preserved for readers two categories of deleted material that never made it into theatrical prints: the Tatooine scenes with Biggs Darklighter at Anchorhead and Toshi Station, and the infamous Jabba confrontation with Han Solo. Because the adaptation was produced from an early screenplay draft rather than a finished film, this treasury edition stands as a genuine time-capsule artifact — a snapshot of Star Wars as George Lucas's story was still being refined, complete with characterization details, dialogue, and visual interpretations that diverge fascinatingly from the finished film.
"Star Wars Chapter I" introduces a pivotal moment in the Rebel Alliance's struggle, as R2-D2 and C-3PO, carrying vital intelligence from Princess Leia, seek refuge on Tatooine—where they encounter Luke Skywalker amid the desert sands. Written by Roy Thomas and brought to life with dynamic artwork by Howard Chaykin, this 1977 Marvel Special Edition captures the early days of the galaxy’s rebellion with vivid storytelling and iconic visuals, all rendered in bold colors by Marie Severin and sharp lettering by Jim Novak. The cover, a striking collaboration by Rick Hoberg and Dave Cockrum, sets the tone for a story that bridges the gap between the original film and the wider Star Wars saga.
In the shadow of Tatooine’s twin suns, a desperate journey begins as R2-D2 and C-3PO, carrying vital secrets from Princess Leia, seek refuge with Luke Skywalker—unaware of the fate that awaits them both.
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The underlying adaptation was scripted by Roy Thomas and drawn by Howard Chaykin, working from an early draft of George Lucas's screenplay before the film had been completed. Stan Lee had initially declined the Star Wars licensing proposal brought to Marvel by Lucasfilm publicist Charles Lippincott, but Thomas personally championed the project and arranged a second meeting in 1976 that secured Lee's approval — reportedly clinched when Lee learned that Alec Guinness was involved. The treasury-edition reprint followed quickly on the heels of the original issues' explosive commercial success: the first 60-page Special Edition, collecting Star Wars #1–3, appeared in mid-1977 with Archie Goodwin serving as consulting editor-in-chief and cover art produced by Rick Hoberg (pencils) and Dave Cockrum (inks), an attribution later confirmed directly by Hoberg. The issue was issued in both a standard Marvel edition and a Whitman variant distinguished by the Whitman 'W' logo in place of the standard distributor logo.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Collects Star Wars (Marvel, 1977 series) #1–3 in an oversized 10×14-inch treasury format, reprinting the first half of Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin's six-part film adaptation.
- Written by Roy Thomas; penciled by Howard Chaykin; inked by Steve Leialoha; consulting editor Archie Goodwin — the same core creative team as the original single issues.
- Cover penciled by Rick Hoberg and inked by Dave Cockrum; the composition is an homage to the theatrical poster for the 1977 film. The attribution was confirmed by Rick Hoberg himself in 2015.
- Published in two simultaneous variants: a standard Marvel Comics edition and a Whitman Publishing edition identifiable by the Whitman 'W' logo replacing the Curtis/Marvel distributor branding.
- Preserves the deleted Biggs Darklighter scenes — set at Anchorhead/Toshi Station on Tatooine — that were cut from the film's final release print and were not widely seen again until the 2011 Blu-ray.
- Contains the chapter featuring 'Jabba the Hut' (one 't') depicted as a bipedal humanoid alien, because George Lucas had not yet designed the character's final look and could supply no reference art to the Marvel team, leading Chaykin to improvise a design from a background figure on set.
- Includes supplementary material not found in the standard single issues: black-and-white film stills, a cast-and-crew listing from the movie, a pin-up of the Rebel heroes, and a cover gallery of the original Star Wars #1–3 covers.
- The story content adapted from the original screenplay predates the final film and contains details — dialogue variations, visual differences in characters like Tarkin and the lightsaber colors — that reflect the script's state before post-production changes locked Lucas's final vision.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Star Wars #1 (1977), Star Wars #2 (1977), Star Wars #3 (1977)
Reprinted in La Guerra De Las Galaxias #1 (1948), The Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of Star Wars #[nn] (1977), Édition de Trésors #105 (1978), Comix #2/2014 (2014), Star Wars den originale serien #[1] (2015), Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Original Marvel Years #1 (2016)
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