Star Wars #24

Name: Star Wars #24
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Jun 1979 · Marvel · 0.40 USD

📊 ~78,160 copies sold its debut month

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

“Silent Drifting”

★ 1st appearance — Senator Bail Organa

About this Issue

Star Wars #24, 'Silent Drifting,' holds a distinctive place in the history of the franchise as the first published Star Wars story set during the era of the Galactic Republic — predating any official prequel material by two decades. By centering the entire issue on Obi-Wan Kenobi as an active Jedi Knight aboard a pleasure cruiser under pirate attack, writer Mary Jo Duffy and the Archie Goodwin editorial team demonstrated that the Star Wars universe had a rich past worth exploring in comics long before George Lucas put that premise on film. The issue also carries the first mention of Bail Organa (Leia's adoptive father) in any published Star Wars medium, foreshadowing a character who would not be fully realized until the prequel films more than twenty years later. It additionally marks the debut of Duffy on the title, a writer who would eventually steer the book through its final chapter.

writer Mary Jo Duffy · artist Carmine Infantino · inker Bob Wiacek · colorist P. Goldberg · letterer R. Parker · cover Carmine Infantino, Bob Wiacek

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $6

CGC 9.8 · 161 in census $129

CGC 9.6 · 120 in census $58*

CGC 9.4 · 74 in census $45*

CGC 9.2 · 44 in census $32*

CGC 9.0 · 33 in census $26*

CGC 8.5 · 21 in census $21*

Show all 18 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 20 in census $20*

CGC 7.5 · 13 in census $20*

CGC 7.0 · 8 in census $20*

CGC 6.5 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 6.0 · 7 in census $20*

CGC 5.5 · 4 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 3.5 none in existence

CGC 3.0 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 2.5 · 1 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

This exact issue on ebay

CGC 9.6 $100 1 listing CGC 9.4 $85 1 listing Raw — MINT $120 1 listing Raw — NM $24.99 1 listing Raw — VF+ $12.59 1 listing Raw — VF $14.5 1 listing

Raw — FN ▾ $7.99–$25.98 2 listings

FN $7.99 FN · Direct $25.98

Raw — VG $4 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $1.49–$25.06 11 listings

Raw / ungraded $1.49 Raw / ungraded $3.19 Raw / ungraded $7.02 Raw / ungraded $9.95 Raw / ungraded $9.95 Newsstand $10 Raw / ungraded $12.99 Raw / ungraded $15 Raw / ungraded $16.99 Newsstand $19.99 Raw / ungraded $25.06

Verified matches for Star Wars #24 · eBay asking prices, seen 22 days ago

More listings for this title

NM $1.49 NM $1.99 GD $5.98 Signed $39 STAR WARS #24A $3.99 Marvel Star Wars comics select an issue $9.99 Star Wars Tales 24 1st Darth Nihilus Daryh Traya Darca Nyl Gemini Ship $49.99 Star Wars Lando, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia Mini Series 24 Issues $81.65

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 8 total · seen 22 days ago

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

The issue was written by Mary Jo Duffy — then a fan-turned-editor and freelance writer at Marvel — in what was her first assignment on the Star Wars title, edited by the series' long-running steward Archie Goodwin with Mark Gruenwald serving as assistant editor. Pencils were provided by the series' regular artist Carmine Infantino, inked by Bob Wiacek, colored by Petra Goldberg, and lettered by Rick Parker; the same core team that had been handling the book since issue #11. The story was structured as a framing-device flashback — Leia recounting a tale her father told her about Ben Kenobi — which gave Duffy and the editorial team a clean narrative excuse to venture into the pre-Empire past without requiring Lucasfilm approval for direct continuity-altering events, keeping the tale intentionally light on specifics about the Clone Wars or Anakin Skywalker (who was at that time still understood by creators to be a separate person from Darth Vader). It is also the first issue of the series to carry Jim Shooter's full Editor-in-Chief credit on the masthead.

Trivia · 8 facts

Story title: 'Silent Drifting'; cover blurb: 'Ben Kenobi Fights Alone!' Published with a cover date of June 1979 (on-sale March 1979 per Wookieepedia).
First published Star Wars story set during the era of the Galactic Republic, making it the earliest 'prequel' tale in any Star Wars medium at the time of publication.
Written by Mary Jo Duffy — her debut on the Star Wars title; she would later return as the series' regular writer from issue #70 through the final issue #107.
Art by penciler Carmine Infantino and inker Bob Wiacek, under editor Archie Goodwin; first issue of the series to credit Jim Shooter as Marvel Editor-in-Chief on the masthead.
First mention (by name only, not a physical appearance) of Bail Organa in any published Star Wars comic — referenced through Leia's framing narration as her father, who told her the story of Obi-Wan's adventure.
Plot: Obi-Wan Kenobi, traveling as a passenger on a pleasure cruiser, outmaneuvers Merson pirates attacking in an asteroid belt, then uses the Force to expose a hidden signal device aboard the ship being used to guide the pirates — all recounted by Leia to the Millennium Falcon crew in the present-day framing sequence.
Introduces one-issue characters including droid 68-RKO (en route to serve Bail Organa), Captain Quasar, criminal Augustus Tryll, and the Merson Pirates; none have made significant reappearances in subsequent Star Wars continuity.
Collected in: Star Wars: A Long Time Ago… Vol. 2 (Dark Horse), Star Wars Omnibus: A Long Time Ago… Vol. 1, Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 1, and Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Original Marvel Years Vol. 2. A Whitman variant edition also exists alongside the standard newsstand edition.