Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones #1

History

Henry Gilroy adapted the screenplay by George Lucas and Jonathan Hales, while Jan Duursema handled pencils and Ray Kryssing provided inks, with colors by Dave McCaig and lettering by Steve Dutro, all under the editorial supervision of Dave Land and assistant editor Philip Simon. The series was released on an unusually compressed weekly schedule — issues #1 and #2 shipped simultaneously on April 24, 2002, with #3 following on May 1 and #4 on May 8 — timed to coincide with the film's theatrical run. A notable production wrinkle: Gilroy had completed his adaptation before Lucas added the droid factory scene, and he was instructed to compress that sequence into a single page. Each issue shipped with two cover variants — a painted art cover by Tsuneo Sanda and a photo cover featuring film stills — and a trade paperback collecting all four issues, using the Drew Struzan movie poster for its cover, was released concurrently with the singles.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Official Dark Horse Comics adaptation of the George Lucas / Jonathan Hales screenplay, written by Henry Gilroy, with interior art by penciler Jan Duursema and inker Ray Kryssing.
• Published April 24, 2002 — simultaneously with issue #2 — on a weekly shipping schedule designed to coincide with the film's theatrical release window.
• Issue #1 covers approximately the first 30 minutes of the film, ending as Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala depart Coruscant, with key story beats including the assassination attempt on Padmé, Zam Wesell's pursuit through Coruscant, and Jango Fett silencing Wesell before she can expose him.
• Each issue was released with two cover variants: a painted art cover by Tsuneo Sanda and an alternate photo cover featuring on-set film photography of the main cast.
• A notable continuity discrepancy exists in the issue: it depicts the airspeeder stolen by Anakin as belonging to a Duros, while other Star Wars Expanded Universe sources identify the owner as Senator Simon Greyshade.
• Writer Henry Gilroy completed his scripts before George Lucas added the Geonosis droid factory sequence to the film; Gilroy was told the scene could only occupy a single page in the adaptation.
• The issue has been reprinted multiple times: in the Dark Horse TPB (2002), the Dark Horse Star Wars Omnibus: The Complete Saga (2011), a Marvel hardcover edition (2016), and the Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Menace Revealed Vol. 4 (2023).
• The adaptation's tone is notably darker than the film: the comic reduces Jar Jar Binks's role beyond even the film's own reduction and omits most of the humorous vignettes, while Duursema and Kryssing's heavily shadowed artwork emphasizes action over the film's scenic worldbuilding.

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