The Marvel Star Wars Comics (1977-1986)
The 107-issue Star Wars comic book series produced by Marvel during the original trilogy's run featured some of the most interesting and entertaining Star Wars stories ever told. With new characters such as femme fatale Shira Brie and aquatic Jedi hopeful Kiro, new alien beings such as the telepathic Hoojibs and the ever-excitable Zeltrons, and new locations like Boba Fett's home planet of Mandalore and space-casino The Wheel, the Marvel series extended the boundaries of the universe created by the first three Star Wars films. These stories were consistenly innovative, action-packed, and humorous, enabling them to fit in well with the cinematic saga.
This site is intended to celebrate these Star Wars classics, and spark your memories of these forgotten stories and inspire today's fans to look at the Star Wars stories of yesteryear. An important feature of this site will be to look at the Star Words letters column and the issues brought forth there.
Unfortunately, this series has passed out of popularity in recent years. For one thing, today's comic-book readers seem to have far shorter attention spans than their 1970's and 1980's predecessors; the triumph of art over narration in the past decade means that the average Star Wars comic of today takes no more than half the time to read as one of the Marvel classics. Furthermore, today's Star Wars stories, whether in novel, comic, or video game form, are more formulaic, repetitive "epics" that strain credibility and make Star Wars seem like one more sci-fi franchise.
The Marvel writers remembered what today's Star Wars writers seem to have forgotten, that humor has been central to the Star Wars films; light moments are exceedingly rare in today's novels and comics. And their stories preceded many of the "innovations" developed by more recent authors, like the red-headed woman recruited by the Emperor to kill Luke Skywalker (Shira Brie, not Mara Jade) or a fleet hiding inside an astrological phenomenon (the Rebels in the Arbran sun, not the Imperials in the Kessel Black Hole).
The stories and characters created by Marvel in the first decade of Star Wars's existence remain the most enjoyable. Hopefully what you see here on this site will inspire you to hunt down some of these classics.
NEW: See the Creators page to see comments from some of the series' creators! |
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Star Words
Before the internet, the Star Words fan letter section in most Star Wars comics was the only way most fans could read and participate in a forum regarding the issues of both the movies and the comic stories. From the Luke-Han-Leia love triangle to who Yoda meant by "another," from the motivations of Cody Sunn-Childe to the death of Kiro, the Star Words column provided an opportunity for fans to speak out their opinions about the Star Wars saga. The letters, both supportive and critical (Marvel published both) added to the stories and provided grist for fan arguments. I will also take a look at the authors of the Star Words letters and have tracked down some of them and gotton their opinions about the comics and Star Wars today.
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