The Star Wars saga is an epic story found in many forms of multimedia since the first movie debuted in 1977. In addition to the live-action films, the franchise has expanded into animated shows, video games, novels, and of course, comics. Following the first film, Star Wars: A New Hope, Marvel Comics jumped at the opportunity of bringing the continuing adventures to the comic book page from 1977 until 1984.
One of the forgotten chapters in Star Wars comic book history is the newspaper strip that ran from 1979 and 1984. The strip, distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate and Watertown Daily Times, was set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. It was written by Russ Manning, followed by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson.
10 The Concept Of A Newspaper Strip Was Pitched Shortly After The Release Of The First Movie
Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson first proposed the idea for a newspaper strip. With Goodwin as the writer and Williamson on art, the two had worked on the newspaper strip Secret Agent Corrigan for 13 years. They pitched the adaptation of the original Star Wars film in the strip format but never produced anything more than the 12 black-and-white samples.
Marvel hired writer/artist Russ Manning to produce both the daily installments and the Sunday strip spinning out of the first film's ending. Manning wrote the strip for only six months but stayed on as the strip's artist until leaving in the middle of 1980 due to declining health, eventually succumbing to cancer in 1981.
9 Han Solo: At Stars' End Was The Strip's Only Out-Of-Continuity Story In The Newspaper Strip
Archie Goodwin and Steve Gerber replaced Manning as the strip's writers, with Goodwin eventually taking over as the main writer in 1981. After Manning's departure, Filipino artist Alfredo Alcala worked with Russ Helm and then Goodwin on the strip handling the art.
The two adapted the first of Brian Daley's 1979 Star Wars trilogy, Han Solo at Stars' End. The comic adaption appeared in the newspaper strip and is the only out-of-continuity story, taking place ten years before the first film about Han and Chewbacca's early adventures. Following this run, Al Williamson would reunite with Goodwin and work with him until the end of the series in 1984.
8 Russ Manning Wrote Two Different Stories For The Weekly And Sunday Strip, Which He Made Up As He Wrote Them
Under Russ Manning, the daily and Sunday strip spun off from the film and told two different stories. The first daily storyline in the newspaper strip was Gambler's World running March 12 – September 8, 1979. In the story, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, C-3PO, and R2-D2 attempt to cut off the Galactic Empire's gambling profits. They do so by traveling to a casino world where they meet a Rebel Alliance contact who has offered to help with them. The heroes are stalked by the mysterious ally of Darth Vader, Blackhole, who is trying to prevent them from succeeding in their mission.
The first Sunday story arc, The Constancia Affair, involved Han Solo and Chewbacca rescuing Artoo and C-3PO after Imperial forces attacked their ship en route to meet Luke. Han, Chewie, and another freedom fighter help Luke protect the planet's inhabitants targeted by the Empire because of their telepathic abilities.
7 Russ Manning's Run Found The Heroes In Some Strange Situations
The Wookie celebration of Life Day, first introduced in the Star Wars: Holiday Special, reappeared in the next story arc, The Kashyyyk Depths, which ran in the Sunday strips from July 15 through September 9, 1979. After a confrontation with the elders, Chewie receives the blessing to retrieve the root for the Life Tree and save the celebration.
Other stories that followed involved Luke returning to Tatooine, Leia finding herself a slave on the Imperial mining colony overseen by the widow of Grand Moff Tarkin, Han and Chewie making a second Kessel run delivering spice for Jabba the Hutt, and the appearance of a certain bounty hunter clad in Mandalorian armor.
6 The Golden Age Of The Newspaper Strip Was The Run By Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson
The golden age of the Star Wars newspaper strip is considered by many to be the run of Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson, which began in 1981 after Russ Manning left the series. Writing for the newspaper strip was not Goodwin's first foray into the Star Wars universe. He had already been writing for the ongoing Star Wars series Marvel was concurrently publishing at the time.
Goodwin took full advantage of the cliffhanger from The Empire Strikes Back by telling stories that took place between the movies. His stories, which took place in this time, allowed him to lay the groundwork and set up character moments and events that would later appear in the film, unlike Manning, who only had the first movie as his starting point. By the conclusion of their run in 1984, the two filled in many gaps and answered fans' questions about what occurred between the first two movies.
5 Goodwin & Williamson's Run Included Side Adventures As They Connected The Story Between A New Hope And Empire Strikes Back
Goodwin and Williamson's run on the strip was not a single long-form narrative that served to connect the two movies. Instead, it incorporated some one-off adventures sprinkled throughout the larger story that expanded the young universe.
One side adventure includes Luke being stranded on a desolate moon where he leads a slave uprising against a tyrannical ruling class that ride and control giant flying serpents. In another, the heroes find themselves in a trap set in the pull of a collapsing star constructed by a deranged Imperial scientist. Yet another saw the Empire awakening an almost unstoppable, ancient beast on Yavin 4, which in turn threatened to destroy the Rebel's base in the process.
4 Princess Leia Took A Back Seat In The Strip, While Darth Vader Was Prominently Featured
Princess Leia is the character that received a bit less attention than the other characters. Artoo and C-3PO often traveled with Luke, while Han and Chewie were featured heavily during Williamson's tenure as the writer. While the others are off on their adventures, Leia is usually left at the Rebel base or only got to leave when accompanying the other characters. Leia did regularly appear in the strip, but she did not have stories in which she was the main protagonist.
On the other hand, Darth Vader was featured prominently in the strip as he took more interest and eventually obsessed over capturing Luke. The second story of Goodwin's run even centered on constructing Vader's terrifying flagship, the Executor, seen in Empire and Return of the Jedi.
3 Admiral Ackbar First Appeared In The Newspaper Strip Before His On-Screen Debut
Admiral Gial Ackbar made his debut in the newspaper strip storyline in 1982 before appearing in Return of the Jedi in 1983. In the comic, Ackbar is the leader of the Mon Calamari, the alien species of fish-like, amphibious humanoids who are staunch allies of the Rebel Alliance in their conflict with the Galactic Empire.
The story in the newspaper strip is set before The Empire Strikes Back as Ackbar and his crew find themselves stranded on the planet Daluuj following an Imperial attack. Ackbar and his crew are eventually rescued by Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia in the Millennium Falcon. Ackbar even displays his tactical ability by coming up with a way to raise the Falcon, which had sunken in swamp mud.
2 The Themes And Characters From The Newspaper Appear In Other Star Wars Stories
Over the years, many of the characters, stories, or plot points from the newspaper strip have found their way into later works that take place in the extended Star Wars universe. Williamson's depiction of an Imperial scout walker in the 1981 story, The Bounty Hunter of Ord Mantell, was later reused in Marvel's ongoing Star Wars series. It would later be officially recognized as the All Terrain Advance Raider, a version of the AT-ST (All Terrain Scout Transport).
More examples of things that first appeared in the newspaper strip include an Imperial space station from the Darth Vader Strikes and Race for Survival that later appeared in a Clone Wars novel. In addition, the gang from Gambler's World — the first story told in the newspaper strip — appears in the 2002 novel Jedi Apprentice: The Threat Within by Jude Watson.
1 The Newspaper Strips Have Been Collected In Many Formats By Multiple Publishers
The strips from the newspaper run have been collected a few times over the years in various formats by Dark Horse, IDW, and Marvel. The strips from the Williamson/Goodwin era were first published in a 2500-copy run of all the strips released from 1981 through 1984, signed by the creators, and included an introduction by Goodwin. Dark Horse Comics later published the strips in a comic book format under the banner of Classic Star Wars.
In early 2017, IDW, in cooperation with Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm, announced that they would be releasing all newspaper strips in a three-volume series, each containing 600 strips in chronological order with the title headers for all Sunday strips and bonus panels. These volumes garnered two Eisner nominations in 2017 and 2019 for "Best Archival Collection/Project - Strips." Marvel has also published the strips under the Star Wars Legends banner in Epic Collections since acquiring the rights from Lucasfilms as part of the now non-canonical universe.