My Star Wars Experience: The Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of Star Wars (1977)

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing really well. I was out with Brad yesterday and I picked up a couple of books, a CD, a DVD, and four VHS tapes. Today we're returning to the Star Wars Universe to look at the paperback edition of the comic book adaptation of A New Hope, The Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of Star Wars published in 1977 by Del Rey, for some reason. Let's get into it.

All this book is is a collected edition of the first six issues of Marvel Comics's very first Star Wars comic book series, which started with the six issue adaptation of the movie. The interior artwork is all in black and white, which kind of makes it feel more like an old Science Fiction movie serial comic strip than a Star Wars comic, but it's still pretty cool.

I have no idea where he got it from, but Brad gave this to me when we were still in high school. So I've had it for about 20 years now. I'm amazed it hasn't fallen apart yet considering the book is 48 years old, I've had it for 20 of those 48 years, and I've read it or looked through it pretty often.

It's interesting that Del-Rey published this book, but Marvel Comics published the one for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi as well as the ones that reprinted the U.K. Marvel Star Wars stories. I think it just has to do with this adaptation being for the first movie and Marvel wasn't publishing collected editions in 1977, whereas the other four volumes they did in the Marvel Comics Illustrated Version series were all published between 1980 and 1983.

I also find it interesting that the text in the book, including dialogue and narration, was mostly lifted from the novelization. Now, Alan Dean Foster wrote the novelization based on the fourth draft of the movie's script, so it would make sense that Roy Thomas would follow suit. It's just funny to see the comic book adaptation tie in so closely to the novelization.

I honestly prefer the novelization, but I do like this book, as well as the comic book adaptation as a whole. It's interesting to see the scenes as they're described in the novelization rather than how they're shown in the movie. 

That's it for me for today. I'll be back tomorrow for a look at Bantha Tracks, the original newsletter for the Official Star Wars Fan Club, which began in early 1978. So until then have a great rest of your day and I will talk to you all later. Take care.