Star Wars Comic Books

I turned my nose up at Marvel's Star Wars comics in the late '70s/early '80s. Fast forward to the early 2K's when I found new volumes of the Dark Horse series of tpbs reprinting it on clearance at Half Price Books. I snatched them up thinking "How bad could they be?" and read up through the adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back (#39-44), or possibly #50. My purpose cooled and I set them aside with the intention of reading them "later" (2026 as it turned out), but enough time has passed that I feel justified reading them from the beginning again.

VOLUME 1 - "Doomworld"

Roy Thomas / Howard Chaykin:

#1-6 - Movie adaptation
#7-10 - Han Solo's reward money stolen by pirates Crimson Jack and Jolli; Magnificent Seven pastiche featuring Han Solo; Sergio Aragones "guest-stars" as Sergi-X Arragantus; intro Jaxxon the Rabbit and other heroes of Aduba-3.

Archie Goodwin / Carmine Infantino:

#11-15 - Luke scouts a water world in the Drexel system for possibkle relocation of rebel base; Han has a rematch with Crimson Jack and Jolli.
#16 - Intro cybernetic bounty hunter Valance (who himself has a deep-seated prejudice against "mechanicals" despite, or perhaps because of, partially being one); reintro Jaxxon (and other Aduba-3 characters). Guest artist: Walt Simonson
#17 - An untold tale of Luke's past. In the days before it was revealed (or even decided) that Darth Vader is Luke's father, Uncle Owen looks back on the "brother" who left the farm without Owen even saying goodbye. Fill-in by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe
#18-20 - Set aboard the enormous gambling space station known as "The Wheel." Note: Similar in theme to the first Star Wars daily newspaper strip continuity by Russ Manning.

End of v1.

VOLUME 2 - "Dark Encounters"

All issues in this volume are by Archie Goodwin and Carmine Infantino unless otherwise noted.

#21-23 - Conclusion of "The Wheel" storyline
#24 - An untold tale of Ben Kenobi (who looks much more like a young Alec Guinness than he does Ewan McGregor. Noteably, he wears a black uniform, much more similar to what Luke wore in Return of the Jedi than the robes that would later be associated with the Jedi Knights.
#25-27 - The Rebel Alliance finally abandons their base on the fourth moon of Yavin; Baron Tagge, blinded by Darth Vader in an earlier duel, wears a visor identical in function (if not design) to the one worn by Star Trek's Geordi LaForge nearly a decade later; Valance (#16) returns.
#28 - "What Ever Happened to Jabba the Hut?" (probably not the one you're thinking of).
#29 - Darth Vader vs. Valance
#30 - A Princess Leia solo adventure (vs. Baron Tagge).
#31-37 - Features the Tagge brothers: the General (Cassio), the Baron (Ormon) and the Chief Scientict (Silas)]. #31-32 - "Return to Tatooine!" (Fixer and Camie); #33 - Luke vs. Baron Tagge; #34 - "Omega Frost" and some bad science; #35 - Darth Vader learns Luke Skywalker's name and they meet face-to-face for the first time; the youngest Tagge sibling, Sister Domina, is introduced; #37 - Luke confronts Vader but they stop short of a lightsabre dual; Jabba the Hutt reinstates the bounty on Han Solo's head because reasons (presumably to bring it in synch with the status quo of the upcoming movie).
#38 - A tale of the Skywalker twins, plotted and penciled by Michael Golden.

In addition...

Annual #1 - By Chris Claremont, Mike Vosburg and Steve Leialoha

Next up (for Marvel) is their adaptation of The Empire Stikes Back, but I have something else planned for this discussion.

Replies

doc photo August 3, 2026 at 8:34am

My first trip to a comic book shop happened in early summer 1977. There was a little kid there with his mom and they were asking the clerk about Star Wars comics. That is all it took to cement in my mind that Star Wars comics were kid stuff.
- Jeff of Earth-J > doc photo August 4, 2026 at 4:53pm
  
  I didn't pass on the Star Wars comic books because I thought they were "kid stuff" per se, but rather simply because I considered them to be strictly non canon. Also, Carmine Infantino's style was definitely not to my taste (at that time). Although I can't really claim that as a reason I didn't read the comc because I wouldn't have known it, never having looked at one. I later (much later) came to appreciate his style, and I also loosened up a bit in regard to content.
Jeff of Earth-J August 11, 2026 at 2:56pm
VOLUME 2 - "Dark Encounters"

All issues in this volume are by Archie Goodwin and Carmine Infantino unless otherwise noted.
- #21-23 - Conclusion of "The Wheel" storyline
- #24 - An untold tale of Ben Kenobi (who looks much more like a young Alec Guinness than he does Ewan McGregor. Noteably, he wears a black uniform, much more similar to what Luke wore in Return of the Jedi than the robes that would later be associated with the Jedi Knights.
- #25-27 - The Rebel Alliance finally abandons their base on the fourth moon of Yavin; Baron Tagge, blinded by Darth Vader in an earlier duel, wears a visor identical in function (if not design) to the one worn by Star Trek's Geordi LaForge nearly a decade later; Valance (#16) returns.
- #28 - "What Ever Happened to Jabba the Hut?" (probably not the one you're thinking of).
- #29 - Darth Vader vs. Valance
- #30 - A Princess Leia solo adventure (vs. Baron Tagge).
- #31-37 - Features the Tagge brothers: the General (Cassio), the Baron (Ormon) and the Chief Scientict (Silas)]. #31-32 - "Return to Tatooine!" (Fixer and Camie); #33 - Luke vs. Baron Tagge; #34 - "Omega Frost" and some bad science; #35 - Darth Vader learns Luke Skywalker's name and they meet face-to-face for the first time; the youngest Tagge sibling, Sister Domina, is introduced; #37 - Luke confronts Vader but they stop short of a lightsabre dual; Jabba the Hutt reinstates the bounty on Han Solo's head because reasons (presumably to bring it in synch with the status quo of the upcoming movie).
- #38 - A tale of the Skywalker twins, plotted and penciled by Michael Golden.
In addition...
- Annual #1 - By Chris Claremont, Mike Vosburg and Steve Leialoha
Next up (for Marvel) is their adaptation of The Empire Stikes Back, but I have something else planned for this discussion.

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