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FIRST LOOK: IDW Publishing Presents ‘Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Comics, Vol. 1’

April 20th, 2017 by Marc Comments

In celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the first Star Wars film this May, IDW Publishing and the multi award-winning imprint, Library of American Comics present Volume One of Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Comic which contains 575 sequential strips from its premiere run March 11, 1979 to October 5, 1980.

Included are every Sunday’s title header and “bonus” panels in meticulously restored original color, making this the first-ever complete collection of this comics classic as they originally appeared. During the five years Star Wars Comics first appeared, early fans were treated to a total of twenty-seven storylines that remain some of the best “Classic Star Wars” era tales ever told.

In this first of three volumes, a stunning image of Darth Vader graces the cover and the most beloved original Star Wars characters journey through space along with new characters in new worlds never seen in the feature films. These daily adventure comic strips brought all the action of the movie directly into people’s homes for the first time.

Greg Goldstein, IDW Publishing’s President and COO, says, “Some of these strips have been reprinted in other formats, but, like many of our other LOAC collections, this is the first fully complete, chronological collection of the strips as they originally appeared when they graced the morning papers nearly 40 years ago.”

Initially the color Sundays and B&W dailies told separate stories, but within six months the incomparable Russ Manning merged the adventures to tell brand new epic seven-days-a-week sagas that rivaled the best science fiction comics of all time. When the strip launched, Russ Manning accurately predicted that “People today can’t get enough science fiction, especially if it is original and full of creative adventure. The Star Wars characters are like Mickey Mouse. They will be loved forever.” These strips reflect a simpler time in the franchise’s history and are a “must-have” for both the hardcore and casual Star Wars fan.

The books are produced under license, and in cooperation with Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm.

Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Comics, Volume 1
11” x 8.5” landscape hardcover, 260 pp, $49.99
Available May 2017

Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….