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Star Wars 1

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"Lord Vader will find the location of the Rebel fortress by the time this station is operational. Then we will crush the Rebellion with one swift stroke!"
―Governor Tarkin
"A New Hope"
Star Wars 1
Star Wars
Title: "A New Hope"
Storyline: "A New Hope" [1]
Volume: 1
Number: 1
Cover price: .30/.35
Cover date: July, 1977
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Credits
Chief: Archie Goodwin
Writers: Roy Thomas
Pencilers: Howard Chaykin
Inkers: Howard Chaykin
Cover artists: Howard Chaykin
Cover inker: Howard Chaykin
Colorists: Marie Severin
Letterers: Jim Novak
Editors: Roy Thomas
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"Star Wars" is the first issue of the first ongoing Star Wars comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is based on the Star Wars film series created by George Lucas and partially adapts a portion of the original movie, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The issue was written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Howard Chaykin, who also provided the ink work and cover art composition. It was colored by Marie Severin and lettered by Jim Novak. It was edited by Roy Thomas. The issue shipped with a July, 1977 cover date and a carried a cover price of 30 cents per copy (US).

"Star Wars"[]

The Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator bears down upon a fleeing Rebel Blockade Runner, the Tantive IV. Laser blasts strike a solar fin and the ship heaves from the impact. A boarding party consisting of Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith and a squadron of Imperial Stormtroopers stalk through the corridors of the ship gunning down members of the Rebel Alliance. Two droids, Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio do their best to avoid random blaster fire. Threepio complains in desperation, but manages to avoid being struck by a stray blast. Darth Vader captures the commander of the ship, Raymus Antilles, and begins throttling him, demanding to know the location of a set of stolen plans relating to the Galactic Empire's newest super-weapon, the Death Star. When the captain fails to give Vader the information he wants, he snaps his neck and orders his soldiers to tear the ship apart until they recover the missing data tapes. Threepio meanwhile loses track of Artoo but finds him in the company of a white-robed young woman. The woman programs a message into Artoo's databank then disappears into the smoke. Threepio questions his smaller compatriot who communicates to him through a series of beeps and whistles that he must complete his "mission". Threepio has no idea what Artoo's secret mission could possibly be. Artoo finds one of the ship's Escape Pod and Threepio follows behind him. They activate the launching mechanism and the pod blasts safely away from the Tantive IV. The Stormtroopers meanwhile, find the young woman Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan and fire a blast into her shoulder. She slumps to the floor and the soldiers take her to Lord Vader.

Far below the carnage taking place in outer space, on the desert world of Tatooine, young moisture farmer Luke Skywalker takes his landspeeder to the town of Anchorhead where he meets up with his friends Biggs Darklighter, Camie Loneozner and Fixer. With little knowledge of the true politics of the war between the Empire and the Rebellion, Luke is excited to learn that Biggs has been accepted into the Imperial Navy and will be serving aboard the Rand Ecliptic. He tells him about watching the previous space battle through his macrobinoculars and hands them over to Biggs. Biggs stares through them, but only sees the Devastator and the Tantive IV seemingly adrift in space. He dismisses Luke's excitement saying they are too far away from the core worlds to be of any interest to either the Empire or the Rebellion.

In space, Darth Vader addresses his commander, Nahdonnis Praji. He instructs him to raze the ship, killing everybody aboard the Tantive IV, then report back to the Imperial Senate, claiming that the ship was destroyed in a meteor shower. Vader deduces that Princess Leia must have hidden the stolen plans in an Escape Pod and tells Praji to send a detachment to the nearby planet Tatooine to retrieve them.

The Escaped Pod lands in a canyon region of Tatooine called the Jundland Wastes. Threepio and Artoo disembark the small ship and begin scouting out the terrain. The two bicker with one another and they eventually split up. While rolling across a smooth patch of road, Artoo is set upon by a race of small scavengers known as Jawas. They zap him with their energy weapon and carry the droid to their giant Sandcrawler.

Back in Anchorhead, Biggs takes Luke aside and tells him his true plans. Once the opportunity arrives, he is going to "jump ship" and join the Rebel Alliance. He has to stay true to what he believes, he tells Luke. Luke is happy for Biggs, but frustrated over the fact that he must remain with his family's moisture farm on Tatooine.

In a conference room aboard the Death Star, several high-ranking imperial officers including Conan Antonio Motti and Cassio Tagge argue about the growing support the Rebel Alliance is gaining in the Senate. Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and Darth Vader enter the chamber and announce that the Emperor has just dissolved the Imperial Senate and has handed direct control of individual star systems to regional governors. Motti criticizes Vader for failing to recover the stolen tapes, and the Dark Lord demonstrates his own mystical power by using the "Force" to choke the Admiral. Governor Tarkin orders Vader to release him. Although the Rebels have gained a small advantage by finding the tapes, Tarkin is confident that they can crush them in "one swift stroke" well before they can develop a means of effectively combating them.

Back on Tatooine, the Jawas, having also captured See-Threepio travel out towards the Lars moisture farm. They role Threepio, Artoo and several other droids out and display them for sale. Luke Skywalker and his uncle, Owen Lars, come out to take a look at the Jawas' wares. Threepio annoys Owen, but he recognizes the need for Threepio's talent at speaking Bocce, so he agrees to purchase him. Threepio convinces Owen to also purchase Artoo-Detoo.

Luke begins cleaning up Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio. He removes the restraining bolt that the Jawas placed upon Artoo and instantly, he begins projecting a hologram of Princess Leia. The hologram repeats the same desperate message, "Obi-Wan Kenobi... Help me!" The message stops and Luke wants Artoo to play it again, but the droid refuses.

That evening over dinner, Luke addresses his uncle and his aunt, Beru. He tells them that he thinks the new droids will work out just fine, and if so, he would like to submit his application to join the Academy. Owen is distraught with this, pleading with Luke to stay on. He emphasizes that he needs him for one more season and that he can join the Academy the following year. Frustrated, Luke storms off into towards the maintenance garage. Beru tells Owen that he can't keep Luke around forever. She makes a point to mention, "He's got too much of his father in him", to which Owen solemnly responds, "That's... what I'm afraid of...!"

When Luke arrives in the garage, See-Threepio is in a state of panic. Artoo is missing and Threepio tells Luke that he has run off. He has no idea why, but knows that Artoo kept speaking about "his mission". Angry, Luke takes Threepio in his landspeeder and rides out to find the troublesome droid.

Meanwhile, a squadron of Imperial Stormtroopers sets down in the Dune Sea. They find the empty Escape Pod, but there is no evidence of any passengers or the stolen Death Star plans. One of the troopers, Davin Felth, finds a metal ring in the sand and deduces that the plans are now in the possession of one or more droids.

Elsewhere, Luke and Threepio track Artoo-Detoo into the Jundland Wastes, but a more pressing threat makes its presence known. Using his macrobinoculars, Luke spies a tribe of Sandpeople known as Tusken Raiders riding atop a herd beast called a Bantha. A savage tribal leader, URoRRuR'R'R, appears in front of Luke and begins attacking him with his Gaderffii stick.

Appearances[]

Featured characters

Supporting characters

Villains

Minor characters

Organizations

Races

Locations

Items

Vehicles

Notes & Trivia[]

  • Part One of the official Marvel Comics adaptation of the 1977 film Star Wars.
  • The events from this issue take place in Year 0 BBY.
  • The original cover price for this issue was 30 cents but Marvel Comics printed a 35 cent version with a limited distribution of about 1500 copies. The 35 cent version is a bit more valuable than the 30 cent one. There were also several reprint versions in print easily identified by "Reprint" in upper left hand corner of cover or on inside indicia or price and number inside a diamond with no date or UPC on cover, both the 30 cent and 35 cent version exist with the "Reprint" tag. These "Reprint" versions were found in the bagged comic three packs commonly found at department and drug stores back in the 1970s and 1980s. The first 18 or so issues of this series are available in the bagged three packs.
  • Issue includes an editorial by writer/editor Roy Thomas.
  • Many of the proper names used in this article are taken from the Star Wars Expanded Universe material and are not actually used in the content of this issue.
  • In the beginning of this issue C-3PO states, "They'll be no escape for the captain this time." In the film, the line is "They'll be no escape for the princess this time".
  • R2-D2 is identified as a "Thermo-Capsulary Dehousing Assister". In the Expanded Universe he is identified as an astromech droid. Later, Threepio refers to him as an Asteroid Droid.
  • Darth Vader is referred to as a Dark Lord of the Sith. At this point in time, the Sith have only been referenced in the comic book adaptation, the Star Wars novelization and the Star Wars Topps trading card series. The term is not used in the films until the 1999 film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
  • Threepio makes reference to the Spice Mines of Kessel. The Kessel mines are also referenced in the movie, but are not actually featured until the 1994 novel Jedi Search by Kevin J. Anderson.
  • In this issue, a Stormtrooper shoots Leia in the shoulder. In the film she is shot in the back.
  • The sequences involving Biggs, Camie and Fixer were filmed but never included in the original theatrical release of A New Hope. The scenes were re-inserted in the 1997 Special Edition release and has been included in the 2004 and 2006 Star Wars DVD collections.
  • Biggs makes reference to Bestine in this issue. Bestine is the capitol city of Tatooine.
  • Only the conference room of the Death Star is shown in this issue. The full battle station will not be seen until issue #3.

Reprints[]

This issue is reprinted in the following comic books and comic book collections:

See also[]

Media

The World of Star Wars

Star Wars miscellaneous

External Links[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Title taken from the 1978 re-release of the film. The actual Marvel Comics issue did not have a subtitle.
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