Star Wars: The Complete Classic Newspaper Comics

Star Wars: The Complete Classic Newspaper Comics is a trilogy series of books collecting the complete Star Wars newspaper comic strip, an American strip title with both daily strips and Sunday strips, originally distributed in newspapers by Los Angeles Times Syndicate and Watertown Daily Times between 1979 and 1984. The book collection was published by The Library of American Comics, the trilogy's first volume was released in conjunction with Star Wars' 40th anniversary in May 2017,[1] the series was finished and concluded with the third final entry in September 2018. The third volume of the series won an Eisner Award in 2019.

Star Wars: The Complete Classic Newspaper Comics
Publication information
PublisherThe Library of American Comics
FormatHardcover
GenreScience fiction
Space opera
Publication dateMay 9, 2017 –
September 18, 2018
No. of issues3
Creative team
Written byRuss Manning (1979)
Steve Gerber (1979)
Don R. Christensen (1980)
Russ Helm (1979–1980)
Archie Goodwin (1980–1984)
Artist(s)Russ Manning (1979–1980)
Alfredo Alcala (1980–1981)
Rick Hoberg (1980)
Dave Stevens (1980)
Al Williamson (1981–1984)

assisting drawers:
Alden McWilliams (1981–1982)
Carlos Garzon (1981–1982)
Editor(s)Dean Mullaney

Background

The Star Wars newspaper comic strip ran from 1979 to 1984. There are 26 storylines of the strip in total. At the beginning the daily strips and the Sunday strips told separate stories, but after six months the first writer and artist of the strip, Russ Manning, was replaced, as writer, reportedly because newspapers wanted a story that was "more like a comic book"[2]. The strip merged the two different storylines into one continuity.[3]. Russ Manning died due to cancer in 1981[4] and a new artist, Alfredo Alcala replaced him for a brief run. Next, the strip was taken over by writer Archie Goodwin and artist Al Williamson, who continued until the end of the strip in 1984[5].

Comics from this series were previously collected twice by Dark Horse Comics. The first collection was released in 1992 with the title Classic Star Wars. It collected the later years of the strip done by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson, excluding the Sunday strips, and it colored the black-and-white daily strips and rearranged them to fit the comic book format. The second collection was released in 1994 with the title Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures. This title collected the Russ Manning output of the strip, both daily and Sunday, with the exception of two storylines. One of the excluded storylines was later collected in a one-shot comic book, exclusive to Kay-Bee Toys, while the other storyline was not republished.[6]

Later some of the newspaper strip was also collected in trade paperbacks by Marvel Comics.[7]

In the beginning of 2017 the collection series by The Library of American Comics was announced. Greg Goldstein, IDW Publishing President and COO, stated that this collection would be the first fully complete version of the strip, including all strips in chronological order and with the title headers for all Sunday strips and bonus panels, material which usually had been discarded in the previous collections from other publishers.[8]

Format

The hardcover volumes of the series measure 11 inches × 8.5 inches, (280 mm × 216 mm), landscape orientation,[2] have sewn binding,[9] comes with dust jackets and sewn ribbon bookmarks.[10] Each volume contain approximately 600 strips.[11] The daily strips are reproduced in full original newspaper sizing in black-and-white, arranged three to a page, the full page color Sunday strips have been recolored and are arranged one per page. All the strips have annotated first publication dates.[6][12] The collection presents the storylines in chronological order.

Essays by Rich Handley[13] and Henry G. Franke III are included.[14] The book series is published under licence and in cooperation with Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm.[2] Each volume had at release the MSRP set at $49.99.[11]

Storylines

The Star Wars strip featured the following storylines:[15]

  1. Black Hole (daily, March 12 - Sept 9, 1979)
  2. Sharlee (Sunday, March 11 - July 8, 1979)
  3. Planet of the Wookiees (Sunday, July 15 - Sept 3, 1979)
  4. Tatooine Sojourn (Sept 10 - Nov 5, 1979)
  5. Princess Leia, Imperial Servant (Nov 6 - Dec 31, 1979)
  6. The Second Kessel Run (Jan 1 - Feb 25, 1980)
  7. Bring Me the Children (Feb 26 - April 21, 1980)
  8. As Long As We Live (April 22 - June 16, 1980)
  9. Planet of Kadril (Aug 11 - Oct 5, 1980)
  10. Han Solo at Star's End (Oct 6, 1980 - Feb 8, 1981)
  11. Repairs on Ord (Feb 9 - April 19, 1981)
  12. Darth Vader Strikes (April 20 - July 26, 1981)
  13. The Serpent Masters (July 27 - Nov 1, 1981)
  14. Deadly Reunion (Nov 2, 1981 - Jan 1, 1982)
  15. Traitor's Gambit (Jan 2 - March 7, 1982)
  16. The Night Beast (March 8 - May 16, 1982)
  17. The Return of Ben Kenobi (May 17 - July 25, 1982)
  18. The Power Gem (July 26 - Oct 3, 1982)
  19. Iceworld (Oct 4 - Nov 13, 1982)
  20. Admiral Ackbar (Nov 14, 1982 - Jan 23, 1983)
  21. Doom Mission (Jan 24 - April 17, 1983)
  22. Race For Survival (April 18 - July 10, 1983)
  23. The Paradise Detour (July 11 - Oct 2, 1983)
  24. A New Beginning (Oct 3 - Dec 25, 1983)
  25. Showdown (Dec 26, 1983 - Feb 5, 1984)
  26. The Final Trap (Feb 6 - March 11, 1984)

The Sunday page also included a topper strip called Star Wars Scrapbook. This strip was written by Archie Goodwin, and ran from May 24 to December 27, 1981.[15]

Volumes
Volumes
Volume Release date Title Period Page count ISBN
12017-05-09“Star Wars: The Complete Classic Newspaper Comics – Vol. 1”1979–1980260978-1-63140-872-4
22018-03-13“Star Wars: The Complete Classic Newspaper Comics – Vol. 2”1980–1982295978-1-68405-053-6
32018-09-18“Star Wars: The Complete Classic Newspaper Comics – Vol. 3”1982–1984272978-1-68405-329-2

Recognition

In 2018, the first volume of the series was nominated for an Eisner Award in the category, "Best Archival Collection/Project - Strips".[16]

In 2019, the third volume of the series won the Eisner Award in the category, "Best Archival Collection/Project - Strips".[17][18]

References
  1. Miller, Gordon S. (26 May 2017). "Book Review: Star Wars: The Complete Classic Newspaper Comics, Vol. 1". CinemaSentries.com. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  2. McCaw, Derek (19 April 2017). "IDW Presents 'Star Wars The Classic Newspaper Comics'". FanboyPlanet.com. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  3. Trate, Robert (19 April 2017). "Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Comics, Vol. 1 – Coming from IDW Publishing". Sci-FiMoviePage.com. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  4. Greenberger, Robert. "For Your Consideration: IDW's Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Comics". WestfieldComics.com. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  5. Kit, Borys (12 February 2018). "First Look: 'Star Wars' Newspaper Strips Collected". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  6. Greene, Jamie (9 February 2018). "Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Comics Vol. 1". TheRoarbots.com. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  7. Garcia, Matthew (6 March 2018). ""Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Comics" Vol. 1". MultiversityComics.com. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  8. Joseph, Eric (19 April 2017). "IDW Announces Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Comics, Vol. 1". WeGotThisCovered.com. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  9. VanderPloeg, Scott (20 December 2018). "Review – Star Wars The Classic Newspaper Comics Vol 2". ComicBookDaily.com. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  10. VanderPloeg, Scott (12 June 2017). "Review – Star Wars: The Complete Classic Newspaper Comics Vol 1". Comic Book Daily. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  11. Spry, Jeff (19 April 2017). "IDW to release deluxe edition of vintage Star Wars newspaper strips". Syfy.com. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  12. Blackout, Ian (1 March 2018). "Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Comics Vol. 2 – Book Review". Set The Tape. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  13. Miller, Gordon S. (10 December 2018). "Book Review: Star Wars: The Complete Classic Newspaper Comics, Vol. 3". CinemaSentries.com. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  14. Brittany, Michele (16 May 2017). "Fanbase Press – 'Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Comics Volume I' – Hardcover Book Review". FanbasePress.com. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  15. Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 366. ISBN 9780472117567.
  16. https://www.newsarama.com/39672-2018-eisner-awards-nominations.html Retrieved 2019-09-05
  17. "2019 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees". Comic-Con.org. San Diego Comic-Con. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  18. https://www.polygon.com/comics/2019/7/20/20700381/eisner-winners-sdcc-2019-list Retrieved 2019-07-23
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