The Creative Team:
Published By: IDW
Released On: May 9, 2017
Writer: Russ Manning
Artist: Alfredo Alcala
The Synopsis:
This is the first of three volumes that collect the Star Wars newspaper strip from 1979 through 1984. 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.
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.” Initially the color Sundays and black-and-white dailies told separate stories, but within six months the incomparable Russ Manning and company merged the adventures to tell brand new epic seven-days-a-week sagas that rivaled the best science fiction comics of all time.
Volume One contains nearly 600 sequential comic strips from the strip’s premiere on March 11, 1979 to October 5, 1980.
The Review:
This collection is beyond special, it is clearly a labour of love direct from the editors to present the original Star Wars newspaper strips in as perfect a format as they were published almost forty years ago.
In this first volume of a planned three-volume set, we get the first run of Star Wars newspaper comics from writer Russ Manning. With the majority of art from Alfredo Alcala as originally published by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, this is classic Star Wars at its peak. This is the first time that the full run has have been reproduced untouched and without the more recent seen efforts to colour them; and as wonderful as some of the prior reprints have been – to see them in their original intended form is something special.
Fans of those colour reprints can get the Legends Epic Collection from Marvel which re-produces this adapted works in a less accurate, and in-complete form.
Back to this IDW collection however:
It is amazing to recount how these were some of the very earliest original Star Wars expanded universe work, and they came from a point in history where there was a blank slate of one single movie from which to use as a jumping point. The invention and creativity of planets, people, ships and scenes is rich and wonderful as are the eclectic tales. Is is pure joy to relive these strips.
The collection begins with two passionate, and detailed introductions from Rich Handley and Henry G. Franke III which explains the history of the newspaper comics, the career and legacy of Russ Manning, including some wonderful behind the scenes material, and promotional material I had not previously seen.
The 10 comics we get in this volume stretch some 600 strips, and you can spend hours absorbed into the story, the art, the history and the vision of early Star Wars material. Having this as a hardcover collection is superb for this very reason, I intend and will spend many countless hours and days wholly absorbed in this tome.
IDW continue their trend of producing comic collections that feel like a luxury to own, and are a rich tapestry of Star Wars history and joy to hold in any collection – I can’t recommend picking up this collection enough.
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