Star Wars (1977) 1

Star Wars 1
Attribution information
Writer	Roy Thomas
Penciller	Howard Chaykin
Inker	Howard Chaykin
Letterer	Jim Novak
Colorist	Marie Severin
Cover artist	Howard Chaykin
Editor	Roy Thomas
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Publication date	April 12, 1977
Pages	20
UPC	071486028178
Chronological information
Timeline	0 BBY
Series	Star Wars
Issue number	1
Followed by	Star Wars (1977) 2

"…Obi-Wan Kenobi--help me! You're my only ho--"

―Leia Organa

Star Wars 1 is the first issue of the Legends comic book series Star Wars. It was written by Roy Thomas, based on a screenplay and story by George Lucas, illustrated by Howard Chaykin, and first published on April 12, 1977. The issue adapts the beginning of the film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, which premiered in theaters the following May.

Publisher's summary

It's the adaptation of A New Hope! Meet Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan and the villianous [sic] Darth Vader!

Plot summary

Opening crawl

STAR WARS
It is a period of CIVIL WAR in the galaxy. A brave alliance of UNDERGROUND FREE- DOM FIGHTERS has challenged the tyranny and oppression of the awesome GALACTIC EMPIRE. To CRUSH the rebellion once and for all, the EMPIRE is constructing a sinister new BATTLE STATION. Powerful enough to destroy an en- tire planet, its COMPLETION will spell CERTAIN DOOM for the champions of freedom. Striking from a fortress hidden among the billion stars of the galaxy, REBEL SPACESHIPS have won their first victory in a battle with the powerful IMPERIAL STARFLEET. The Empire fears that ANOTHER defeat could bring a THOUSAND MORE solar systems into the rebellion, and IMPERIAL CONTROL over the galaxy would be LOST FOREVER.

A desperate mission

Imperial Forces led by Darth Vader capture Princess Leia Organa's ship, which is on a mission for the Rebel Alliance. Two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO, manage to escape from the Rebel ship with data critical to the Princess' cause.

After arriving on the nearby planet Tatooine, the droids are acquired by young moisture farmer Luke Skywalker and his uncle Owen Lars to work at their farm. Luke finds part of an urgent message from Leia to Obi-Wan Kenobi in R2's memory. R2 escapes from the farm with the intention of finding Kenobi on his own; Luke, fearing punishment from his uncle for losing the droid, pursues R2 to the Jundland Wastes, only to be attacked by a band of ferocious Sand People.

Other content

This issue contains one page of text titled Star Wars: The Ultimate Space-Fantasy, describing the background of the film's story and creators. Since there were no fan letters to publish in the first issue, writer Roy Thomas used the letters page, titled Star Warriors, to explain how Marvel Comics came to acquire the rights to the comics adaptation.

The Bullpen Bulletins page, which is used to highlight important events in Marvel Comics that month, mentions the first issue of the Star Wars comics adaptation.

Releases

While the issue was dated July on the cover, it was in fact shipped on March 8, and was made available on sale on April 12.

In celebration of Star Wars Day on May 4, 2016, Marvel re-released Star Wars 1 as part of its True Believers budget reprint program, which reprints popular comic titles for the suggested retail price of $1.

Continuity

The story in this issue includes a couple of Tatooine scenes that were cut from A New Hope, including Luke Skywalker witnessing the opening space battle, Luke telling Camie and Fixer (who refer to Luke by his nickname "Wormie") what he saw, and Biggs Darklighter telling Luke of his plan to join the Rebellion.

The cover for this issue was based on Howard Chaykin's original convention poster, which became one of the most valuable posters in the Star Wars collecting world. The artwork includes Obi-Wan Kenobi and Han Solo, although they would not appear in the series until issue 2, and X-wing, Y-wing, and TIE fighters, which wouldn't appear in the series until issue 5.

On the cover of both this issue and the following one, the first and last two letters of the Star Wars logo are not attached to each other.

Legacy

The comic includes the first reference to the concept of the Cosmic Force. Darth Vader's iconic line "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force" is modified to specify "the Cosmic Force." Over 35 years later, "Voices," an installment of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, revealed the Cosmic Force's connection to the Living Force.

Media

Editions

• UPC 071486028178; April 12, 1977; Marvel Comics; First printing
• (No UPC); September 29, 2015; Marvel Comics; Digital edition
• UPC 759606085071; May 4, 2016; Marvel Comics; True Believers edition
• UPC 759606097968; December 4, 2019; Marvel Comics; Facsimile edition
• UPC 75960621261300111; April 9, 2025; Marvel Comics; Facsimile edition second printing

Cover gallery

First printing (30¢)

First printing (35¢)

First printing (Whitman)

Digital edition

True Believers

Facsimile Edition

Appearances

By type

Characters	Organisms	Droid models	Events	Locations
Organizations and titles	Sentient species	Vehicles and vessels	Weapons and technology	Miscellanea

Characters

2X-7KPR (First appearance) Raymus Antilles C-3PO Camie Biggs Darklighter Dathcha DV-692 Davin Felth Daine Jir Obi-Wan Kenobi (Mentioned only) Beru Whitesun Lars Owen Lars Laze Loneozner (as Fixer) Conan Antonio Motti Nebit (First appearance) Bail Prestor Organa (Mentioned only) Leia Organa Palpatine (Mentioned only) Nahdonnis Praji R2-D2 R5-D4 Luke Skywalker ("Wormie") Janek Sunber (as Tank) (Mentioned only) Cassio Tagge Wilhuff Tarkin Mod Terrik Unidentified 501st stormtrooper Unidentified female (Anchorhead) URoRRuR'R'R Darth Vader WED-15-I662 (First appearance) WED-15-ST68 (First appearance)

Organisms

Bantha Elephant (Indirect mention only)

Droid models

Astromech droid R-series R2-series astromech droid R5-series astromech droid (Erroneously depicted as an R4-series agromech droid) KPR security droid (First appearance) Loader droid (Mentioned only) CLL-8 binary load lifter (Mentioned only) Protocol droid 3PO-series protocol droid WED Treadwell repair droid WED-15 Septoid Treadwell (First appearance)

Events

Galactic Civil War Operation Skyhook Battle of Tatooine

Locations

Alderaan (Mentioned only) Bestine IV (Mentioned only) The Central Systems (Mentioned only) Great Temple (Yavin 4) (Indirect mention only) Kessel (Mentioned only) the spice mines (Mentioned only) Prefsbelt IV (Indirect mention only) the Academy (Mentioned only) Tatooine Anchorhead Tosche Station (as Toshi Station) Dune Sea Jundland Wastes (as No Man's Land) Lars homestead Toprawa system (Indirect mention only)

Organizations and titles

Rebel Alliance Rebel spies (Mentioned only) Galactic Empire Galactic Emperor (Mentioned only) Grand Moff (as Regional Governor) Imperial Military Stormtrooper Sandtrooper Desert Sands Zeta Squadron Imperial Senate (Mentioned only) Imperial Starfleet Old Republic (Mentioned only) Jedi (Cover only) Jedi Master (Cover only) Kenobi family (Cover only) Moisture farmer Order of the Sith Lords Sith Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sith apprentice Sith Lord First Mate Royal Family Princess Skywalker family Soldier Trooper

Sentient species

Human Cyborg Jawa Tusken Raider

Vehicles and vessels

Class II frigate (Mentioned only) Death Star I Imperial Conference Room Rand Ecliptic (Mentioned only) CR90 corvette Tantive IV Class-6 escape pod Freighter-tanker (Mentioned only) Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Devastator Sandcrawler X-34 landspeeder

Weapons and technology

6-2Aug2 hunting rifle Armor Darth Vader's armor Stormtrooper armor Blaster Blaster pistol Defender sporting blaster pistol Satine's Lament Blaster rifle E-11 blaster rifle Code cylinder Condensing unit (Mentioned only) Data-tape (as Information Tape) Control box Electrobinoculars Gaderffii Grappling ray Hologram Holoprojector Information retrieval system Laser rifle Lightsaber (Cover only) Anakin Skywalker's second lightsaber (Cover only) Obi-Wan Kenobi's third lightsaber (Cover only) Macrobinoculars Memory flush (Mentioned only) Moisture vaporator Motivator Paralysis ray R2n Agromech Head Rank insignia Restraining bolt Scanner Solar fin Turbolaser

Miscellanea

Blue milk Carbon scoring Crest of Alderaan (Mentioned only) Death Star plans (Mentioned only) Distress signal (Mentioned only) The Force Cosmic Force (First mentioned) Force power Force choke Force-sensitive Hell (Mentioned only) Meteorite storm (Mentioned only) Spice (Mentioned only) Star system Sun shawl Territory Thermo-capsulary dehousing assister Languages Basic Binary (Mentioned only) Bocce (Mentioned only) Jawaese Tusken

Collections

• Marvel Special Edition Featuring Star Wars 1
• The Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of Star Wars
• Marvel Special Edition Featuring Star Wars 3
• Marvel Movie Showcase 1
• Classic Star Wars: A New Hope 1
• Classic Star Wars: A New Hope TPB
• Classic Star Wars Box Set
• Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... Volume 1: Doomworld
• Star Wars Omnibus: A Long Time Ago.... Volume 1
• Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 1
• Star Wars: Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens — Shattered Empire
• Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Original Marvel Years Vol. 1
• Star Wars: The Original Trilogy — The Movie Adaptations

Sources

• "Collections" — The Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine 2
• Star Wars: The Comic Book That Saved Marvel! on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
• Marvel's Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus – First Look! on StarWars.com (backup link)
• "Blaster" — Star Wars Insider 152
• Star Wars in the UK: Star Wars Weekly on StarWars.com (backup link)
• 10 Highlights from Star Wars: Icons of the Galaxy on StarWars.com (backup link)
• Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle
• Star Wars Year By Year: A Visual History, New Edition
• "Let Me See Your Identification" — Star Wars Insider 216

External links

• Star Wars (1977) #1 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link) (First printing)
• Star Wars (1977-1986) #1 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link) (Digital edition)
• True Believers: Star Wars Classic (2016) #1 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)
• Star Wars Facsimile Edition (2019) #1 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)

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