Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures

If you don't like the Marvel run or don't know what I'm talking about, stop right here, this book is not for you. This collection is from the newspaper runs of the Star Wars comics. You are only going to get a small piece of a story in every episode. I attribute other readers'opinions that the stories bounce around to the "newspaper style". I would like to say that in my opinion, the pieces are nicely tied together in book form. If you like to see new characters, almost in a "Marvel" style, I believe that you will like this book. Don't expect deeply developed characters with vast histories to be depicted. I am in my late 20's, only had a few of the Star Wars comics from Marvel and saw even fewer of the newspaper toons. Between ANH and ESB there was a need for more Star Wars information. That void was filled with the Marvel comics and newspaper runs. I find this series interesting, in that the direction of the Star Wars series had not yet been decided, but the demand was there for more stories. The newspaper strip represents a humourous, but important, part of the complete picture.

One of my fondest memories of Star Wars--fonder even than watching the first movie--is coming upon Russ Manning's "Star Wars" during its run in newspapers. While I can't really quibble with the other reviewers opinions, I think he's being a bit harsh; the style in this volume is classic newspaper story telling, although somewhat redited for the Dark Horse volumes as were all the reprints of the newspaper strips.Yes, I can't argue that the Al Williamson/Archie Goodwin run on the strip was more in line with the overall thrust of the LFL expansion of their Star Wars property. However, there is a charm and an excitement in the Manning strips that is not present in the slicker, longer storylines that followed.The tale of Leia and Luke struggling to convince a planet that specialized in the manufacture of starfighter weapons components and the ultimate space battle against Darth Vader and a Star Destroyer, not to mention the mysterious Blackhole who had been charged by Vader to hunt down the Rebels, were among the elements that made up my first long-form writing efforts, fan fiction. I can trace a line directly back to those efforts and that strip and my current career as a writer. Boba Fett's appearance in the final section of the book--created by Alfredo Alcala and another artist after Manning left the strip for health reasons--also sparked my imagination and inspired a love for the character that exists to this day. Boba Fett's appearance here remains my favorite in the Expanded Universe.I recommend others take a look at these classics. Who knows? Maybe you'll be inspired as I was.