Treasury editions were a 1970s American publishing habit: comics printed at roughly twice normal size on newsprint, sold flat, aimed squarely at children and Christmas. Marvel put the Star Wars film adaptation into three of them between 1977 and 1978, and they are the largest Star Wars comics anyone has ever published.
What is in them
- Issue 1 — Star Wars 1–3, cover by Rick Hoberg.
- Issue 2 — Star Wars 4–6, cover by Howard Chaykin and Tony DeZuniga.
- Issue 3 — the whole six-issue adaptation in one volume, cover by Ernie Chan.
Whitman distributed variant editions of all three through non-newsstand outlets, which is the detail that trips up collectors.
The problem with the format
The pages are enlarged in width but the proportions do not match, so the bottom of each page is cropped. Figures who stood on the ground in the comic are standing on nothing here, feet gone. Once you have noticed it you cannot stop noticing it, and it is a useful reminder that comics artwork is composed for a specific rectangle.
Is it worth owning
As reading, no — the adaptation is more comfortably read in almost any later collection. As an object, yes. Chaykin's Mos Eisley at treasury size is genuinely impressive, and there is a specific pleasure in a Star Wars comic you have to hold with both hands.
