Maythe Force Be With You
Cover artwork for Star Wars (newspaper strip)

Original generated cover art — not a reproduction of any published cover

LegendsNewspaper stripAge of Rebellion

Star Wars (newspaper strip)

Twenty-seven serialised storylines in daily and Sunday newspaper strips, most of them set between the first two films, and for four years the most widely read Star Wars fiction in the world.

Syndicated from 1979 to 1984 by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate and the Watertown Daily Times. Russ Manning launched it; Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson finished it, and their run is among the best-drawn Star Wars ever printed.

Publisher
Los Angeles Times Syndicate
Published
1979 – 1984, daily and Sunday
Issues
27 storylines
Format
Newspaper strip
Continuity
Star Wars Legends
Writers
Russ Manning, Steve Gerber, Don R. Christensen, Archie Goodwin
Artists
Russ Manning, Alfredo Alcala, Rick Hoberg, Dave Stevens, Al Williamson

Not yet reviewed

This run is in the catalogue but has not been written up. Everything above is verified publication data; there is no opinion here yet, and a placeholder review would be worse than none.

Every issue

Issue list — 27 of 27 catalogued

Number, title, cover date and credits. A dash means the field is not verified — not that it is empty.

# TitleCover date WriterArtistCover artist ArcNotes
1The Constancia Affair11 March 1979Russ ManningRuss Manning——C-3PO is telling stories of Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo to the BRT supercomputer Mistress Mnemos. C-3PO starts with a story in deep space. Sundays only, 11 March – 8 July 1979. Not collected in Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures; Dark Horse reprinted it in 1998 as the KB Toys giveaway Star Wars Special: The Constancia Affair.
2Gambler's World12 March 1979Russ ManningRuss Manning——An Imperial fleet is chasing a Rebel fleet. Darth Vader is watching the battle from the ground and working on figuring out the Rebel strategy. Vader receives a call from Blackhole. Blackhole has the strategy Vader was seeking to learn. Weekday and Saturday dailies, 12 March – 8 September 1979. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures 1–3.
3The Kashyyyk Depths15 July 1979Russ ManningRuss Manning——C-3PO is telling the story of how Han Solo met Gyla Petro to the BRT supercomputer Mistress Mnemos. He begins by saying that Han Solo, C-3PO, R2-D2 and Chewbacca were heading to Kashyyyk to celebrate Life Day. 15 July – 9 September 1979. The only Manning storyline never reprinted in a comic book; it reappeared as a webstrip on StarWars.com.
4Tatooine Sojourn10 September 1979Steve GerberRuss Manning——A capsule lands on the planet Tatooine. Jawas check it for traps then bring it to one of their sandcrawlers. Inside the capsule are Squills, which Jawas like to eat. 10 September – 5 November 1979. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures 4.
5Princess Leia, Imperial Servant6 November 1979Russ HelmRuss Manning——Princess Leia Organa and Hume are on a Rebel Alliance ship which is running out of fuel in space ruled by the Galactic Empire. Darth Vader, who is on an Imperial-class Star Destroyer nearby, sends out a TIE Fighter to investigate the ship. 6 November – 31 December 1979. Russ Helm took over the writing here as Manning's health failed. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures 5.
6The Second Kessel Run1 January 1980Russ HelmRuss Manning——Above the planet Zerm, Professor Renn Volz tests his Ionic Ring Ship. The test proves successful, and the weather on Zerm changes and killer storms stop. Volz then plans on using the Ionic Ring on Kessel. 1 January – 25 February 1980. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures 6.
7Bring Me the Children26 February 1980Don ChristensenRuss Manning——Luke Skywalker is delivering some books from the pre-Empire days to a school on Harix when TIE Fighters begin to chase him. He lands, but then finds stormtroopers kidnapping students from the school. 26 February – 21 April 1980. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures 7.
8As Long As We Live...22 April 1980Don ChristensenRuss Manning——Luke Skywalker and two other Rebel pilots visit Tun Wala, the largest city on Arda-2, to talk with Exec Temora about how the Galactic Empire TIE/LN starfighter's weapons were able to track X-wings by a device his company manufactures and sells to either side. 22 April – 16 June 1980. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures 8.
9The Frozen World of Ota17 June 1980Russ Manning, Rick Hoberg & Don ChristensenAlfredo Alcala——Luke Skywalker is chasing a damaged TIE fighter, which crashes on Ota. The pilot is Boba Fett. 17 June – 10 August 1980. Manning's last storyline; Alfredo Alcala took over the art. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures 9.
10Planet of Kadril11 August 1980Russ HelmAlfredo Alcala——Kunda stones—used in the construction of lightsabers, various medicinal devices, and comlinks—are grown and harvested on the planet Kadril. 11 August – 5 October 1980. Never reprinted in a comic book; published later as a StarWars.com webstrip.
11Han Solo at Stars' End6 October 1980Brian Daley & Archie GoodwinAlfredo Alcala——Upon discovering that they need a special waiver in order to operate the Millennium Falcon within the Corporate Sector without running afoul of the authorities, Han Solo and Chewbacca attempt to get in touch with Doc, an outlaw technician. 6 October 1980 – 8 February 1981. Archie Goodwin's adaptation of Brian Daley's 1979 novel, and very nearly the last Star Wars newspaper strip: Goodwin took the strip on to save it.
12The Bounty Hunter of Ord Mantell9 February 1981Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——9 February – 19 April 1981. Al Williamson joins Goodwin; their partnership runs to the final strip in 1984. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 1–2.
13Darth Vader Strikes20 April 1981Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——Darth Vader knows that the Empire has many traitorous high-ranking officials, so he hatches a plan with Admiral Griff to catch them. 20 April – 26 July 1981. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 2–4.
14The Serpent Masters27 July 1981Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——After his Mission to Fondor, Luke Skywalker escaped from Fondor with Tanith Shire, who conducted him to Ophideraan, the planet where the young girl's father was enslaved by the Serpent Masters. They crashed on the planet, and Luke was also enslaved. 27 July – November 1981. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 4–6.
15Deadly Reunion2 November 1981Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——Luke returns to the rebel base on Kabal only to realize it's under imperial attack. He flees the base with Han, Leia, Chewie and the droids. but they are chased by the imperials. 2 November 1981 – 3 January 1982. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 6–7.
16Traitor's Gambit4 January 1982Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——After fleeing the starship graveyard, Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie and the droids get a message from the rebel leaders on Yavin 4 telling them not to return, because the planet is still under imperial attack. They decide to fly to Aquaris instead. 4 January – 7 March 1982. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 7–8.
17The Night Beast8 March 1982Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——8 March – 16 May 1982. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 8–10.
18The Return of Ben Kenobi17 May 1982Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——An unknown and ancient actor, recruited by Darth Vader, underwent plastic surgery to resemble Obi-Wan Kenobi. He also received Jedi training under Vader, and technological gimmicks were used to make the resemblance to Kenobi more than physical. 17 May – 25 July 1982. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 10–11.
19The Power Gem26 July 1982Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——At the Yavin 4 rebel base, the rebels are trying to find a weakness in Darth Vader's new ship, The Executor. Princess Leia remembers that her father used to speak of a Power gem when she was a child. 26 July – 3 October 1982. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 11–12.
20Iceworld4 October 1982Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——Luke Skywalker and C-3PO are fleeing Imperial forces when he is forced to hide in a comet and crash on an ice-covered world. With his ship damaged and communications out, he is forced to survive the night. His heat runs out and he collapses. 4 October – 14 November 1982. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 12–13.
21It's a Trap15 November 1982Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——15 November 1982 – 23 January 1983. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 13–14.
22Doom Mission24 January 1983Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——24 January – 17 April 1983. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 14–15.
23Race for Survival18 April 1983Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——This comic strip details the escape of the Rebels from Yavin 4 in the last stages of the blockade that followed the destruction of the first Death Star. The Rebel fleet braves a perilous escape route, pursued by Admiral Amise Griff's forces. 18 April – 10 July 1983. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 16–17.
24The Paradise Detour11 July 1983Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——The Millennium Falcon experienced navigation computer problems and landed on a planet for repairs. While Han Solo tried to fix the ship, Luke Skywalker went off to explore. 11 July – 2 October 1983. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 17–18.
25A New Beginning3 October 1983Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——After escaping Seidhkona, the Millennium Falcon lands on Hoth, the location of the new rebel base. It turns out that to complete the repairs to the Falcon on Seidhkona, Han Solo had to bypass the ship's detection system. 3 October – 25 December 1983. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 18–20.
26Showdown26 December 1983Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——26 December 1983 – 5 February 1984. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 20.
27The Final Trap6 February 1984Archie GoodwinAl Williamson——Darth Vader and the Emperor are growing impatient with the search for the Rebels and feel, even with the help of the full Imperial armada, that the search isn't producing expected results. 6 February – 11 March 1984. The last Star Wars newspaper strip. Reprinted in Classic Star Wars 20.

In print

Collected editions

No collected edition of this run has been catalogued here yet.

Dossiers

Who is in it

Encyclopedia entries for the figures this run develops.