See George Lucas’ Original Star Wars Script As A Comic
A slightly longer time ago...
George Lucas gets a ton of criticism for the Star Wars prequels. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, are as much part of the franchise as anything in the original trilogy.
But just imagine that you’re Lucas, and you’re following up the smash hit American Graffiti with a science fiction film. You’re first genre attempt, THX-1138, was widely unseen, and you’re trying to connect with a broad audience. In 1977, Lucas delivered Star Wars, and the rest is cinematic history. While the film was something of a hit, the theatrical film was not how Lucas originally envisioned his space opera.
Dark Horse Comics had the rights to various Lucasfilm properties, and over the years the publisher released titles like Star Wars: Legacy, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, and Star Wars: Dark Times — A Spark Remains.
The Portland, Oregon-based publisher released a comic based on Lucas’ initial vision.
The first seven pages of issue number one are available for your reading pleasure. The Star Wars is an eight-issue arc that will be like watching the beloved films through a Lewis Carroll-like looking glass, while upside down.
While the story sounds familiar, the characters are a bit askew from what we normally think of as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia.
The Star Wars follows Kane Starkiller, his son Annikin, and his Jedi ally Luke Skywalker, as is described as “a tale of fantastic adventures, daring escapes, ‘laser swords,’ romance, and monsters.”
The comics also feature The Knights of the Sith, the Great Rebellion, and the Imperial Space Force. It sounds more like Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, rather than Star Wars.
While the first seven pages are very jarring for fans to read, it’s dark and gloomy fare. Sorry readers, Kane Starkiller’s son, Deak, still says, “Yippee!” in the early goings of the story. Some things never change.
It would be interesting to see if Disney and Lucasfilm would consider making this version into a feature film. Considering that Disney CEO Bob Iger said that they’re planning to release two to three franchise movies a year, perhaps they’ll run out of ideas and get around to The Star Wars eventually. It would be like an alternate history of a galaxy far, far away.
The Star Wars issue #1 hits physical and digital comic book stores on September 4th. Writer J.W. Rinzler adapted Lucas’ 1974 first draft, while Mike Mayhew handled the illustration, and Rain Beredo and Brad Anderson colored the book series.
