New Zealand take on LA Times' Star Wars comics serial
Monday, May 14, 2012 at 4:01AM
Star Wars New Zealand has a nice feature on the Star Wars comics syndicated by the Los Angeles Times newspaper between 1979 and 1984 and which were carried in New Zealand by a magazine called the New Zealand Woman's Weekly. From the piece:
The comics themselves, reprints syndicated by the Los Angeles Times newspaper (to over 214 other publications), were developed by 'Black Falcon Ltd', a Lucasfilm entity that was involved in the production of 'The Empire Strikes Back'. In the USA newspaper editions of the comic, brief, monochrome, daily strips (more recently republished by Dark Horse Comics) would be summarised in a full-page colour strip each Sunday. It was this Sunday edition that the Womans' Weekly used locally.
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The earliest stories, authored and drawn by the late, great Russ Manning, see C-3PO reciting adventures to the maternal and pedantic Mistress Mnemos, a vast computer located deep within a secret Rebel stronghold (Russ Manning worked with such long-lived classics as the Tarzan comics, from the 1960s onwards, and vintage Sci-Fi heroes like 'Magnus, Robot Fighter'...a pre-Star Wars favourite of mine, but that's another story). By means of this plot device, we shift between the adventures of Han, Luke Leia and friends, as they visit the Wookiee planet Kashyyyk (then spelled "Kazhyyyk"), return to Tatooine, and narrowly escape many, varied Imperial encounters.
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Later, other memorable storylines include an adaptation of Brian Daley's 'Han Solo at Star's End', Han and Luke's brief entanglement with Boba Fett on the 'Frozen World of Ota' (a story that came out at approximately the same time as 'The Empire Strikes back), and an introduction to Admiral Ackbar and his Mon Calamari colleagues prior to their 'Return of the Jedi' big-screen appearances. The selection of Hoth as a Rebel base is touched on in 'Iceworld', and 'The Bounty Hunter of Ord Mantell' ties in directly to comments made by Han in 'The Empire Strikes Back', wherein he references his adventures on that planet.
Surf over for more scans and details about the comic.
Star Wars New Zealand: 1979-1984 :: New Zealand Womans' Weekly Comic Strips