STAR WARS IN THE UK: STAR WARS MONTHLY ISSUES 159 – 165
Being a Star Wars fan growing up in the UK during the ’80s was a unique experience. Sure, like our fellow fans across the globe we had the films, the action figures, the books, and the food promotions, but we also had access to a number of things that fans around the world didn’t. We got the chance to watch Admiral Ozzel wear a wonky wig on BBC kids show Grange Hill. We saw Gold 2 play a role in popular early evening soap Crossroads. We even saw Darth Vader showing kids how to cross the road safely dressed in tight green spandex. But the one thing that really set us apart from our American cousins were Marvel’s Star Wars UK titles.
Starting on February 8, 1978, Star Wars Weekly ran for 117 issues and broke down, into weekly installments, the original adaptation of Star Wars by Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin. It then on to the further adventures of our heroes as what was the 7th issue of the American title hit the UK reprints and gave British kids a glimpse into the exciting future of Star Wars, in what were essentially the first Expanded Universe stories (and later, Legends).
But that wasn’t all. The UK titles gave us unique covers, classic Marvel back-up strips from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, original posters with exclusive artwork, our own editor droid in C.Y.R.I.L, and littered the issues with images from the film in a time when such pieces were a rarity. Throw in an active letters page (in which yours truly had a letter printed back in issue 11 of Return of the Jedi weekly in 1983) and you had yourself a very busy magazine.
In time we’ll come back to take a look at some of those earlier issues and delve into what made them special and unique, but to kick off I’ll move forward a few years to 1982 and Star Wars Monthly. After 117 issues of Star Wars Weekly, the magazine (and I say magazine intentionally, having interviewed Marvel UK editor-in-chief Dez Skinn who went to great lengths to state that he considered the title a magazine, not a comic) changed its title to The Empire Strikes Back Weekly, then with issue 140 in November 1980, to The Empire Strikes Back Monthly. By July of 1982 and the 159th issue, the title reverted back to the catch-all moniker of Star Wars and remained a monthly title until July 1983 and issue 171 when Return of the Jedi Weekly issue 1 arrived for a run of 155 issues.
Star Wars Monthly was a pivotal title at a key time in the lifespan of the saga, especially here in the UK. In a time where the only new Star Wars stories came in the form of either comic books or our own imaginations as we played with our Palitoy playsets and action figures, these stories would lead us into the final part of the second trilogy. Little did we know then that the wait for the first trilogy would be another 16 years. Issue 159 arrived in July of 1982 and reprinted the US #59 story “Bazarre,” a classic that featured Orion Ferret, an old friend of Lando Calrissian. Great art, a lot of fun, and 100% classic Star Wars in the traditional Marvel manner.
But Star Wars comics readers can read about “Bazarre” anywhere. What we’re investigating is what made the UK issue 159 any different to the US issue 59? Well, the UK title was wrapped around a unique collage cover featuring a selection of Ralph McQuarrie artwork from The Empire Strikes Back, and within its pages featured “The Watcher Must Die!”, a vintage “Tales of the Watcher” by Stan Lee and George Tuska from Tales Of Suspense #58 October ’64. Non Star Wars for sure, but the importance of those back up strips cannot be underestimated, as it opened a huge swathe of young readers to the wider Marvel comics universe and the treasures held within. As well as the chance to win an Atari and 10 memberships to the Official Star Wars Fan Club (OSWFC), UK fans were also treated to “Blind Fury,” a short story written by the soon-to-be legendary Alan Moore and drawn by John Stokes, who also drew other UK exclusive stories “Death Masque,” “Dark Lord’s Conscience,” “The Flight of the Falcon,” and “Tilotny Throws a Shape.” Reprinted many years later in Dark Horse’s Devilworlds series, these stories were exclusively written and drawn for the UK title and wouldn’t see American shores outside of those fans who subscribed to the UK monthly and had it shipped across the ocean.
Issue 160 arrived in August 1982, bound in a Chewbacca photo cover showing the snow-swept Wookiee on Hoth. The issue also brought us “ROM Spaceknight,” written by Bill Mantlo and illustrated by artist Sal Buscema. ROM was licenced to Palitoy in the UK as part of the Space Adventurer Action Man line and appeared in 1980 catalogs, so inserting him as a backup strip was a logical move.
September’s #161 features a cover that would catch the eye of any Star Wars fan. Painted by the legendary Jolly John Higgins, this collage shows characters from The Empire Strikes Back with the most prominent being Leia and a menacing Darth Vader in the background. The issue reprinted the iconic “Screams in the Void,” written by David Michelline, and drawn by Walt Simonson and Tom Palmer. This brought us the “death” of Shira Brie at the hands of Luke Skywalker and also brought us the arrival of Power Man and Iron Fist into the ROM Spaceknight story.
ROM returned, as did the classic Marvel back up strip with Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s “I Saw A Martian” from Journey Into Mystery #93, June ’63. More schooling in the history of comics from the House of Ideas.
ROM fights alongside Nova in the main back up strip and our competition gives us the chance to win a Spider-Man annual.
Of note for older UK readers are the classified pages: Many of the shops mentioned are long gone. The Sheffield Space Centre is now online only, Fantasy and Comics Explosion in Birmingham is history, Edge of Forever in Welling is gone as is Stargate One in Rochester. Only Nostalgia and Comics in Birmingham (one of the oldest comic shops in the UK) and Forbidden Planet still remain.
Mark Newbold is the co-owner of jedinews.co.uk and has been a contributor to Star Wars Insider since 2006. He also is the co-host alongside James Burns of the Radio 1138 podcast.
Comments
Post a Comment