The Star Wars #1
Written by J.W. Rinzler
Illustrated by Mike Mayhew
Adapted from an Original Rough-Draft Screenplay by George Lucas
Colored by Rain Beredo
Lettered by Michael Heisler
Cover by Nick Runge
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 4, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

At first glance, the “The” in The Star Wars #1 looks like an unfortunate typo. After all, everyone knows (or should know) that the George Lucas-created Star Wars franchise doesn’t and never has carried an article before the title. It’s simply Star Wars. The “the” in this comic book series, however, isn’t a typo or mistake. It’s intentional. It’s the new eight-issue mini-series produced by Dark Horse Comics based on, as the cover proudly proclaims, Lucas’ “Original Rough-Draft Screenplay” for Star Wars (“Longer ago, in a galaxy even further away”¦” per the cover copy), as in the first screenplay Lucas produced on the long road (three years) between the release of American Graffiti in 1974 and the release of Star Wars three years later.

All great scripts begin with a rough first draft. When the writer first puts pen to paper – or fingers to keyboard if you prefer – they use the initial draft of their screenplay to start working out characters and concepts that until then have existed only in their fevered imaginations. Rough drafts rarely come much rougher than George Lucas‘ original vision for what would become the movie that defined his career in cinema and made him a cultural legend, Star Wars.

Dark Horse Comics is adapting Lucas’ first draft of his blockbuster outer space adventure that launched a mammoth franchise into an eight-issue comic book miniseries entitled The Star Wars, the movie’s original title. Check out a page of artwork from the comic here below.

Abrams Books has released a trailer for their new hardcover art book, Star Wars Art: Visions.

Check out the trailer here below!

The art book, which was released this week, has a Foreword by Star Wars creator George Lucas, and an Introduction by J. W. Rinzler, author of the recently published The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

For Star Wars Art: Visions, Lucas invited over 100 artists of varying popularity to contribute their Star Wars-inspired artwork.

The hardcover book is 176 pages and contains 120 full-color illustrations from artists such as Amano, Allan R. Banks, Harley Brown, Gary Carter, James Christensen, Michael Coleman, Philippe Druillet, Donato Giancola, Ann Hanson, H. R. Giger, Daniel Greene, Arantzazu Martinez, Syd Mead, Moebius, Paul Oxborough, Alex Ross, Anthony J. Ryder, Dolfi Stoki, William Stout, Dan Thompson, Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo, Scott Waddell, and Jamie Wyeth.

The 6-minute trailer shows off several pieces of the artwork that’s included in the book, like a baby Darth Maul. It also includes interviews with some of the book’s creators and contributing artists.