Since Star Wars proved to be such a huge hit with fans, the official comics adaptation was released in various formats. In addition to the 6-issue run in the ongoing series, a larger format was also published. The Marvel Special Edition was printed at close to actual size of the original artwork pages and was released in three different books. The first collected issues 1-3, the second collected issues 4-6, and the third collected all 6 issues, plus added in a few original pin-ups by series regular Carmine Infantino. A smaller, digest-sized edition was also published, which contained the entire story.

A NEW HOPE Treasury Editions Marvel Illustrated Edition Marvel Movie Showcase Marvel Movie Showcase (Direct Market Editions)

The Empire Strikes Back was also published as part of the ongoing series, but was also published in various formats. The first was an oversized treasury edition similar to the first film. The second version was published in issue 16 of a magazine-sized series called Marvel Super Special. This series published official comics adaptations of various films that were released at the time. The entire 6-issue run was also released as a digest-sized Marvel Illustrated Version that shuffled the panels around to fit the smaller page, and also contained a very different looking Yoda in its pages. Since this collected volume was released at the time of the film, the artists did not have the time to correct the artwork of Yoda, so it was published as is. When the ongoing series caught up to the story, the character was redrawn to the final version. All three volumes feature a cover by Bob Larkin.

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Collected Editions

Marvel Super Special #27 contained the official comics adaptation of Return of the Jedi, which was also released as a 4-issue limited series, outside of the ongoing series. This magazine-sized issue sports a nifty cover by Bill Sienkiewicz. The series was also released in a digest-sized format, with a cover by Marie Severin and Frank Giacoia.

RETURN OF THE JEDI Collected Editions

Finally, we have a pair of rare collected volumes for our gallery. This 1981 Marvel Illustrated Book collects four "new adventures in full color." These tales were original stories that appeared over in the Marvel UK series Star Wars Weekly, which mostly adapted the ongoing series, but at times also featured new material. The stories contained in this volume are "Way of the Wookiee!", "The Day After the Death Star!", "The Weapons Master!", and finally "War On Ice!", the final chapter of the storyline that was originally scheduled for Pizzazz Magazine. A second volume titled "World of Fire!" was released in 1982, which contained the stories "World of Fire!", "Star Terror!", "Molten Doom!", "The Word for World is Death!", "Unholy Alliance!", "A Creature in the Stars!", "The Guardian of Forever!", "Betrayal!", and "The Monster's Secret!".

Various Collected Editions