How we'll no doubt gasp at the light sabres, the TIE Fighters and the cheeky little droids.
Of course, for me, the already leaked information that Jabba the Hutt reveals himself to be Han Solo's father is the most awesome revelation in cinema history and one I shall never forget.
However, we should remember that, when the original movie came out in 1977, the war of the stars wasn't the only thing that was happening in the Vast Beyond at that time. There was also a comic from beyond the galaxies as well.
That comic was 2000 AD.
And that all means it's time for me to leap into my Thrillennium Falcon, punch Hyper-Space in the gob and find out what that comic was doing in November of that fateful year.
As usual, my total inability to recall any of the contents of the issues in question means I can't think of anything at all interesting to say about them.
I can however say that the robot in the top picture seems to owe some vague debt to John Byrne's Rog-2000 as seen in the pages of Charlton Comics' E-Man.
I can also say that the star of the second cover has to be the most short-sighted astronaut in history. I can only hope that Tim Peake doesn't encounter a similar fate during his journey into space.
Didn't like Star Wars back in '77, and still don't now. Whats wrong with all these people, Steve? I'm tempted to go off on a rant about how they should all grow up, but commenting in a blog about comics from forty years ago might not be the best place to do that.
ReplyDeleteBut at least 2000AD wasn't crap.
Anyway, yes, it can be tricky trying to remember whats in each issue when those supercovers don't give much away - I'm pretty sure Dredd in prog 39 was the Ape Gang story (we all like comics with apes in them, right?).
I recall that mainly because I liked that cover by - I'm pretty sure - the late Brett Ewins. Maybe with Brendan McCarthy? This would be fairly early work, but they got better... loved that Strange Days comic they did in the 80s.
Thinking about it, looks like they might have done the cover for prog 37 too.
40 is surely by Kev O'Neill (I have no idea about the remaining one).
Other than that... no more Shako (alas), but Inferno was good, Dave Gibbons on Dan Dan Dare was ok and (I think) Bill Savage was still resisting the Volgans, which was always good for a laugh.
Unlike the tedious MACH 1; I generally liked the way Mills, Wagner and that lot used to blatantly nick ideas - especially as the source was always so obvious - but they really fluffed it on that one.
I guess even they couldn't do much with the Six Million Dollar Man
Uh-oh, you set me off there, Steve. Didn't mean to go on quite that much....
-sean
I've always been middling on the subject of Star Wars. I never loved it but didn't hate it either. Its appeal to me was always about the way it looked and its music and sound effects, rather than its characters and storyline. I am curious though to see what the new one's like in comparison.
ReplyDeleteFor me Star Wars was ruined forever by the line "No, Luke - I am your father" and then it turned out that Princess Leia was Luke's sister...oh, come on that's bloody ridiculous - they were kissing in the first film and Luke clearly fancied Leia. Steve, have you heard of the DVD called "Futureshock: The Story Of 2000AD" - it's out now :)
ReplyDeleteColin, I've not heard about that DVD. I shall have to investigate further.
ReplyDeleteFor me, Star Wars was ruined by the line, "But, from my point of view, the Jedi are evil!" George Lucas, he had such a great ear for naturalistic dialogue.
For me, Star Wars was ruined by the line "long ago, in a galaxy far, far away". Everything after that was terrible:)
ReplyDelete-sean
For me, it was ruined by the line "Twentieth Century Fox presents a Lucasfilm production"
ReplyDeleteI win!
For me, it was ruined by the words, "Ba-baa ba-baa ba baa, ba baa, ba-ba-baaa! Pearl and Dean!"
ReplyDeleteAlthough, possibly only people in the UK will understand that one.