Rating: 
Summary: Good writing, goofy art. OK extrapolation from original.
Review: Archie Goodwin's plots were great, but the art that accompanies these stories are sometimes painful to look at. The square-jawed, super-muscled look doesn't really match our on-screen versions of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. The idealized voluptiousness of Leia isn't exactly a dead ringer for Carrie Fisher, either. And if you're looking for Jabba the Hutt, this isn't the place to see him unless you remember him as a yellow, seal-faced humanoid.Despite the cosmetic differences though, the characters are decently expanded and given interesting things to do. Luke's adventures on a water planet 20 years before Attack of the Clones make us wonder why we didn't see Jango and Obi-Wan riding the serpents in their modern version. The blind, vengeful Baron Tagge provides an interesting side to the Jedi mythology as he seeks to destroy Darth Vader, the man who robbed him of his sight. And assorted background characters like The Starkiller Kid and Valance the Hunter bring some fresh perspective to the events of the galaxy. These were the first looks at Luke and friends from outside the eyes of Rebellion or Empire, decades before the "Tales from the..." anthologies were published.
Rating:
Summary: Good writing, goofy art. OK extrapolation from original.
Review: Archie Goodwin's plots were great, but the art that accompanies these stories are sometimes painful to look at. The square-jawed, super-muscled look doesn't really match our on-screen versions of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. The idealized voluptiousness of Leia isn't exactly a dead ringer for Carrie Fisher, either. And if you're looking for Jabba the Hutt, this isn't the place to see him unless you remember him as a yellow, seal-faced humanoid. Despite the cosmetic differences though, the characters are decently expanded and given interesting things to do. Luke's adventures on a water planet 20 years before Attack of the Clones make us wonder why we didn't see Jango and Obi-Wan riding the serpents in their modern version. The blind, vengeful Baron Tagge provides an interesting side to the Jedi mythology as he seeks to destroy Darth Vader, the man who robbed him of his sight. And assorted background characters like The Starkiller Kid and Valance the Hunter bring some fresh perspective to the events of the galaxy. These were the first looks at Luke and friends from outside the eyes of Rebellion or Empire, decades before the "Tales from the..." anthologies were published.
Rating: 
Summary: Nostalgic and Corny
Review: Before the days of Dark Horse there was: THIS STUFF. On the one hand, this is what we once had. On the other hand, some of it was really corny. Sometimes the art was pretty awful. Other times it was the story line. Yet, through it all it was a lot like a grade B movie in comic book form; fun to read though you could never take it too seriously. Some of the ideas were pure corn. How about a giant carnivorous rabbit (Jaxxon). The Don Wan Kioti character was right out of "The Man of La Mancha." There are other examples, but these suffice to give you a rough idea. In spite of all the corn, these things are fun to read. The stories take me back to the days of yore when comics really were oriented towards young boys rather than adults, and we ate these things up. Of course, these were what we had, and we had no comparison to the quality graphics in todays comics. Many people in the industry are loath to call them comics. While the book is a bit pricey, on the other hand you do get 20 comics. The book is pretty thick and the reproductions are good. You have to be a hard-core Star Wars fan or nostalgic for original Star Wars comics to want these, but for either of those groups, enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Nostalgic and Corny
Review: Before the days of Dark Horse there was: THIS STUFF. On the one hand, this is what we once had. On the other hand, some of it was really corny. Sometimes the art was pretty awful. Other times it was the story line. Yet, through it all it was a lot like a grade B movie in comic book form; fun to read though you could never take it too seriously. Some of the ideas were pure corn. How about a giant carnivorous rabbit (Jaxxon). The Don Wan Kioti character was right out of "The Man of La Mancha." There are other examples, but these suffice to give you a rough idea. In spite of all the corn, these things are fun to read. The stories take me back to the days of yore when comics really were oriented towards young boys rather than adults, and we ate these things up. Of course, these were what we had, and we had no comparison to the quality graphics in todays comics. Many people in the industry are loath to call them comics. While the book is a bit pricey, on the other hand you do get 20 comics. The book is pretty thick and the reproductions are good. You have to be a hard-core Star Wars fan or nostalgic for original Star Wars comics to want these, but for either of those groups, enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Not Exactly Marvel¿ous, But Not Half-Bad, Either
Review: Filled with plenty of dire and sometimes-silly situations for our heroes to get into and out of, colorful (figuratively AND literally) characters, and a lotta story-arcs involving space pirates and other rogues, this TPB offers a mildly cheesy if not nostalgic look at the early days of Star Wars� comic stories before LucasFilm� got a bit too tight in the pants about maintaining this amazing sci-fi space opera's continuity! It's also a look back at the days before comic art got a bit too detailed, computer-aided coloring & shading was merely some programming geek's wildest dream, and Dark Horse hadn't turned the Star Wars� funnybook line into a franchise that would give the X-Books a run for their money! Aside from the adaptation of the first Star Wars� flick that makes up this tome's first six chapters, just about all of the four-color stories & characters shown here would be right at home in a Flash Gordon� serial! Well, except in comic-book form of course. And with different characters, vehicles, & equipment. And-- ahhhhh, you know what I mean! I mean, c'mon! Do I really need to spell it out for ya?! I know some o' you out there are ponderin' taking a look at this collection, but you're kinda put off by the price. Well, for one thing this is a pretty thick book- the first twenty monthly issues of Marvel�'s run are featured here. And on nice, glossy paper stock no less! Which is a helluva lot better than the kinda paper the original issues were printed on! And if you've seen the kinds of prices the original books fetch, you'll come to the realization that this TPB is a far better value! Of course, if you're still not up to partin' with the wampum, you just do what I do: head on over to your local comic shop and cop a free read! Just do it real fast-those comic-shop owners get kinda cranky if they catch ya freeloadin' for more than thirty seconds... 'Late!
Rating:
Summary: Weak movie adaptation improves afterward
Review: Howard Chaykin is one of my favorite, if not the favorite comic book artists/writers. That is why it is so disappointing to see his work in this compilation. It is incredulous that the man who produced the gorgeous, crisp, clean art of American Flagg was responsible for the sloppy, hurried art presented in his issues. After Carmine Infantino takes over though, the art improves markedly. The first six issues are an adaptation of the movie, although it bears much more resemblance to the novelization as it includes such things as Luke seeing his friends on Tatooine, Luke being a part of Blue group rather than Red. The first cover features a red-headed Princess Leia and a green Darth Vader in a mistake of galactic proportions. Also editing errors are rife throughout the adaptation with weapons being called different names throughout and not often matching what they were called in the movie. I can only hope they rushed these out 1 a week the quality was so low. After we get through the movie adaptation things improve, though for a while we get some really bad editing. Names spelled differently in different panels for one thing. Still though, despite the improvement in plotting there are still some laughably bad ideas such as Don-Wan Kihotay(also spelled Don-Wan Kioti) the Man of La Mancha Jedi ripoff. There is continual improvement though and we eventually get to see some nice, plausible adventures of what may have happened to our heroes after the destruction of the Death Star. Chewbacca though never really looks much like Chewbacca. Two stars for the beginning, and the continual improvement brings it up to three stars.
Rating:
Summary: A Blast From the Past (When Comics weren't Just For Adults!)
Review: I was 6 when Star Wars was first unleashed on the public, and I was lucky enough to have a Mom that supported her young son's comic-book reading habit; The biggest problem of any comic reader in those long-forgotten days was spotty newsstand distribution- It was almost impossible to collect EVERY issue of your favorite comic.....for almost 25 years I've been wondering how Luke and company managed to get off of that Water Planet in Star Wars #14.... THANK GOD FOR DARK HORSE! My wondering days are over! Doomworld collects issues 1-20 of Marvel's original Star Wars series in glorious full-color, on beautiful paper with great production values. The book opens with an incredibly faithful adaptation of the movie, then goes off into some surprising territory: Han and Chewie star in an outer-space "Magnificent Seven", where they team with a giant green Rabbit and an old man named "Don-Wan Kihotay" to face off against "Serji-X Arrogantus", a thinly disguised version of Mad Magazine cartoonist Sergio Aragones; Luke and the Droids crash on a Waterworld years before Kevin Costner made that awful movie; Han squares off against a "Gaily" attired pirate and his man-hating female crony; and everyone ends up in the deep-space Las Vegas for the big cliffhanger. The stories are a bit removed from what the films delivered, but I took a bit of umbrage at the back-cover copy which calls the Marvel stories "Kitschy"; Dark Horse has published a few duds themselves ("Union", anyone...?); At least these stories are entertaining! As a kid, I hated the artists that worked on these stories. As an adult, I can appreciate the draftsmanship and storytelling ability that they brought to the series. Howard Chaykin, Carmine Infantino, Tom Palmer, Terry Austin, Herb Trimpe, Al Milgrom...They're all legends, and with good reason. (The only gaffe, artwise, is the pairing of Chaykin and Frank Springer in chapter seven. Springer's inks are atrocious!) The art looks better than ever, thanks to the vibrant colors and slick paper. And aside from Roy Thomas' propensity for making Han say (OVER and OVER again!) "WELL then there now!", the characters STAY in character. Lucasfilm may have decided that the stories are no longer canonical, but that doesn't mean they're not fun! And the price just can't be beat! Give Doomworld a try if you're looking for something a little bit different. WELL then there now!
Rating: 
Summary: What a MARVELous Collection!
Review: If you grew up loving Marvel's "Star Wars Comics" you'll find this books Force irresistable-it contains the FIRST 20ISSUES OF THE SERIES!!They're better than before:the colors are mor vibrant.there are no ads so you can read the stories mor easily.This is the BEST collection of "Star Wars Comics ever!Its 370 pages will give you LOTS of reading pleasure.This is a must for any "Star Wars" fanatic! rRST
Rating:
Summary: Fun stories, Great art, and hey, it's Star Wars!
Review: Please excuse my giddiness -- these were the first comics I ever bought as a child, so they will always hold a special place in my heart. This graphic novel collects the first 20 issues of the Marvel Comics Star Wars run of the late 70's. The first six issues are merely an adaptation of the movie, but even in here, there are hidden gems. For instance, some of the scenes from the movie, such as Luke spotting the Star Destroyer in space from Tatooine, are still present in this adaptation. The next 14 issues are...well, completely random. But definitely fun. Han and Chewy have still got a price on their head, so they begin working on that and immediately get in hot water. They even find themselves battling a dinosaur with an old man who claims to be a jedi. Meanwhile, Luke and the robots find themselves on a waterworld. Eventually the storylines merge together, but it's all very wacky. Now, when reading these comics, you may wonder where they fit in current Star Wars continuity. Well, they don't. Remember, these stories came out before The Empire Strikes Back was released. Marvel had no idea what was coming in the future, so they took guesses. And some of them are really out there. But please, don't let this dissuade you from buying this graphic novel. The stories are interesting, and it's fun to see what Marvel thought would happen in the "Star Wars" future. So, how about the artwork? It's good stuff, even if the main characters don't really look like they do in the movies. You get used to that after awhile. But the detail is great, and all in all the artwork adds to Star Wars lore rather than detract from it. So, should you buy this graphic novel? If you're a Star Wars fan and you want to enjoy some unusual stories, then this is the collection for you!
Rating:
Summary: Finally, vintage comics you can actually READ!!
Review: That's right, forget all those old original issues of the Marvel Star Wars series that you may have sealed up in plastic bags, locked away in storage boxes, never to see the light of day again. Now these wonderful stories from childhood are FINALLY available again, in a nice, THICK book, printed on sturdy paper, able to stand up to countless readings. In this first volume, you get the first 20 issues of the Marvel series, starting with the movie adaption. According to rumour, these re-issues were originally going to be in black & white, but thank GOD they came to their senses, and gave them back to us in FULL, glorious color. My advice? Put all those original issues up on an internet auction site, then use the money to score this volume AND the rest of the future SIX volumes in this AMAZING set!
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