Founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as a division of Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Comics has, over time, evolved into one of the world's largest and most prosperous comic book publishers. Famously known for their contribution to the superhero genre, they also hold the distinction of being the first to publish comics for the Star Wars saga, beginning with their initial foray into the franchise with the Star Wars series, which spanned from 1977 until 1986. After regaining the rights in 2015, Marvel once again took over as the primary publisher of Star Wars comics, and their most recent offering is the Star Wars 2020 series, which is still being released.
Originally, Marvel was known as Timely Comics, where it gained popularity through publishing superhero stories. During the 1950s, operating as Atlas Comics, they focused on publishing comics in other genres, including romance, crime, westerns, and war stories. As the superhero genre saw a resurgence in the 1960s, the company, now rebranded as Marvel Comics, began producing a variety of new superhero titles, primarily written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Jack Kirby. The 1970s saw Marvel's sales decline and the company faced challenges, largely due to distribution problems.
Near the end of the 1970s, Charles Lippincott approached Marvel Comics President Stan Lee with a proposal to create a Star Wars comic as a promotional tool. Lee was initially hesitant about the project, as the film was still in production, until Roy Thomas, his protege, convinced him otherwise. Even then, Lee, referencing the poor sales performance of previous comic book adaptations, insisted on a minimum sale of 100,000 copies before any royalties would be discussed with Lucasfilm.
The resulting series proved to be a massive success, beginning in 1977 after encouragement from Roy Thomas, and other growing successes, such as The Uncanny X-Men and Daredevil. Jim Shooter, who served as Marvel's editor-in-chief from 1978 to 1987, later stated in an interview regarding the vital role of Star Wars in the company's survival, "Star Wars single-handedly saved Marvel... And that kept us alive." The only disadvantage was that the 100,000 copy requirement was quickly exceeded, allowing Lippincott to renegotiate royalty agreements from a stronger position.
Marvel also released stories in the United Kingdom under the Marvel UK banner. Besides reprinting the American Star Wars comics, the UK series also created a number of original stories.
Marvel continued to publish Star Wars comics until 1986, and the Droids and Ewoks series until 1987. Subsequently, the comic-book license for Star Wars was acquired by Dark Horse Comics, which began its Star Wars comic production in 1991 with the release of Star Wars: Dark Empire. Dark Horse later republished a significant portion of the Star Wars material produced by Marvel under the title Classic Star Wars.
In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel. Three years later, their former collaborator, Lucasfilm Ltd., followed suit when George Lucas sold the rights to his company to Disney.
On January 3, 2014, it was announced that the Star Wars comics license would be transferred from Dark Horse back to Marvel in 2015.
- Star Wars Annual (1977) 1 (November 1978)
- Star Wars Annual (1977) 2 (August 1982)
- Star Wars Annual (1977) 3 (August 1983)
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace HC (May 2016)
- Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones HC (September 2016)
- Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith HC (November 2016)
- Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic Omnibus Vol. 1 (July 2021)
- Star Wars Legends: Rise of the Sith Omnibus (February 2022)
- Star Wars Legends: The Empire Omnibus Vol. 1 (May 2022)
- Star Wars Legends: The New Republic Omnibus Vol. 1 (January 2023)
- Star Wars Legends: The Rebellion Omnibus Vol. 1 (March 2023)
- Star Wars Legends: The Empire Omnibus Vol. 2 (October 2023)
- Star Wars Legends: The Rebellion Omnibus Vol. 2 (June 2024)
- Star Wars Legends: The New Republic Omnibus Vol. 2 (July 2024)
- Star Wars Legends: Tales of the Jedi Omnibus (July 2024)
- Star Wars Legends: The Empire Omnibus Vol. 3 (January 2025)
- Star Wars (2015) (January 2015 – November 2019)
- Star Wars: Darth Vader (2015) (February 2015 – October 2016)
- Star Wars: Kanan (April 2015 – March 2016)
- Star Wars: Poe Dameron (April 2016 – September 2018)
- Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2016) (December 2016 – December 2019)
- Star Wars: Darth Vader (2017) (June 2017 – December 2018)
- Star Wars (2020) (January 2020 – September 2024)
- Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) (February 2020 – September 2024)
- Star Wars: Bounty Hunters (March 2020 – January 2024)
- Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2020) (May 2020 – January 2024)
- Star Wars: The High Republic (2021) (January 2021 – March 2022)
- Star Wars: The High Republic (2022) (October 2022 – May 2023)
- Star Wars: The High Republic (2023) (November 2023 – August 2024)
- Star Wars: Vader Down (November 2015 – January 2016)
- Star Wars: The Screaming Citadel (May 2017 – June 2017)
- Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters (May 2021 – November 2021)
- Star Wars: Crimson Reign (November 2021 – June 2022)
- Star Wars: Hidden Empire (November 2022 – April 2023)
- Star Wars: Dark Droids (August 2023 – December 2023)
- Star Wars Annual (2015) 1 (December 2015)
- Darth Vader Annual 1 (December 2015)
- Star Wars Annual (2015) 2 (November 2016)
- Poe Dameron Annual 1 (June 2017)
- Doctor Aphra Annual 1 (August 2017)
- Star Wars Annual (2015) 3 (September 2017)
- Star Wars Annual (2015) 4 (May 2018)
- Darth Vader Annual 2 (July 2018)
- Poe Dameron Annual 2 (August 2018)
- Doctor Aphra Annual 2 (September 2018)
- Doctor Aphra Annual 3 (October 2019)
- Star Wars: Jedi Knights (March 2025)
- Star Wars (2025) (May 2025)
- Free Comic Book Day 2025: Star Wars 1 (May 2025)
- Star Wars: Inquisitors (March 2025)
- Star Wars: Ahsoka — Season One (May 2025)
- Star Wars: Darth Maul – Black, White & Red Treasury Edition (May 2025)
- Star Wars: Battle of Jakku (June 2025)
- Star Wars: Ewoks – Caravan of Carnage (July 2025)
- Star Wars Modern Era Epic Collection: Yoda's Secret War (July 2025)
- Star Wars: Visions Treasury Edition (August 2025)
- Star Wars: Kanan Modern Era Epic Collection: The Last Padawan (August 2025)
- Star Wars: Legacy of Vader Vol. 1 (September 2025)
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Adaptation (October 2025)
- Star Wars: Jedi Knights Vol. 1 (November 2025)
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