<Tr> <Th> Omnibus Volume 1 </Th> <Td> ISBN 1 - 59307 - 572 - 3 </Td> </Tr> <P> Star Wars comics have been produced by various comic book publishers since the debut of the 1977 film Star Wars . An eponymous series by Marvel Comics began in 1977 with a six - issue comic adaptation of the film and ran for 107 issues until 1986 . Blackthorne Publishing released a three - issue run of 3 - D comics from 1987 to 1988 . Dark Horse published the limited series Star Wars: Dark Empire in 1991, and ultimately produced over 100 Star Wars titles until 2014, including manga adaptations of the original trilogy of films and the 1999 prequel The Phantom Menace . The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel in 2009 and Lucasfilm in 2012, and the Star Wars comics license returned to Marvel in 2015 . In 2017, IDW Publishing launched the anthology series Star Wars Adventures . </P> <P> Charles Lippincott, Lucasfilm's publicity supervisor, initially approached publisher Stan Lee at Marvel Comics in 1975 about publishing a Star Wars comic book prior to the film's release as a means to appeal to its most likely audience . Lee initially declined to consider such a proposal until the film was completed, and was only persuaded otherwise in a second meeting arranged by Roy Thomas, who wanted to edit the series . Since movie tie - in comics rarely sold well at that time, Lee negotiated a publishing arrangement which gave no royalties to Lucasfilm until sales exceeded 100,000 . At that point, legal arrangements could be revisited . Issue #1 of Star Wars was released for sale on April 12, 1977, and Marvel published the series from 1977 to 1986, lasting 107 issues and three annuals . According to former Marvel Editor - In - Chief Jim Shooter, the strong sales of Star Wars comics saved Marvel financially in 1977 and 1978 . Marvel's Star Wars series was one of the industry's top selling titles in 1979 and 1980 . The only downside for Marvel was that the 100,000 copy sales quota was surpassed quickly, allowing Lippincott to renegotiate the royalty arrangements from a position of strength . </P> <P> Issues #1--6 featured an adaptation of the events of Star Wars by Roy Thomas and artist Howard Chaykin . Original stories began appearing as of issue #7 (January 1978) by the same creative team . Writer Archie Goodwin and artist Carmine Infantino took over the series as of #11 (May 1978). A six - issue adaptation of the 1980 sequel film The Empire Strikes Back by Goodwin and artists Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon appeared in issues #39--44 (September 1980--February 1981). Writer David Michelinie and artist Walt Simonson became the new creative team with issue #51 (September 1981). Ron Frenz became the regular artist of the title starting with #71 (May 1983). As of 1984, the Star Wars series was primarily written by Jo Duffy, and art for the final year - and - a-half of the series was by Cynthia Martin . </P>

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