No, it’s not an April Fool prank or us turning into our grandparents and referring to George Lucas’ space opera as 'The' Star Wars. Comics company Dark Horse has announced that it will adapt Lucas’ original, rough draft for the saga into graphic novel form. You can check out some panels below.
Three years before making the 1977 film, George Lucas put down on paper his first story set in a galaxy far, far away — a tale of fantastic adventures, daring escapes, “lazer swords,” romance, and monsters. A story of Jedi Annikin Starkiller and General Luke Skywalker, an alien named Han Solo, and evil Sith Knights. The screenplay was titled The Star Wars...
“I’m not sure where I first read about The Star Wars — it was years and years ago — but the idea of Luke Skywalker being an older Jedi General, and Han Solo being a six-foot-tall lizard, turned my Star Wars fan brain on its side,” said long-time Star Wars editor Randy Stradley. “I always assumed this would be one of those stories that would be ‘lost to history,’ so getting to work on bringing it to life is kinda like a dream come true.”
Writer J.W. Rinzler made the actual discovery. “While researching in the Lucasfilm archives I’ve found many treasures — but one which truly astounded me was George’s rough draft for The Star Wars. His first complete imaginings were hallucinating to read — mind blowing,” says Rinzler. “While working with George on another book project, I once asked if we could adapt his rough draft. He was hesitant. Years later, with Dark Horse’s invaluable help, we showed him a few drawn and coloured pages of what it might look like. He gave us the OK.”
Rinzler and artist Mike Mayhew have collaborated on the eight-issue comic, which launches in September. You really think they’d have waited to release this away from April 1 – or even waited until May the fourth...