Long ago in a galaxy far, far away, Marvel Comics published an ongoing "Star Wars" series of comics for close to a decade. The first issue went on sale in April 1977, and it lasted until 1986, publishing 107 issues and three annuals in that span. According to former Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, the strong sales of "Star Wars" comics provided the then-floundering Marvel with some financial stability in 1977 and 1978. The "Star Wars" series continued on to be one of the industry's top selling titles in 1979 and 1980, as well.
According to a piece at Comic Book Resources, the "Star Wars" universe is set to return to Marvel, (leaving Dark Horse, which published "Star Wars" comics for 23 years after Marvel dropped the ball, somewhere out in the cold barrens of Hoth) with the company launching a new ongoing "Star Wars" series in January 2015. Written by Jason Aaron and drawn by John Cassaday, the series centers on the original trilogy characters Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa. And thank the gods on high for that...
As a tribute to the long-running original series, Marvel tasked comic illustrator/painter Alex Ross (and for my money the best overall artist in the business) to draft something of a homage to Howard Chaykin's iconic, original cover for "Star Wars #1." Check it out in all its photo-realistic glory below:
By way of comparison, here's Chaykin's original, 1977 work:
