No, this is not an April Fool’s Day prank, and it’s pretty big news for “Star Wars” fans, who already have enough to geek out about with sequels, spinoffs and more all on the horizon.
Capping off a weekend at WonderCon, Dark Horse announced yesterday — and formally confirmed today via press release — they they were bringing George Lucas‘ very first full draft of “The Star Wars” (penned in 1974, three years before the movie) to life in a comic series coming this fall. As devoted fans know, this first draft of the “Star Wars” script and story was quite different than what made it on screen. Han Solo was a lizard for one thing, the Sith Knights are featured, and the story centers on Jedi Annikin Starkiller and General Luke Skywalker. Again, this is not a prank.
“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,” said writer and executive editor at LucasBooks J.W. 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 colored pages of what it might look like. He gave us the okay.”
Rinzler and artist Mike Mayhew will be adapting the script into an 8-issue comic launching this September, and if you need more proof, some early panels have been released, which you can check out below. So while the wait for “Star Wars: Episode 7” continues, this should do a pretty nice job of tiding you over. [ComingSoon]
This should be an animated film. Not CGI, but traditional, good ole fashioned 70s/80s hand drawn animation.