Star Wars Galaxy #1
Premier Issue!
In 1994 I was 12 years old and loved old Star Wars. I was hitting flea markets and such looking for old merchandise and cards when I could, which was honestly pretty rarely. I was completely disconnected to the new stuff that was happening in the Star Wars world. Remember, this was a pre-internet era and I didn’t have much disposable income for subscriptions and fan subscriptions. But, I did love Star Wars and was a perfect age for what was happening in the Galaxy Far Far Away… If I could just find out about it somehow…
On a random day, a friend and I were out wandering the neighborhood. His dad had told him about a garage sale that had some cool toys and we went off in search of cheap thrills. We got lost looking for the house, but we were walking past a strip mall that we had both seen a hundred times as a passenger in a car, but we had never gone to it, nor known what the “Merchant of Venus” shop was. With nothing else really to do, we ducked in.
HOLY SMOKES it was a Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Store!
The owner was skeptical of these two kids with no money, but we asked questions and looked and didn’t mess stuff up, and he warmed up to us. I discovered Heir to the Empire existed, and that a whole new world of Star Wars was emerging. It was a little dream destination.
But, what I love most is books - about books. Or books - about movies. I love to learn more about the hobbies I love. So, when I found Star Wars Galaxy Magazine #1 in The Merchant of Venus, I knew this was my ticket to catching up on what was happening in the Star Wars world.
So, 30 years later, I’m going to revisit those magazines. I’m going to open the polybag, discover the new Star Wars media and merchandise - again! Follow along to see what you’ve been missing, or forgot about.
Getting to 1994
To get it started, we should probably place this magazine in its time. What was the state of Star Wars in Fall of 1994? Let’s look at a basic timeline of Star Wars major releases and events:
1977 A New Hope (Movie)
1977-1987 Star Wars (Comics)
1978 Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (Novel)
1978 Star Wars Holiday Special (TV Special)
1979 Han Solo Adventures (Novels)
1980 The Empire Strikes Back (Movie)
1983 Return of the Jedi (Movie)
1983 Adventures of Lando Calrissian (Novels)
1984 The Ewok Adventure (TV Movie)
1985 Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (TV Movie)
1985-1986 Droids and Ewoks (Cartoons)
1987 The Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine Launches - this publication follows the work of the companies that emerged from the making of Star Wars. It ran 22 issues and in 1994 was rebranded to become Star Wars Insider.
1987 Star Tours opens at Disneyland
1987 Star Wars Roleplaying Game released by West End Games. This ran until 1999, publishing over 140 sourcebooks and was the primary source for new Star Wars content between 1987 and 1991.
A HUGE GAP
1991-1993 Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command (Novels) - These are the first published stories which take place after Return of the Jedi. A massive demand for these books launches a new wave of Star Wars products, fans, media tie-ins, and just about everything you can imagine.
1991 Dark Empire (Comic) - Dark Horse Comics acquires the license to create new Star Wars comics, including stories taking place after Return of the Jedi, and before A New Hope. Alongside the Heir to the Empire novels, this surge of comic book material ushers in a new Star Wars fandom.
1992 Jedi Prince Series (Young Readers Book Series)
1992 Star Wars Roleplaying Game 2nd Edition released
1993 The Truce at Bakura (Novel)
1993 Star Wars: X-Wing (Video Game)
1993 Star Wars Galaxy Trading Card Series 1
1994 The Courtship of Princess Leia (Novel)
1994 Jedi Academy Trilogy (Novels)
1994 Star Wars Adventure Journal (RPG Sourcebooks) - West End Games releases a massive amount of RPG Supplements and becomes an early version of the Star Wars Encyclopedia source for fans, regardless of whether they play the games.
1994 Star Wars: Tie Fighter (Video Game)
1994 Lucasfilm Fan Club rebrands and launches with issue #23 under the new title Star Wars Insider to coincide with the release of Star Wars: Tie Fighter
1994 Star Wars Galaxy Trading Card Series 2
1994 A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, 2nd Edition (Reference Book)
1994-1995 Star Wars Power of the Force Toy Line
1994 Star Wars Galaxy Magazine Launches. Topps brings a comic book sized magazine to shelves, using the magazine to promote comics, cards, multi-media projects, and other Topps publications and products.
Open the dang bag already!
Okay, so remembering the situation, the date, the isolation and limited access to pop culture news of the time, and for me specifically…
HOLY SMOKES!
Opening this bag is where I discovered that Star Wars Comics existed. And where I discovered that multiple sets of cards existed. And it came with a sweet poster? Get out of here. The back of the poster is an information dump about Boba Fett, which might be my favorite element of them all. It could have been any character at all and I would have been equally happy.
Front Cover: Ken Steacy art is fantastic. Solicits for:
A Comic Book - I’m not sure I even knew what “Dark Horse” was at the time
A poster
Info and preview of a new novel
Back Cover:
Preview for issue #2
I can start a plate collection!
Inside the Bag:
Magazine
Comic Book Ashcan
Two trading cards, one each from two different sets
Poster
The Trading Cards:
First off, learning there are Star Wars Trading Card sets was pretty cool. And I definitely went looking for those. But, I also learned about Ralph McQuarie, which eventually led to learning about the production and making of Star Wars, which would become my greatest interest in the Star Wars universe. The standard size promo card is from a set called Star Wars Finest. Also, WIDEVISION cards?! How cool is that? It took what would have been a boring movie still card set and made it something more unique. This wide promo card is from the set Star Wars Widevision.
Prior to 1993, all of the Star Wars Trading Card sets were photos from the movies, which was typical of the era. In 1993 with Star Wars Galaxy Series 1, newly commissioned art for a Star Wars set begins, and will continue for many years. Here is a list of the sets released after the original trilogy, leading up to the prequel trilogy (1993-1999).
1993 Topps Star Wars Galaxy Series 1 (I own this set)
1994 Topps Star Wars Galaxy Series 2
1995 Topps Star Wars Galaxy Series 3
1995 Topps Star Wars Widevision
1995 Topps Star Wars MasterVisions
1995 Topps Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Widevision
1996 Topps Star Wars Finest
1996 Topps Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (I own this set - Shadows of the Empire!!)
1996 Topps Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Widevision
1996 Topps Star Wars 3Di Widevision
1997 Topps Star Wars Vehicles
1997 Topps Star Wars Trilogy: The Complete Story
1997 Topps Star Wars Special Edition Widevision
1999 Topps Star Wars Chrome Archives
Collecting the Trading Cards is something I’ll likely do slowly over the next few years. I would love to find some unopened packs and break a case, but that is unlikely at a reasonable price.
The Ashcan Comic:
I had just learned that Star Wars after Return of the Jedi was being explored in the novels, and now this ashcan is promising to explore the beginnings of the Jedi and Sith. What a great day. I didn’t even know there were Star Wars comics, so I had a lot to catch up on. In the back of the Ashcan there is a checklist of what has been published so far.
The Poster:
What more is there to say? Very cool poster and art, and the backside is the early stages of an encyclopedia, which I gladly welcome.
Inside the Magazine:
Editor’s Note - this will be a quarterly magazine focused on featuring news and information about the emerging Star Wars Universe.
Around the Galaxy (News) - Official announcement of the Expanded Movies. This is big news for all the kids who never got to see Star Wars in theaters. And more information about these Widevision cards. I saw Return of the Jedi in theaters in a re-release setting, and then I have seen all the movies starting with Episode 1 in theaters. I also saw Episode 1 in 3D in theaters. As far as the expanded/edited movies goes, I’m fine with it. The few new scenes are unnecessary, but I appreciate the improved environment upgrades, like expanding the view of Mos Eisley, opening the windows of Bespin, I like all of those things.
Mark Hamill - Catching up with Mark’s work, which of course includes his voice acting on Batman: The Animated Series. I’m not sure where/when I discovered Batman: TAS, but I quickly learned about Mark doing the voice.
Merchandise - Star Wars Galaxy Art Book, Guide, Art of the movie, all of these would soon become staples for me, but for now, I was just getting my toes wet. The Guide to the Star Wars Universe was a worn down and heavily used book for me over the next few years.
Ken Steacy - several pages showcasing Ken’s work and a gorgeous Star Wars Full Page piece.
Taggor Bren - a roleplaying game excerpt and follow-up page introducing readers to the Star Wars Roleplaying Game. This is probably my biggest blind spot of Star Wars. I have never looked into it, nor read any of the entries.
The Crystal Star - book excerpt and interview with the author. Vonda McIntyre’s sole contribution to the Star Wars Novels. I read/listened to this one and didn’t think it added much to the universe or character development.
Dark Forces - a look into the making of Dark Forces, the first person shooter. While there had been many Star Wars games over the years, they were always just movie tie-ins. X-Wing, Tie Fighter, and now Dark Forces, were major game releases with new stories and filling in the cracks of the Star Wars Universe. While I had never played any of the games, nor did I have a computer to play them on, I would later come back to Dark Forces. And more importantly, the Dark Forces novel/comic tie ins.
Star Wars Comics - I had no idea this was taking place. What’s worse, I had no way to do anything about it. I didn’t have access to a comic store, and the local drug stores were only selling Marvel and DC books. The magazine features a great summary of what is happening in the world of Star Wars comics. It also features a short comic of Star Wars Droids… which was not the kind of expanded universe I was looking for, but oh well. I’m not sure why there have been so many Droid spin offs?
Industrial Light and Magic - a brief look into the history and current state of the team which would become ILM. This is up there with my favorite aspect of Star Wars off-screen content. I love learning about ILM. The book, Sculpting a Galaxy, is probably my favorite book about the Star Wars behind-the-scenes stuff.
Ceramics - several pages into the world of Star Wars ceramic merchandise, cool?
The Internet - this is probably the hardest section to reflect on with any sort of objectivity! Several pages describing how the internet could be useful to engage with other Star Wars fans.
Advertisements:
Star Wars Audiobooks - I could write quite a lot about the audio cassettes and my paper route!
Science Fiction Catalog - a Star Trek Encyclopedia sounds cool, and while I wouldn’t know it at the time, the Guide to the Star Wars Universe would become one of my most referenced books for years.
Science Fiction Book Club - I would spend a ton of time choosing my 5 books for $1, but I never joined.
And others.
What’s in my collection from this issue?
I traditionally have not kept things around for long. I acquire them, read them, watch them, play with the toys, and move on. But, what I currently have that was featured in this issue is:
Star Wars Galaxy Series 1 Trading Cards. I would like to get more of these sets eventually.
Star Wars Art Books. I have a ton of these Star Wars art books, and I love them.
Audio books and Dark Forces video game I have in digital collections.
And The Crystal Star - I don’t have. But, if they ever release it in the Essential Legends Paperback Collection, I will pick it up.
And that’s a wrap. This was a great premier issue that really hit on all the different pieces of Star Wars Universe that was exploding in 1994. Comics, Books, Cards, Film News, Merchandise, Games - it was all there. As well as a nice level of reflection from the original movies.