The Good, the Bad, the Historical Record

I was nine in 1977, and at one point in my life I had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of Star Wars.  Certainly not anymore.

Year by year, what were the highs and lows?  Obviously what's high for one might be low for another, but what are the notable events for each year?

These are mentions found in a haphazard browsing of my bookshelf, and I've tried to be fairly even-handed---even in my description of Splinter, which I devoured in elementary school and several times since (and a few years ago acquired in hardcover).

Your additions?

1976: Alan Dean Foster's novelisation published.

1977: Marvel Comics introduces us to Jabba the Hut[t] as a biped pulled (I think) from the original cut of the Cantina sequence.

1978: The First Sequel, Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye, is published.

1979: Brian Daley's Han Solo At Stars' End gives us a look at another part of the GFFA.

1979: Russ Manning's newspaper strip debuts.

1981: Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson inherit the newspaper strip, and for the first depict with retrospect events between ANH and TESB.

1991: Interest in Star Wars is renewed by Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire.

1992: The Emperor returns in Dark Empire [date based on TPB].  [And returns again, and again, in the sequels.]

1994: Han and Leia are married in Dave Wolverton's The Courtship of Princess Leia.

1995: Years after the Marvel series folded, a new comic series debuts with X-Wing Rogue Squadron [date based on Omnibus].

1996: Michael Stackpole's X-Wing Rogue Squadron is published, and continuity issues begin to be knit.

1996: Steve Perry's Shadows of the Empire is published; finally we know Vader's thoughts, and a character tries to get Leia to disrobe.

1999: A prequel trilogy debuts to unmeetable expectations.

1999: The Yuuzhan Vong invasion begins in R. A. Salvatore's Vector Prime.

2005: Matthew Stover's adaptation of "Revenge of the Sith" gives new depth to the story.

2008: The animated movie and TV show test whether the audience will accept something new.

1982: Star Wars released on VHS for the first time.

1983: Atari unleashes the vector graphics Star Wars arcade game. One of the best Star Wars videogames ever.

1987: Star Wars 10th Anniversary Celebration held in Los Angeles. A little film called "Spaceballs" is promoted at the con. :)

All terrific points.  I'm a high school teacher, so I'm often looking for the least offensive way to phrase something.  "Student might consider vocation as a bricklayer" usually doesn't go over too well.

I did enjoy two things about "Shadows":  the prologue, which gave some depth to what could have been going on at the Emperor's end during the TESB conversation, and the revelation (leastwise I'd never considered it before) that Vader's chamber was hyperbaric:  he was trying to bring healing to his horrifically burned lungs.  Two good moments.  Which unfortunately were in a largely unmemorable novel (at least for positive reasons).

And yeah, 1999, when I sat in a theatre with my wife and friends on opening day and, two hours later, realized that the most thrilling part of "The Phantom Menace" was seeing the blue text before the title.  The movie had fallen flat.  Despite all the wonderful things that EU authors had accomplished and hinted at, the story was unmemorable at best.

The animated series, though....  It's a frighteningly low bar, but it seems far more interesting and enjoyable than the prequels.  A statement that seems almost to define "damning with faint praise," but it's working to construct something interesting and even good.  Canonicity, though?  Not sure if I'd go there, but I'd give it more credence than Episodes I - III.  Not willing to commit to more than that.

miker71 said:

 It was quite pleasing to see stuff from the original WEG Star Wars sourcebooks (Original, Rebel, Imperial) turn up in the prequels, much more pleasing than Chewie and Yoda being mates and the Boba/Jango/clone/stormtrooper thing.

You found the Yoda/Chewie relationship and the Boba/Jango/Clone/Stormtrooper thing pleasing?