On that second comparison pic, the one with Han escorting the other ships, isn’t that the prototype design for the Pirate ship? judging by what materials the comic team had access to, I’m not surprised they got that design.
Yes, it does kind of look like it. But then again, that design was re-used for the Blockade Runner in the opening of ANH, so it’s probably just supposed to be one of those. There’s another ship visible underneath it which look very similar as well.
(I’m more curious about what that red antenna thing is supposed to be.)
Out of curiosity: Were there ever any country specific comics anywhere for Star Wars? For example, I know Marvel in the UK had a couple stories in some of their other licenses that didn’t appear in the US comics. Did this happen for star Wars too?
I the UK’s Star Wars Weekly magazine, there was exclusive stories; such as The Day After the Death Star that I mentioned in an earlier post, as well as Way of the Wookiee, The Weapons Master and a rather odd and out-of-place story called World of Fire .
As for Scandinavia though, no. They were not important enough to get any exclusive stories. They were in fact quite lucky if they got any at all. Star Wars in Scandinavia was quite a mess. Many stores got left out, and many plot-lines wasn’t even finished. Norway did f.ex. get Dark Empire and Dark Empire 2, but no Empire’s End. Similarly the Swedes only got two thirds of the Thrawn trilogy comic adaptation.
(In the fan letter sections of these comics, there would sometimes even be advice on how to contact UK comic distributors so that the fans could order the missing parts from abroad.)
I won’t link to it as it’s probably skirting the rules, but someone has been making Youtube videos out of the old SW Marvel comics recently. (And some not so old material.) First time I’ve seen anyone do this online. All the original ads and letter pages included, which the reprints and omnibus editions don’t have. Worth it just to see those if you don’t have the original issues, but I can’t imagine it’s going to be up long if the Mouse police get wind of it.
Interesting, I’ll have a look at it while it’s still available.