Marvel Super Special #16
Marvel Super Special #16 stands as the first comic-book presentation of The Empire Strikes Back, putting the full story of one of cinema's most consequential sequels into readers' hands before the serialized monthly issues even hit stands. In its pages, Boba Fett, Lando Calrissian, Lobot, Yoda, and a cameo Emperor Palpatine all debuted in comics form, making the magazine a single-issue vehicle for an extraordinary cluster of first appearances that reshaped the Star Wars universe. The oversized magazine format also gave Al Williamson's detailed, atmospheric artwork—praised by historians for its unprecedented character-likeness accuracy—room to breathe in a way a standard pamphlet could not. Marvel's Marvel Super Special line had been their prestige showcase for pop-culture adaptations, and this issue, alongside the original Star Wars adaptation, represents the high-water mark of that format's cultural ambition.
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In 1979, writer Archie Goodwin traveled to Lucasfilm's Los Angeles offices to gather contact prints and production reference materials for the adaptation, working with artists Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon. Williamson was hired at Lucasfilm's specific request: George Lucas admired his EC Comics science-fiction work and his run on Flash Gordon, whose adventure-strip heritage meshed naturally with the Star Wars aesthetic. Working under serious time pressure—reportedly about three months to complete roughly 104 pages—Williamson handled all figure work while Garzon inked backgrounds and hardware, with Rick Veitch contributing pencils for the AT-AT Walker sequences. The story was released simultaneously across four formats (paperback, magazine, tabloid treasury, and the eventual monthly serialization), with the magazine edition notable for depicting Yoda with his correct, film-accurate appearance—unlike the paperback, which had been completed with only early concept-design reference and rendered Yoda with a quite different look.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First comic-book appearance of Boba Fett in the Marvel Super Special magazine format; the issue carried a store date of April 10, 1980, predating the monthly Star Wars #42 (September 1980) by approximately five months.
- First comic-book appearances of Lando Calrissian, Lobot, and a cameo Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious), as well as bounty hunters Bossk, Dengar, 4-LOM, and IG-88, and the first team appearance of Rogue Squadron.
- Written by Archie Goodwin; penciled by Al Williamson (figures) with inking by Carlos Garzon (backgrounds/hardware); Rick Veitch contributed AT-AT Walker pencils; lettered by Rick Veitch; cover painted by Bob Larkin.
- Published Spring 1980 as issue #16 of the Marvel Super Special series—Marvel's dedicated magazine-format showcase for movie and pop-culture adaptations throughout the 1970s–80s.
- Magazine-sized (larger than a standard comic), full color, 96 pages; the same Bob Larkin cover art was shared across three concurrent editions: Marvel Super Special #16, Marvel Special Edition #2, and the paperback Marvel Comics Illustrated Version.
- Unlike the paperback edition, which was drawn from early concept-design reference, the magazine edition depicts Yoda with his finalized, film-accurate appearance; the earlier paperback Yoda had thin features, long white hair, and purple skin.
- The content was later serialized as Star Wars (Marvel, 1977 series) #39–44 (September 1980–February 1981), and has since been reprinted in numerous formats including Classic Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Dark Horse, 1994), Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus (Marvel, 2015), and Star Wars: The Original Trilogy — The Movie Adaptations (Marvel, 2019).
- IDW Publishing collected Williamson's original artwork for the adaptation in the Al Williamson's Empire Strikes Back Artist's Edition (2016), reproducing full-size pages in color photography to show pencil notes and corrections.