(The following is an excerpt from an article which appeared in Alter Ego magazine #68 and is reprinted here with permission.)
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION: After the cover theme of this issue -- the life and achievements of Jerry G. Bails -- had been chosen, I learned, as I should have expected, that the 30th anniversary of the world premiere of George Lucas' blockbuster film Star Wars in May 1977 was going to be the occasion of a certain amount of ballyhoo, just as several previous anniversaries had. It had long been my intention, one day in Alter Ego, to try to pen a more or less definitive account of my involvement with Marvel's Star Wars comic book, from early 1976 through late 1977. So I decided that our May 2007 issue would be the occasion for that recounting -- even though the first issue of the comic was released in March 1977. Previous, shorter accounts from my hand had appeared in Starlog magazine #120 (July 1987 -- the tenth anniversary) and Comics Buyer's Guide for April 16, 1993 (the 26th anniversary??). Thanks to both for their blessings to incorporate some of those pieces in what follows.
I also invited each of the artists who worked with me on the first ten issues of Star Wars to participate, and we received sidebar-style responses of various lengths and kinds from Howard Chaykin, Steve Leialoha, Rick Hoberg, Bill Wray, Dave Stevens, and Alan Kupperberg -- and even colorist Carl Gafford [see last page]. In addition, I emailed my old friend Ed Summer, who was instrumental in the Star Wars comic existing in the first place; he hoped to write something for this issue, but we hadn't received anything by deadline; we plan to run his commentary at a future date. Perhaps we'll have some remarks at that time, as well, by a fellow named Charley Lippincott, whose name, if it's unfamiliar, will become known to you in what follows.
