Star Wars #4, October 1977. Marvel wordsmiths, following the examples set by Stan Lee, were masters of crafted hyperbole. They'd often stack superlatives on top of superlatives so that by the time a young true believer finished scanning the jagged-edged word balloons on a cover, he was breathless not only from excitement but the rapid fire assault of syllables and alliteration. By the 1970s, this had evolved into more precise volleys of thrilling copy on the covers. Rather than lengthy descriptors hyping the inside contents, the cover would consist of an exaggerated tableau of what lay within. In the rush of capturing, polishing and magnifying that drama, the end result often didn't really resemble what happens in the story. After all, in issue #4 -- only two-thirds of the way of adapting the first
Star Wars movie -- Luke in no way comes near to sacrificing himself to protect his friends from Vader. If anything, Obi-Wan and Skywalker have their roles reversed here.
Oh, and Leia's red slippers are a hoot.
