Star Wars #1 35 Cent Price Variant CGC 9.0 Universal Rare Marvel Comics 1977
It didn't take much to convince filmmaker George Lucas, as the notorious fanboy was a long-time Marvel maniac and knew that the House of Ideas was the only logical home for his daring new project. After months of furious work on the part of Thomas and artist Howard Chaykin, the first issue hit stands in advance of the film's premiere, making it a novelty amongst Star Wars tie-ins. Of note are the off-model portraits and color choices littering these early issues, as Chaykin and company had only stills and workprints off of which to craft the book, leading to a surprisingly beefy Luke, a zaftig Leia, and... Forget all that, it's Star Wars, the most significant pop-cultural creation of the past 40 years, and you love it, you know you do. Star Wars #1 35 Cent Newsstand Price Variant.
There is some evidence to suggest (distribution markings on the comics) that the 35 cent newsstand variant of Star Wars #1 was distributed to four cities (Memphis, Toledo, Tuscaloosa and Wilmington) so are thought to be very rare indeed, with Overstreet suggesting only around 1,500 copies were printed. The rare first print newsstand 35 cent price variant has a square price box, has "July" underneath the issue number and also has a barcode in the UPC box. There are other 35 cent variants and these are later reprints and should not be confused: they can be easily identified by the diamond price box and the lack of a barcode (one also has "reprint" printed next to the top left staple). These reprints are not particularly valuable in comparison with the much rarer 35 cent newsstand variant. As well as buyers needing to be aware of the various reprints, forgeries of the 1st print 35 cent variant are also known to exist; at least one is thought to have been created from a standard 30 cent variant, with the price box being doctored, however, this was spotted as various aspects of the price box simply didn't line up with a true copy.
- Theme: Comics
- Featured Refinements: 35 Cent Price Variant
- Modified Item: No
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
- Certification Number: 120887002
- Certification: CGC
- Main Character: Star Wars
- Graded by: CGC
- Character/Story/Theme: Star Wars
- Genre: Sci-Fi
- Series: 1
- Grade: 9.0 VF/NM
- Year: 1977
- Signed: No
- Publisher: Marvel
- Publication Date: July 1977
- Issue Number: 1