First Victory

Once Upon a Galaxy...

Writer: Uncredited 

Penciler: Martin Asbury
Medium: Comic

Publication date: October 1982 in TV Times Magazine

Timeline placement: 0 BBY 

 

A two-page comic appearing in the UK periodical TV Times to recap the backstory of Star Wars before its British television premiere, this story probably wasn't actually intended to be titled Once Upon a Galaxy, nor is it clear if it was even officially licensed by Lucasfilm or just something the TV Times editors threw together for fun. It's never been reprinted, not even in Dark Horse Comics' Wild Space Omnibuses, which collected many rare UK-exclusive Star Wars comics for the first time, or Marvel's comprehensive Epic Collections, but is that because this is an unlicensed fan work or because it's so obscure no one knew to include it?

 

As far as I can tell, it's also unknown who wrote this comic's text. Martin Asbury did the art, but he's only credited as "illustrations by"; the magazine contains no mention of who wrote the story, which consists mostly of brief descriptions of the film's major characters: Luke Skywalker, Ben Kenobi, R2-D2, C-3PO, Stormtroopers, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Grand Moff Tarkin, Han Solo, and Chewbacca.

 

The part that makes this comic notable for EU fans, however, is the five panels and seven speech bubbles of narrative that tell a seemingly original story. A squadron of Rebel Alliance X-wings celebrates their "first great victory," the theft of the Death Star plans, while an Alliance spy transmits them to Princess Leia's ship before being blasted by stormtroopers. An Imperial officer reports the news to Darth Vader. "FOOLS!" he thunders. "Prepare my battle cruiser! We must find that ship! Neither it nor Princess Leia Organa can escape!" What will happen next? Watch Star Wars on ITV to find out!

 

Of course, the theft of the Death Star plans is a story that has been told an infamous number of times in the EU. It was done most famously by Kyle Katarn in the Dark Forces video game, but different and often contradictory versions were shown or described in a variety of other stories. Rather than try to work yet another version of this event into an already unnecessarily convoluted timeline, it might be best to simply relegate Once Upon a Galaxy... to the dustbin of Star Wars apocrypha.

 

Buuuuuuuuut, there may be one thing yet worth salvaging. While the journey of the Death Star plans from Imperial custody to Princess Leia's hands has been told far too many times, the "first victory" against the Empire won by "Rebel spaceships striking from a hidden base," as mentioned in the 1977 opening crawl, was never depicted in the EU. That event, established in the Star Wars radio drama as an attack on an Imperial convoy transporting the plans, can be assumed to be the "first great victory" of the Rebellion illustrated in this comic. Here it is!

 

 

Another untold story told at last.