What do you think?
Rate this book
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus, Vol. 3
The original Star Wars comic-book saga concludes! Savor an all-action adaptation of Star Wars: Episode VI - The Return of the Jedi, and fi nd out what happens after the Battle of Endor! Luke, Leia and their allies seek to establish a new galactic government - but Imperial Forces still stand in the way. When Darth Vader falls, a Dark Lady will rise! Meanwhile, Han Solo and Chewbacca head to Wookiee World! The Ewoks go to war! And tragedy strikes close to C-3PO - could it be that even a droid can cry? Plus: a cornucopia of Star Wars rarities - including exclusive stories only published in the UK!
COLLECTING: STAR WARS 79-107, ANNUAL 3; RETURN OF THE JEDI 1-4; MATERIAL FROM PIZZAZZ 1-16; MATERIAL FROM STAR WARS WEEKLY (UK) 60, 94-99, 104-115; MATERIAL FROM EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (UK) #149, 151, 153-157; MATERIAL FROM STAR WARS (UK) 159
COLLECTING: STAR WARS 79-107, ANNUAL 3; RETURN OF THE JEDI 1-4; MATERIAL FROM PIZZAZZ 1-16; MATERIAL FROM STAR WARS WEEKLY (UK) 60, 94-99, 104-115; MATERIAL FROM EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (UK) #149, 151, 153-157; MATERIAL FROM STAR WARS (UK) 159
1104 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2015
5 people are currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
Jo Duffy
494 books10 followersAlso published under the name Mary Jo Duffy and/or Mary-Jo Duffy.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 23, 2022
(Zero spoiler review) 2.25/5
Do not let the current grossly inflated score on this site fool you, this is pretty bad. I really could just cut and paste my review from Volume two here, change the number to a 3, put *but worse* at the end, and call it a day. For everything wrong with volume 2 is precisely what's wrong with volume 3... but worse. Despite saying Star Wars on the title, and having characters we know and love from the original trilogy, as well as the latterly fleshed out extended universe, this absolutely isn't the Star Wars you know and love, with the exception of the excellent Return of the Jedi mini series. This is a large number of creators, (because The Original Marvel Years was apparently the Marvel office bike, where pretty much everyone got a ride), all of whom had little to no idea or guidance as to what Star Wars would eventually become. This is C grade fantasy in space. Nothing less, and certainly nothing more. Sure, the odd readable story pops up from time to time, but for the most part, this is some pretty dreadful stuff. I skipped more than a few issues half way through, unable to take any more of it. It was a minor miracle I made it all the way to the end.
Whilst we are treated to the odd visually appealing issue, the art doesn't fair much better than the narratives, nor their execution. There is some pretty lacklustre looking issues in here. Far more than there are good looking ones if I'm honest. In the previous volumes, even when the stories were middling, the art was usually pretty strong, but not so here. It really is the ass end of the collection in more ways than one.
After the series itself finishes, with the whimper to end all whimpers, we are treated to a few hundred pages of additional material, which whilst far from perfect either, was definitely better in every way over the proper issues the omnibus collects. Better stories, better art, better characterisation, better execution, and all are between 3 and 10 pages long. Alan Moore even surprisingly popped up with a few stories, which, to no one's surprise, were the best written in the entire series, and made most everything else look amateurish by comparison. If only we could bottle that man's talent and force feed it to the hacks that currently occupy the offices at the big 2. It should be noted, whilst this was a terrible representation of Star Wars that I will never read again, it still beats the tits off Disney Star Wars every day of the week. 2.25/5
OmniBen.
Do not let the current grossly inflated score on this site fool you, this is pretty bad. I really could just cut and paste my review from Volume two here, change the number to a 3, put *but worse* at the end, and call it a day. For everything wrong with volume 2 is precisely what's wrong with volume 3... but worse. Despite saying Star Wars on the title, and having characters we know and love from the original trilogy, as well as the latterly fleshed out extended universe, this absolutely isn't the Star Wars you know and love, with the exception of the excellent Return of the Jedi mini series. This is a large number of creators, (because The Original Marvel Years was apparently the Marvel office bike, where pretty much everyone got a ride), all of whom had little to no idea or guidance as to what Star Wars would eventually become. This is C grade fantasy in space. Nothing less, and certainly nothing more. Sure, the odd readable story pops up from time to time, but for the most part, this is some pretty dreadful stuff. I skipped more than a few issues half way through, unable to take any more of it. It was a minor miracle I made it all the way to the end.
Whilst we are treated to the odd visually appealing issue, the art doesn't fair much better than the narratives, nor their execution. There is some pretty lacklustre looking issues in here. Far more than there are good looking ones if I'm honest. In the previous volumes, even when the stories were middling, the art was usually pretty strong, but not so here. It really is the ass end of the collection in more ways than one.
After the series itself finishes, with the whimper to end all whimpers, we are treated to a few hundred pages of additional material, which whilst far from perfect either, was definitely better in every way over the proper issues the omnibus collects. Better stories, better art, better characterisation, better execution, and all are between 3 and 10 pages long. Alan Moore even surprisingly popped up with a few stories, which, to no one's surprise, were the best written in the entire series, and made most everything else look amateurish by comparison. If only we could bottle that man's talent and force feed it to the hacks that currently occupy the offices at the big 2. It should be noted, whilst this was a terrible representation of Star Wars that I will never read again, it still beats the tits off Disney Star Wars every day of the week. 2.25/5
OmniBen.
May 14, 2025
This is the end of Marvel's Star Wars and it's just as well. After Return of the Jedi, which appears near the beginning of this collection, they didn't seem to know what to do with the characters. Or more to the point, George Lucas and Co. didn't allow them to do anything with them, even though another film wouldn't appear for many years. It's too bad they couldn't let this be an "alternate" Star Wars, like Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye, which is still reprinted as a "Star Wars Classic."
Still, all of this doesn't excuse the increasingly juvenile writing and terrible art that fills the second half of the book. It was a real trial to push through, and finally cancelling the series was a mercy to both the characters and the readers.
The volume does end on an up note, as following the main series we are treated to material from Pizzazz, Marvel's short-lived media magazine. There are a couple conventional but good serial adventures by Archie Goodwin and Chris Claremont, with art by Howard Chaykin and Carmine Infantino. Even better, we get reprints from the U.K. Star Wars Weekly, with one-part stories by Alan and Steve Moore and Steve Parkhouse, with art by Alan Davis and some others I wasn't previously familiar with but who are really good. This stuff is wild and reminds me of stories I read in the Doctor Who strips from around the same time (to which Parkhouse also contributed.) If only the main series could have been like this. If they haven't collected this work in its own book, they should, because no one should have to suffer through the Duffy/Martin run to get to it.
Still, all of this doesn't excuse the increasingly juvenile writing and terrible art that fills the second half of the book. It was a real trial to push through, and finally cancelling the series was a mercy to both the characters and the readers.
The volume does end on an up note, as following the main series we are treated to material from Pizzazz, Marvel's short-lived media magazine. There are a couple conventional but good serial adventures by Archie Goodwin and Chris Claremont, with art by Howard Chaykin and Carmine Infantino. Even better, we get reprints from the U.K. Star Wars Weekly, with one-part stories by Alan and Steve Moore and Steve Parkhouse, with art by Alan Davis and some others I wasn't previously familiar with but who are really good. This stuff is wild and reminds me of stories I read in the Doctor Who strips from around the same time (to which Parkhouse also contributed.) If only the main series could have been like this. If they haven't collected this work in its own book, they should, because no one should have to suffer through the Duffy/Martin run to get to it.
June 1, 2022
This omnibus was noticeably of lesser quality than the first two. The quality of the book was still great, but the stories themselves were less interesting to me, the artwork wasn't as good, that portrayal of the characters was poor, and it was more childish.
One of the main problems was that it was almost like scenes were missing. For instance, Han and Leia would have a big argument. Then, with nothing showing any resolution, they would suddenly be totally fine in the next frame. Things like this happen somewhat regularly and make it hard to follow the story.
The stories were more ridiculous and childish.
- The relationship between Han and Leia is a travesty. They are back to the beginning of ANH. Leia is flirting with other men and they are basically acting like EST and ROTJ didn't happen. These are people who love each other, and the author clearly forgot that and went for cheap drama.
- A whole lot of the plot is driven by people saying something like, "Let them go. We don't have to worry about them because they aren't a threat."
- There is a race of people who are dressed exactly like pirates. Their spaceship is....a pirate ship. I generally like the corny old comic stuff, but this was a bit much.
One good part was showing Leia struggle with going back to life as a diplomat. We see that setting up a new government after the fall of the Empire isn't easy, and she is pretty bitter about having to make deals with people who didn't sacrifice anything.
Some interesting parts:
- They gave Chewie his medal, so they beat Disney to the punch by quite a few decades.
- They also mention Han's dice, so they beat Disney again.
-For a few of the comics, Luke has this ridiculous long flowing hair like he's Fabio. He's walking around shirtless with his hair blowing in the wind. Hilarious.
- Fenn Shysa is in it.
- A lot of the book is very childish, which makes it all the more perplexing when adult themes suddenly show up. In one, there's a hooker in a short skirt standing on the street complaining about how some pirates brought their own women and nobody is replacing her lost customers. I'd much rather have mature themes like this than childish antics, but it really seemed like Marvel should have picked a lane. I mean, you have species that are human sized ants and pirate ships with sails as spaceships on one page and then later you have prostitutes working the streets.
- Lando goes undercover and he wears an eye-patch and a white wig with hair that covers half his face and goes down to his chin. Absolutely hilarious to see emo Lando.
One of the main problems was that it was almost like scenes were missing. For instance, Han and Leia would have a big argument. Then, with nothing showing any resolution, they would suddenly be totally fine in the next frame. Things like this happen somewhat regularly and make it hard to follow the story.
The stories were more ridiculous and childish.
- The relationship between Han and Leia is a travesty. They are back to the beginning of ANH. Leia is flirting with other men and they are basically acting like EST and ROTJ didn't happen. These are people who love each other, and the author clearly forgot that and went for cheap drama.
- A whole lot of the plot is driven by people saying something like, "Let them go. We don't have to worry about them because they aren't a threat."
- There is a race of people who are dressed exactly like pirates. Their spaceship is....a pirate ship. I generally like the corny old comic stuff, but this was a bit much.
One good part was showing Leia struggle with going back to life as a diplomat. We see that setting up a new government after the fall of the Empire isn't easy, and she is pretty bitter about having to make deals with people who didn't sacrifice anything.
Some interesting parts:
- They gave Chewie his medal, so they beat Disney to the punch by quite a few decades.
- They also mention Han's dice, so they beat Disney again.
-For a few of the comics, Luke has this ridiculous long flowing hair like he's Fabio. He's walking around shirtless with his hair blowing in the wind. Hilarious.
- Fenn Shysa is in it.
- A lot of the book is very childish, which makes it all the more perplexing when adult themes suddenly show up. In one, there's a hooker in a short skirt standing on the street complaining about how some pirates brought their own women and nobody is replacing her lost customers. I'd much rather have mature themes like this than childish antics, but it really seemed like Marvel should have picked a lane. I mean, you have species that are human sized ants and pirate ships with sails as spaceships on one page and then later you have prostitutes working the streets.
- Lando goes undercover and he wears an eye-patch and a white wig with hair that covers half his face and goes down to his chin. Absolutely hilarious to see emo Lando.
January 2, 2023
This is Star Wars at its most fun.
Some of it deviates to the little bit more exotic side but some of it has clearly been reappropriated by current Star Wars franchise output.
It includes extras, some of which were only originally available in the UK. And some of that are some of the best tales.
Some of it deviates to the little bit more exotic side but some of it has clearly been reappropriated by current Star Wars franchise output.
It includes extras, some of which were only originally available in the UK. And some of that are some of the best tales.
January 26, 2020
Some nice, some good, some overly cute, too much explaining and very entertaining.
I really liked the huge variety of art there is in this one.
I really liked the huge variety of art there is in this one.
September 27, 2023
A good final volume of the original Marvel run of Star Wars Comics.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews