Star Wars: A New Hope - Special Edition (1997) #3

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope #3

by Bruce Jones, Eduardo Barreto (Artist), Bruce Jones

The adaptation of the first Star Wars motion picture continues! Luke Skywalker continues his meteoric rise in becoming a Jedi.

Genres: Star Wars

24 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1997

Reviews

[Elwin Kline · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I liked it." - 3 out of 5 star rating.

This is just Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope in comic book form. Sadly, offering nothing new, interesting, or exciting beyond reliving the movie inside of panels.

If I hadn't seen the movie more times than I could count since I was a kid, maybe I could rate this higher... but offering nothing new for something that was released in the 1970's and then re-released here in 2009 with 0% creativity introduced... the word that comes to mind - weak. But... it is still core/OG Star Wars, cannot deny that, so as such I couldn't bring myself to give this a 2 or 1 star rating.

Again, as this offers nothing new... I'll be looking forward to just powering through this so I can move on to something more intriguing asap.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Volume 3

“Got him! I got him!” – Luke
“Great, kid … don’t get cocky.” – Han
…

[Rick Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first experience with Star Wars was not the original film in the theater, although I did see it somewhat late in its initial release. My first Star Wars experience was with the Marvel Comics adaptation of the film, and specifically, with the third issue, since I had missed the first two.

This new adaptation (also volume 3) covers almost the exact segment of the film: The flight from the Death Star to Yavin and the opening moments of the final battle with the Death Star.

In terms of story, this has some great interactions between Luke, Han, and Leia, plus some of the truly iconic Star Wars visuals ("Lock s-foils in attack position!"). There is a surprising amount of character development in these scenes, considering the frantic pace as the Rebel Alliance prepares for impending doom.

The artists do a good job with the characters. They look like the actors, which is not always the case in movie/TV adaptations. Facial expressions and body language are effective. The initial space battle between the Millennium Falcon and the TIE fighters falls short of capturing the pacing and action of the scene, but the lead-up to the final Death Star battle looks pretty good.

Dave Dorman's cover is gorgeous, and his three bonus pin-up pages look great too.

I feel like a hardcover edition of a single issue of a comic is a bit of a waste, but library editions are odd beasts, and this does have the advantage of being durable when bounced around in my son's bookbag.

It was fun to see a new take on this story in the comics medium.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part 3 of a GN series of the first (4th) Star Wars movie. Follows the movie very closely. In fact, many lines are quoted exactly from the movie. Fans of the movies will enjoy and the GN format will appeal to reluctant readers.