Long thought to have been sold out, a few publisher’s copies of Russ Cochran’s 1991 three volume reprint of the Star Wars newspaper strip have turned up in a warehouse. Diamond International Gallery is now listing the box set using the buy it now feature in their eBay Store.  

The box set features the work of two legends in the comic field. Written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by Al Williamson, the set holds the entire run of the duo’s work on the Star Wars newspaper strip. In 1991 publisher Russ Cochran was able to arrange a limited edition print of 2,500 copies of the box set. As publisher copies, each set features the signatures of Goodwin and Williamson on the copyright page.  

“Publisher copies were a special edition of the box set that were held back at the time of the original solicitation,” said Mark Squirek, Senior Manager of Comic and Comic Art Auctions for the Gallery. “Very few publisher copies were actually made. They were originally designed to be sent to those closely associated with the creation of the box set. What makes them so desirable among collectors is the signatures of Goodwin and Williamson.” 

Squirek continued, “It appears that a few extras were put on a shelf almost twenty years ago and than forgotten about! We are very lucky to have access to them. I know that the content has been beautifully reprinted by Dark Horse over the years, but there is something about seeing the art in this setting that enhances Williamson’s crisp and clear lines.”

The genesis of the Star Wars newspaper strip came from several sources. Knowing the power of the newspaper comic page and the comic book, Lucas campaigned for both as a source of promotion. As writer Archie Goodwin reminds us in his introduction to this three volume set, the phenomena of Star Wars was by no means pre-ordained. Marvel had to be sold on the initial comic book and it was Roy Thomas who did most of the selling to Marvel.

While hesitant, Marvel approved the book before the movie came out. With Thomas writing and Howard Chaykin handling the art, the book eventually became the first million-selling comic since the pre-television era. With the success of the film and many of it’s properties, such as the comic book, people were clamoring for more Star Wars material. Having proved itself as a viable concept, Star Wars branched out to quite a few other areas. This is where the newspaper strip comes in. It originally ran from 1979 until 1984. It was syndicated through the Los Angles Times Syndicate.

According to the introduction by George Lucas, they originally wanted Al Williamson to handle the art. However, he was working on another project at the time and couldn’t join the strip. Russ Manning started the run and eventually was replaced by Alfred Alcala. After a while Goodwin came aboard as a writer and with his second story line, he was joined by Williamson. He and Archie Goodwin stayed with the strip until the end. They based their stories between the first and second movies. Each man provides a look into their approach to the strip in their introductions.  

With so few sets actually in stock, the Gallery decided to use the eBay “But It Now” feature for the initial listing. “We looked into results from the past auction market and saw a strong demand for the set. No matter who was listing them, they always sold” said Squirek. “While the final prices received on the set varied a bit, they tended to hover a bit above and a bit below $250. By using the Buy It Now feature we can give those who have been looking for the set a chance to buy it without having to wait for another auction. Since we are now down in the low single digits for remaining stock, it has turned out to be a solid strategy. Those who have written us about the set were glad to bypass the usual auction scenario.”

In addition to the Star Wars box set, the Diamond International Gallery eBay Store also features Cochran’s EC Reprint Annual series as well as a good run of hard to find Dark Horse Syroco figures.