IDW Brings Us The Complete Star Wars Newspaper Comic Strips, Volume One, In May

 
As we’ve mentioned previously, especially during the announcement of IDW’s team up with Disney to produce all-ages Star Wars comics in Star Wars Adventures, IDW are also publishing an archival edition of the complete newspaper comic strips for Star Wars. And that’s arriving in May. Of course it’s landing in May. As in May the 4th.

The IDW imprint, Library of American Comics  will be presenting us with Volume One of Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Comic which contains 575 sequential strips from its premiere run from March 11th, 1979 to October 5th, 1980.
Included will be every Sunday’s title header and “bonus” panels in “meticulously restored original color”, according to IDW, making this the first-ever complete collection of this comics classic as they originally appeared.
This will be the first of three volumes in a series of books.
IDW explain some of the history behind the comics:
Initially the color Sundays and B&W dailies told separate stories, but within six months the incomparable Russ Manning merged the adventures to tell brand new epic seven-days-a-week sagas that rivaled the best science fiction comics of all time. When the strip launched, Russ Manning accurately predicted that “People today can’t get enough science fiction, especially if it is original and full of creative adventure. The Star Wars characters are like Mickey Mouse. They will be loved forever.” These strips reflect a simpler time in the franchise’s history and are a “must-have” for both the hardcore and casual Star Wars fan.
Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Comics, Volume 1 will arrive in May, and will be presented in 11” x 8.5” landscape hardcover at 260 pages.