THE EARLY DAYS OF THE EXPANDED UNIVERSE

REWIND TO 1977. THE UNIVERSE OF STAR WARS CONSISTED OF A TOTAL OF FIVE PLANETS, A BUNCH OF NON-HUMAN SPECIES GLIMPSED IN A DIM CANTINA, AN EVIL EMPIRE, A RAG-TAG REBELLION, AND CURSORY REFERENCES TO A MYSTICAL WARRIOR CLAN. FAST FORWARD 36 YEARS. THIS GALAXY HAS EXPANDED SO RAPIDLY THAT IT NECESSITATES PUBLISHING SEVERAL ESSENTIAL GUIDES, A 256-PAGE ATLAS, AND A THREE-VOLUME ENCYCLOPEDIA. AND THAT’S JUST A FEW OF THE BOOKS. EVEN MORE INCREDIBLE IS THAT THE CENTRAL STORY OF THE FIRST MOVIE—THE REBEL ALLIANCE’S EPIC BATTLE AGAINST THE EMPIRE—IS NOW BUT A MOMENT IN A VAST HISTORY THAT SPANS MILLENNIA. BUT HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

MICHAEL KOGGE

In the Beginning…. In the late 1970s, the offices of “The Star Wars Corporation” in Los Angeles were a motley cluster of trailers near the Universal lot. Inside, no more than a dozen full-time employees worked on what outsiders thought to be a silly science-fiction movie. “My check literally was made out from ‘Star Wars,’” says Sherry Kaplan, an executive assistant at the time. “You don’t know the funny looks I got at the bank.” Charles Lippincott, vice president of marketing and merchandising, received slews of similar funny looks when he tried to make tie-in deals. Company after company said no. His persistence paid off when Marvel Comics editor Roy Thomas and artist Howard Chaykin agreed to tackle a mini-series adaptation. Del Rey Books editor Judy Lynn del Rey also…

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Star Wars Insider: 2019 Special Edition (Digital) - 1 Issue, Star Wars Insider: 2019 Special Edition

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