It’s Wookiees Gone Wild!
From the moment Chewbacca graced the silver screen in 1977, the word Wookiee (two e’s at the end, please) became a household name. Until Episode III, we only saw Wookiees as background characters. There was the Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978, but many fans (and even George Lucas) don’t like to think back on that bit of riveting TV as part of the real Star Wars universe.
Back in 1979, however, there was a weekly comic strip that ran in many newspapers by Russ Manning. It was a fun strip that ventured into all kinds of areas and explored many plotlines. Many planets were traveled to, including Kashyyyk – home of the Wookiees. The planet name was going through a bit of a transitional phase at that time. It was part of the 1978 Holiday Special, but was pronounced “Kazook.” In the Russ Manning comics it’s spelled Kazhyyyk (with a z). The expanded universe finally got a hold of itself soon after and decided that the proper spelling would be Kashyyyk and that one stuck.
Special thanks go out to my friends Rich Handley and Matt Bracher for these great scans.
Here’s a short description from Rich about the strip:
These are the only Star Wars comic stories from the L.A. Times newspaper strips (except for “Planet of Kadril”) that have never been reprinted by Dark Horse Comics. They represent one of two stories that ran on Sundays during the “Gambler’s World” storyline, which ran Mondays to Saturdays. (The other story was the one about Constancia, which was reprinted in a K*B Toys one-shot by Dark Horse.) Neither of the Sunday-only stories was printed with a title.
Here’s a quick word from Matt:
The impetus is that they were ALL posted on alt.binaries.starwars at some point and I’m re-experiencing their beauty and wonder. The poster even included a week of Russ Manning dailies that I’ve never seen before; part of the Tatooine story that never saw print. (Although, missing are the two weeks of dailies that Al Williamson did adapting the first film.)
What a great trip down memory lane for comic lovers. Enjoy!
Russ Manning Comics Set 1
Russ Manning Comics Set 2
