Published on April 12, 1977, the inaugural “Star Wars” comic book actually arrived a month before the first “Star Wars” film debuted, marking the first in a long line of comic books exploring the “Star Wars” universe.

The first issue, which is an adaptation of the movie, was published by Marvel Comics and written by Roy Thomas with art by Howard Chaykin. Marvel continued to publish “Star Wars” comics through the mid-1980s. Dark Horse Comics eventually took over the license and began publishing “Star Wars” comics in 1991, until Marvel – now owned by Disney, which also owns “Star Wars” – began publishing the comics again in 2015.

“This was the kickoff of ‘Star Wars’ comic books, and there have been a lot of them ever since,” said Cindy Jackson, library specialist for comic arts with VCU Libraries. “That is going back to the very, very beginning of where it all started.”

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