GOODBYE, CHARLES LIPPINCOTT...

Charles Lippincott, the key man responsible for selling the original film to the sci-fi community in 1976/77.

As anyone reading this site will know, the original Star Wars in its all creative and production phases over 1975 to 1977 was seemingly going to be a tough sell to audiences, or so believed the people at Twentieth Century Fox, who thought the film was destined to be a flop. Fortunately, its writer/director George Lucas and producer Gary Kurtz had a secret weapon up their sleevies in selling and marketing their unique film, not just to generic audiences but to the sceptical sci-fi community worldwide: Charles Lippincott, a genuine star on the rise Wunderkid who would be instrumental in getting many major and very press worthy merchandise deals done prior to and during the film's release, would cleverly build up interest in key magazine/newspaper sectors, interview/look after the film's young (and sometimes wild) stars across various international press jaunts, and be just a solid, reliable, trusted presence to Lucasfilm in the crazy worlds of Hollywood and the movie-making system.

With Kermit Eller as Darth Vader at the famous Chinese Theatre footprints event - Summer 1977.

No stranger to sci-fi/fantasy, having worked on Westworld a few years earlier than Star Wars, for MGM, Lippincott's talents in advertising and marketing, and his interest in the genre, were to be equally well used on subsequent projects like the original, and terrifying Alien (also for FOX), the colourful 1981 Sam Jones-starring version of Flash Gordon, and producer of Sylvester Stallone's nineties take on the UK comic antihero Judge Dredd.

Lippincott in his later years, and still with that classic T-shirt 1976 McQuarrie logo shirt. Image: Facebook.

Talented, insightful, opinionated, but most of all dedicated and an all-round nice guy, Lippincott, who had a lively and very informative social media presence these last few years as one of the definitive paperwork holding/remembrances historian of the original Star Wars, will be greatly missed by the SW fan community and film fans worldwide...

Joe Johnston's early idea for the first Star Wars promotional booth at the 1976 Comic Con, presumably concepted with Lippincott's input.

https://www.starwars.com/news/charley-lippincott?fbclid=IwAR0B3qqFpVyqrKGxWeXfKnCGC6DsZg-YM8GFc9rmyu1DDOYbDbJ08hNknlg

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/charles-lippincott-star-wars-a-new-hope-publicist-dead-dies-1234612584/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/charles-lippincott-dead-star-wars-publicity-mastermind-was-80-1295384

EPISODE VII: THE LIBERATORS!

SPOILER ALERT: They've been separated from their beloved Millennium Falcon for quite a time- it having been prior ruthlessly appropriated by an overwhelming band of pirates, but now Han Solo and his loyal wookiee partner, Chewbacca, both aged but still with an adventurous and daring spring in their steps, are back aboard it. "Chewie, we're home!"

A solo shot of a blaster-ready Han within the Falcon, as seen at the recent COMIC-CON 2015 event.

A Galaxy of Star Wars: The Force Awakens Books Coming December 18 - First Look! | StarWars.com

'EPISODE VII - THE FORCE AWAKENS' - MORE FROM SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2015

Our beloved "Legacy" Trio at the evening Symphony gathering.

The Ewoks might not be around to roast a few dead Imperial Stormtroopers and bang on their helmets, but we can still celebrate the STAR WARS love with some great images from yesterday's epic panel for THE FORCE AWAKENS at San Diego Comic Con, courtesy of the kind people of DISNEY UK (images by Jessie Grant, Michael Buckner/Getty Images for DISNEY publicity).

Script problems? Nah, it's STAR WARS!

Our new heroes enjoy themselves.

Having a blast at Comic Con.

Our evildoers have time for some fun.

Harrison Ford- coming back at ya!

Here's where the fun begins!

The Star Warriors reunited.

Kathleen Kennedy at the front of the STAR WARS relaunch.

Gwendoline Christie and Carrie Fisher share a laugh.

Our trio gathers at the harbour side with 'sabers ready.

The future's so bright, they gotta wear shades!

The San Diego Symphony begins its concert tribute, launched by a message from John Williams.

Fireworks and STAR WARS.

A fine end to the evening.

The Force Awakens Footage Shown at Comic-Con Star Wars Panel! - ComingSoon.net
'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' cast and creative team: 4 EW Exclusive Comic-Con portraits | Gwendoline Christie, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, 'Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens' | EW.com

Where were you in '15? A high school yearbook photo- STAR WARS style. Image: via TWITTER.

Clipping from the UK's SUNDAY EXPRESS newspaper of July 12th, 2015.

STAR WARS AT 35: A CHAT WITH HOWARD CHAYKIN!

The first commercial poster art for the original STAR WARS from 1976. Image and art: Howard Chaykin (via the SPACE: 1970 website).

Today I attended London's first Super Comic Convention event at the EXCEL CENTRE in the heart of Docklands, where, amongst the masses of comic book aficionados and costumed characters waiting for the chance to witness Stan Lee for the first time, I got to meet and talk with the legendary artist Howard Chaykin, a true icon of the American comic book industry whose early work would include the sci-fi epic CODY STARBUCK (which was an early inspiration for George Lucas when devising STAR WARS in the early seventies), AMERICAN FLAGG! and lots of work for the MARVEL and DC comics universe. Of course, to STAR WARS fans he is remembered for his brilliant work in adapting the original first film as part of a six-issue comic series for MARVEL in late 1976 and 1977, and his legendary advance art poster for the film that was sold at the San Diego Comic Con in 1976 that promoted the film to an audience then not yet used to Darth Vader, Chewbacca or Princess Leia.

Artist Howard Chaykin.

STAR WARS comic writer/adaptor Roy Thomas and Chaykin at the San Diego COMIC CON promoting the then upcoming STAR WARS comic series.

Funny, frank, opinionated and self-deprecating- a kind of love-him or hate-him personality akin to Harlan Ellison of the SF book world, with a love of Ravioli (since his days as a starving artist), but not of the kind served in Italian restaurants!- Chaykin was great to meet, and the other fans clearly enjoyed his talking about his work and career, and doing art for them, as much as I did. Of STAR WARS, he recalled he never saw any footage from the film when doing the 1976 adaptation, though he had 400 stills from the film as reference but he didn't like the images, which he felt were too inert, nor the sets, which he felt looked like something from an IKEA Catalogue. He visited the ILM model shop and saw a huge room full of model kits and rows of tank models kits in particular, in an area with a constant smell of glue in the air. Amongst the film models built or being built, he saw work being done to the underside of Darth Vader's Star Destroyer from the beginning of the movie (which he said was the length of a canoe), saw the surface of the Death Star and four varying sized Millennium Falcon models. He was impressed with the model work and the detail involved but didn't think the original film was going to be a success. "If I had known, I'd have worked harder," he told me, humorously.

A fun interpretation of our characters by Chaykin for MARVEL from the late seventies.

It was great to meet Mister Chaykin and STAR WARS AFICIONADO continues to wish him the very best of success with all his future illustrative endeavours.

Howard Chaykin profile/interview: Graphic Novel and Comic Book Creators in New York City - Graphic NYC and How Star Wars Saved the Comic Book Industry

RETURN OF A COMICS LEGEND: HOWARD CHAYKIN'S "EMPIRE"!

Kudos to the team at STAR WARS INSIDER for its slightly improving issues recently. There's been a few new bits of information filtering through about the behind the scenes, attempts at a few more interviews, here and there rare or rare-ish pictures and some special commissions linked to the film series and the new CLONE WARS. Today's news that legendary comics artist Howard Chaykin has contributed a brand new cover for STAR WARS INSIDER's December issue (pictured above), is an excellent new step in the right direction. I have long been fascinated by Chaykin's art for the early STAR WARS comic adaptation, he was specially selected by Lucas due to his work on his sci-fi epic CODY STARBUCK- and gamely visualised a universe in 1976 and 1977 that was still in flux production wise. The adaptation of STAR WARS, one of the very few early clues to the public as to what the film was going to be about, may not look like the universe that was later recreated by Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon for their movie adaptations of EMPIRE and JEDI, but it has a wondrous comic book hybrid feel about it that, thirty four years on, is still ambitious and exciting to look at, and which, with its exciting style, inspired the dreams and ambitions of many young artists who would follow in Chaykin's large foot-steps.

Chaykin's original poster art which appeared at the San Diego COMIC CON in 1976

"Enter Luke Skywalker - will he save the galaxy or destroy it?" Chaykin's adapted poster, now a cover for the launch of the STAR WARS US MARVEL comic.

This new EMPIRE art, of which Chaykin has taken his cues from what he originally did for the limited edition San Diego COMIC CON poster of 1976 (which was then adapted for the cover of STAR WARS MARVEL COMIC number 1) is very nicely done, and I'm sure this issue of INSIDER, with an accompanying behind the scenes feature about Chaykin at MARVEL for STAR WARS, will be a huge success.