This post is from May 28, 2007, and originally appeared in T & Sympathy on the Treetop Lounge site upon the 30th anniversary of the premiere of Star Wars . With the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back looming, I figured I’d post this here so that when I write about Empire, there’ll be some context. I hope you enjoy this repeat of a glimpse into the soul of a geek:

You know, earlier this year I got through my 39th birthday without a hitch. I didn’t spend even one second thinking about how old I am, so I sure as hell didn’t waste time feeling old. But that was then. Now, with the 30th anniversary of the release of Star Wars coming this Friday, I realize that I am, in fact, quite old. That was 30 years ago? I can still remember it so clearly (but don’t ask me what I did last Thursday, because there’s no way in hell I can remember that). But Star Wars? Thirty years ago? Is that even possible?

One thing I do know is that I didn’t see Star Wars on its opening day. Even if I’d wanted to, and even if I’d been able to harass my mom into taking me, I’m not sure the movie was open anywhere near me that first day. I’m pretty sure that Empire Strikes Back opened in Brooklyn a couple of weeks after it opened in Manhattan, and I know for a fact that Return of the Jedi opened on the same day everywhere (since I was there for the 3:00 show), but I don’t know what the deal was with Star Wars. I just know I didn’t see it until sometime in June, or possibly even July or August.

Which is not to say that I lived a Star Wars-free existence for all that time. Oh, no. I can recall seeing commercials for it in the late winter and early spring. And oddly enough, considering what came next, I don’t remember thinking that Star Wars was a movie I had to see. In fact, I had the opposite reaction and figured I’d end up passing. I don’t think I went to the movies too often back then anyway. If I did, I barely remember them.

But then Star Wars opened and at some point kids in school started to see it and the word in the school yard was that this movie was great. Incredible. Must-see. The most amazing thing ever put on film. Plus, there were comics, including what was probably my first direct encounter with the Star Wars universe:

Yeah, okay, this was probably not the best way for someone to be introduced to the whole Star Wars concept, seeing as it takes place after the movie, includes only two characters who actually appeared in the movie, and features a six-foot-tall green bunny rabbit with guns. Just try and imagine how hard my 9-year-old brain worked to resolve this picture with the scraps of information I’d been given by my friends who’d already seen the movie. Let me tell you, no one had mentioned any big green bunnies before.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long to stumble across another comic that actually introduced me to the real Star Wars story:

This was a gigantic comic book printed on paper so thin and cheap that I think it began to turn yellow the instant I opened it. But the important thing was it contained 3 full issues of Marvel’s Star Wars comic, which covered about half of the Star Wars movie. I still hadn’t seen the movie, but now I had some idea of what it was about and it just made me want to see it more. And if I couldn’t see it, then at least I wanted to read the second half, but that second half proved to be very elusive and I didn’t track it down until many, many months later while being dragged on a shopping trip by my mom because I was taking a sick day from school. By the time I found the second half of the comic adaptation, I’d seen the movie and was desperate for more, but since there were no VCRs and no DVDs, this holy grail offered me the chance to relive the whole story whenever I wanted:

So yeah, when I think of Star Wars, I don’t always think of the movie first; I think of these comics. Or, I think of this:

I got this maybe a year after the movie came out, and I read it so often that I eventually had to tape the damn thing together with duct tape to keep it from turning into a random pile of pages that might or might not remain in the proper order. I actually picked up another copy of this back in the mid-90s in a used book store in San Francisco. It was an earlier edition than mine, and in way better condition. I never read it, though. Turns out it’s just not the same without the duct tape. Anyway, this book claimed to be from “The Adventures of Luke Skywalker,” which led me to imagine a long series of other such adventures, which never really happened in novel form for a couple of decades. For many years, while waiting for the VCR to come along, then for my family to get one, then for Star Wars to turn up on video, if I was interested in the story, I’d read this book or I’d read the comics or I’d be flat out of luck. In this day where there’s probably 2 or 3 different versions of the entire saga available at your local Best Buy, my story seems pretty sad, huh?

But you know what? I don’t think I agree. Because by reading the book, and reading the comics, I got to read some scenes that never made it to the movie, but sure did flesh out the story a little bit more. And I got to take those little clues as to how everyone got where they were at the start of the movie and imagine my own version of the Clone Wars and the Jedi and how Darth Vader got into that big black suit. And after so many years of those ideas percolating in the back of my head thanks to the spark these books set off in my overactive 9-year-old imagination, I watched the prequels with a profound sense of disappointment,
because their story wasn’t as good as mine. So on the 30th Anniversary, I might watch Star Wars again (probably on my VHS because it’s the only version I’ve got that’s not all Special Editioned), but if I don’t have the time instead I might just read this:

I never knew this existed when I was a kid, but a couple of years ago I picked it up dirt cheap on eBay. Yeah, the pages are big and cheap and yellowed, but this is my Star Wars and if I’ve gotta acknowledge that 30 years have passed since it first appeared, I might as well do so on my own terms. And if I really want to go all ultra-super-mega-geek, I’ll read it while playing a few selections from this:

My first CD boxed set ever. Damn you, George Lucas. I mean, thanks for the great movie and somewhat lame sequels and prequels and for helping set me on this creative path that sure as hell hasn’t worked out so well for me so far, and I hope you’ve enjoyed all the money I’ve thrown your way over the years, but still, damn you all to hell for creating something that inspired this big long geeky page.

T “these are not the droids you’re looking for” green

And, as always, T & Sympathy is brought to you by the Star Wars collection from Kenner. May the Force be with you, and your children…

The original version of this included a YouTube video of an old Kenner Star Wars toy commercial that has since been pulled for copyright reasons. Sorry I can’t include it here.