Star Wars #1 (1977) Cover Homage CHAYKIN, PALMER & GERHARD
Artists: Howard Chaykin (Penciller) , Tom Palmer (Inker) , Gerhard (Finisher)
20 Comments - 3,258 Views - 18 Likes
Additional Images:
Original Submitted Star Wars #1 Art by Chaykin & Palmer
Howard Chaykin's Pencils - Star Wars #1 Homage
Tom Palmer's Inks Star Wars #1 Cover Homage
Gerhard - One of Many Background Iterations
Star Wars #1 Published Comic (35 Cent Edition)
Indonesian Star Wars #1 Cover (published in 1978)
Artwork Details
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DescriptionWhen I lived in Indonesia in 1977, the only American comic book I my parents could find to buy was the Star Wars Treasury Edition #1 (which reprinted issues #1-3 of the original 6 part movie adaption). Unfortunately, I had a wait until 1978 when I returned to the States to find out how the movie ended as the movie wasn't showing in Indonesia at the time.Anyway, it was always one of my comic book dreams to own the cover to either Star Wars #1 or the Treasury Edition #1. Both came up in the 1999 Sotheby's auction and because I spent all my money on the complete Punisher #1 story earlier in the auction, I could even put a bid in on either (I'm sure I wouldn't have won anyway in retrospect). Many years ago, Jim Warden was kind enough to introduce me to Tom Palmer and we've had occasion to run into each other at different events. Not only is he a great artist, but a humble, gracious, and funny guy. A couple years ago, Tom did a couple of great Hit Girl commissions for be over some rough John Romita Jr. layouts. After that, we talked about doing a Star Wars #1 cover recreation since Tom was the original inker on that cover. In February 2016, I accompanied Mike Zeck to London Super Con where both Howard Chaykin were also in attendance. Tom and I talked for a little while at the "VIP" event that kicked off the show. I talked about my "Gerhard projects" and surprisingly, he mentioned that his son was a big fan of Gerhard's work and would be excited to work on one. We decided that the Star Wars #1 commission could be a good one, but Tom felt it was important to have Howard in on it. So, when Howard joined us a little later in the evening (telling some great stories from the past), Tom was the one to approach Howard to work on the project. In approaching this project, I wanted Howard and Tom to be able to correct some things on the original cover that weren't quite correct. What many people may not know is that when they were working on the original adaptation, the movie wasn't out so they didn't know what the characters should look like. They were working off a draft of the script and some limited reference photos. Tom had no idea what Darth Vader was supposed to look like. When he asked editors, they agreed to make it look like a "black fireman's mask." So, for this version, I wanted Howard and Tom to fix Han Solo's blaster (which looked like a space gun in the original) and make Darth Vader's head look more like it should. A couple weeks later, I found myself driving to an art store to find the right type of paper and dropping it off at Howard's studio (lucky it was driving distance from my place in LA). Two days later Howard called me to pick up the finished pencils. Phase 1 complete! Next, I mailed it off to Tom. Howard's revised pencils were great, but left it up to Tom to revise the look of Darth Vader's helmet (which he did). As he approached the inking, he tried to emulate the inking style of the period, even adding zipatone to Darth Vader's mask. Phase 2 complete - looking great! Howard was happy, Tom was as well - now on to Gerhard! Before Gerhard started working on this, we wanted to align on the background design. We ended up going through eight iterations to get it right. The big debate was whether we should add ships or not to the original design. If you look at the original art that Chaykin and Palmer turned into Marvel, there were no ships in the design. Marvel decided toad them but they were added in such a random manner, it somewhat detracted from the original design. The original layout that we came up with didn't have the ships, but because there was not going to be a logo, it looked a little bare without some design element to balance out the composition. Well, here's what we came up with! It's not the original cover art, but the journey in making this special piece adds to my original memories of reading the original comic over an over again. This piece is twice-up size as well, a bonus you don't get with the original. I hope other Star Wars fans enjoy this as well. If you happen to be going to the San Francisco Comic-Con on Sept. 2-4, you can see the original on display at Gerhard's booth. Please stop by! Social/Sharing |
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Comments on this Artwork
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Will K 
Member Since 2006
Posted on 8/27/2016
W o w ! ! ! When the stars align for you, they REALLY align. Of course, it's cool to get Chaykin and Palmer. But Gerhard always seems to take your ideas to a level that can't be imagined.
Dino Mauricio
Member Since 2009
Posted on 8/28/2016
Fantastic story, this masterpiece turned out very well! Congrats!
Jeff Singh
Member Since 2004
Posted on 8/28/2016
Very cool how all the right things aligned to make this happen. A truly great collecting tale.
Mike W
Member Since 2007
Posted on 8/28/2016
Beautiful recreation!!!!! And a wonderful story behind it!!!!! Well worth the journey!!!!!! Congratulations!!!!!
Tom Orsini
Member Since 2009
Posted on 8/28/2016
Excellent. Boy do I remember that original comic fondly.
Robbie Cook
Member Since 2006
Posted on 8/28/2016
They certainly knocked a home run and this is light years ;) beyond the original! Just a true masterpiece! Top notch ~ Wow!
John S.
Member Since 2005
Posted on 9/1/2016
Couldn't agree more with how nice Tom is, and glad this worked out so well for you with Howard and Tom being at LSCC.
Marc W
Member Since 2014
Posted on 2/5/2017
This is amazing! You´re lucky, I´ve heard Howard isn´t doing Star Wars Commissions very often these days...
Andy Robbins
Member Since 2003
Posted on 5/11/2017
Thanks for the story to wrap it all together. Another successful "Gerhard Project"
Andy Robbins
Member Since 2003
Posted on 12/22/2019
Andy Robbins wrote:
Thanks for the story to wrap it all together. Another successful "Gerhard Project"And thanks to Bill Cox for popping this up on the CAF home page again! The art and your story behind its creation never get old
Ben Herman
Member Since 2003
Posted on 9/14/2017
This is really nice. Congratulations on obtaining such an interesting commission.
Bill J
Member Since 2009
Posted on 8/9/2019
Stunning cover! A gorgeous homage to Star Wars #1! Beautifully done!
Steven Dilworth
Member Since 2012
Posted on 7/21/2024
" When I lived in Indonesia in 1977..."
That sounds so much like, "Back when I was picking coffee beans in Guatemala..."
Awesome! As is this page. What a treat!
Andrew Allen
Member Since 2007
Posted on 9/26/2024
Howard genrally declines to do Star Wars commissions these days. Perhaps he was a little more relaxed a decade ago. Glad you and Tom were able to get him to participate! The end result is stunning, if you're going to commission a 'recreation' why not make it -just- as unique as the original?
ilia georgiev
Member Since 2006
Posted on 2/16/2025
Your narrative makes this art shine. The force was worth you to get this accomplished. Congrats!
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