CLASSIC IMAGE: ICON HEROES...

Pals through thick and thin, during Empire and Rebellion, Han Solo and Chewbacca the Wookiee are quite an enduring team still very much loved by STAR WARS fans and film fans worldwide.

This is a shot I found online that I'd never ever seen before. Photographed for RETURN OF THE JEDI in 1982, it's one of the few posed studio pixs of the pair taken for that film that I've seen (and believe me, I've seen very little so far). There must be more B/W and colour variations of this image out there in the LUCASFILM Archives waiting to be published or released by OFFICIALPIX...

In the meantime, why not check out how to get hold of our AFICIONADO BEST OF ISSUES 1-4, with its major section devoted to the smuggling duo, here: STAR WARS AFICIONADO: THE BEST OF ISSUES 1-4

CLASSIC IMAGE: UNFORGETTABLE VILLAINY

Wearing, in my opinion, the best costume and helmet, from the original STAR WARS, the menacing, lightsaber holding dark vision that is Darth Vader (presumably inhabited by US Don Post employee/ Vader stand-in Kermit Eller?) poses for a promotional image for the LUCASFILM/FOX publicity machine, sometime during 1977-1978.

BEHIND THE SCENES IMAGE: REBEL CAPTURE!

Feisty heroine Princess Leia finds herself in a tough spot with some Imperial Stormtroopers in this specially posed publicity image for Carrie Fisher from 1979 (probably April, during the first batch of filming of Bespin scenes) for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

For more info on the making of the classic film, check out our comprehensive Behind the Scenes issues from 2006 and 2010, containing much behind the scenes information not available within the pages of the recent Rinzler book.

2010 ESB Behind the Scenes companion.

Exhaustive Making of ESB Special Issue from 2006.

Available here: BACK ISSUE PDF CATALOG

CLASSIC IMAGE: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WOOKIEE?

Peter Mayhew in his iconic Stuart Freeborn created Chewbacca costume poses for a side angle publicity/costume reference image from 1982 for his final Classic Trilogy STAR WARS appearance in EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI.

AFICIONADO STAR WARS MYSTERY: CAPTURING THE MAN IN BLACK!

Here's some intriguing pictures of a US (?) photo shot taken of Darth Vader, the true Dark Lord of the Sith. I think its from at least 1977/78 (presumably thats Kermit Eller in the costume) - note the huge size of the Vader mask: it has to be from A NEW HOPE time.

If anyone knows what the shoot was for, if there's any more images in the set, and where and when it first appeared, please get in touch...

CLASSIC IMAGE: QUEEN OF ALDERAAN!

Here's a nice posed shot of the lovely actress Rebecca Jackson Mendoza as Breha Organa, the wife of Bail, Queen of the peaceful and important world of Alderaan, and loving, caring adopted mother to the baby Princess-to-be, Leia. Sadly, Breha Organa had very little screen-time in the finale of REVENGE OF THE SITH, but lets hope she gets a chance to one day appear in THE CLONE WARS animated series, or even, here's wishing, the eventual live-action TV series set between EPISODEs III and IV.

CLASSIC ART: TOONAMI JEDI!

Here's a great piece of UK bus stop/terminal promotional art for the superb animated CLONE WARS series from 2005, shown on CARTOON NETWORK, and brought to life by Genndy Tartakovsky and his talented team of writers and animators.

Somebody PLEASE release this fantastic micro-series and its epic EPISODE III related sequel onto Blu-ray!

CLASSIC IMAGE: SUPER-COOL LANDO!

New Star Warrior, Billy Dee Williams, poses for a James Bond-like image as the suave Lando Calrissian, Baron/Administrator for the Bespin mining colony, in a 1979 promotional shot for his upcoming characters premiere appearance in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

DARTH VADER: SEVENTIES TV CELEBRITY!

DON POST MASKS staffer Kermit Eller was a very busy man playing the then ultimate persona of evil-Darth Vader- in the late seventies-officially partaking in everything from appearing on the hilariously bad DONNIE AND MARIE SHOW to opening BLOOMINGDALES department store with his own poster range (with a little artistic help from Ralph McQuarrie, I might add!).

I'm assuming the above image is from a US TV show appearance but, being in the UK, I have no idea which show it is, when it aired exactly (1977?), or who the celebrity is that Vader is posing with.

Can anyone out there in STAR WARS cyberspace help with any info?

CLASSIC IMAGE: BOBA ATTACK!

This is a great posed out-take shot of Boba Fett from 1978 (notice how his costume is slightly different to the way it looks in EMPIRE- in particular the gloves), photographed by legendary rock/pop photographer Bob Seidemann for LUCASFILM. Its unknown who's in the costume but in all likelihood its someone who worked at ILM during that period.

Boba was the undisputed visual star/lynch pin of Celebration V. Here's to a long future of captive pursuits for the character in all areas of STAR WARS continuing mythology.