Posted in Geeking Out
Star Wars and Me
I was a young boy when the first Star Wars movie came out. I actually experienced it for the first time in comic book form. I bought number one off a spinner rack because the cover looked interesting. At that time none of my friends had seen the movie. It had just come out and we had heard about it but it had just started to pick up momentum. Star Wars opened small. The movies were different then. Movies were expected to stay in a theater for a long stretch if they were successful.
I don’t remember exactly when I saw the movie but I know it was in the summer of 1977 and the comic book definitely influenced my decision to go. I remember the feeling of wonder I had seeing that movie for the first time, second time,third time. I saw that movie as many times as I could that summer. I lost count how many. My next door neighbors had more spending money than I would ever have. They were older than me but they liked me. They would take me every time they went.
Then we would come home and act out all our favorite parts. That is until the action figures came out. Then my neighbors bought everything they could get their hands on (in all honestly I think they stole more than they ever bought but this was never discussed in length. Those two young ladies were my introduction into my life of crime).
Star Wars was an obsession. I bought all the trading cards. I read Alan Dean Foster’s Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. I talked my mom into letting me skip school to see The Empire Strikes Back. I cut school to see Return of the Jedi. I read every comic. Eventually, this would turn into every book until I hit a couple stinkers and became more selective. I played all the video games. I would eventually marry someone who loved it as much as I did. As a consumer I have made them a lot of money. As a fan I have spread the gospel to anyone who would listen.
This is a good time for Star Wars fans right now. The Clone Wars cartoon and now Rebel have both been excellent. The comics are still going strong and it looks like the book line has hit it’s stride again (I can’t wait to read Chuck Wendig’s new book). Of course, the new movie is coming out in December. I won’t lie. The second trilogy left me dismayed. I have great hopes for the new movies. Honestly, though, as long as they are entertaining I am all in.
There is no doubt in my mind that Star Wars made me a science fiction fan (books and movies). It was my gateway drug into so many wonderful experiences. It has had more of an impact on what I like, watch, and read than any other piece of entertainment ever.
More importantly, as a young boy it gave me a tribe. A group of fellow Star Wars geeks that I could hang with. I have always leaned towards isolation. Star Wars pulled me into a world of friends. It continues to do that to this day. Star Wars Celebration is a convention I have always wanted to go to but just seemed to miss the chance every year. In 2016 it will be in London during the summer. We are so going. I have new Star Wars friends I need to meet and geek out with.
