The Force Beam: possibly the first Star Wars bootleg toy

The Force Beam, as advertised on the
back of the UK's Star Wars Weekly

It is hard to believe today that someone would have had the audacity to produce an unlicensed Star Wars toy and sell it right under the noses of Lucasfilm, even running big advertisements in at least one official Star Wars publication.

Looking back at Star Wars Weekly – issue 11

The cover of Star Wars Weekly issue 11

It's taken longer for Episode Nothing to finish reviewing Marvel's adaptation of Star Wars than it took Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin to write and draw it. But at last, here's my account of Star Wars Weekly issue 11, published in the UK on April 19 1978.