Cleaning up the galaxy: 1970s Star Wars bubble bath

A competition in Star Wars Weekly issue 12 gives kids the chance to win Star Wars bath products.

Episode Nothing is back after a break, with a look at a product that may have misjudged its market a bit: Star Wars bubble bath.

How the release of The Force Awakens will be a galaxy away from the opening of the original Star Wars

Then and now: teaser ads for Star Wars in 1977 and Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens 

It's almost here. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens will be released next month. And it's being awaited with such rapt anticipation that there's a danger we'll have nothing left in reserve to welcome the Second Coming.

How different is all this from the release of the first Star Wars in 1977? Episode Nothing considers

The Star Wars double LP is coming back: Sony Classical to release Star Wars: The Ultimate Vinyl Collection

Star Wars: The Ultimate Vinyl Collection, to be
released by Sony Classical in January

The Star Wars original soundtrack album sold four million copies and probably turned a lot of young people on to orchestral music as they sat listening in their rooms, replaying the film's action in their heads.

The music has never gone away, but now the original double LP set is about to come back. Sony has announced the January 8th 2016 release of Star Wars: The Ultimate Vinyl Collection.

Looking back at Star Wars Weekly – issue 12

The cover of Star Wars Weekly issue 12

It was April 26, 1978, and young Star Wars fans across the UK were handing over ten of the most important pennies they would ever spend.  Star Wars Weekly issue 12 was out.

This, we knew, was the edition in which Marvel’s adaptation of Star Wars would reach the end.

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.

Casting Star Wars: How George Lucas and Brian De Palma found their stars

The alternative cast for Star Wars: Will Seltzer (Luke Skywalker), Christopher Walken (Han Solo),
Terri Nunn (Princess Leia)

Brian De Palma’s Carrie is well worth owning on Blu-Ray just because it’s a great horror film – and a reminder of how much talent was around in 1970s commercial cinema. But for anyone interested in Star Wars in the 1970s, the UK and Ireland Blu-Ray release of the film contains a bonus feature that makes fascinating viewing.