Happy 35th Anniversary, Star Wars– thanks for saving the comic book industry!

A long time ago… 35 years, to be precise… what were you doing?

On May 25th, 1977, theaters across the country premiered a little film that you might have heard of… and thereby saved the comic book industry. After the Star Wars comic came out, Marvel sold millions of copies, going back to press for numerous reprintings and outselling Marvel’s best-selling title Amazing Spider-Man by a factor of five.

So thank you, George Lucas, Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin, for that six issue miniseries that staved off the Marvel Implosion.

For more information, read Jim Shooter’s take on how Roy Thomas saved Marvel, and the more detailed history at io9.