Star Wars fans are notorious for their devotion – just look at the growing number of people who list Jedi as their religion. But artist George Folz, a fan since the age of four, has found a more creative outlet for his obsession. Every day this year, he has posted a comic-book panel based on the original trilogy on Twitter, in anticipation of the latest chapter in the saga, The Force Awakens.



The project, entitled #darthdays, captures some of the most iconic scenes of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The first panel shows Imperial Stormtroopers tracking C3P0 and R2D2 on the desert planet of Tatooine. He followed that up with other famous frames from the 1977 film, such as Princess Leia’s first encounter with Darth Vader, and Luke Skywalker staring at his home planet’s setting twin suns. “Whose heart doesn’t melt when they see that shot,” says Folz.

As the name of the series suggests, Folz was inspired by his fascination with the Dark Lord of the Sith, sealed when his father first showed him the films on VHS. “There’s that moment in Star Wars where Vader has lifted that guy off the ground,” says Folz. “He’s got his feet dangling and there’s this tremendous cloak of black. That image has stayed with me my entire life.”



Vader’s presence looms large. “What I appreciate about him is he’s kind of an abstract figure – a play of light and shadow,” says Folz. “That scene in Return of the Jedi where he’s underneath the steps in the Death Star throne room and he’s trying to bait Luke to come out [of the shadows] is the best. He’s really one with the shadows.”

Folz, 28, from Evanston in Illinois, originally intended to draw scenes in chronological order. But as he began to realise the herculean scope of the task, he decided to “hop around”. “It’s kinda like an advent calendar. It’s a surprise and more fun for me,” he says.

Despite juggling the project with a full-time job, teaching middle schoolers, he did not miss a post until day 109 – when the power adaptor for his laptop bust. “In the summer, I was working from 8am to 12 at night for three months,” he says. “That was hard. But when people start to care about your work as much as they have #darthdays, you don’t wanna crank out bad work. So I was like, well some of these are gonna take three or four hours.”

Folz, who has also drawn a comic book called The Roman Nose, says the project was meant to challenge his artistic technique. “One of the more offbeat [panels] is the Y-wings going down the Death Star trench in Star Wars,” he says. “It’s such a great shot, with the ships just floating up and down, like levelling up and down very, very slightly. It’s hard to capture movement – the implied rush of the trench in the background.”

Many of the illustrations have a 70s colour palette, which recall the tone of the Marvel comic series that accompanied the original films. Folz says his chief artistic inspiration was Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art for the films and the Star Wars newspaper strips by renowned comic-book artist Al Williamson.

Perhaps the most effective panels are those that do not judiciously reproduce a shot – like those that re-imagine the mystical energy field, the Force, in trippy colours, or capture the energy of action sequences. “I try to ration out the lightsaber ones,” he says. “The one where Luke has his hand cut off and there’s a slight pink swoosh – it’s the trail of Vader’s lightsaber post slice.”

Folz plans to finish the project with a seven-panel arc, starting on Christmas Day. “Han Solo saying ‘Well your highness, I guess this is it’, will kick off the finale,” says Folz, who – unusually for a fanboy – is reluctant to provide further spoilers.

Just like the saga itself, Folz’s dedication to Star Wars will continue. He plans to post a panel based on the new films once a week from January until 2020, a year after the release of Episode IX. “These movies will be new and I haven’t seen them 60 different times. I’m not gonna be at a loss for things to draw.”