We all know that the first Star Wars film changed the face of pop culture forever when it hit theaters 40 years ago today—but it’s not just the movie that’s celebrating that milestone in 2017. Star Wars comics arrived with force in 1977, and hundreds of issues later, they’re more popular now than ever.

To celebrate the 40^th anniversary of Star Wars, we’re looking back at our 40 favorite moments from the history of comics from a galaxy far, far away—one day at a time.

Star Wars Tales (1999) #1

• Published: September 29, 1999
• Added to Marvel Unlimited: July 27, 2015
• Writer: Ron Marz, Peter David, Jim Woodring, Timothy Zahn
• Cover Artist: Igor Kordey

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You have to admire the idea behind STAR WARS TALES. Though Star Wars fans can be sticklers for the importance of continuity across all media, TALES decided to eschew all that and focus one thing: fun stories. Each issue features a series of unrelated vignettes designed solely to entertain, without the burden of needing to stay in line with any canon but that of the four films released to this point.

STAR WARS TALES #1 illustrates the series’ ideals beautifully with four completely independent stories, each unique in tone and setting. For the Prequel fans, we see Master Qui-Gon Jinn instilling his wisdom to Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi as they explore the planet Arorua in the years before “Episode I.” After that, Timothy Zahn presents a Mara Jade adventure set between the events of “Return of the Jedi” and HEIR TO THE EMPIRE; Mara returns for a cameo in a Galactic Civil War-era Darth Vader story by Ron Marz.

But it’s Peter David who not only takes the idea of having fun with Star Wars and runs with it, but also delivers the most memorable story of the bunch with “Skippy the Jedi Droid.” Remember the droid that Uncle Owen almost bought, but it had a “bad motivator”? As you’ll learn in this delightfully non-canon exploit, that’s Skippy—also known as the much less fun-sounding R5-D4—and the “motivator” for that event occurring had nothing to do with malfunctioning electronics. It’s a must-read for Star Wars fans just looking to enjoy themselves—which should be all of us.

The client, who goes by Nick Fury or Nick Fury Jr. in some circles and previously was known as Marcus Johnson, is an adult male in above average physical fitness. Although he lost one of his eyes in an incident of torture, he seems to have no long-term physical consequences from the incident beyond that loss. Additionally, he reports no further physical concerns stemming from it. The psychological toll of the incident and the series of events that have cascaded from that moment have not yet been properly accounted for, in the opinion of this writer.

In brief, as noted above, the client was known as Marcus Johnson. He, in fact, had identified as that for most of his life. However, it was revealed to him that he was actually born as Nicholas Fury Jr, the son of the former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director (amongst other accomplishments). He found this out while under attack by a series of super villains and various mercenary types and just after the death of his mother.

During this tightly packed series of episodes—each one being significant enough to change one’s perspective on their own life—Fury also met his biological father, a man he had no awareness of being related to. However, their meeting was short-lived, marked by violent confrontations with many who wished one or both of them dead, and Fury almost immediately went into hiding after and has been rumored to either have died, to be living in exile, or even, according to one particularly far-fetched sounding story, have taken up the role of some kind of cosmic nearly omniscient monitor.

Nonetheless, Fury felt motivated and/or inspired by his genetics to follow in his father’s footsteps and, alongside his best friend Phil Coulson, joined S.H.I.E.L.D. He seemed to be a natural for the work, using his military service, strong tactical mind, and natural charisma to adapt and excel despite a relative lack of training in spycraft.

Unfortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly proved to be a disappointing experience as the client was betrayed and nearly killed while on a mission by his team, a group of HYDRA infiltrators masquerading as S.H.I.E.L.D.

Now the client is operating solo and underground, looking to do what he describes as “the work of S.H.I.E.L.D., the work they should do,” in a freelance capacity.

The client, in session, seems resistant to the idea of admitting to vulnerability, perhaps understandable given the norms of the spy community and the existing pressures of masculinity. However, the amount of upheaval he has experienced in his life over the past year or so is undeniably disruptive. Even if the client would not quality for a formal PTSD diagnosis, his life has been so altered that it seems impossible that he would not be experiencing any kind of ramifications from those experiences.

Additionally, he showed up in my office of his own accord as I have reminded him. While he might be strong, while he might be traumatized, he nonetheless felt the need to seek out psychological counseling and/or support which means that neither he nor I should simply hand wave at what he has experienced as of late.

Through contacts, I have been able to acquire his S.H.I.E.L.D. mental health records done by Doctors James Robinson and ACO. They can be found in his file here on August 2 in the file marked NICK FURY #5.

Psy D. Candidate Tim Stevens is a Staff Therapist who would never suggest he has experience in spycraft, but, you know…wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

Since the early days of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Kang the Conqueror has agitated the Avengers and then some with his mastery of multiple eras and desire to add the Marvel Universe to his empire. On November 14, the time tyrant takes on a new role as central antagonist in the “LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2,” creating a campaign that crisscrosses all reality and space.

Before you play the game, discover the story behind this agent of chronological chaos with the History of Kang!

When one examines a being such as Kang, a master of time-travel among other incredible accomplishments, one must remember that what we perceive as a linear progression of history here in the present-day may actually not be so according to Kang himself. Slipping in and out of time along his personal chrono-line, he’s created false representations of his career to modern scholars and historians—in essence, simply because one may encounter the man at one time, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not a Kang from an earlier time in his life.

After Nathaniel Richards abandoned the guise of Pharoah Rama-Tut and adopted that of Kang the Conqueror, he entered into direct conflict with the Avengers, and thus created an enmity with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for all time.

His first sally against the present-day Avengers came during the earliest line-up of the team, but also one of their strongest. Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Giant-Man, and The Wasp responded to a call from the Pentagon to investigate a UFO and instead met Kang in all his new-found glory. The despot explained his past persona as Rama-Tut and then proceeded to proclaim his reign over the planet. The Avengers, of course, defied him and battled until their unfortunate capture.

This first encounter ended when young Rick Jones and his so-called Teen Brigade created a diversion and freed the heroes from Kang’s holding cells, Giant-Man used a new acid-base solvent of his design to destroy much of the Conqueror’s personal equipment, and the despot escaped back to the future to lick his wounds. During the battle, the heroes found Kang to be arrogant, full of his own superiority, and disdainful of anything the present-day could offer next to his own 30^th century technology.

Avengers (1963) #8

• Published: September 10, 1964
• Added to Marvel Unlimited: November 13, 2007
• Penciller: Jack Kirby
• Cover Artist: Jack Kirby

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After he realized his mistake in confronting the Avengers directly, Kang later schemed against them by remaining in the future and sending a Spider-Man robot to first lure the group into a false sense of security, and then waylay them one by one. The Conqueror’s plan worked beautifully until the real web-slinger swung in to destroy his artificial doppelganger and help the Avengers turn the tide once more against Kang.

In this second encounter versus the famous team, Kang’s superiority manifested again, but when he realized he’d been defeated, he devolved into near-hysterics, proclaiming everything he’d done “was all in vain.”

Time passed and Captain America took the reins of a smaller team of Avengers consisting of himself, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and The Scarlet Witch, sometimes referred to as “Cap’s Kooky Quartet.” Looking in on them from the future again, Kang reasoned the team’s then-current status made them ripe for his revenge and so transported them to his far-flung century. His mistake manifested in his revelation to the heroes that he’d fallen in love with a princess named Ravonna, and might err in his judgment in any dealings with her. Cap’s team helped the princess in a war between her kingdom and Kang’s immense forces, but in the end those same forces turned on the despot and he in turn allied himself with Ravonna’s people to save her.

This adventure highlighted Kang’s capability to love another human being, despite his high-minded and frankly wicked actions. Sadly, as the Avengers faded away to return to their own time, Ravonna, her eyes open to Kang’s good side, fell dead from an assassin’s cowardly strike. The Conqueror, having failed to conquer love, turned away to harden his heart for the next battle against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Check Out: AVENGERS (1963) #8, #11, #23, #24

No one likes change, least of all Drax the Destroyer.

Maybe that’s because most of the change in Drax’s life came without his choosing; but now, as we’ll see in ALL-NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #7, out August 2 from writer Gerry Duggan and artist Greg Smallwood, the big change in his attitude will be all his own, for better or for worse.

“Fans who know Drax only from the Guardians film series might be surprised at how different the comic book Drax’s history is from the cinematic one,” notes ALL-NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY editor Jordan D. White. “Yes, it is true that Thanos killed his wife and child… but [in the comics] they were an Earth wife and child, because Drax was a realtor named Arthur Douglas who enjoyed playing the saxophone.”

When Arthur’s car, carrying himself, his wife and daughter, crashed due to Thanos’ evil intervention and Douglas died, the man’s spirit found itself resurrected in a new body thanks to beings from the moon of Titan. Now called Drax the Destroyer and tasked with nothing short of killing Thanos, he dived headlong into a chaotic career of battling weirdos and space monsters until he regained his Earth memories and seemingly failed at his job when the space-faring Captain Marvel managed to put The Mad Titan down.

Wandering the star lanes, Drax joined with his daughter, now the powerful psychic Moondragon, but fell under her mental domination. Once freed, he shouldered the burden of guarding one of the Infinity Stones alongside Adam Warlock, until he suffered a series of setbacks due to his failing mind and death.

“The films’ portrayal of Drax as unable to understand metaphors has its roots in a later depiction of him, [during one of the times] he was brought back from the dead,” says White. “He came back with reduced intelligence, acting almost childlike. I think, comedically, [writer] Peter David’s use of Drax in his CAPTAIN MARVEL series was probably peak humor.”

Yet another new version of the Destroyer emerged after the prison ship he’s on crashes on Earth and he befriends a young girl he mistakenly believes to be his daughter.

All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #7 cover by Aaron Kuder

“The look of Drax that they echoed in the film, the look that he still sports now, came later still, when Keith Giffen wrote him,” White explains. “Gone was his purple cape and childish persona, and in came the red tattoos and the gruff brawler he is now. That was a fun series, with Drax teaming up with and protecting a young girl named Cammi.”

Drax could catch no break nor receive no breather in his life when the Annihilation Wave spread out over the cosmos until he took the fight directly to the destructive force’s point of origin and finally fulfilled the promise of his creation when he killed Thanos during a battle.

From there, he joined the new Guardians of the Galaxy at the request of Star-Lord, and until very recently enjoyed the thrill of a warrior’s life. Today, Drax embraces a peaceful existence, one that his fellow Guardians may scratch their heads over, knowing their comrade as they do.

“I am not sure any of Drax’s teammates are really on board with him swearing off violence,” White states for the record. “Violence is pretty much all he’s been about for so long, I am not sure they know what to make of a Drax who won’t throw a punch.

“There is a sketch from the Netflix show ‘With Bob & David’ about New Year’s Resolutions where a bunch of guys have these crazy unrealistic resolutions, and then they give one guy so much guff when he says he’s swearing off red meat. I think that captures the Guardians’ attitudes on Drax’s resolution pretty perfectly.”

Drax seizes the spotlight in ALL-NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #7 by Gerry Duggan and Greg Smallwood, coming August 2!

We don’t know exactly how and we don’t know exactly why, but the adult version of Jean Grey will return in GENERATIONS: PHOENIX & JEAN GREY on August 9. Part of the anthology series celebrating Marvel’s many legacy characters, this Cullen Bunn-written/R.B. Silva-illustrated one-shot promises to have plenty of fans talking as the original Marvel Girl meets up with the youthful Jean currently appearing in her own series and X-MEN: BLUE.

An original member of the X-Men, Jean Grey used her telepathic and telekinetic abilities to battle evil. Eventually the Phoenix Force found her and took over her body, causing all kinds of problems, including her own death!

The younger version of Jean who’s been kicking around the Marvel Universe for the past few years originally thought she came from the past, but eventually learned she and her pals traveled from an alternate dimension. Still, she worries about what the impending arrival of the Phoenix Force might mean for herself.

We talked with Silva about drawing these two together!

Marvel.com: Aside from costumes and age, what are the key physical and design differences between the two Jeans?

R.B. Silva: I believe young Jean is still developing physically, and as the story progresses, she will learn more about herself. On the other hand, classic Jean possesses this strong, invincible posture, consistent with her age.

Marvel.com:  When you first starting talking about drawing this book, was there ever any discussion about giving the original Jean a new costume? Or were you all always planning on going with the classic green and yellow look?

R.B. Silva: The classic suit was something we set for the story from the very beginning.

Marvel.com: On the other hand, you’ve got the younger Jean Grey working with a new costume. Did that take any getting used to as you got into the series?

R.B. Silva: Yes, especially those “Xs” on the chest and the gloves.

Marvel.com: Younger Jean Grey has been trying to figure out how not to become a victim of the Phoenix Force. What’s it like for her when she comes face to face with this older version of herself who’s dealt with it for years?

R.B. Silva: She feels admiration and fear. There’s a lot of respect on her partl it feels baffling to inquire of Jean/Phoenix how she deals with that sentiment all the time.

Marvel.com: How has it been working with Cullen and the editorial team on this story that promises to become a huge part in Jean Grey’s history?

R.B. Silva: Cullen is extremely talented. We have worked together before, in other projects, and that made things easier for us to develop this story. The editorial staff is perfectly synced, and I’m confident enough to say this project will be among the best ones in the whole year. I am very happy to be a part of this team.

GENERATIONS: PHOENIX & JEAN GREY from Cullen Bunn and R.B. Silva blazes a new path on August 9!