Darth Vader, the problematic fanzine fave of 1977

polygon.com:

When Star Wars hit theaters in 1977, fans had no idea it would be a trilogy, let alone remain a household name 45 years later. But they knew they had seen something special, and they wanted more. So they created their own extended universe. Fan zines with art, fiction, and discussion of the movie thrived long before any official sequels or spinoffs. Most focused on the heroes — Luke, Han, Leia, and Obi-Wan were all popular. But others were drawn in by the film’s enigmatic villain, Darth Vader.

Nowadays, the Sith Lord is a pop culture icon. But 1977 was three years before “I am your father.” A New Hope (though it wouldn’t be called that until its theatrical rerelease in 1981) gave almost no details about the man in the mask. In fact, Vader only gets a little under 10 minutes of screen time. He strides around the Death Star with ominous music playing and kills rebels, Empire bureaucrats, and Obi-Wan with equal dispassion.

But there was a hint at something deeper. Fans seized on the fact that, according to Obi-Wan, Vader had killed Luke’s father. With the lie now becoming infamous, it’s hard to remember that it was once all fans had to go on when thinking about the history of the Jedi and the Sith.

For Dyane Kirkland, the hint of in-world history was more than enough. She saw Star Wars during its first run in 1977 with a group of friends, and after the showing, they grabbed some food and then immediately went to watch it again. After that, they formed a group they called the First Terran Enclave of Jedi Knights and got to work. “We had all done fan writing before, but not anything fancy or cohesive,” she says. But the gaps left in Star Wars’ story and characterization spurred them to do more. “It seemed like a caricature,