Graphic Novel published as Classic Star Wars - Volume 1. Check availability & pricing at:

All of the original monotone
comic strips are available at:

Comic Strip published 1981 by LA Times; Comic Book series published August 1992 thru February 1993 as Classic Star Wars #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 by Dark Horse Comics:

Synopsis:
This graphic novel reproduces the LA Times newspaper strips published between 1981 and 1984, but instead of merely reprinting the strips, the images are arranged to be more suitable for the comic book page.
Featuring the adventures of Luke, Leia, and Han in the time between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. The strips have been reworked to create a continuous story in a single graphic novel.
This volume collates the following stories:

• The Bounty Hunter of Ord Mantell
  Luke and Leia intensify their efforts to find a new base, but on a jungle planet they find only an Imperial training center. Picked up by Han, they travel to Ord Mantell for ship repairs. Han is recognised by the cyborg bounty hunter Skorr and his assistant Gribbet, who kidnap Luke and Leia and hold them for the ransom of Han's surrender. The pirates narrowly manage to pull off a rescue, only to be chased by both Imperials and bounty hunters. Luke realises his lightsaber has a tracking device on it, and dump the tracker into a lifepod. The angry Imperials arrest Skorr when the Millennium Falcon escapes.

• Darth Vader Strikes
  Darth Vader has come up with a plan to deal with the Rebels once and for all - something "bigger and better.” He outlines his plan at the space-yards of Fondor, to his admiral's consternation. One, Admiral Griff, sends a message to the Rebels of Yavin alerting them to the danger. Increasingly jealous of how close Han and Leia are getting; Luke volunteers to go on the spy mission to Fondor. He and the droids travel to Fondor, to see the new project for themselves: a Super Star Destroyer. Vader, meanwhile, thanks Griff for his acting. Vader, with Griff's help, is planning to betray not only the Rebel spy but also the fellow admirals who resent him.
  Joining the work crew, Luke meets Tanith Shire, a tug operator who takes an instant liking to Luke. Griff arranges an opportunity for Luke to damage the new ship. Meeting with the admirals in the steam tubes of the compound, Luke narrowly avoids the trap when he senses Vader. At the same time, Vader senses Luke. Luke manages to get out of the death trap with Tanith's help.

• The Serpent Masters
  Escaping from Fondor in an automated drone ship, Tanith reveals she is arranged for the ship to crash - she is also a ship thief. They crash land on a swampy planet. Meanwhile, Han and Leia travel to a conference on the neutral world of Kabal. Luke, Tanith and the droids are picked up by Serpent Masters - riders of large dragon-like creatures - and are taken to the Great Well to confront Tyrann, Supreme Master. Tyrann orders Luke's execution to Tanith's shock. She talks him into something else; exiling Luke to the slave level at the bottom of the Well. Tanith's father is down there, awaiting his daughter's efforts to buy his freedom. Luke plans an escape, learning how to fly a Serpent - trying to, at least. Making his way to where Threepio and Artoo are about to be dismantled, and learns the Masters are using certain sound waves to control the Serpents. Artoo begins using signals himself to allow Luke to control one. When Luke chops off Tyrann's control medallion, Tyrann leaps to his death after it. Shire's people are freed and given a new transmitter.

• Deadly Reunion
  Luke and Tanith travel to Kabal to meet with Han and Leia. But the Empire is also on the way to attack - if you're not with them, you're against them. When the heroes arrive, the planet is in full panic and evacuation. Tanith leaves Luke with one last kiss, and Luke goes on to rejoin his friends. Moments later, TIE Bombers start to hit the planet. The Millennium Falcon takes off, but is chased by the bombers. With the nav computer damaged, the Falcon picks up a homing beacon on an Alliance frequency, which leads them to a graveyard of derelict ships. A "ghost" taunts them, saying he is led them to their doom. They try to blast out, but the Falcon is caught in the gravitational pull of the dwarf star the ships orbit. Luke and Han set out in spacesuits to confront their attacker. They find him in an Imperial transport - a dying man named Doctor Arrakkus, former head of an Imperial weapons complex, and victim of a failed experiment. Snatching him, Han takes the detonator Arrakkus was going to use to blow up the graveyard. He uses the explosion to boost the Falcon out of the danger zone.

• Traitor's Gambit (pt.1)
  As the Empire's harassment of Yavin worsens from blockade to attack, General Dodonna orders a general alert, informing Rebel ships to stay clear of the system. The heroes decide to take Luke's information on the Super Star Destroyer to Aquaris, where an underwater Rebel sympathiser base lies. The group is led by one Commander Silver Fyre - a name Han recognises as a mercenary and star pirate leader who once hijacked a spice shipment from him. Realising Leia will want solid proof Fyre is not on their side, Han speaks loudly about the droids' information when he knows he is being listened to. The following morning, Fyre leads the group on a hunting party, where she intends to set up a phoney rescue to prove she is on the level - only it becomes a real rescue when the group is set upon by a giant squid. It turns out that while Fyre is not a traitor, her second-in-command Kraaken is. Leia surprises him with the droids – she’s suspected a traitor since Kabal. Han stops him before he can escape, and Fyre's Freeholders become full-time Rebels.

Related Stories (in chronological order):

• A New Hope by George Lucas
• The Early Adventures by Russ Manning et al.
• In Deadly Pursuit
• The Rebel Storm by Archie Goodwin et al.
• Escape to Hoth by Archie Goodwin et al.
• The Empire Strikes Back by Donald F. Glut
• Return of the Jedi by James Kahn
• The Vandelhelm Mission by Archie Goodwin et al.