Star Wars image ©The Walt Disney Company
Survival Geeks: Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind graphic novel cover by Neil Googe (colours by Gary Caldwell) vs. Tom Jung’s poster for Star Wars (1977)
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- Ian Gibson’s self-promotional parody vs. Hildebrandt Bros.’ version – Star Wars image ©The Walt Disney Company
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- Hildebrandt Bros.’ poster incl. C-3P0 & R2-D2 – image ©The Walt Disney Company
So why two near-identical posters from two different sources for the same film? Quite simply Lucasfilm panicked at the last minute and, approving of Tom Jung’s composition but considering it too dark, gave the job of brightening it up to Greg & Tim (1939–2006) Hildebrandt to be completed within the following 36 hours (C-3P0 and R2-D2 were added prior to printing).
The title Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind is an homage to Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Columbia Pictures, 1977) [although there was also an episode of Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven entitled Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind].
Art director Tom Jung also features in HoH No. 31
