SDCC’s hottest ticket brought the first-time Comic-Con guest and friends to preview the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, and ILM.com was there in the room.
By Clayton Sandell
Star Wars creator and Industrial Light & Magic founder George Lucas recently made his San Diego Comic-Con debut, but the Force has been strong at the show for decades.
Inside the convention center’s massive Hall H, a record Sunday crowd of 6,500 screaming and cheering fans greeted Lucas as he walked onstage to give the first public preview of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
Co-founded by Lucas and his spouse, Mellody Hobson, the museum is set to open in Los Angeles in 2026. Lucas describes the building as a “temple to the people’s art.”
“This museum is dedicated to the idea that stories and mythology are extremely important to society in creating community,” Lucas told the crowd. “Art illustrates that story.
“It’s mythology,” he continued. “People believe it, and it binds them together with a common belief system. And what we’re doing here with the museum is to try to make people aware of the mythology that we live by. And at the same time, let them have an emotional experience looking at art.”
Lucas was joined by two Academy Award-winning filmmakers: director Guillermo del Toro and Lucasfilm’s senior vice president and executive design director Doug Chiang. Actor and artist Queen Latifah moderated the panel.
“What is amazing about this collection is that it will give you a step-by-step look at how a form of expression came to inform what we are today,” said del Toro, a Lucas Museum board member and longtime ILM collaborator on films including Pacific Rim (2013) and the upcoming Frankenstein (2025).
The Lucas Museum’s renowned collection includes items from both the original and prequel trilogy eras of Star Wars, including filming miniatures created by the ILM Model Shop, concept art, creature maquettes, costumes, a full-scale version of Anakin Skywalker’s N-1 starfighter from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999), speeder bikes from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983), and Luke Skywalker’s X-34 landspeeder from Star Wars: A New Hope (1977).
The pieces will share exhibit space with an eclectic mix of visual art: paintings by artists including Norman Rockwell, Frida Kahlo, and Maxfield Parrish; original art created for Iron Man’s first comic cover in 1968; the first-ever 1934 Flash Gordon comic strip drawing; and Peanuts illustrations drawn by Charles M. Schulz.
“These are all very emotional pieces,” said del Toro. “This is celebrating things that speak to all of us, collectively or individually.”
Lucas says his art collecting began in college when he bought his first comic illustrations. His multifaceted collection today has grown to around 40,000 items.
“I’ve been doing this for 50 years now. And then it occurred to me: ‘What am I going to do with it all? Because I refuse to sell it,’” Lucas explained. “I said I could never do that. It’s just it’s not what I think art is. I think it’s more about an emotional connection with the work.”
Lucas’s first appearance at San Diego Comic-Con brings an association that began a long time ago full circle. In 1976 – ten months before his space fantasy adventure Star Wars hit theaters – a few dozen lucky attendees got a preview of the comic book adaptation of the film led by Marvel’s Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin. They were joined by Charles Lippincott, Lucasfilm’s vice president of advertising, publicity, promotion, and merchandising. During a panel that didn’t start until 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 22, the trio also revealed a few still images from the upcoming movie to a room that had plenty of empty seats.
Chiang, a celebrated artist himself who first joined Lucasfilm as creative director at ILM in 1991, described growing up loving comic books at a time when comic book art didn’t get much respect.
“I think what’s remarkable about George is that he leads from the heart, and this museum is him. It’s his gift to help celebrate this,” said Chiang. “Narrative art is a way to educate kids and say, ‘It’s okay to draw your fantasy, draw things from your mind, embrace comic books.’ It shouldn’t be left out of art. What’s fantastic is that I think the museum will inspire the next Norman Rockwell or Frank Frazetta.”
—
Clayton Sandell is a Star Wars author and enthusiast, TV storyteller, and a longtime fan of the creative people who keep Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound on the leading edge of visual effects and sound design. Follow him on Instagram (@claytonsandell) Bluesky (@claytonsandell.com) or X (@Clayton_Sandell).
