--- ---  # See Every _Star Wars_ Cover in TIME Magazine History  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 3, 2015 12:39 PM UTC  The Feb. 10, 1997, cover of TIME The Feb. 10, 1997, cover of TIMETIME  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 3, 2015 12:39 PM UTC This week’s cover story about the upcoming addition to the _Star Wars_ movie universe—and the franchise’s larger place in our culture today—keeps TIME seven-for-seven on featuring the films inside the red borders. Well, kind of. Though _A New Hope_ did merit significant coverage when it was released in 1977—_read more here:_ [5 Surprising ](http://time.com/3836877/1977-star-wars-facts/)[_Star Wars_](http://time.com/3836877/1977-star-wars-facts/)[ Facts Straight from 1977](http://time.com/3836877/1977-star-wars-facts/)—the magazine’s editors couldn’t have yet known that it would be cover-story material. It wasn’t until the following year, in a story about the new role of computers in society, that a very familiar droid face showed up. By 1980, however, there was no question that the series was cover material. Darth Vader repped _The Empire Strikes Back_ in 1980; George Lucas showed up to “wrap up” the series with _Return of the Jedi_; and Vader, Yoda and a trio of Jedis appeared for episodes one through three. (For some reason, the Asia edition of the magazine got a villain for _The Phanton Menace_ instead of the good guys.) There were even bonuses in the middle, when the prequel trilogy was announced, though we’ll forget about [the tiny Jar Jar Binks who once showed up as an inset](http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19990517,00.html). “TIME and _Star Wars_ have both been a part of the American culture, and its great that the movies have been prominently featured inside the red border since the very beginning of the franchise,” says TIME Creative Director D.W. Pine. “And the cover styles have evolved along with it – from artist Marshall Arisman’s classic Darth Vader painting to a 3-D rendered portrait of Vader to this week’s stunning photographs of droids past and present.” The difference between those two Vader covers tracks not only the character’s decades-long cultural influence and the progression of artistic trends, but also changes in movie-making technology and even the arc of the story. And this week continues that link between design and history. It is, Pine says, the first time the magazine has offered two cover options—R2-D2 and BB-8—for all editions, a decision that reflects the global impact of the new _Star Wars_ movie. **_Read this week’s cover story on TIME.com_**  R2-D2 and BB-8 on the cover of the Dec. 14, 2015 issue of TIME. Marco Grob for TIME  The May 9, 2005, cover of TIME TIME  The Apr. 29, 2002, cover of TIME TIME  The May 31, 1999, Asia edition of TIME magazine Cover Credit: PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION FOR TIME BY JOHN WHITE. PHOTOGRAPH OF DARTH MAUL BY KEITH HAMSHERE ©LUCASFILM LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED  The Apr. 26, 1999, cover of TIME TIME  The Mar. 17, 1997, Asia edition of TIME Cover Credit: PHOTOGRAPH ©LUCASFILM LTD. ALL RIGHT RESERVED  The Feb. 10, 1997, cover of TIME TIME  The May 23, 1983, cover of TIME TIME  The May 19, 1980, cover of TIME TIME  The Feb. 20, 1978, cover of TIME Cover Credit: ALAN MAGEE Star Wars TIME Magazine Covers: See Them All Here ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4110315/star-wars-time-magazine-cover/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4110315/star-wars-time-magazine-cover/"},"headline":"See Every Star Wars Cover in TIME Magazine History","datePublished":"2015-12-03T12:39:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:00:58.604Z","description":"Featuring nearly four decades of the Force","url":"https://time.com/4110315/star-wars-time-magazine-cover/","keywords":["Media","movies","photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt076e288961caf53b/698870c5a988ca03ce6b5431/1101970210_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt076e288961caf53b/698870c5a988ca03ce6b5431/1101970210_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Feb. 10, 1997","caption":"Feb. 10, 1997","creditText":"TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/media/","name":"Media"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4110315/star-wars-time-magazine-cover/","name":"See Every Star Wars Cover in TIME Magazine History"}}]}] ```