The original Star Wars trilogy features an ongoing war between the Rebellion and the Empire, but we never really see what life is like for the regular citizens. These posters show us the propaganda that would no doubt be spread across the galaxy. Luke’s backwater planet of Tatooine hardly seems that concerned with the war, and we never really see any other ‘normal’ cities beyond Mos Eisley; everything else is a palace or battlefield. These posters by Etsy user monkeyminion are the type of thing we’d expect to see plastered to the walls of buildings in the major cities or tacked up inside seedy bars.
The first is pro-Rebellion, featuring the iconic “revolutionary” closed fist and sunburst background, as it tells us to resist the Empire and join the Alliance. What’s more awesome, however, are what the fists are holding; the center fist no doubt belongs to Luke Skywalker, clutching a lightsaber as his weapon of choice. On the right is Han Solo raising his heavy blaster pistol, while presumably Lando or some generic rebel fighter holds up a DH-17 blaster pistol.
The second poster has more of an authoritarian, Nazi feel which fits the Empire perfectly. We have Darth Vader’s unmistakable profile filling almost half of the poster, while the background consists mostly of an army of Stormtroopers. In the sky is the second Death Star, and the poster takes on a much more direct and demanding tone by simply reading “Enlist.”
The last poster doesn’t exactly take one side or the other, instead focusing on the lucrative and dangerous world of bounty hunting. Whether it’s designed to encourage more people to arm up and hunt down those with bounties on their heads or to remind criminals (and rebels) that there’s nowhere to hide, it’s quite effective. With famous bounty hunter Boba Fett pointing a gun at you, effective is putting it mildly. The “old west”-style font used for the “Bounty Collected” text also fits well.
You can nab one of these beautiful posters in 12×18 format for just $20 from the artist or check out some more fantastic Star Wars art like these Typography Designs and these Action-Packed Star Wars Movie Posters.