Since the first Star Wars movie blasted its way into movie theaters four decades ago, pin-up artists have found inspiration from that galaxy far, far away for their artwork.
From the first Greg Hildebrandt movie poster featuring Princess Leia standing beneath a towering Luke Skywalker underneath a star-filled sky, to today’s digital illustrations and comic book covers, the world of Star Wars pin-up art continues to delight and amaze spectators.
Two sides of Leia, artwork by Sonia Matas
As the main female character in Star Wars, Leia has been one of the dominant pin-up subjects in art. When the Alderaanian princess was captured and be the slave of Jabba the Hutt in 1983’s Return of the Jedi, no one suspected that the metal bikini Carrie Fisher wore so well would be its own subset of Star Wars pin-up art.
Slave Leia illustration by Almira Francisco
Slave Leia by Shane Glines
Slave Princess Leia, artwork by David Adhinarya Lojaya
Of course, Star Wars isn’t just about Leia. Newer entries in the franchise have introduced female characters like Hera Syndulla (from Star Wars: Rebels), Jyn Erso (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Rey (The Force Awakens), and Qi’ra (Solo: A Star Wars Story).
The heroic Rebels and militaristic Empire are perfect soil to feature pin-ups from both sides of the galactic civil war.
Rebel Pilot Pin-Up by Dominic Marco
Twi’lek Clonetrooper nose art by jpc-art
But as Star Wars fandom started exploring the universe on their own, pin-up creators were inspired by George Lucas’ universe and the pin-up culture from our past century.
Probably the most fitting races from Star Wars that lends itself to pin-up art are Twi’leks. First introduced in Return of the Jedi, members from this humanoid species are known for their distinctive head tails, called lekku. Twi’leks were often sold as slaves, which is why a green-skinned Twi’lek was chained up in Jabba’s court.
Twi’lek females are often featured in Star Wars pin-up art, sometimes as the good guys, and sometimes not.
Twi’lek pin-up girl for May the Fourth Day by Contchi
Darth Talon pin-up by Mike Kim
Twi’lek bounty hunter by Nutana
And then there are the pin-ups that take things even further. If the Star Wars universe is full of an amazing array of different alien species, then what’s stopping any shapely lady from one of them from becoming a pin-up model?
There may be cantinas filled with drop-dead gorgeous Mon Calamaris, Rodians, Neimodians, Wookiees…and if you don’t get the picture in your head, well, here you go:
Mon Calamari, Rodian & Tusken Raider pin-ups created by Yayzus Graphics
Boba Fett pin-up by Gregbo Watson
Exploring the world of Star Wars pin-ups is a lot like walking into that cantina Luke and Obi-Wan did on Tatooine. It’s full of the unusual and unexpected, the sexy and the strange to behold. And it’ll keep getting added to as long as there is inspiration to travel there.
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