Writer-director George Lucas was inspired by the Flash Gordon" serials he saw as a boy to create his new space fantasy, "STAR WARS," starring Alec Guinness, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Peter Cushing. His love for the genre is so great that besides creating this romantic intergalactic adventure, he operates a shop in New York City that specializes in books and visuals trom the newspaper strips and comic books dealing with science fiction and space fantasy.