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Post by aquagoat on May 26, 2021 13:03:18 GMT -5
I've always found Fenn Shysa an odd interpretation of what Mandalorians should be. A freedom fighter with an Irish accent so cliched he's virtually a leprechaun?
A good guy or anti-hero Mandalorian could have been a popular and recurring character for the series. A badass supercommando with the cool appeal of Boba Fett but freedom for the writer to create a new personality. Seems like a great opportunity - even Lucas himself did that eventually with Jango Fett. But Fenn Sysha just seems like a pretty standard freedom fighter who has to make tough decisions. You could take out the Mandalorian aspect of the story and it wouldn't make any difference.
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Post by dbutler69 on May 27, 2021 10:44:22 GMT -5
Star Wars #71Cover dated: May 1983 Issue title: Return to StenosScript: Mary Jo Duffy Artwork: Ronald Frenz (breakdowns)/Tom Palmer (finished art & inks) Colours: Christie Scheele Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Tom Palmer Overall rating: 10 out of 10  Plot summary: Having arrived on the planet Stenos in search of the bounty hunters IG-88 and Bossk, Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian head into the capital city, leaving Chewbacca and R2-D2 behind in the Millennium Falcon. The two Rebels are looking for the bounty hunters in the hope that they will be able to reveal the location of Boba Fett, who has Han Solo held captive, frozen in a block of carbonite. The duo begin their search in the nearest bar, but Lando is recognized by an old enemy of his named Drebble, who immediately declares that he will give 10,000 credits to anyone who captures Calrissian. The cantina erupts into blasterfire, as the alien patrons try to claim the reward, but during the melee the Rebels spot Bossk among the crowd. Escaping from the tavern, Luke and Lando chase the bounty hunter through the narrow streets, while the angry mob led by Drebble pursues them. The two Rebels get split up and Luke takes refuge in a darkened building, only to be surprised by Rik Duel and Dani, who he met during an earlier visit to Stenos. Although Luke is immediately distrustful of Rik, given that he double-crossed him and his fellow Rebels the last time that they met, the smuggler explains that he bears no grudge towards Skywalker, since Luke and his friends set the Stenaxes on him in return. In Rik's eyes this makes them even. Rik and Dani enlist Luke's help in locating their friend Chihdo, who has recently gone missing, and the trio head back out into the street. As they pass a narrow alleyway, Lando appears and excitedly grabs Luke, telling him that he has found the carbon frozen body of Han on Stenos. Leading Luke back down the alley, Lando shows him a carbonite storage block being carried through the streets. Luke contacts Chewbacca and R2 to let them know of the discovery, as he and Lando follow the storage block to a nearby building. After knocking out the guards, the Rebels enter the building and locate the block, but, to their horror, the person trapped within it isn't Han, but Chihdo. As they stand there stunned, Bossk and IG-88 appear behind the Rebels with a group of blaster-wielding mercenaries. Comments: The Stenax saga continues with issue #71, which is also Ron Frenz's first issue as the new regular artist on the series. Frenz had previously worked on parts of "The Stenax Shuffle" in issue #70 as well as "The Darker" in issue #67 and I noted during my review of that latter issue that his somewhat photo-realistic and cinematic style is a very good fit for Star Wars. I really like the new costume that he gives Luke Skywalker too: it's mostly black, but with a light purple waistcoat, and is, I assume, an attempt by the creative team to move Luke's style of dress towards the all-black outfit he will sport in Return of the Jedi. Frenz also utilises some nice panel composition in this issue, with some interesting "camera angels". For example, I like how he alternately uses shots looking down on our heroes from the perspective of the ever-present Stenaxes in the sky and contrasts them with panels looking up from Luke and Lando Calrissian's point of view. The way in which he repeatedly uses these opposing viewpoints reinforces the idea that Stenos is really two worlds, with the off-worlder's living out their lives on the planet's surface and the Stenaxes keeping to their domain high above...   Another example of Frenz's clever composition in this issue is the tightly packed panel below, in which Luke's attention is grabbed by a passing alien, which, due to its height, is mostly hidden off-panel. The way in which the panel is drawn, with the reader only able to see part of the alien's stilt-like legs juxtaposed with Luke and a nearby pair of stormtrooper's surprised reactions, quickly communicates that this is an exotic and bustling locale, with strange enough sights to surprise even a seasoned space traveller...  Jo Duffy's story kicks up a gear in this issue, which is a real edge-of-your-seat read. The thrills and action come at a dizzying pace, perfectly capturing the feel of George Lucas's "Faster! More intense!" directorial style. This is particularly true of the cantina shoot-out sequence, during which we get to see Luke in full Jedi Knight mode, as he uses the Force to jump, flip and swing his lightsaber with devastating prowess. This scene, which is brilliantly illustrated by Frenz, shows just how much Luke's abilities with the Force have grown and sets the stage for Return of the Jedi beautifully...  While we're on the subject of Luke, I find it interesting that Duffy has the young Rebel worrying that even if he and Lando find Han Solo, the Corellian may already be dead. Of course, we all know now that Han was fine, but, to the players, the possibility that Han may've died inside the carbonite would no doubt be a very real concern. It was also something of a concern for some of us Star Wars fans back in the early 1980s and I can well remember hearing rumours during that time that Han was going to die in Return of the Jedi. Of course, actor Harrison Ford actually wanted Han killed off in that film, but long before that fact was known I can remember wondering if Han would survive the carbonite. I mean, just because he was alive when Boba Fett departed Cloud City, that's no reason to assume that he hadn't died in the meantime. As such, little bits of seemingly throwaway dialogue, like Luke wondering if Solo is still alive, really demonstrate what an excellent grasp Duffy had on these characters. Speaking of Han and the then-forthcoming Star Wars sequel, events in this comic caused Duffy to incur the wrath of Lucasfilm. Understandably, George Lucas didn't want the Marvel comic to tell stories that he wanted to tell in the films, so when Duffy had Luke and Lando seemingly almost rescue Han in this issue, it attracted his attention. Speaking to Kurt Anthony Krug in Star Wars Insider #91 from 2006, Duffy recalled... " I got a warning – I was flattered. I wanted to do whatever I could to give people the event they've been waiting for. I wanted to make readers think they were going to get it and went for that titillation. I spent a lot of time trying to make it look like I was doing something on the no-no list that fans wanted to see." In fact, Duffy instead executed a nice bait and switch ending, that fooled us readers and the characters themselves. I can well remember how exciting the lead up to the end of this issue was the first time that I read it, thinking that the Rebels had actually found Han at last! Alas, we'd have to wait a little while longer for that. Something else that I want to mention is that there's some really nice development of Lando's character throughout Duffy's run, which really begins here. David Michelinie had done a grand job of writing Lando and developing him into an interesting part of the ensemble cast, but Duffy takes what Michelinie had previously established and really runs with it. Lando could've so easy been reduced to being a Han Solo clone in the aftermath of The Empire Strikes Back, but both writers worked wonders in developing him into his own distinct character – one that perfectly aligned with Billy Dee Williams's portrayal of him in Return of the Jedi. While talking to Glenn Greenberg in Back Issue #9 from 2005, Duffy recalled, " Lando was a riot. Heroic, tough, dedicated – and also kind of conceited, and that made it really fun to set him up and knock him down a peg." Duffy also introduces us to Drebble in this issue, a character who would become a recurring thorn in Lando's side. Drebble is one of the more memorable supporting cast members from the Marvel run, partly because of how Duffy uses him and partly because of Frenz's striking design, with the rotund businessman/gambler wearing a loose fitting kaftan, jewelled medallions around his neck and a shock of foppish hair on the top of his head. In keeping with the new romantic status quo in the series (which I've spoken about in my reviews of issues #61, #65, #68 and #70), we are made privy to Luke's internal dialogue in this story and it's made pretty clear that Princess Leia and Han are now the true romantic coupling, with Luke no longer having any interest in the princess at all. There's no doubt in my mind that by this stage, with the release of Return of the Jedi only a few months away, Marvel had been told by Lucasfilm that the Luke/Leia romantic angle of earlier issues had to be dropped. As Duffy is going out of her way to establish that Luke is no longer a possible romantic partner for Leia, she reunites him with Dani, the uninhibited, over-sexed Zeltron that we first met in a flashback sequence last issue. Dani's a really fun character and her promiscuous behaviour and killer body were quite an eye-opener for me back in the day, as a rather innocent 10-year-old reader. In this issue, Frenz sees fit to give us a gratuitous butt shot of the Zeltron temptress, which – how shall I say this? – certainly stuck in my mind as a young boy on the cusp of puberty...  Duffy clearly enjoyed making Luke squirm at the amorous attention that Dani lavishes on him. However, I like the way that, even though he's for all intents and purposes an experienced Jedi Knight now, Duffy still writes Luke as a naive farm boy from Tatooine at heart. He's clearly embarrassed and flustered by Dani's straight forward, sexually liberated manner, but at the same time he never takes advantage of her. Duffy always writes Luke as the noble hero, but at the same time she has a lot of fun with his interactions with this promiscuous femme fatale. All in all, Star Wars #71 is a fun romp, full of action, excitement, and humour, with a great bait and switch ending. This is another one of those issues of the original Marvel series that I can point to and say, "that's just about as good as Star Wars comics get." Continuity issues: The bounty hunter Bossk is depicted here with orange skin, when it should be green. Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "You hit me right in the most expensive teeth credits can buy!" – Drebble whinges indignantly after being punched in the face during a barroom brawl. I really liked this issue a lot. Some great dialogue from Lando, and some excellent humor. We need a Luke and Lando buddy movie! The art was good, too. Not as good as Al Williamson or the Simonson/Palmer team, but still very good. My only little nit as that seeing Chihdo carbon froze, while a great plot twist, seems to imply that carbon freezing is fairly common, but I got the impression from The Empire Strikes back that it takes a specialized, dedicated facility for that and more, that it’s really not done on people, with Han perhaps being the first. And good catch on Bossk's skin color, Confessor . They just can't seem to get Bossk's coloring right! I seem to recal him having the incorrect uniform color in a previous issue, though it seems here he's got a new uniform altogether. |
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Post by tarkintino on May 27, 2021 12:39:09 GMT -5
#71 - There would be no reason for Luke the think Han might be dead inside the carbonite; one, in TESB, Lando assured all witnesses (and more importantly, the movie-going audience) that he was in hibernation, and two, Luke even thinking such a thing was out of character for one who ended the second film confident is his dedication to finding a living Han. In-between TESB and the release of ROTJ, I do not recall any SW fans thinking Han was dead; they fully expected him to return, but did not know any details about the means of his escape from the carbonite. As for Rik--I was not fond of Han clones; it was as if Marvel, Duffy, et al. could not imagine (or write) a SW run sans a Han-like essence, so in comes the clone, just as we would go one to see in 1996's Shadows of the Empire, with Corellian smuggler Dash Rendar. A "Han" on every corner. ...and again, Luke having a lightsaber at all (the hilt looking nothing like the then-forthcoming version in ROTJ), which is not only (and obviously) contradicted by ROTJ, but even by the Marvel adaptation, where the dialogue describes it as if it should be a surprise that Luke has another weapon--  --treated in the same manner as the film. If the ROTJ adaptation is supposed to be a part of the comic's continuity, then it just reinforces the point that the comic should have had Luke feel what it was like surviving/conductingRebel business without the weapon.
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Post by dbutler69 on May 28, 2021 14:57:53 GMT -5
Star Wars #72Cover dated: June 1983 Issue title: Fool's BountyScript: Mary Jo Duffy Artwork: Ronald Frenz (breakdowns)/Tom Palmer (finished art & inks) Colours: Stan Goldberg Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Ronald Frenz (pencils)/Tom Palmer (inks) Overall rating: 9 out of 10  Plot summary: While searching for Han Solo on the planet Stenos, Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian have inadvertently followed the carbon frozen body of Chihdo into a building, where they now find themselves surrounded by a gang of bounty hunters, led by Bossk and IG-88. But before the mercenaries can take them prisoner, Rik Duel and Dani come to the rescue, with blasters blazing, and a firefight quickly ensues. As the Rebels begin to gain the upper hand, IG-88 lets forth a piercing electronic shriek which summons more bounty hunters to the fight and Dani and Lando are quickly captured, as Luke and Rik flee. Meanwhile, Chewbacca and R2-D2 have left the Millennium Falcon, which is docked outside the city, and ventured into the capital in search of their friends. They soon encounter the Stenaxes, who are the native species on Stenos, and the Wookiee manages to impresses the warrior-like winged creatures with his ferocity and aggression. Luke and Rik make their way onto the roof of the bounty hunter's lair and break into the building, as Dani and Lando are herded into a carbon freezing chamber to be encased in carbonite, with Lando to be handed over to his old enemy Drebble. As Dani is about to be frozen, Luke and Rik ambush the bounty hunters, but quickly realise that they are outmatched and outgunned. Rik takes the initiative and grabs Luke, Lando and Dani, forcing them to the ground, as Chewbacca and a group of Stenaxes attack. A rain of Stenax spears flies over the Rebels' heads, cutting down a number of the mercenaries. During the fight, Bossk and IG-88 manage to escape and Lando and Luke have to apologise to Chewbacca for having reached a dead end in the search for Solo. Chewbacca forgives his friends and as they leave Stenos in the Falcon, the Rebels are surprised to find that Dani has stowed away on board the ship and decided to accompany them on their travels. Comments: Issue #72 of Star Wars is a fitting finale to the Stenax saga, with plenty of action, derring-do and more of Jo Duffy's excellently in character dialogue. There's also plenty of humour in this issue, particularly in the scene where R2-D2 and Chewbacca stealthily sneak through the capital city of Stenos. The exaggerated poses and facial expressions that artist Ron Frenz has Chewbacca adopt can't fail but prompt a little snicker from the reader. I also really like how Chewbacca manages to get the Stenaxes to do his bidding by using the two motivating forces that they understand: violence and aggression. That certainly makes sense given the unrelentingly surly and hostile characterisation of the natives that we've seen in previous issues. One criticism would be the slightly improbable way in which Duffy extracts Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian from last issue's cliffhanger ending. Having Rik Duel and Dani leap out from behind the carbonite block containing poor old Chihdo smacks of deus ex machina and always bugged me as a kid. I mean, where the hell did Rik and Dani come from? There was clearly nobody else in the room when Luke and Lando entered it at the end of last issue and, what's more, there was only one door in or out. Luke and Lando entered the room, which was empty – except for the carbonite slab – and seconds later the bounty hunters came in behind them, so how could Dani and Rik have gotten in and hidden behind the carbonite block without being seen? Yeah, like I say, this seems like a real plot contrivance on Duffy's part and it still irks me as an adult. On the plus side, I like how Duffy writes Rik here, insofar as he's shown to be on the Rebellion's side mainly because he's concerned about the impact that the Empire is having on free trade and his shady dealings as a galactic con man. That kind of selfish character motivation seems perfect for him, but Rik's also concerned about what has happened to both Han Solo and his friend Chihdo, so it's clear that he's got a heart and a conscience somewhere underneath his self-serving, cynical exterior. We also get to see just how deadly Dani can be in unarmed combat, when she almost kicks a guard's head off with an acrobatic flying leap. Another slight compliant that I have about this issue is that it's not entirely clear what happened to Bossk and IG-88 at the end. They presumably managed to escape during the fight in the carbon freezing chamber, but that's never actually shown. The last time that we see them, they are being viciously punched by Chewbacca as they try to escape. After that, they vanish. But they must have gotten away because Lando and Luke apologise to Chewbacca about having reached a dead end in the search to Solo, since the two bounty hunters will now no doubt flee off-world and will be almost impossible to find. As regular readers know, Princess Leia and C-3PO's own mission to find Han also ended in failure back in issue #69 and it's kind of refreshing to see the good guys fail in this way from time to time. Of course, the Rebels ultimately had to fail to find Solo, so that the comics would fit in with the events of Return of the Jedi, but still, I like the slightly downbeat ending here. There's also a nice moment during this same scene, in which Lando and Luke momentarily worry that Chewbacca might be angry with them for loosing the bounty hunters, but the Wookiee picks them both up and gives them a big hug. It's a heart-warming moment and one that displays the powerful bond between the central cast, even in the face of failure and dashed hopes. Something else that I want to mention is that Bossk is shown as being incredibly strong here – almost super-humanly strong, in fact – as we see him punching through a solid wall. I'm not sure if this aligns with other expanded universe portrayals of him or not, but it's a little surprising to see that he is that powerful. All in all, this is another superior issue of Star Wars. Frenz and Tom Palmer's artwork is really good again, although perhaps not quite up to the stellar heights of last issue. Nevertheless, the art puts Duffy's story over excellently and Frenz is particularly good at translating the humour in the script, with some effective body language and facial expressions. It's also nice to see Drebble being a pain in Lando's neck again and he'll make a very good recurring adversary and irritant for Lando in future issues. There are a couple of niggling problems with this comic, such as the deus ex machina rescue and the confusion over Bozzk and IG-88's fate, but overall, this is still a pretty darn good issue. It also has a great ending, with Dani stowing away on board the Millennium Falcon. She's easily the most interesting of the Rik Duel gang, so it's good that Duffy had her leave Rik and join the main cast. She's a welcome addition as another strong female lead to complement and contrast with Leia. Plus, her lusty, over-sexed infatuation with Luke will provide plenty of humour in coming issues. Continuity issues: The bounty hunter Bossk is depicted here with orange skin, when it should be green. Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "Get away from me! I've heard about you Zeltrons and I don't want to go rolling with any red-skinned freak!" – An unnamed bounty hunter sees through Dani's plan to use her feminine wiles in order to secure her escape. I agree that this was a very good issue, and also with your criticism of the dues ex machina rescue of Luke and Lando. Also, why can't they ever get Bossk's coloring right? My other minor complaint is that they even have a carbon freezing facility on this dustball planet, plus it seemed to me from TESB that this isn't used to freeze living beings, as Han was an unprecidented exception. Still, good issue, good humor, good art, and a cute ending. |
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Post by dbutler69 on May 29, 2021 10:39:45 GMT -5
Star Wars #73Cover dated: July 1983 Issue title: LahsbaneScript: Mary Jo Duffy Artwork: Ronald Frenz (breakdowns)/Tom Palmer (finished art & inks) Colours: Glynis Wein Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Ronald Frenz (pencils)/Tom Palmer (inks) Overall rating: 8 out of 10  Plot summary: Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO, along with their Zeltron stowaway, Dani, have been diverted to the planet Lahsbane by Alliance Command to recover datatapes belonging to the crashed Rebel pilot, Yom Argo. With 3PO translating, Luke converses with the diminutive native Lahsbees and learns that Argo died in the crash. The Lahsbees placed the datatapes in the Forbidden City, which is located on the opposite side of a large canyon, in honour of a Lahsbee who was helping the Rebel pilot and who also died. However, the Rebels are unable to reach the city in the Millennium Falcon, due to the Corellian freighter's intake valves having become clogged with a fine pollen that is abundant in the Lahsbane air. An Imperial shuttle carrying a squad of stormtroopers, who are also on Argo's trail, appears overhead and lands nearby. As tension mounts, Leia and Dani begin to squabble, until they end up challenging each other to retrieve the tapes, in order to prove their mettle. As night falls, the two women secretly acquire a Lahsbee' air balloon and use it to float cross the canyon towards the Forbidden City. A little later, Luke and Lando realise what the pair have done and, fearing for their safety, Luke uses a primitive Lahsbee hang-glider to pursue them. As Luke glides away across the canyon, Lando is attacked by a large, aggressive beast known as a Huhk. Chewbacca joins the fight, wrestling with the powerful creature, but the Wookiee slowly gets overpowered, until Lando shoots the beast with a stun blast, rendering it unconscious. 3PO explains that the Lahsbees instantly turn into Huhks when they reach maturity and are then placed within the Forbidden City for the safety of the Lahsbee community. Having reached the Forbidden City, Leia and Dani begin to explore, noting that the doors and windows of the buildings are much too big for the tiny Lahsbees. The pair eventually locate the datatapes among a large treasure horde, but as they walk back to their balloon, they are attacked by four angry Huhks. Since the two women are without weapons they are soon cornered by the hulking beasts and only the timely arrival of Luke saves them. After making their way back to the Falcon, Dani sneaks off and steals the Imperial shuttle craft, setting a course for the planet Stenos and her partner in crime, Rik Duel, surrounded by treasure that she secretly stole from the Forbidden City's treasure store. Comments: Star Wars #73 is a bit of a weird beast, in that, it's essentially a stand-alone story, but it also represents the beginning of the overarching Search for Tay Vanis story arc, which will cover a number of stories and take us all the way up to the events of Return of the Jedi. Actually, the story "Lahsbane" wasn't originally scheduled to appear in Star Wars #73 at all, as noted in issue #1 of the Marvel promotional comic Marvel Age, which bills the contents of this issue as being the story "Hoth Stuff!". That particular story eventually appeared in issue #78, but I've no idea why it was bumped to that later issue. This tale opens with the Rebel heroes and Dani already on the planet Lahsbane, having been diverted there off-panel by the Rebellion. Having the Rebel Alliance position the heroes somewhere and then commencing their adventures from that point is a plot device that writer Jo Duffy often uses during her run on Star Wars. Duffy's writing continues to impress here, with the "voices" of the entire cast being really spot on character-wise. There's also plenty of humour in the script; this issue is one that really made me laugh as a kid and it still raises a few chuckles all these years later. Actually, I can recall that when I read this story back in 1983 I found myself wondering for the very first time,"who's writing this?" Prior to that, I'd never given any thought at all to who actually wrote the comics that I read. Of the humorous dialogue that is liberally sprinkled throughout this issue, the heated, bitchy sniping between Princess Leia and Dani is the most fun to read. It's abundantly clear that the pair don't really like each other, but it's kinda hard to see what exactly Leia's problem with Dani is. I mean, Dani is extremely flirty with Luke, but that shouldn't bother Leia, since she and Han Solo are now the main romantic coupling of the series. I guess it's probably a combination of her overbearing and slightly annoying sexual interest in Luke and the fact that the Rebels have, in coming to Lahsbane, momentarily abandoned the search for Solo (although we learn that other Rebels are continuing it elsewhere). It appears that Leia and Dani are competing for Luke's attention, but not romantically – at least, not from Leia's point of view. The princess's dislike of Dani may also be down to a prejudice that Leia has for Zeltrons in general, rather than Dani in particular. Certainly, in future issues, we will see Leia getting annoyed by Zeltrons on a fairly regular basis. Unfortunately, Dani leaves the main cast at the end of this issue, but she'll be back before too long. Duffy ran into trouble with Lucasfilm over the Lahsbees and their similarity to the as-yet-unseen small, furry heroes of Return of the Jedi. The problem was, not only where the Lahsbees a somewhat similar looking concept to the Ewoks, but they were also a primitive race, without technology, who used wood and animal skin hang-gliders. Talking to Glenn Greenberg in Back Issue #9 from 2005, Duffy recalled, " I couldn't figure out why Lucasfilm gave me such a hard time about the Lahsbees – until I saw the script for Return of the Jedi." Due to their similarity to the Ewoks, artist Ron Frenz had to make adjustments to the way that the Lahsbees looked in the finished comic. Initially they had been gremlin-like creatures, with wide eyes, but Frenz had to make them look much more feline in appearance and modify their form of dress. In 2005, Frenz recalled, " it was funny – Lucasfilm had to tell us how to fix them without giving too much away, because they didn't want information to get out about the Ewoks. And they freaked about the hang-gliders, because the Ewoks were going to use them in Jedi."   Given Frenz's above comments, I strongly suspect that the balloons which Dani and Leia use to travel to the Forbidden City were initially meant to be hang-gliders. Interestingly, it seems as if the basic concept for the Lahsbees wasn't Duffy's idea at all, but something that the series' previous writer David Michelinie and his artist/co-plotter Walt Simonson had come up with during their tenure on the book. Speaking to Abel G. Peña on starwars.com in 2002, Simonson revealed, " we had an idea for some sort of storyline involving small creatures and hang-gliders. However, we were told [by Lucasfilm] we couldn't do it." Given that the Lahsbees appeared just four months after Michelinie had left the comic, this surely can't be a coincidence; clearly Duffy was using an idea that her predecessor had outlined before handing over the reins to her. I'm not sure why Duffy thought she and Frenz could get away with the idea when it had already been rejected once by Lucasfilm. Personally, I like the Lahsbees a lot. Yes, they are rather cutesy, but I'm a Star Wars fan who isn't bothered at all by the likes of the Ewoks, Hoojibs or six-foot tall, green, carnivorous space-rabbits. Your mileage may vary though.  One thing's for sure, the Lahsbees certainly aren't cutesy when they reach maturity and turn into raging Huhks. The fact that one such creature is seen holding its own against – and, in fact, beating – an angry Wookiee in this issue nicely illustrates just how strong these beasts are. Having the small, seemingly innocuous Lahsbees turn into ferocious and powerful Huhks is a clever idea of Duffy's and one that certainly sticks in the memory. Something that bugs me about this issue is that Luke and Lando come across as a little bit sexist in their attitude towards Dani and Leia. The alarm they exhibit when they learn that the two women have ventured to the Forbidden City is somewhat condescending and hardly warranted; Dani is a street-smart career criminal and Leia is a resourceful and courageous Rebel leader, who can clearly handle herself. So, wouldn't Luke and Lando just assume that the women would do a perfectly good job of recovering the datatapes? Of course, ultimately they did both need Luke to save their skins, but the fact that he and Lando automatically assumed that the two women would be out of their depth is a little insulting. The sequential artwork in this issue flows really nicely and puts Duffy's story across with effortless, cinematic aplomb. Like his last two issues, Frenz also brings a lot of visual comedy to proceedings, which, of course, serves to make Duffy's script even funnier. Also, the level of attention to detail that Frenz and inker Tom Palmer lavish on the various pieces of Star Wars technology and the look of the cast means that these Frenz/Palmer issues really are some of the best looking comics of the entire run. Ultimately, Star Wars #73 is a somewhat lightweight comic, but it's still a really fun romp, with some nicely humorous dialogue and a fair bit of action. However, as the start of the Search for Tay Vanis story arc, "Lahsbane" is actually a much more important story than it might at first seem. Continuity issues: None Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "You know, I did a tour of duty on Zeltros once... in my younger days... It was quite an experience... Quite an experience!" – An unnamed Imperial officer wistfully recalls his time on Zeltros as he and his men watch Dani dance suggestively. Personally, I loved this issue. I thought it had plenty of adventure as well as humor, and some more good dialogue by Duffy. One of my favorite Star Wars issues so far. I can understand why Lucasfilm gave Duffy a hard time about this, though. It's hard not to see the similarities between this setup and Return of the Jedi, including the forest planet. Your point about Luke and Lando's condescending attitude towards the women is fair enough, but of course the writer of this issue is a woman, so I'm not sure if any sexism was intended. Since this is another one where I own the actual back issue, I looked at the letter page. Once again virtually unanimous praise, this time for #69. Fenn was apparently a very popular character, so I am expecting to see more of him in the future. One person wrote that it was risky for the writer to speculate of Boba Fett's past. I agree with that. Also several letters discussing whom Leia should wind up with. Apparently it's in reaction to a letter someone had written in a previous lettercol stating that Han was a shipboard fling and Leia should wind up with Luke, so I gather, and most of the letters in this one were saying that Leia should wind up with Han, and only be friends with Luke. Obviously all before Return of the Jedi came out. One person also wrote to call out Marvel for giving Luke a lightsaber which he shouldn't have, and pointed out that a subplot of the upcoming Return of the Jedi deals with Luke getting a new lightsaber. I don't know how the letter writer knew about that subplot, but obviously it got ditched by the time the movie got released, with only Vader mentioning that Luke had made a new lightsaber. Marvel was cagey in their reply to this letter, though they did state that they'd explain the discrepancy in the future. |
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Post by dbutler69 on May 31, 2021 12:35:41 GMT -5
Star Wars #74Cover dated: August 1983 Issue title: The Iskalon EffectScript: Mary Jo Duffy Artwork: Ronald Frenz (layouts)/Tom Palmer (finished art & inks) Colours: Glynis Wein Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Tom Palmer Overall rating: 9 out of 10  Plot summary: Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 have arrived on the water world of Iskalon in search of information concerning the whereabouts of the missing Rebel agent Tay Vanis. Descending underwater to the colony of Pavillion in an elevator tube, The Rebels meet with Primor, the de facto ruler of the aquatic Iskalonians at this settlement. While they learn about the Empire's cruelty in the system from him, the Rebels are introduced to Primor's son, Mone, and Mone's wife, Kendle, who mentions that Vanis's droid, K-3PX, had all of the information that the agent had gathered about a new secret weapon of the Empire's in its memory banks. However, the last time that any of the Iskalonians saw Vanis's droid, he was accompanying Tay and another Rebel agent named Yom Argo to the Imperial fortress on the nearby planet of Gamandar. Lando, Chewbacca, and the droids travel with Mone to Gamandar in the Millennium Falcon in search of the droid, while Luke and Leia remain on Iskalon, since the pair would be too easily recognised within the vicinity of an Imperial fortress. Primor attempts to entertain Luke and the princess by equipping them both with aquatic breathing apparatus and showing them the beauty and splendour of his underwater world. As they explore the subaquatic setting, Luke spots a commotion going on inside one of Pavillion's buildings. Swimming closer, the group see Kendle unconscious on the floor, with her water tank – which enables her to breath out of water – smashed. Luke and Leia scramble to the surface and enter Pavillion, rushing to the fallen Iskalonian's side in an attempt to save her from suffocating. Meanwhile, on the planet Gamandar, Imperial Admiral Tower receives word from a spy on Iskalon that a group of prominent Rebels is on the water planet, attempting to bring about the end of Imperial occupation there. Tower launches a missile towards Pavillion to initiate a phenomena known as the Iskalon Effect. The missile explodes close to Pavillion, creating a huge tidal wave, which smashes into the underwater settlement, destroying buildings, shattering the glass that protects the off-worlders from the ocean and flooding the city. Comments: Star Wars #74 features part one of the Iskalon saga, which is also a part of the larger ongoing Search for Tay Vanis plot line. It's a pretty dense issue, with plenty happening and a lot of information being imparted in order to set up the tale. That said, it isn't an unnecessarily verbose issue and writer Jo Duffy slips us all the relevant information about Vanis and the Empire's activity in the system very slickly. Parts of this issue are kinda dark though, with the Empire carrying out mass executions on the neighbouring planet of Telfrey, while the surface of that planet is so ravaged by Imperial bombardment that it will no longer support life. Likewise, the Empire's initiating of the so-called Iskalon Effect and the destruction of Pavillion, at the cost of many lives (including those of their own soldiers), shows the Empire at its most ruthless and cold-hearted. Incidentally, the great Imperial plan or secret weapon that Primor refers to on page 9 of this story is, of course, the second Death Star that fans would later see in Return of the Jedi. Iskalon is actually the second water world that we've seen in the Marvel Star Wars comic, after Drexel, which provided the setting for the Doomworld arc back in issues #11–15. Just like last issue, which opened with our heroes already on the planet Lahsbane, Duffy opens this story with the Rebels already on Iskalon. On the splash page, Luke Skywalker surveys the planet's rolling oceans and concludes, "it's beautiful!", which makes me chuckle because you just know that that tranquil beauty isn't gonna last!  Actually, there are a couple of continuity goofs concerning Luke's reaction and interaction with the water world. For one thing, he says on page 2 that he's never seen oceans like the ones on Iskalon anywhere, but clearly he has – on Drexel, just a few years earlier. Also, Primor teaches Luke how to swim, or at least helps Luke to become a more competent swimmer. However, within the Marvel Comics continuity, Luke was been shown to be a very strong swimmer during the "Day After the Death Star" story arc in Star Wars Weekly #99 and it's again stated that he can swim in Star Wars #36. In addition, Luke is able to swim perfectly well in Alan Dean Foster's 1978 novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye, so Primor really shouldn't need to coach Luke like he does here. I must say that Iskalon is a much more three-dimensional setting than Drexel – with its cartoonish Dragon Lords and space-wreckers – ever was. Duffy, along with artist Ron Frenz, does an excellent job of creating a living, breathing aquatic world that the readers can really immerse themselves in (if you'll excuse the water-related language here). I also like the Duffy/Frenz-originated "aquatic stormtroopers", which make their first appearance in this comic. Wookieepedia.com informs me that the correct designation for this particular type of stormtrooper variant is Aquatic Assault Stormtrooper (a.k.a. Seatrooper). Anyway, whatever they're called, they look kinda cool...  Back on the subject of the Iskalonians, Duffy, perhaps predictably, imbues the aquatic, water-breathing race with fish-like properties, while having the population refer to themselves as "The School". It's interesting that, having always lived within this particularly public societal structure, the Iskalonian's have little or no concept of privacy or secrecy, which makes them especially bad at being sneaky or lying, as we shall see later on. As usual, the art team of Frenz and Tom Palmer excel, with some very pretty looking artwork, as we've come to expect from them. It's also worth noting that the Rebels have changed clothes again, since we last saw them; I really like that Frenz doesn't feel the need to continually have the main cast dressed in the same clothes they wore in the Star Wars films month after month, as earlier artists in this series did. While I'm on the subject of the artwork, user chaykinstevens has pointed out to me that Palmer seemingly based his cover for Star Wars #74 on the cover of the October 1959 issue of Stag magazine, which was painted by famed American historical artist Mort Künstler. Take a look yourself; plagiarism or coincidence?  Although the Search for Tay Vanis storyline technically began last issue, this is where it really kicks into high gear. Duffy's script is engaging and, as is now usual with her, the "voices" of the central cast are absolutely spot on. In fact, with its good characterisation and oblique references to the second Death Star, the Iskalon arc is another example of the comic being so authentically Star Wars-y that it almost feels as if you're reading a missing chapter of the cinematic trilogy – a prologue to Return of the Jedi, if you will. And of course, that's exactly what the Search for Tay Vanis is intended to be. Star Wars #74 is another strong entry in the series, which effortlessly captures the feel of the movies. There are slightly annoying continuity goofs regarding Luke's ability to swim and his reaction to the water planet of Iskalon, plus this issue is something of a set up instalment, for which the pay off will come in the following two issues, but all in all, this is another top notch issue. Continuity issues: - Luke Skywalker states that he's never seen oceans like the ones on Iskalon before, but he has – when he was stranded on the similar looking water world of Drexel.
- Primor teaches Luke how to swim in this issue, but it had been established in the Marvel continuity and in the Splinter of the Mind's Eye novel that he was already a strong swimmer.
Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "You looked so hot and miserable … I was sure it must be all that fur of yours … so I decided to help you cool off! Feel better?" – Mone playfully taunts Chewbacca after squirting him with water. Very enjoyable issue and I especially like the dialogue. Threepio in particular in this issue. |
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Post by tarkintino on Jun 1, 2021 17:52:14 GMT -5
#72, 73 and 74: Fairly solid issues. I've seen some of the layouts for this period of SW comics, but it was difficult to cite who was responsible for making the art seem so rough. Frenz--outside of SW--was not known for particularly fluid, attractive figures, and coupled with Palmer--who was trying his best to "Simonson-ize" Frenz's work, the end result just had a rough appearance. One problem with #74 was the lack of imagination when it came to designing breathing apparatuses for the characters; despite that "A Long Time Ago.." preamble to the films, the technology was unlike anything you would see on earth. That said, you could swap out the breathing tanks the rebels were using with that seen in Dell's adaptation of the TV series Sea Hunt (1958-61) and see no real stylistic difference--
What's strange about Frenz's very earthy equipment is that superhero comics had long designed advanced breathing apparatuses for heroes, yet in a SW book, it looks more like Sea Hunt than Star Wars. At least Lucas would have more advanced devices created for The Phantom Menace:
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Post by dbutler69 on Jun 2, 2021 12:25:43 GMT -5
Star Wars #75Cover dated: September 1983 Issue title: TidalScript: Mary Jo Duffy Artwork: Ronald Frenz (layouts)/Tom Palmer (finished art & inks) Colours: Glynis Wein Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Tom Palmer Overall rating: 8½ out of 10  Plot summary: On the water planet of Iskalon an Imperial missile explodes near the underwater city of Pavillion, causing a huge tidal wave that destroys the settlement and sweeps Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia through the complex in a deluge of water. As the two Rebels struggle to survive the destruction, their Iskalonian ally Kendle suddenly appears and leads them through the flooded complex. As the trio round a corner, they are confronted by an orange skinned Iskalonian wielding a sword, causing a frightened Kendle to quickly swim away, leaving the Luke and Leia to face their assailant alone. Meanwhile, on the planet Gamandar, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO and Kendle's husband Mone begin their search for K-3PX, the droid of missing Rebel spy Tay Vanis. Lando dons a disguise and leads the group towards the Imperial citadel, while, unseen by anyone else in the party, R2 leaves the group in order to communicate with the city's central computer. Once finished at the computer terminal, the little astro droid is spotted by an Imperial officer who orders him to join a shipping work detail. After securing an audience with Imperial Admiral Tower, Lando, who pretends to be a war profiteer and droid dealer named Drebble, requests information about Vanis, who he says he has a personal vendetta against. In return for information about Vanis he is prepared to cut Tower in on his contraband business. Tower explains that Darth Vader is also interested in Vanis and would doubtless be indebted to Drebble if he succeeds in eliminating him. The Imperial allows Drebble and the rest of the group to purchase any droids they want from the citadel's work detail, but as the party leaves, a spy who was recently on Iskalon confirms the Admiral's suspicions that the group are, in fact, Rebels. Making their way to the shipping and unloading area, Lando and the others quickly locate K-3PX. However, when Lando reveals who he is to the droid and mentions that Luke Skywalker is on Iskalon, the droid shoots them with a stun blast and the Rebels are all captured and thrown into a detention cell. Back on Iskalon, the orange skinned warrior leads Luke and Leia up to the ocean's surface, where they clamber onto the floating wreckage of Pavillion, gasping for air. Surveying the destruction and countless bodies around them, the pair find the lifeless form of Primor, the ruler of Pavillion and Mone's farther. Kendle re-appears from the water, but is quickly chased away by the orange skinned warrior again. Luke confronts the mysterious Iskalonian, who identifies himself as Kiro and explains that, just prior to the Imperial attack, he caught Kendle sending a message to Admiral Tower on Gamandar, betraying the Rebels to the Empire. He surmises that she did it to ensure the safety of her family, while not anticipating that the Empire would destroy the entire underwater settlement in order to kill Luke and Leia. The two Rebels are hit by the chilling realisation that their friends have been sent into a trap on Gamandar. Comments: So, here we have the second part of the Iskalon saga, which picks up right where last issue left off, with the water planet's oceans pouring in on top of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. Artist Ron Frenz does a fantastic job of conveying the tremendous force and momentum of the gushing water, as the steel and glass of Pavillion collapses under the enormous pressure of the Iskalon Effect. The panels showing the two Rebels being buffeted and swept along by the currents are very well drawn and you can really feel the peril in this sequence. Actually, Frenz does a really good job throughout this issue, with some imaginative panel layouts, while inker extraordinaire Tom Palmer adds his usual magic touch to the art. I also really like how Frenz and Palmer dress Lando when he adopts his "Drebble" persona, with the Rebel con man sporting a rakish crimson beret and cape, nicely set off with a roguish eye-patch...  I've always thought that this disguise of Lando's looked really cool and, as I noted in my review of Star Wars #49, it's not a million miles from the disguise that Luke adopted in that issue. Talking of Luke, for some reason his hair seems to grow mid-comic, when it gets wet, and is much longer than it was earlier in the issue. I mean, I know it's wet and all, but it really is suddenly a lot longer than it was before. The fact that Lando chooses to adopt his arch nemesis's name (who we met back in issues #71 and #72) is a nice in-joke for regular readers of the series. The gag actually becomes funnier when Lando re-uses the name Drebble in future issues, with the rational being that any trouble he causes or any people he upsets while he's using the Drebble persona will eventually catch up with his enemy. Ultimately, the joke will turn out to be on Lando, since using Drebbles name for covert Rebel missions turns out to have some very unexpected consequences, as we shall see in issue #85. Jo Duffy's story continues to build to its conclusion, as the level of treachery escalates and our heroes find themselves in dire straights. Actually, there's a fairly interesting narrative structure to this issue, with lots of good plot twists and moments where the action cuts away from one set of characters with a cliffhanger, while events transpire off-panel and we rejoin them some time later. For example, we don't actually get to see what happened when the treacherous droid K-3PX betrayed Lando and the others on Gamandar; the action cuts away, back to Iskalon, and the next time that we see Lando and the gang, they are all unconscious in a prison cell. Duffy also introduces us to a new Iskalonian character named Kiro, who will become a major supporting cast member in the series. Right from his first appearance, Kiro cuts a dramatic, ferocious-looking and very memorable figure...  I've always thought that Kiro has something of a Japanese manga look to him and this is no coincidence, as Frenz recalled in an interview with the jedinews.co.uk website in 2011: " The Iskalonians were designed around Kiro, and he was intended to be an homage of manga anime which was something that Mary Jo Duffy enjoyed." I like that Duffy initially leads the reader to believe that Kiro is a threat to our heroes, before showing us that, in fact, he only wants to lead them to safety. It's a well executed fake out and serves to underscore that things are not what they seem in this story, when it comes to perceived allegiances. This foreshadows the attendant revelation that the seemingly gentle and trustworthy Kendle is actually a traitor, which comes as quite a shock and is a fantastic plot twist. Certainly, I can remember my jaw dropping when I first read this revelation as a 10-year-old. It's a tribute to Duffy's skills as a writer that, even though we only met Kendle last issue, we, as readers, have already come to fully trust her. We've seen ample evidence of what a good grasp Duffy has on the main Star Wars characters in recent issues, so I don't want to repeat myself by praising this aspect of her writing again, except to say that I love how she writes R2-D2 here. The lovable astro droid is as feisty and resourceful as he is in the movies and seems to always be one step ahead of the "official" secret mission being carried out by Lando, Chewbacca, C-3PO and Mone. It's as if R2 fully anticipates that Lando will ultimately make a mess of things and it will up to him to sort things out, which, of course, is exactly what happens, as we shall see next issue. Imperial Admiral Tower comes across as a dangerous and wily foe and I love the cool-looking red, cybernetic eye that Frenz gives him. It's also amusing that Tower sees straight through Lando's Drebble disguise and cover story, thinking to himself, "What an appalling performance", as Lando leaves, believing that his ruse has been successful. The way in which Duffy reveals that Tower is onto the Rebels serves as a nice reminder that not every Imperial officer is an idiot. Making Tower as suspicious and clever as he is serves to make him all the more human and all the more threatening. On the downside, I have a hard time accepting that Lando would openly use the name Millennium Falcon, when arriving at an Imperial garrison on a covert Rebel mission. The name of that ship would surely be far too well known for its Rebel associations to be safe. Of course, the cover story is that Mone has bought the ship and it's therefore no longer associated with the Rebel Alliance, but, I dunno … I think the name would still arouse considerable suspicion from the Imperials on Gamandar. To be honest, the entire plan of going directly to the Imperials to find out Vanis's whereabouts seems needlessly risky and not particularly well thought out. But then again, it is exactly the sort of ad hoc, on-the-fly planning that we see fairly often in the Star Wars films, so I can't be too harsh about it. Summing up, Star Wars #75 is another gripping instalment of the Iskalon saga, although it very much functions as the "slow second act" of this three-part story. That said, the excellent characterisation, high quality artwork and shocking revelations still make this a really fun Star Wars comic. It's just that it's not quite as good as last issue or next month's instalment. Continuity issues: None. Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "My plans involve secrecy … subtlety … subterfuge … " – Lando Calrissian falteringly attempts to explain the nature of his plan to find the droid K-3PX. I agree that this is a good issue, and that Jo Duffy has a good handle on the Star Wars characters. For some reason, I didn't enjoy this issue quite as much as the previous couple of issues, but it was stil quite good. Some observations: an Imperial officer seems to understand Artoo, which I find very odd. Lando seems a little naïve here. Also, Leia a bit of the helpless damsel here. Finally, it was overly dramatic for that Iskalonian to cut Leia's air hose rather than just signal her to take it off. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Jun 3, 2021 7:42:03 GMT -5
Star Wars #76Cover dated: October 1983 Issue title: Artoo-Detoo to the RescueScript: Mary Jo Duffy Artwork: Ronald Frenz (breakdowns)/Tom Palmer (finished art & inks) Colours: Glynis Wein Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Tom Palmer Overall rating: 10 out of 10  Plot summary: On the bridge of his Super Star Destroyer, Executor, Darth Vader meets with a group of Imperial officers to discuss the subjugation of the Iskalon system and the search for the Rebel spy Tay Vanis. They are interrupted by a transmission from the droid K-3PX, who is located on the planet Gamandar in the Iskalon system. The droid informs Vader that Imperial Admiral Tower has attacked the planet Iskalon and as a result endangered the life of Luke Skywalker, who was on the water world. This angers Vader, since he has been scouring the galaxy for Skywalker, in order to turn him to the Dark Side and become a servant of the Emperor. Meanwhile, on Iskalon, Luke, Princess Leia and the warrior Kiro tend to the many dead and dying, amid the wreckage of the underwater city of Pavillion. As they ward off attacks from Chiaki – ferocious sea monsters that have been drawn by the blood in the water – their former ally, Kendle, who they have since learned betrayed them to the Empire, reappears. She declares herself the new leader of the Iskalonians, since the former leader Primor is dead and his son, Mone – Kendle's husband – is missing on Gamandar. Kendle leads a group of angry Iskalonians and offworlders against the Rebels, having convinced the mob that Luke and Leia are responsible for bringing the Empire's wrath down upon their world. Elsewhere, in the Imperial citadel on Gamandar, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, Mone and C-3PO are being held in a detention cell. Admiral Tower begins their interrogation by taunting Mone with the revelation that it was his wife who betrayed them in the hopes that the Empire would spare him and their people. Before Tower can interrogate the group any further, K-3PX arrives with a squad of stormtroopers to arrest him on Darth Vader's orders. As Tower is led away to be executed, R2-D2, who has been posing as an Imperial worker droid, frees his friends and they escape in the Millennium Falcon. Back on Iskalon, Luke, Leia and Kiro attempt to hold off the mob, but during the fracas, Kiro's water tank is shattered, causing him to collapse, as he begins to suffocate in the air. Luke grabs his fallen comrade and dashes towards the water, as Leia gives covering fire with her Iskalonian stinger weapon. But as Luke nears the water's edge, a large Chiaki rises from the ocean to attack him. At that moment, the Falcon appears overhead and blasts the sea beast, slaying it, but the creature's body crashes down on top of Kendle, killing her instantly. As Luke puts Kiro into the water to revive him, the Falcon lands nearby and Mone walks to his dead wife's side to grieve over her and her betrayal. Mone then declares himself the new Iskalonian leader and announces his plan to lead his people into the secluded depths, telling the Rebels that they and other "airbreathers" are no longer welcome on the planet. Comments: Wow! What a downbeat ending to the Iskalon saga. Writer Jo Duffy deals us death, destruction and tragedy, including the complete annihilation of the underwater city of Pavillion, Mone loosing his father Primor and his wife Kendle, who – just to twist the knife – turns out to be a traitor, and the mission to locate Tay Vanis's droid turns out to be a wild goose chase. To cap it all, the embittered Iskalonians elect to hide themselves away until the Empire is no more, robbing the rest of the galaxy of their beautiful, open society and the Rebellion of a valuable potential ally. To add to the sense of downbeat finality, Luke Skywalker and the other Rebels are basically powerless to prevent any of this from happening.  In addition to this depressing chain of events, parts of Star Wars #76 are pretty brutal and violent. For example, we see Chewbacca twisting an Imperial stormtrooper's head until the soldier's neck snaps, Luke is forced to run a stormtrooper through with Kiro's sword, and then there's the dark aftermath of the Iskalon Effect, in which the wounded and dead are picked off and eaten by hungry Chiaki, while Luke, Leia and Kiro are forced to murder innocent, but aggressive, civilians, who are being manipulated by Kendle. Yeah...this is some pretty dark and mature stuff. Especially for a mainstream comic book from 1983! One small criticism would be that the ending felt a little rushed to me, as if Duffy and artist Ron Frenz were running out of room and trying to cram as much pathos into the final page as they could. Still, that isn't enough to spoil my enjoyment of the issue at all. As the title of this instalment suggests, R2-D2's ingenuity saves the day, as far as rescuing Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, C-3PO and Mone from the Imperials goes. As I mentioned in my review of last issue, R2 seems to have fully anticipated that Lando would mess up the mission on Gamandar and that it would be up to him to sort things out. The resourceful astro droid managed to infiltrate the Imperial shipping team and work undercover as one of the Empire's own droids – and Duffy slips in some humorous moments, with random Imperial officers trying to take credit for the little droid's work – biding his time to release his friends from their detention cell and instructing the citadel's central computer to let the Millennium Falcon escape. It turns out that the mission to Gamandar to locate Tay Vanis's droid is a trap set up by the Imperials, with Kendle's help. Although Vanis definitely had a droid, K-3PX seems to have been an Imperial droid, or at least a droid with an allegiance to the Empire. Duffy doesn't even make it wholly clear at this stage whether or not 3PX was ever actually Vanis's. Either way, this isn't the droid the Rebels were looking for.  It's nice to see Darth Vader, in all his ruthless glory, making an appearance in Marvel's Star Wars comic and not as a hologram or in a flashback, but actually in the flesh (or armour, to be precise). Lucasfilm put a lot of restrictions on what Duffy could or couldn't have happen with the Dark Lord of the Sith during these inter-sequel years, which meant that readers didn't get to see Vader in the comic as much as they might have liked. On the subject of Vader, he informs a group of assembled Imperial officers that, "The Empire will be making it's final assault against the Rebel forces very soon now...", which is a clear reference to the events of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, which had been in cinemas for almost two months by the time that this issue appeared. Marvel's decision to not publish the comic book adaptation of Return of the Jedi as part of the ongoing Star Wars series, as they had done with The Empire Strikes Back, meant that Duffy didn't have to worry about writing a lead-in to the third Star Wars film without giving anything important away. The fact that her lead-in continued to be published for six months after the release of Jedi allowed her to drop in nice little foreshadowing references like this and generally made for a much smoother transition into the events of that movie than Archie Goodwin had been able to give us prior to The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. As for the art in this issue, Frenz and inker extraordinaire Tom Palmer have been turning in some fantastic work on this book, month-in, month-out, for quite a while now, but issue #76 is one of those occasions where they really knock it out of the park. The artwork here is probably the best of all the three parts of the Iskalon saga; it looks tighter and more detailed than the preceding two issues, with some really gorgeous panels throughout the comic. In particular, page 12 of the story, in which Admiral Tower is placed under arrest by K-3PX, is a real favourite of mine. This page seems somewhat indebted to a style of storytelling that Walt Simonson first introduced to the series, in which we see the same scene, from the same "camera angle", repeated at an interval of a few seconds...  I don't know whether Frenz was consciously composing this page to homage Simonson or not, but regardless, it provides a nice sense of stylistic connectivity to earlier issues in the run, which I like a lot. Overall, Star Wars #76 is a fantastic comic, with the creative team firing on all cylinders. The downbeat and poignant tone of the ending makes for a nice change of pace and adds a sense of realism to events, by showing that the good guys can't win 'em all. The new Iskalonian character Kiro, who we met last issue, is an excellent addition to the supporting cast and is right up there with Dani as one of Duffy's best original character creations. It's something of a shame that he elects to go into seclusion with his people at the end of this issue, rather than joining Luke and the others, but we shall meet the orange skinned warrior again in the not-too-distant future and he will eventually become a regular supporting cast member. Continuity issues: None. Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "I save my hate for my enemies, Princess Leia, why would I feel hate for you and Luke?" – Kiro rejects Princess Leia's suggestion that he must feel resentment towards the Rebels for having provoked the Empire's attack on Iskalon. Very good issue. For some reason, I didn't like the art quite as much in this issue, but it was still good. It was interesting to see the rebels fail in their mission. It seems like the other times they "lost" it was in regards to finding Han, and we knew that they wouldn't succeed in that until the adaptation of Return of the Jedi anyway. By the way, the detention cells here on Gamandar look exactly like the ones on the Death Star in ANH. I agree with Confessor that the ending was a bit rushed. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Jun 4, 2021 10:57:08 GMT -5
Star Wars #77Cover dated: November 1983 Issue title: Chanteuse of the Stars...Script: Mary Jo Duffy Artwork: Ronald Frenz (breakdowns)/Tom Palmer (finished art & inks) Colours: Glynis Wein Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Ronald Frenz (pencils)/Tom Palmer (inks) Overall rating: 7 out of 10  Plot summary: Following their failed mission to locate the missing Rebel spy Tay Vanis on Iskalon, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2 are informed that Imperial intelligence believes another Rebel spy has also intercepted information about the Empire's new secret weapon. Surprisingly, the intelligence suggests that the Rebel in question is Han Solo! Leia insists that this is impossible, since Solo is still frozen in carbonite and a prisoner of the bounty hunter Boba Fett. However, it was the Empire themselves who arranged Solo's capture meaning that if they currently perceive Han to be a security threat, then perhaps they have new information about him that the Rebellion is not yet privy to. Lando and Chewbacca are sent to investigate Han's involvement in the matter, while Luke, Leia and a small contingent of Hoojibs, including their leader Plif, journey to Kabray Station in the Millennium Falcon to infiltrate a diplomatic summit and find a message supposedly left there by Vanis. After gaining access to the summit by pretending that Plif is a representative for the planet Arbra, Luke and Leia split up, with the princess scouring the backstage area and kitchen, while Luke searches the guest rooms. Although hindered by the amorous attention of a group of persistent Zeltron females, Luke eventually finds Vanis's message, but he also overhears two guests plotting to poison the Imperial Governor to prevent the politician from announcing a new deal he has struck with a race known as the Pursians. Luke decides that he cannot allow the assassination to transpire, in case it causes a diplomatic incident and localised conflict. Meanwhile, Leia is caught skulking about the dressing rooms and mistaken for a cabaret singer known as the "Chanteuse of the Stars". As a result, she is forced to go out on stage and sing for the assembled delegates, while a bowl of poisoned soup is brought out of the kitchen to be placed before the governor. As the princess nervously performs, one of the tiny Lahsbees in the audience becomes "over-stimulated" and suddenly reaches maturity, turning into a large, ferocious Huhk. As the creature rampages through the dining hall, Luke uses the commotion as an opportunity to knock into the waiter serving the governor, spilling the poisoned soup on the floor. Unfortunately, this attracts the attention of the rampaging Huhk, who turns to pursue Luke. At Plif's urging, Leia resumes her song, which serves to pacify the angry creature, who then sits smitten at the princess's feet, leaving Luke to wonder what will happen when she finally finishes the song. Comments: Well, after the depressingly downbeat ending of last issue, this one is a complete change of pace. "Chanteuse of the Stars..." is definitely played much more for laughs than the Iskalon saga was. It can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone adventure, although it's still a part of the overarching Search for Tay Vanis storyline. The artwork in this issue is really gorgeous. It's highly detailed, authentically Star Wars-y and wonderfully composed, putting the action, intrigue and humour of writer Jo Duffy's script across effortlessly. However, for me, this issue also represents the point in the series where inker Tom Palmer starts to dominate penciller Ron Frenz a little too much. While the staging, the story beats and the overall flow of the visual narrative are all Frenz's work, Palmer' influence has been getting stronger and stronger with each passing issue lately and here it finally starts to bury the penciller a little bit. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, since Palmer's inking is exquisite and his renderings of the various Star Wars space craft and pieces of technology always look perfectly in keeping with the films. Still, it's worth noting that I can see plenty of Palmer in the art here, but very little Frenz. Duffy continues to be on top form, injecting plenty of humour into this issue, which is deftly knocked home by Frenz and Palmer's art. The pair use some nifty body language and facial expressions in order to get the laughs. During an interview with the jedinews.co.uk website in 2011, Frenz noted that in these more light hearted Star Wars stories that he worked on, "Duffy was a genius at mixing comedy and adventure and those issues were great fun." Star Wars #77 is a perfect example of how the writer and artistic team on this series worked so well together. Take this four panel sequence, for example, in which a young Lahsbee suddenly turns into a raging Huhk...  Obviously the shocked expression and contorted spasms of the central figure are pretty humourous in and of themselves, but I also love the reactions of the other Lahsbees stood nearby. Likewise, the humour in the panel featuring a fainting stormtrooper, who has just narrowly avoided being ripped apart by the rampaging Huhk, provides another example of script and art working together brilliantly to deliver a laugh...  Plif plays a fairly major role in this adventure, which is nice because I kinda feel that he and the other Hoojibs have been somewhat underused in the series thus far. Sure, they've been in the background ever since the Rebel Alliance set up base on Arbra, and they've certainly had their moments in the spotlight – such as in "The Darker" from Star Wars #67 – but here Plif is up front and centre as part of the main cast. I really like that Plif poses as the diplomat in the party, while Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia take on the roles of his attendants. Plif's also kinda cool when he bawls out the head of security at the summit. I suspect that the Hoojibs aren't every Star Wars fan's cup of tea, but for me, this issue is all the more enjoyable for featuring them more prominently. Duffy shows off some of the alien races that she's introduced to the series at the summit on Kabray Station, with Stenaxes, Lahsbees and lots of Zeltons all rubbing shoulders. There's even a mention of the Iskalonians not attending, which is, of course, a reference to the events of last issue. She also injects a fair bit of humour into proceedings, with the insatiable Zeltron females chasing Luke around the station. I've noted before (in my review of Star Wars #71) that Duffy always writes Luke as a total gentleman – he never once takes advantage of the sexual temptations offered to him on a plate by Dani and the other Zeltron females. However, in this issue there's something almost phobic about his desire to escape their attention. I mean, Luke is a red-blooded male, so what is he so afraid of? I guess he might feasibly be anxious that the Zeltrons pursuing him will blow his cover and mess up the mission, but Luke's concern seems much more akin to a pre-adolescent, "girls are icky" mindset. Ultimately, these scenes with Luke and the Zeltrons remind me that these comics were mostly written for young boys, with Luke playing out a childhood fantasy of how a grown man might act in that situation. Unfortunately, it taints the story with a "NO GIRLZ ALLOWED IN THE CLUB HOUSE" vibe that doesn't seem very in character or very Star Wars-y. Just like in other recent issues, Duffy drops in some nice foreshadowing of Return of the Jedi, with mentions of the Empire's new secret weapon (which is the second Death Star, of course) and the search for Han Solo resuming. Actually, the revelation that the Empire currently considers Solo a security threat could've potentially been fairly shocking, since it raises the prospect that he's actually been freed from the carbonite that he was incased in at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. However, the revelation doesn't quite have the impact that Duffy intended, since, by this point, readers would've surely known that Han hadn't been freed, what with Jedi having already been in cinemas for about three months. Personally, I've always liked the ridiculousness of Leia having to go out on stage and sing to the assembled diplomats as the eponymous "Chanteuse of the Stars". Although the attendant pun of naming the location of the summit Kabray Station (Cabaret Station, geddit?) is atrocious.  If you've been unfortunate enough to have watched the god-awful Star Wars Holiday Special, you'll no doubt remember that, while Leia hasn't exactly got the best sounding set of pipes, she's not too shabby a singer either... Anyway, the princess's sultry singing and skimpy stage outfit certainly seems to be a hit with the young Lahsbee who gets "over-stimulated" and turns into a Huhk. Overall, this is a fun, if largely inconsequential, issue. It definitely has its flaws and certainly your personal tolerance for silliness within Star Wars fiction will have a bearing on how you respond to this story. Myself, I think it serves as a welcome change of pace from the heavy, serious tone of the Iskalon saga. It's a well structured and nicely paced adventure that substitutes humour, political drama and lots of sneaking about for the more traditional style of Star Wars action. Also, like the Pariah story arc before it, this issue taught me a new word as a kid: "chanteuse", which is a French-derived term for a female nightclub singer. Incidentally, on the last page of this issue there's some blurb promising us a tale called "The Big Con" next month, featuring Lando and Chewbacca. Unfortunately, issue #78 would feature the fill-in story "Hoth Stuff!", with "The Big Con" appearing the following month in Star Wars #79. Continuity issues: - On the front cover, Luke Skywalker is brandishing a green lightsaber, but he didn't construct this until Return of the Jedi, which is set after the events of this issue. By rights Luke shouldn't have a lightsaber at all, since he lost his original one during the duel with Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back.
Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "Cowards and ambassadors first!" – An unnamed alien delegate attempts to save his own skin as he flees from the ferocious Huhk that is rampaging through the dining hall on Kabray Station. "The rampaging Huhk". I see what you did there, Confessor. Cute. Anyway, I agree that this was a fun issue, and the art was wonderful. The ending was very cute, too. However, I was a bit confused at first. I guess I must have somehow missed the part where it was explained that it was a summit that they were going to on Kabray. I was able to piece it together when Plif seemed to be acting as an ambassador or something (and I agree it was a nice change to see Luke and Leia act as his servants) but I think it could have been spelled out a bit better. It seemed odd to me that Luke would go out of his way to save the life of an Imperial Governor, and it also seemed that Leia could have simply explained that she wasn't the singer, but both things led to some fun, so I guess it's OK. And yes, those Zeltron women were too horny and it does detract a bit from the Star Warsiness of it, though at least Luke doesn't seem to be enjoying it, as that would make it worse. At least he's uncomfortable over it. |
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Post by aquagoat on Jun 4, 2021 20:23:31 GMT -5
I'm surprised Marvel and Lucasfilm let Jo Duffy add so much sexuality into the series. The hypersexual Dani, the Zeltrons crowding around Luke like a hareem, an imperial officer talking about how much he enjoyed being on a planet full of Zeltrons, Leia dancing onstage causing a Lahsbee to be so aroused he goes through puberty...
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Post by Duragizer on Jun 7, 2021 1:08:42 GMT -5
...and again, Luke having a lightsaber at all (the hilt looking nothing like the then-forthcoming version in ROTJ), which is not only (and obviously) contradicted by ROTJ, but even by the Marvel adaptation, where the dialogue describes it as if it should be a surprise that Luke has another weapon-- --treated in the same manner as the film. If the ROTJ adaptation is supposed to be a part of the comic's continuity, then it just reinforces the point that the comic should have had Luke feel what it was like surviving/conductingRebel business without the weapon. I recall reading the letters column in one of the post-ROTJ issues. One reader brought this discrepancy up, with the response given that the story behind Luke's interregnum saber would be revealed in a future issue. Of course, it never was. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Jun 7, 2021 14:49:19 GMT -5
Star Wars #78Cover dated: December 1983 Issue title: Hoth Stuff!Script: Bob Layton (plot, script)/David Michelinie (plot, script) Artwork: Luke McDonnell (pencils)/Bob Layton (inks) Colours: Glynis Wein Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Bob Layton Overall rating: 2½ out of 10  Plot summary: Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Barlon Hightower investigate a derelict transport ship that has been discovered on a trajectory suggesting that it came from the direction of the planet Hoth. Luke hopes that his old childhood friend from Tatooine, Wedge Antilles – who has been missing in action since the Empire overran the Rebel base on Hoth – might be on the ship. After boarding the cruiser and finding it deserted, the Rebels decide to listen to the ship's log and discover a recording of Wedge recounting what has happened to him since the Rebel Alliance evacuated their base. Wedge describes how he and his co-pilot Janson were left stranded on Hoth for months, following the Imperial assault on the Rebel base. Setting up camp in the base's Ion Cannon turret, Wedge was forced to hunt in order to supplement the meagre rations that the Rebellion had left behind, while fending off Wampas that were marauding within the base. One particular day, after returning from a hunting expedition, Wedge discovered that a group of space scavengers had arrived to strip the battlefield of anything of value and, upon discovering the wounded Janson, had killed him in cold blood. Wedge was able to avenge Janson by stealing the scavengers' transport and leading the ships that they launched in pursuit into a squadron of Imperial TIE fighters that were patrolling the planet. The recording comes to an end with Wedge noting that the vessel's engines have failed and, with little food on board, it's only a matter of time before he starves to death. As Luke and the other Rebels frantically wonder how old the recording is, Wedge suddenly appears floating outside one of the transport's windows in a space suit. He was busy making repairs on the outside of the ship when Luke and the others arrived and had only just managed to work his way around the cruiser's hull to let them know he was there. With Luke and Wedge reunited, the Rebels head back towards the planet Arbra, where there will be a big celebration. Comments: Wow! What a mess this issue is! "Hoth Stuff!" (and what an awful, groan-inducing title that is too!) is a stand-alone fill-in issue that Marvel had been promising to publish for a number of months. From comments made by writer Bob Layton in 2002 on the official Star Wars website, it appears as if the initial idea, basic plot line and much of the scripting of this story was his. David Michelinie, who had been the regular writer on the series in 1981 and 1982, also helped out with plotting and scripting chores. Most of the story is told via a flashback sequence, using the narrative device of having Luke Skywalker and the other Rebels listen to Wedge Antilles recount his adventures via the ship's log. Undoubtedly the most glaring problem with this issue is that clearly Layton or Michelinie (or both!) have confused Wedge Antilles with Biggs Darklighter. In this story, it states that Wedge and Luke grew up together as best friends on Tatooine, but that back story was actually Biggs's, as detailed in the novelization, comic adaptation and radio play of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. I guess the confusion arose because both Biggs and Wedge were Luke's wingmen in the Battle of Yavin at the end of the original Star Wars film. However, Biggs was killed in that battle, while Wedge survived and would go on to appear in both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. In the aforementioned starwars.com interview, Layton recalled why he decided to write a story focusing on Wedge: " I got the impression that Wedge represented the 'everyman' in the Star Wars epic. Also, we didn't have to worry about continuity or stepping on anyone's toes at Lucasfilm with a Wedge story. It just made sense at the time." Layton's comments are revealing – especially the part about not having to worry about continuity. What's remarkable is that Michelinie, a writer who had always written stories which complimented Star Wars continuity so well, could allow such a glaring goof as mixing Wedge up with Biggs to go uncorrected. My guess is that the mistake was Layton's initially, but Michelinie should have definitely spotted it before the comic saw print, and so should editor Louise Jones! Another continuity problem arises when Layton kills off Wedge's friend and co-pilot Janson. Although his death doesn't matter within the Marvel Comics' continuity, in the subsequent expanded universe canon Janson survives the Battle of Hoth and is a major character in the various Rogue Squadron comics and novels. Janson was also shown as having escaped from Hoth in the radio adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back, which predates this comic. There are a couple of other minor continuity problems in this issue: Luke, Princess Leia and Barlon Hightower are all travelling in a Y-wing fighter, which should only be able to carry two people; and Wedge mentions at one point that both of Hoth's suns are out, but Hoth isn't a binary system and only has one sun. Talking of Barlon, what is he even doing here? From a plot perspective, he's totally surplus to requirements and this is his one and only appearance in the Star Wars comic. Somebody else who's utterly surplus to requirements is the leader of the scavengers, Arns Grimraker. He's such an unmemorable, underdeveloped villain and does so little within the story that it just seems rather pointless for Layton or Michelinie to have even bothered mentioning him. Something else I don't like about this issue is that the characterisation for Luke, Leia and Wedge seems a little off. In the case of the latter, Layton and Michelinie give him a weird hillbilly accent or maybe it's supposed to be Scottish or Irish? Denis Lawson, the actor who portrayed Wedge in the Star Wars films, is indeed Scottish, but he doesn't use a Scots accent when playing the character. I wonder if Layton and/or Michelinie knew that Lawson was Scottish and just assumed that Wedge would therefore talk like this? Having said that, I'm not entirely sure what accent Wedge is supposed to have here, so I may well be wrong about that. One other thing that bugs me a bit is how could the Empire have left a squadron of TIE fighters orbiting Hoth, when they're not deep space craft? TIEs are short-range fighters and would need a base ship, like a Star Destroyer, in order to refuel or for their pilots to rest. I'm also not a fan of Luke McDonnell's artwork, which looks kind of ugly and blocky, with Layton's own inks only accentuating these undesirable qualities. There's a pleasing amount of detail in the art though, but, honestly, I'm struggling to find much to say that's nice about this issue. On the plus side, Glynis Wein's colouring is really good and it's kind of interesting to see the aftermath of the Battle of Hoth. The story of Wedge and Janson's time stranded on the ice planet isn't really that bad, I guess, although it's not that thrilling either. I do get a kick out of seeing an MLC-3 Mobile Laser Cannon making an appearance though. This self-propelled light artillery weapon was produced by the Kenner toy company as part of their range of Star Wars mini-rigs in 1981, but this is the first and only time that it appeared in Marvel's Star Wars comic...  Overall, Star Wars #78 isn't a terrible comic in and of itself, but because it contradicts established continuity so badly, has such butt-ugly art and features such a lacklustre story, it's pretty much the poster child for those who claim that Marvel's original Star Wars comic was substandard and not in keeping with George Lucas's vision. The fact that we also get such a radically different writer and artist in this issue, after an exceptionally good run from the Jo Duffy/Ron Frenz/Tom Palmer team, makes this comic more than a little jarring. I wasn't at all fond of this issue as a kid and my opinion of it hasn't really changed in the intervening years. Continuity issues: - Biggs Darklighter's back story of growing up on Tatooine as Luke Skywalker's best friend is accidentally grafted onto Wedge Antilles, who is actually from the planet Corellia.
- Wes Janson is murdered by scavengers on Hoth, but he is shown as having escaped from the planet in the various Rogue Squadron books and comics, as well as in the radio dramatisation of The Empire Strikes Back.
- The Y-wing fighter that Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Barlon Hightower are in should not be able to accommodate all three of them, since it is a two man craft.
- Wedge refers to the planet Hoth as having two suns, but in established canon it only has one.
- Wedge has a colloquial accent here, rather like a hillbilly or perhaps it's Scottish or Irish, but in the Star Wars films, actor Denis Lawson exhibits no such accent.
- The Empire couldn't have left a squadron of TIE fighters orbiting Hoth for months on end because they are short-range fighters and would have needed a base ship to refuel in or for their pilots to rest.
Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "Scavengers! The scum of the galaxy, misfits who follow the paths of battle, stealin' anything they can sell. Makin' a profit from the pain of war. Heck, most'd shoot their own mothers for a second-hand droid motivator!" – Wedge Antilles reflects on the nature of the war profiteers who killed his friend Wes Janson. Agreed. This was pretty bad. You've pointed out the glaring continuity errors with Wedge being Luke's oldest friend and being from Tatooine, plus Janson getting killed off. I really disliked the way Wedge spoke. You pointed out that it sounded off, and I completely agree, though I interpreted it as being an informal (or uneducated) American accent, but either way, it did not sound right. By the way, I just started listening to the Star Wars radio drama in the car on my way to work this morning, so in a few weeks, I should be up to Jansen's appearance in he Empire Strikes Back. There's plenty of blame to go around for all of these errors as well as the less than stellar story. The art was decent, I thought. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Jun 7, 2021 14:56:24 GMT -5
Star Wars #79Cover dated: January 1984 Issue title: The Big ConScript: Mary Jo Duffy Artwork: Ronald Frenz (breakdowns)/Tom Palmer (finished art & inks) Colours: Glynis Wein Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Ronald Frenz (pencils)/Tom Palmer (inks) Overall rating: 9 out of 10  Plot summary: On a mission to Arcan IV to ascertain why Imperial intelligence might be interested in Han Solo, Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca, who are both in disguise, enter a seedy cantina and introduce themselves to a gang of criminals who were once acquainted with Solo. Lando introduces himself as Captain Drebble to Lemo and Sanda, the brother and sister duo in charge of the gang. He offers to help the siblings in their search for two valuable artefacts known as the Dancing Goddess and the Minstrel in exchange for a cut of their profits. "Drebble" convinces the gang that finding Han is of paramount importance to their mission, since the Corellian smuggler was actually a brilliant treasure hunter. In reality, this is a lie and Calrissian is simply interested in extracting information from the gang concerning Solo's current whereabouts. The pair leave the gang to mull over their proposal and return to Lando's ship, the Cobra, but before long, the mercenaries appear outside the craft and invite the two Rebels to dinner. During the meal, the gang ply Lando with alcohol in order to trick him into revealing his plans, but as the conversation progresses, Calrissian learns from the criminals that Solo has now been delivered to Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine. In his intoxicated state, Lando accidentally mentions Chewbacca's name and the gang draw their blasters, angry at having been lied to, since they recognise the Wookiee's name and his relationship to Solo. Chewbacca picks up a wooden table and throws it at the gang members, as he and Lando make a run for it. Outside the restaurant, Lando and Chewie steal an aircar and steak away into the darkened streets, as the gang pursue them in airspeeders of their own. After a perilous chase through the city at breakneck speed, during which Chewbacca commandeers one of the gang's aircars, Lando and the Wookiee's vehicles collide with each other, but luckily the pair are thrown clear of the resulting explosion. As they lay crumpled on the street, a member of Lemo and Sanda's gang named Dafi advances towards them with her blaster drawn. As she prepares to fire, she notices that a small statue has fallen out of a box that was on Lando's person. Grabbing it, she realises that it is the Minstrel statuette that the gang had been searching for (it was secretly in Calrissian's possession all along). The rest of the gang arrive at the scene and a firefight erupts, as they begin to squabble over who should own the artefact. As the fracas continues, Lando and Chewbacca sneak off back to the Cobra and depart the planet, pleased in the knowledge that they have finally learned Solo's whereabouts. Comments: Star Wars #79 is an absolute blast of an issue. The story zips along at a cracking pace, Jo Duffy's dialogue is snappy, well written and chock-full of humour, while the artwork of Ron Frenz and Tom Palmer is simply gorgeous. Of particular note is an exciting aircar chase sequence that takes up roughly the last half of the issue, which is absolutely marvellous. Sure, "The Big Con" isn't exactly the most important or consequential issue of the series – although the central characters do learn some vitally important information in it – but it's such a fun read! Little wonder that in 2011 Duffy told the Belgian Star Wars fan club magazine TeeKay-421 that this was one of her favourite stories of those that she wrote for the series because it turned out pretty much exactly as she had originally envisioned it. "The Big Con" features the culmination of the Rebel's search for the carbon-frozen form of Han Solo, which had been going on – in an off-and-on manner – since issue #46 of the series. Of course, the search was ultimately a failure, since the Rebels couldn't prevent the bounty hunter Boba Fett from delivering Han to Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine (which they knew would be Fett's ultimate destination anyway). Really though, there was no other way for this scenario to play out in the comics because Lucasfilm had forbidden Marvel from having Han rescued, since that was something that was going to happen in Return of the Jedi. Nonetheless, now that Solo is on Tatooine and in the clutches of Jabba, it sets up the opening of ROTJ nicely. It's a shame that the God-awful fill-in story "Hoth Stuff!" that appeared in issue #78 kind of broke up the flow of this story arc because the events of this issue are part of the mission that Lando and Chewbacca were sent on in Star Wars #77, "Chanteuse of the Stars...". It was revealed in that issue that Imperial intelligence seemed to believe that Han Solo might know the same information about the Empire's new secret weapon as the long-sought-after Rebel spy, Tay Vanis. That plot point isn't referenced at all in this issue and, in fact, had been summarily dropped by Duffy. Nevertheless, this issue is still tangentially a part of the ongoing Search for Tay Vanis storyline. Something else that I want to mention is how totally cool Lando looks and acts when he's in his "Captain Drebble" disguise. On the letters page of Star Wars #87, a reader named Nina V. Twersky noted the similarities between Calrissian's Drebble costume and the Japanese anime character Captain Harlock. The reply to her letter certainly hints that Harlock was indeed the inspiration for Lando's look. Judge for yourself: here's Captain Harlock...  And here's Captain Drebble...  Lando finally explains in this issue why he keeps adopting the name of his old arch nemesis: his rational is that any trouble that he causes while he's using the false name will eventually come back to negatively impact his enemy. Of course, we met the real Drebble back in issues #71 and #72, so Lando adopting his name serves as a cool in-joke for regular readers of the series. Duffy also drops in a nice reference to The Wheel gambling station (which we saw in issues #18–23 and #69), again for the benefit of long-time readers of the series. We also get our first glimpse of Lando's ship, the Cobra. It's certainly a nice looking vessel, but I can't help feeling that it's perhaps a little too reminiscent of the Imperial Lambda-class shuttle that we first saw in Return of the Jedi. It's a pity that Frenz or Palmer couldn't have come up with a slightly more original design. There's a minor continuity error in this issue when Duffy mistakenly has Lando refer to the planet Stenos as Stenax, which is the name given to its native inhabitants. Also, I find the fact that he and Chewbacca are thrown clear of their aircar collision – a collision which appears to have taken place many storeys above the ground – stretches credulity a bit too far for my tastes. Another slight criticism would be that the sibling duo of Lemo and Sanda, along with their gang of mercenaries and smugglers, are a bit two-dimensional and not terribly memorable. Still, I suppose that they don't really need to be all that well fleshed out, since their role in the narrative is simply to impart the information about Han's whereabouts and then to propel the story forward during the aircar chase. We will see Lemo and Sanda again in Star Wars #85, while the Dancing Goddess and Minstrel statues will reappear in issues #85 and #99. As I noted earlier, the artwork in this issue is very nice. The book opens with a terrific looking splash page of Han Solo's face on a wanted poster, which really is a good likeness of actor Harrison Ford...  As a striking image with which to open the story, this picture certainly does its job and really impressed me as a kid back in 1984, and it still impresses me today. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that I think this splash page is almost certainly all Palmer's own work. It certainly appears to be signed by him in the bottom right hand corner. While I'm on the subject of Palmer's art, I noted in my review of Star Wars #77 that I felt like his inking was starting to dominate Frenz's pencils somewhat and that continues to be the case in this issue. It's not necessarily a criticism, since I'm a big fan of Palmer's work generally and his work on Star Wars in particular, but it is an observation. Nevertheless, Frenz's sequential story telling and staging is excellent, while the pair adeptly punch home the script's more humorous moments with some impressive visual comedy. Every page here is a real joy to look at. Overall, this is another fantastic issue of Star Wars, but perhaps a touch more throwaway than some of the others we've had of late and it looses a point for that. Still, it's a good little adventure, with some strong in-character writing, plenty of humour and more than a dash of the thrills and spills we associate with the Star Wars films. Continuity issues: - Lando mistakenly refers to the planet Stenos as Stenax.
Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "Yes, I'm sure you do. Now, put your blaster away, there's a good fellow." – Lando Calrissian nonchalantly dismisses Lemo's aggressive reaction to his offer of help in finding the Dancing Goddess and Minstrel statues. This was a fun issue, with lots of humor. Lando's disguise was hilarious, and I love the reason he keeps using the name Drebble in these missions! By the way, 100,000 credits for Solo seems like a lot, considering he must have owed Jabba less than 17,000 credits (it seemed implied in A New Hope that the 17,000 he was to get for transporting Ben, Luke & the droids was more than enough to pay off Jabba) though I'm sure Jabba is vindictive enough to put a larger price on Solo's head than what he was owed. Also, the flying car chase scene reminded me a bit of he chase scene at the beginning of Attack of the Clones, with Chewie jumping off the flying car to get after the bad guys.t |
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Post by dbutler69 on Jun 8, 2021 8:10:54 GMT -5
Star Wars Annual #3Cover dated: 1983 (actually issued on August 30th, 1983) Issue title: The ApprenticeScript: Mary Jo Duffy Artwork: Klaus Janson Colours: Klaus Janson Letters: Joe Rosen Cover art: Klaus Janson Overall rating: 3½ out of 10  Plot summary: On board a Star Destroyer orbiting the planet Belderone, Darth Vader informs a group of Imperial officers that a hidden Rebel base has been discovered on the nearby world of Kulthis. The Dark Lord explains that once work at a top secret factory installation on Belderone has reached the proper stage, the Empire will launch an attack on Kulthis and wipe out the Rebel presence there. Meanwhile, on the surface of Belderone, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO have landed in the Millennium Falcon to investigate rumours concerning the Imperial operation there. The Rebels chat with some of the locals, but as soon as they mention that they have come from Kulthis, the crowd quickly disperses, since the subjugated townsfolk are afraid to associate with anyone from a world with Rebel sympathies. However, two young local men named Barney and Flint approach the Rebels, excited by the arrival of such exotic off-worlders. Flint notices that Luke carries a lightsaber and tells him that his father was once a Jedi Knight. Flint then invites the Rebels back to his mother's cantina, but once there, the group is spotted by a local informant and attacked by Imperial assassins. A firefight erupts, with the Rebels killing two of the assassins, while a third takes his own life to avoid capture. Skywalker's quick reflexes during the shoot-out convince Flint that Luke is a Jedi himself, while the ambush confirms to the Rebels that there is something of considerable military importance happening on Belderone. Luke and Chewbacca journey to Kulthis in the Falcon to warn the Rebel base there, while Flint and Barney decide to show Leia and Lando the secret factory installation that they work in. As the group arrive at the facility, they encounter huge AT-AT walkers advancing towards the nearby town, as Flint and Barney suddenly realise what the components they've been manufacturing are being used to build. Nearby, Vader hides in the shadows and watches both the Rebels and the walkers, having decided to begin the attack on Kulthis by driving the AT-ATs through the town to rendezvous with a fleet of Imperial bulk cruisers on the other side, irrespective of the damage or loss of life that it might inflict on the town. Luke returns from Kulthis leading a squadron of Rebel X-wing fighters which attack the walkers, as Flint and Barney race back to the town in a landspeeder to warn the populace of the impending danger. Driving the speeder at a reckless pace, Flint looses control of the craft, badly wounding his friend in the resulting crash. With help from Leia and Lando, the Rebel pilots manage to destroy all of the AT-ATs and the factory facility, but not before one walker has trampled the town, killing many of the townsfolk, including Flint's mother. As Flint cradles the dead woman's body in his arms, he is approached from behind by Vader, who senses the boy's latent Force ability and convinces him to join the Empire, promising to give him special training in the ways of the Force. Elsewhere, Barney regains consciousness and vows to join the Rebellion after realising that his family has perished amid the destruction. Comments: So, here we go again: another year and another lacklustre Star Wars annual.  Actually, that's probably a bit unfair because the series' first annual was fantastic, but 1982's "Shadeshine" was a real let down and, unfortunately, so is this annual. Artist Klaus Janson is perhaps best know as the inker on an acclaimed early '80s run of Daredevil, with Frank Miller, but he had also previously inked some of the Walt Simonson drawn Star Wars strips that appeared in Pizzazz magazine. In this issue Janson handles the pencilling, inking and colouring and, although I loved his moody inking over Miller's dynamic and gritty pencils on Daredevil, the blocky, shadow-laden artwork he turns in here really isn't a very good fit for Star Wars. There's some pleasing use of Zip-a-Tone shading and, on occasion, some of the backgrounds are quite nice, but overall Janson's art lacks "movement", for want of a better term, and as a result his figures often look strangely stilted. It also isn't always very easy to follow what's happening in the artwork either. The wildly inconsistent quality of the art makes me wonder if Janson was having to rush to get it completed, since some parts of this book look fairly polished, while others look scribbly and hurried. In fact, parts of this issue remind me of Howard Chaykin's slapdash and unkempt artwork in Star Wars #1, which definitely isn't a compliment! In addition, Janson's colouring is a little too muted for my tastes and that only serves to add to the dreary, lifelessness of the art. So yeah, I think it's safe to say that I'm definitely not a fan of the artwork in this comic. There's a nice pastiche of an "I Want You" recruitment poster on the front cover though, with Darth Vader standing in for Uncle Sam and seemingly Force choking the viewer. As for the story, Jo Duffy has been knocking it out of the park recently as the writer on Star Wars, but "The Apprentice" is not even close to being an example of her best work. For one thing, there are several nonsensical plot holes in this story, like when Vader is hiding in the shadows, watching Princess Leia and Lando Calrissian investigate the Imperial factory facility, but does nothing to apprehend them. In his defence, it appears as if Vader is unaware of exactly who the Rebels standing just a few meters from him are, but even though he can sense that Luke Skywalker isn't among them, you would still think that capturing or killing these Rebels might be something that the Dark Lord of the Sith would be eager to do. Besides, surely he would be able to sense that Leia Organa was standing only meters away from him through the Force? For that matter, why didn't Vader join the fight against the Rebels when their assault upon the AT-AT walkers began? Vader does nothing more than watch and that really took me out of the story, since I couldn't imagine him doing that. On a related subject, why the hell did Vader decide to drive the AT-AT walkers through the town? Destroying the settlement where so many loyal Imperial workers live makes no sense. I understand that the Dark Lord was in a hurry to begin the assault on Kulthis, but surely he could've waited the extra five or ten minutes it would've taken to drive the walkers around the town, rather than going straight through it? Or better yet, have the Imperial bulk cruisers that were waiting to rendezvous with the AT-ATs pick them up near the factory, rather than on the opposite side of town. While we're on the subject of Vader, it appears as if the Dark Lord has his own shoeshining and drink-pouring lacky. Errr...really? An Imperial shoeshine boy?!!   On the plus side, it's good to see Vader appearing in the Star Wars comic again, since the restrictions that Lucasfilm put on Marvel, regarding what they could and couldn't have happen in the comic, mean that we don't actually get to see the Dark Lord all that often. There's also some mildly amusing humour in the scene inside Flint's family cantina, concerning the quality of the local grog, but overall this issue is nowhere near as funny as is usual for Duffy. I do like how Duffy writes the Belderons as a fairly sheltered or naïve people though, making it clear that Belderone is a pretty remote planet. The character of Flint is also kind of interesting and we shall see him again in issue #92 (along with his friend Barney). Flint has lived his entire life on this backwater world and has grown up believing that his farther was a Jedi Knight, although it's not actually confirmed by Duffy whether that is the truth or not. The boy yearns for adventure and clearly has some kind of latent Force ability, providing obvious parallels with Luke when he was younger. It's therefore pretty easy to conclude that Flint was conceived as a mirror image of Luke, sort of like a glimpse at how Skywalker's life could've turned out if he had turned to the dark side. Something else I must mention is that, when Vader discovers Flint cradling his dead mother in his arms, it's very reminiscent of the scene in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones in which Anakin Skywalker reaches his own mother too late to save her from the Sand People. Vader even says to the younger man, "I know how you feel. I had almost forgotten what it was like to feel that way...", as Flint weeps over his mother's body. What's more, Vader explains that he can't give Flint any special training in the Force yet, which again ties in nicely with Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, in which we learned about the Sith "rule of two". This Sith philosophy stipulates that there can only be a master and an apprentice at any one time (at this point in Star Wars continuity that would be the Emperor and Vader). Although Duffy couldn't possibly have known it back in 1983, this scene between Vader and Flint ties in perfectly with events seen in the prequels and as such, it arguably has a lot more resonance now than it would've done back when it was first published. It's also likely that, in this scene, Duffy was attempting to misdirect the reader into thinking that it was Luke who was talking to Flint. Note how, on page 36 of the story, we only see the black boots of whoever it is talking to the youngster. In this story, both Vader and Luke are wearing black coloured boots and if Duffy wanted us to know that it was Vader talking, then why not simply have Janson show him straight away? Then there's the dialogue, which appears carefully chosen so that it could be Luke speaking, as he recalls the death of his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru: "I know how you feel. I had almost forgotten what it was like to feel that way..." The dialogue continues, saying, "I did not take you seriously before, and I should have ... Forgive me", which could be Luke regretting the way that he ignored Flint's curiosity and attention earlier in the comic. Even on the following page, in which Leia says to someone off-panel, "You have to believe us ... we're so sorry about what happened to you ... to your home ... your village... and we're very sorry about your friend...", it seems as if Duffy is wanting us to assume that the princess is talking to Flint, except that it turns out to be Barney, who we were led to believe had died in the landspeeder crash earlier. Two pages later, we see Flint donning his stormtrooper armour, as the reader finally realises what has happened. I'd like to say a big "thank you" to huladollar, who is a regular contributor to this thread, for pointing out this misdirection to me. I had always read this part of the comic as it being Vader who was talking to Flint (which, of course, it was), but the more I look at it, the more I'm convinced that huladollar is correct and Duffy was trying to fool the reader into thinking that it was Luke, prior to the big reveal, in which we shockingly learn that Flint has joined the Empire. On a somewhat related subject, Duffy gives us a nice moment earlier in the comic in which Luke recalls the lie that he grew up believing from his Uncle Owen, when Flint asks if Luke's father was a Jedi and Skywalker tells Flint that his father was just a navigator on a spice freighter. There's something in Luke's wistful look in this panel that makes me wonder if the young Jedi is pondering how much easier his life might have been had that indeed been the truth. Especially since learning that Vader and his father are likely one and the same at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. Overall, Star Wars Annual #3 is a big disappointment and is pretty much on a par with the underwhelming annual #2 from the previous year. The whole thing feels kinda rushed, with some of Janson's depictions of the Star Wars ships and technology looking decidedly shaky from time to time. There's also little terminology error's that editor Louise Jones really should've caught, like Lando and Luke referring to X-wing fighters as "planes" or "single-pilot fighters" on a number of occasions. On the writing front, Duffy seems to be really dialling it in here; in addition to the plot holes previously mentioned, the ending tries its hardest to make a thought-provoking comment on the relative truths of warfare, as seen from two opposing sides, as the two friends – Flint and Barney – join the Empire and the Rebellion respectively. However, the ending just feels muddled and the emotional pay-off that Duffy is obviously striving for falls flat...at least for this reader. Continuity issues: None Favourite panel:  Favourite quote: "Important elements will come into play here, very soon … we must be ready!" – Darth Vader urges preparedness in his officers, as they ready themselves for the assault on the Rebel base on Kulthis. Yeah, this was pretty bad. I didn't much care for the story or the art. I thought several things were unclear, and that is a condemnation of both the writing and the art. I alsodidn't care for the art style. Too rough for my taste. I know I'm in the minority, but I don't really care for Klaus Jansen's art. Confessor has already pointed out enough of the flaws in this issue, and I don't real ly feel like adding more. Also, at was weird seeing someone cleaning Vader’s boots. It's clear here that at least imperial officers know that the Emperor is a Force user, so it may be common knowledge. That was never clear to me in the movies if it was common knowledge, or if just his inner circle knew it. |
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One thing's for sure, the Lahsbees certainly aren't cutesy when they reach maturity and turn into raging Huhks. The fact that one such creature is seen holding its own against – and, in fact, beating – an angry Wookiee in this issue nicely illustrates just how strong these beasts are. Having the small, seemingly innocuous Lahsbees turn into ferocious and powerful Huhks is a clever idea of Duffy's and one that certainly sticks in the memory.
If you've been unfortunate enough to have watched the god-awful Star Wars Holiday Special, you'll no doubt remember that, while Leia hasn't exactly got the best sounding set of pipes, she's not too shabby a singer either...
Actually, that's probably a bit unfair because the series' first annual was fantastic, but 1982's "Shadeshine" was a real let down and, unfortunately, so is this annual.