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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 23, 2015 14:02:21 GMT -5
Princess Leia, Imperial ServantNovember 6th to December 31st, 1979 Written by Russ Helm Penciled and Colored by Russ Manning LA Times Syndicate  Summery: While on a deep space mission for the Rebellion, Princess Leia and another rebel agent named Hume discover that their ship is dangerously low on fuel and are forced to drop out of hyperspace in the middle of Imperial space...and are immediately confronted by an Imperial star destroyer, and not just any destroyer but Vader's own! Always impetuous, Leia wants to stay and fight but Hume knows the Rebellion can't lose one of its most important leaders and so he knocks her out and places her into an escape pod that blasts off just as the ship is destroyed. When Leia awakens in the pod she finds herself on the planet Phelarion where she uncovers an Imperial mining out post using slave labor and operated none other than the wife of the commander of the Death Star, Grand Moff Tarkin. Knowing this camp is her only chance she quickly disguises herself and joins the ranks of the slaves. Once in the camp Leia tries to blend in with the other slaves, but her beauty leads Lady Tarkin to key in on her and she is taken from the masses to be Tarkin's personal maidservant. Under Lady Tarkin's tutelage, Leia learns that the Tarkin mine isn't just an important source of Megonite for Imperial munitions but it is also to be the site of the Imperial Conclave, an important Imperial political event that could not only prove dangerous for her but could also prove to be her way off the planet. And as if all that weren't enough Leia also gets wrapped up in a smuggling scheme led by two of the slaves, she over hears them in a corridor and they capture her thinking she will expose them. However, Leia uses her diplomatic skills to convince them that rather than being a liability she is actually an asset as along with her elevated status as personal servant to Lady Tarkin she can travel the compound unquestioned which gives her access to the communications array, which she uses to make contact with one of their smuggler buddies off world. Before they can escape though Vader arrives on site and quickly uncovers the Megonite shortage and tracks it back to the smuggler's secret cave, and the storm troopers give chase nearly catching Leia in the process but at the last possible second the smuggler's friend shows up...and it's Han Solo, who rockets them all to safety aboard the Millennium Falcon. Review: While the story isn't perhaps as layered as the last two it had a fantastic sense of intrigue that I don't think I've ever experienced in another Star Wars story. Between Leia sneaking around the compound overhearing Imperial planning and getting involved in a plot to smuggle munitions off the planet it feels more like a spy story than a science fiction plot, which is pretty refreshing. Also refreshing is the take charge attitude that Leia shows us here, she's not a damsel in distress or just tagging along she's the protagonist here and from page one she's strong, intelligent and in control which is great to see. But perhaps the most interesting aspect is seeing how Tarkin's death has affected his wife, he was one of the chief antagonists in a New Hope so it's both interesting just to learn that he has a family and that they saw him as a hero.  The anger that Lady Tarkin feels with the Rebellion for taking her husband is interesting as it is the same emotional reason that many hate the Empire, making this one of the few times that we see that this is a civil war and that there are strong, complicated feelings on both sides, not just a simple good versus evil.
Grade:B
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Post by thwhtguardian on Feb 2, 2015 21:23:11 GMT -5
The Second Kessel RunJanuary 1st to February 25th, 1980Written by Russ Helm
Penciled and Colored by Russ ManningLA Times Syndicate Summery: The story begins above the planet Zerm where we find Professor Renn Volz testing his newest invention the Ion Ring which successfully tames the violent weather which has long plagued Zerm. However, though well intended ,the Empire sees a different use for the Professor's humanitarian invention: the successor to the Death Star! Imperial Captain Bzorn storms onto the Ion Ring, kidnapping the Professor's daughter, Mira, and threatened to kill her if he did not comply with the Imperial commands and so fearing for his daughter's life the Professor complies and turns the rebel planet of Randa into a snow filled wasteland.
Meanwhile Han and Chewie are apparently somehow back in Jabba's good graces as they are about to embark on spice run and on their way they pick up Luke and the droids to join in on the adventure. As they get ready to lift off Han notices a stow away...Mira, who escaped her captors. She tells our heroes about her father, his invention and the Imperials use of it and the Falcon blasts off on a rescue mission. Using another of the Professor's ingenious invention's, the sub space transmitter, Mira projects ghostly images of herself aboard the Ion Ring distracting the Imperials while Han and Luke board the ship under the guise of captured rebels(why not it worked previously with a Wookie prisoner aboard the Death Star).
Seeing his daughter alive again Professor Volz commences the ship's self-destruction and the whole gang escapes aboard the Millennium Falcon as the starship explodes beyond them.
Review: After a string of great entries this story feels like a slight step backward; it's fairly simple rescue mission plot though packed with great action just feels like a retread of the rescue of Princess Leia from the Death Star in a New Hope especially with it's use of a new Imperial superweapon and the whole Wookie prisoner shtick. It lacks the emotional complexities of the previous chapters and has a very empty feeling in terms of the universe itself; we go to several planets here and none of them feel very unique which was not the case with either Kashyyk or Phelarion. It's not offensively bad as the Constancia Affair, it's just very bland; about the only thing of note is that we finally get a Luke Skywalker who looks like Mark Hamill:
While Manning had consistently portrayed Chewie, Han and Leia his Luke always looked a little generic but her he clearly has Hamill's chin.
Grade: B-
Some elements of note:
First appearance of Kessel, although here it is a world of lush vegetation rather than the craggy asteroid we would know as Kessel later on.
Spice here is some kind of edible herb rather than the drug it would later become, I don't know if this was at the beheast of Lucas to try and make it seem that Han wasn't a drug smuggler or if Spice just hadn't been defined yet.
And although not officially connected to the Marvel continuity the idea here that Han would get back with Jabba which was originally in the Marvel books in issue #28 makes it seem like these guys were perhaps aware of what was going on in the Marvel books. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Feb 14, 2015 22:33:42 GMT -5
Bring me the Children February 26 to April 21, 1980 Written by Don Christensen Penciled and Colored by Russ Manning LA Times Syndicate  Summery: While making a delivery of pre-imperial books to a school on Harix Luke Skywalker is force down by two TIE fighters. When he finally makes it to the school he finds it under the control of a squad of Stormtroopers and that the teacher Myoris and all her students were being held prisoners as bate for the rebellion. As Luke is preparing to leave and inform the rebellion on what has happened he stumbles across Myoris' son, Berd, and the two then set off for the base. Berd wants to go right back to Harix to rescue his mother but the Rebel leaders believe it to be too risky but Leia and Luke believe in Berd's plan and with the help of Chewbacca and Han they get a group of Han's old spacer buddies together to free the students of Harix. Review: This is yet another Star Wars story that seems to draw upon the Seven Samurai, much like the Abuda-3 story which ran from issue #7-10, and it makes me wonder if these references were shout outs to George Lucas and his love of Kurosawa, or if he perhaps even requested that they write these kinds of stories. At any rate, it's a quick little story with a lot of action and in my eyes its a much better adaptation of the Seven Samurai than the one which ran earlier in the Marvel series. It doesn't do much to develop the main characters but I really liked the idea of a school looking for books with out Imperial propaganda, it gives it a slight realistic edge to the story that gives it that lived in kind of feel that is key to Star Wars. On top of that, I love how Manning draws Leia:  She undeniably sensual and feminine, but there's an edge to her expression that really conveys a sense of strength and independence which is 100% Princess Leia. Grade: B+ Of Note: This is the first story that Vader mentions Luke Skywalker by name, and while obviously the idea that Luke was Vader's son was known to the writers at the time(and perhaps not even known to Lucas himself) this does not necessarily present itself as a continuity gap either than the fact that he has no emotional response that would hint that he knew Luke was his son.  |
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Post by Confessor on Feb 17, 2015 0:12:20 GMT -5
Tatooine Sojourn
September 10th to November 5th, 1979
Written by Steve Gerber
Penciled and colored by Russ Manning
Inked and Lettered by Mike Royer
Published by the LA Times Syndicate
 OK, I'm playing catch up with this thread as usual. I just re-read "Tatooine Sojourn" for the first time in, I'd guess, over a decade and it's funny, but I always considered this one of the best of Manning's Star Wars newspaper strips. I've changed my mind on that front though. Not that it's really bad, mind you, but I think I actually prefer "The Constancia Affair" to this instalment. Having Steve Gerber write this definitely adds a different flavour to proceedings. I really liked certain aspects of Gerber's writing, like Luke's reluctance to return to Tatooine at the beginning of the story -- lord knows he spent long enough trying to get away from the place! Plus, there must be a plethora of painful memories of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. I liked this level of characterisation and, as you say in your review thwhtguardian, Manning's depiction of the flood of memories that wash over Luke as he enters the Mos Eisley cantina makes for probably the single most stunning panel we've seen in these strips so far. It's also interesting that Tatooine has gotten busier and Mos Eisley space port has doubled in size. I guess it stands to reason that as news of Luke's having destroyed the Empire's Death Star spread throughout the galaxy, his example would inspire other Tatooine natives to join the Rebel Alliance themselves and that, in turn, would bring a greater Imperial presence to the planet. Luke must be the ultimate "local boy made good" on Tatooine! On the downside, I don't buy for a second or really understand Gerber having one of Jabba the Hutt's lacky's attempt to assassinate Luke in the cantina. Luke seems to know the would-be hitman well enough to know that he worked on-and-off for the Hutt, but Luke never had any dealings with Jabba prior to Return of the Jedi. It was Han Solo that knew and worked for Jabba and the grudge that Luke mentions in this strip was between Han and Jabba. Luke wasn't involved at all. I can only conclude that Gerber got confused or wasn't quite up to speed with his Star Wars continuity. On the upside, the visit to Ben Kenobi's homestead is a nice touch. Having the Sandpeople attack Luke and Anduvil while they are at Kenobi's place is kinda cool, but there's a slight continuity glitch here as well: Luke tells Anduvil that "the sandpeople never quit...never give up!", but in the Star Wars movie we see them being scared away with ease by a wild animal's howl (in that instance, Kenobi's imitation of a krayt dragon call). So, it definitely seems out of character for Luke to tell Anduvil that. I think the thing I disliked most about this story was the whole Bledsoe's disease giving people "windows" for eyes, with star charts appearing on their eye balls. That whole plot element seemed really confusing to me and didn't really seem to make a whole lot of sense. Maybe it's just me, but I'd struggle to explain why this element of the disease was useful to the Empire and why they were going around the galaxy spreading it to world's with a large Rebel presence. Still, I kinda like the biological warfare aspect of this story -- that's an unusual and refreshing change of pace for a Star Wars comic. All in all, I mostly agree with you, thwhtguardian, that this strip showed great promise at the outset, but that promise was largely unfulfilled. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Feb 17, 2015 6:15:20 GMT -5
Tatooine Sojourn
September 10th to November 5th, 1979
Written by Steve Gerber
Penciled and colored by Russ Manning
Inked and Lettered by Mike Royer
Published by the LA Times Syndicate
OK, I'm playing catch up with this thread as usual. I just re-read "Tatooine Sojourn" for the first time in, I'd guess, over a decade and it's funny, but I always considered this one of the best of Manning's Star Wars newspaper strips. I've changed my mind on that front though. Not that it's really bad, mind you, but I think I actually prefer "The Constancia Affair" to this instalment. Having Steve Gerber write this definitely adds a different flavour to proceedings. I really liked certain aspects of Gerber's writing, like Luke's reluctance to return to Tatooine at the beginning of the story -- lord knows he spent long enough trying to get away from the place! Plus, there must be a plethora of painful memories of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. I liked this level of characterisation and, as you say in your review thwhtguardian, Manning's depiction of the flood of memories that wash over Luke as he enters the Mos Eisley cantina makes for probably the single most stunning panel we've seen in these strips so far. It's also interesting that Tatooine has gotten busier and Mos Eisley space port has doubled in size. I guess it stands to reason that as news of Luke's having destroyed the Empire's Death Star spread throughout the galaxy, his example would inspire other Tatooine natives to join the Rebel Alliance themselves and that, in turn, would bring a greater Imperial presence to the planet. Luke must be the ultimate "local boy made good" on Tatooine! On the downside, I don't buy for a second or really understand Gerber having one of Jabba the Hutt's lacky's attempt to assassinate Luke in the cantina. Luke seems to know the would-be hitman well enough to know that he worked on-and-off for the Hutt, but Luke never had any dealings with Jabba prior to Return of the Jedi. It was Han Solo that knew and worked for Jabba and the grudge that Luke mentions in this strip was between Han and Jabba. Luke wasn't involved at all. I can only conclude that Gerber got confused or wasn't quite up to speed with his Star Wars continuity. On the upside, the visit to Ben Kenobi's homestead is a nice touch. Having the Sandpeople attack Luke and Anduvil while they are at Kenobi's place is kinda cool, but there's a slight continuity glitch here as well: Luke tells Anduvil that "the sandpeople never quit...never give up!", but in the Star Wars movie we see them being scared away with ease by a wild animal's howl (in that instance, Kenobi's imitation of a krayt dragon call). So, it definitely seems out of character for Luke to tell Anduvil that. I think the thing I disliked most about this story was the whole Bledsoe's disease giving people "windows" for eyes, with star charts appearing on their eye balls. That whole plot element seemed really confusing to me and didn't really seem to make a whole lot of sense. Maybe it's just me, but I'd struggle to explain why this element of the disease was useful to the Empire and why they were going around the galaxy spreading it to world's with a large Rebel presence. Still, I kinda like the biological warfare aspect of this story -- that's an unusual and refreshing change of pace for a Star Wars comic. All in all, I mostly agree with you, thwhtguardian, that this strip showed great promise at the outset, but that promise was largely unfulfilled. Yeah, the whole window thing was pretty weird, I mean it was an interesting concept but it just felt like a really ineffective way to get secrets. |
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Post by Confessor on Feb 18, 2015 10:10:19 GMT -5
Princess Leia, Imperial ServantNovember 6th to December 31st, 1979 Written by Archie Goodwin(under the pseudonym Russ Helm) Penciled and Colored by Russ Manning LA Times Syndicate Still playing catch up here. The first thing to say about "Princess Leia, Imperial Servant" is that are we sure that this strip wasn't written by Russ Manning? The credits in the Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures reprint state that this story is Manning's alone, not Archie Goodwin's. Also, just to muddy the waters, Wookiepedia says that apparently "Russ Helm" was not a pseudonym for Goodwin at all, but an entirely different person (this was apparently revealed in Star Wars Insider #141)... starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Russ_HelmAnyway, regardless of who wrote this, it's a pretty nifty little story. It's nice to see Leia out having adventures on her own. Actually, the "Leia alone in an Imperial prison factory" storyline is very reminiscent of the story in Marvel's Star Wars #30, which came out just a month or two prior to this strip being published. I agree that having the Lady Tarkin in this story is a nice touch and am I right in thinking that this is the first time we've actually seen Darth Vader in these newspaper strips? Manning's artwork is really nice: I particularly like the heavy shadow work he employs as Leia sneaks about, eavesdropping on Calus and Sparv. I also love Manning's take on the alien guests who make up the Thirteenth Imperial Diplomatic Conclave. And, is it just me or does Leia look kinda hot in her serving girl's outfit?  This story just may be my favourite so far, in terms of Manning's artwork. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Feb 18, 2015 10:25:46 GMT -5
Princess Leia, Imperial ServantNovember 6th to December 31st, 1979 Written by Archie Goodwin(under the pseudonym Russ Helm) Penciled and Colored by Russ Manning LA Times Syndicate Still playing catch up here. The first thing to say about "Princess Leia, Imperial Servant" is that are we sure that this strip wasn't written by Russ Manning? The credits in the Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures reprint state that this story is Manning's alone, not Archie Goodwin's. Also, just to muddy the waters, Wookiepedia says that apparently "Russ Helm" was not a pseudonym for Goodwin at all, but an entirely different person (this was apparently revealed in Star Wars Insider #141)... starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Russ_HelmAnyway, regardless of who wrote this, it's a pretty nifty little story. It's nice to see Leia out having adventures on her own. Actually, the "Leia alone in an Imperial prison factory" storyline is very reminiscent of the story in Marvel's Star Wars #30, which came out just a month or two prior to this strip being published. I agree that having the Lady Tarkin in this story is a nice touch and am I right in thinking that this is the first time we've actually seen Darth Vader in these newspaper strips? Manning's artwork is really nice: I particularly like the heavy shadow work he employs as Leia sneaks about, eavesdropping on Calus and Sparv. I also love Manning's take on the alien guests who make up the Thirteenth Imperial Diplomatic Conclave. And, is it just me or does Leia look kinda hot in her serving girl's outfit? This story just may be my favourite so far, in terms of Manning's artwork. I had no idea, I had read years ago that Russ Helm was a pseudonym for Archie and never questioned it.  I shall edit my posts to reflect this information. As to whether Manning wrote it, I almost mentioned that in my review as this really feels like it could be his work, perhaps he was giving out rough scripts and others were embellishing them? And as for Vader, he appeared briefly in the beginning of the first strip making this the second time. I really wish they had used him more though as Manning's depiction of him is just amazing. |
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Post by Confessor on Mar 22, 2015 23:12:43 GMT -5
The Second Kessel RunJanuary 1st to February 25th, 1980Written by Russ Helm
Penciled and Colored by Russ ManningLA Times SyndicateSummery: The story begins above the planet Zerm where we find Professor Renn Volz testing his newest invention the Ion Ring which successfully tames the violent weather which has long plagued Zerm. However, though well intended ,the Empire sees a different use for the Professor's humanitarian invention: the successor to the Death Star! Imperial Captain Bzorn storms onto the Ion Ring, kidnapping the Professor's daughter, Mira, and threatened to kill her if he did not comply with the Imperial commands and so fearing for his daughter's life the Professor complies and turns the rebel planet of Randa into a snow filled wasteland.
Meanwhile Han and Chewie are apparently somehow back in Jabba's good graces as they are about to embark on spice run and on their way they pick up Luke and the droids to join in on the adventure. As they get ready to lift off Han notices a stow away...Mira, who escaped her captors. She tells our heroes about her father, his invention and the Imperials use of it and the Falcon blasts off on a rescue mission. Using another of the Professor's ingenious invention's, the sub space transmitter, Mira projects ghostly images of herself aboard the Ion Ring distracting the Imperials while Han and Luke board the ship under the guise of captured rebels(why not it worked previously with a Wookie prisoner aboard the Death Star).
Seeing his daughter alive again Professor Volz commences the ship's self-destruction and the whole gang escapes aboard the Millennium Falcon as the starship explodes beyond them.
Review: After a string of great entries this story feels like a slight step backward; it's fairly simple rescue mission plot though packed with great action just feels like a retread of the rescue of Princess Leia from the Death Star in a New Hope especially with it's use of a new Imperial superweapon and the whole Wookie prisoner shtick. It lacks the emotional complexities of the previous chapters and has a very empty feeling in terms of the universe itself; we go to several planets here and none of them feel very unique which was not the case with either Kashyyk or Phelarion. It's not offensively bad as the Constancia Affair, it's just very bland; about the only thing of note is that we finally get a Luke Skywalker who looks like Mark Hamill:
While Manning had consistently portrayed Chewie, Han and Leia his Luke always looked a little generic but her he clearly has Hamill's chin.
Grade: B-
Some elements of note:
First appearance of Kessel, although here it is a world of lush vegetation rather than the craggy asteroid we would know as Kessel later on.
Spice here is some kind of edible herb rather than the drug it would later become, I don't know if this was at the beheast of Lucas to try and make it seem that Han wasn't a drug smuggler or if Spice just hadn't been defined yet.
And although not officially connected to the Marvel continuity the idea here that Han would get back with Jabba which was originally in the Marvel books in issue #28 makes it seem like these guys were perhaps aware of what was going on in the Marvel books. I'm still playing catch up with this thread, but I just read "The Second Kessel Run" this evening. Before I get into my thoughts on this story, I must just say that I love the way that these daily strips start off with the legend, "From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker". That totally dates them to the late '70s or very early '80s, because the novels from that time period also had that on their covers. Anyway, yeah...I agree that this story felt a bit "dialed in" compared to other recent adventures. The Ionic Ring and the way that the Empire want to turn it into a weapon kind of reminded me of what the Klingons wanted to do with the Genesis device in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Although, this strip predates both of those movies my at least two years, of course. I found the ancillary characters of Mira, her father and the Imperial Captain Bzorn to be really two-dimensional and not overly interesting. Still, that's some nice "flicked back" '70s hair that Mira has. The other thing that was really problematic for me was the fact that Han is still smuggling for Jabba the Hutt at this point. I suppose that, without seeing The Empire Strikes Back, Manning could be forgiven for assuming that Han had settled his debt with the Hutt after Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, but from a modern perspective, this makes no sense whatsoever. Also, just to correct you on a minor point, Han's run in with Jabba over in the pages of Star Wars #28 didn't result in Han resuming smuggling for the Hutt. It just resulted in the Hutt cancelling the price on Han's head, as far as I recall. That particular issue is up for review next in my Star Wars thread, so I guess we'll find out for sure in a day or two. Something else that makes no sense is why the people of the planet Rion need spice? Spice in an illicit narcotic and I think that it's pretty obvious that's what it is from the movie (it may also be defined as such in the novelization of the first movie). Why the hell do starving people need drugs?! The quality of Manning's art varies wildly throughout the story and no doubt his illness had some bearing on that. However, the snow scenes on the planet Rion are fantastic. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 23, 2015 15:36:53 GMT -5
The Second Kessel RunJanuary 1st to February 25th, 1980Written by Russ Helm
Penciled and Colored by Russ ManningLA Times SyndicateSummery: The story begins above the planet Zerm where we find Professor Renn Volz testing his newest invention the Ion Ring which successfully tames the violent weather which has long plagued Zerm. However, though well intended ,the Empire sees a different use for the Professor's humanitarian invention: the successor to the Death Star! Imperial Captain Bzorn storms onto the Ion Ring, kidnapping the Professor's daughter, Mira, and threatened to kill her if he did not comply with the Imperial commands and so fearing for his daughter's life the Professor complies and turns the rebel planet of Randa into a snow filled wasteland.
Meanwhile Han and Chewie are apparently somehow back in Jabba's good graces as they are about to embark on spice run and on their way they pick up Luke and the droids to join in on the adventure. As they get ready to lift off Han notices a stow away...Mira, who escaped her captors. She tells our heroes about her father, his invention and the Imperials use of it and the Falcon blasts off on a rescue mission. Using another of the Professor's ingenious invention's, the sub space transmitter, Mira projects ghostly images of herself aboard the Ion Ring distracting the Imperials while Han and Luke board the ship under the guise of captured rebels(why not it worked previously with a Wookie prisoner aboard the Death Star).
Seeing his daughter alive again Professor Volz commences the ship's self-destruction and the whole gang escapes aboard the Millennium Falcon as the starship explodes beyond them.
Review: After a string of great entries this story feels like a slight step backward; it's fairly simple rescue mission plot though packed with great action just feels like a retread of the rescue of Princess Leia from the Death Star in a New Hope especially with it's use of a new Imperial superweapon and the whole Wookie prisoner shtick. It lacks the emotional complexities of the previous chapters and has a very empty feeling in terms of the universe itself; we go to several planets here and none of them feel very unique which was not the case with either Kashyyk or Phelarion. It's not offensively bad as the Constancia Affair, it's just very bland; about the only thing of note is that we finally get a Luke Skywalker who looks like Mark Hamill:
While Manning had consistently portrayed Chewie, Han and Leia his Luke always looked a little generic but her he clearly has Hamill's chin.
Grade: B-
Some elements of note:
First appearance of Kessel, although here it is a world of lush vegetation rather than the craggy asteroid we would know as Kessel later on.
Spice here is some kind of edible herb rather than the drug it would later become, I don't know if this was at the beheast of Lucas to try and make it seem that Han wasn't a drug smuggler or if Spice just hadn't been defined yet.
And although not officially connected to the Marvel continuity the idea here that Han would get back with Jabba which was originally in the Marvel books in issue #28 makes it seem like these guys were perhaps aware of what was going on in the Marvel books. I'm still playing catch up with this thread, but I just read "The Second Kessel Run" this evening. Before I get into my thoughts on this story, I must just say that I love the way that these daily strips start off with the legend, "From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker". That totally dates them to the late '70s or very early '80s, because the novels from that time period also had that on their covers. Anyway, yeah...I agree that this story felt a bit "dialed in" compared to other recent adventures. The Ionic Ring and the way that the Empire want to turn it into a weapon kind of reminded me of what the Klingons wanted to do with the Genesis device in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Although, this strip predates both of those movies my at least two years, of course. I found the ancillary characters of Mira, her father and the Imperial Captain Bzorn to be really two-dimensional and not overly interesting. Still, that's some nice "flicked back" '70s hair that Mira has. The other thing that was really problematic for me was the fact that Han is still smuggling for Jabba the Hutt at this point. I suppose that, without seeing The Empire Strikes Back, Manning could be forgiven for assuming that Han had settled his debt with the Hutt after Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, but from a modern perspective, this makes no sense whatsoever. Also, just to correct you on a minor point, Han's run in with Jabba over in the pages of Star Wars #28 didn't result in Han resuming smuggling for the Hutt. It just resulted in the Hutt cancelling the price on Han's head, as far as I recall. That particular issue is up for review next in my Star Wars thread, so I guess we'll find out for sure in a day or two. Something else that makes no sense is why the people of the planet Rion need spice? Spice in an illicit narcotic and I think that it's pretty obvious that's what it is from the movie (it may also be defined as such in the novelization of the first movie). Why the hell do starving people need drugs?! The quality of Manning's art varies wildly throughout the story and no doubt his illness had some bearing on that. However, the snow scenes on the planet Rion are fantastic. Yeah, the spice bit was a bit weird. It's definitely written as a food stuff here and not a drug and I don't know if this is an over sight from Manning or interference from Lucas or possibly the LA Times. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Apr 29, 2015 21:58:06 GMT -5
As Long As We Live...April 22 - June 16, 1980
Written by Don Christensen
Art by Russ Manning
LA Times Syndicate
Summery: Luke Skywalker and two other Rebel pilots make a journey to a planet called Arda-2 to get to the bottom of a growing conspiracy about how the Empire's TIE fighter's are increasingly able to track X-wings. Luke claims that a device made by the planet's leading company manufactures is responsible despite the chief executives claims that Arda-2 is neutral in the conflict and would not give either side an unfair advantage. Not believing the executive's claims Luke threatens to bring Princess Leia in on the discussion, at which point a shadowy man named Mag Doum, decides he must act as it was He who had been purchasing parts from the factory and secretly selling them to the Empire. In order to keep his plot a secret he pressures two locals who are in debt to him into kidnapping Leia. Luke sets after the father son team of kidnappers but misses out that the pair separated; with one man taking Leia into a cave while the other carried on leading Luke astray. However, not far after the cave the older kidnapper, Kiros, crashed his speeder and only survived due to Luke's intervention, after which he explained what went on and led Luke to the caves only to discover what they believed to be signs of the death of Leia and Zon(Kiros' son) shaken the two depart to out Mag Doum's scheme. They confront Doum in front of the whole city but in the outrage Doum escaped, however Kiros was able to follow him and stow away on Doum's ship as he made his get away. Unbeknownst to Kiros however his was very much alive as Leia was able to save the pair from the Kdak, and it is after that is revealed by Kiros that Doum has signaled Darth Vader and that the dark lord of the sith is on his way. Realizing that the neutrality is out of the question the executives use the technology against the imperials causing Vader to retreat, although not before both Kiros and Zon died. Review: This is a serious step in the right direction as Don Christensen and Manning give us an interesting thriller with kidnapping and corporate espionage. This is a fun fast paced adventure with not only a lot of fun action but gives us both some interesting character beats for Luke and Leia; we see that luke is not just an ace pilot but also in a position of trusted ambassador for the Rebellion and we see once again that Leia is no damsel in distress. On top of that we get an interesting villain in Mag Doum, he's suitably sleezy with a serious under current of malice making him a fun, if short lived, villain. My favorite part however was the Kdak, which was a creepy cross between a slug and a squid:  I love a good monster and Manning doesn't disappoint.
Grade:B+ |
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 9, 2015 19:25:06 GMT -5
The Frozen World of OtaJune 17 - August 10, 1980Written by Don Christensen
Art by Russ Manning and Rick Hoberg
Inked by Alfredo Alcala
LA Times Syndicate
Summary: Luke is in hot pursuit of a TIE fighter in an attempt to capture it for the Rebellion but when they both crash on the frozen planet Ota Luke is surprised to find that the Imperial pilot is none other than Boba Fett. The two draw weapons and Luke quickly gains the upper hand but with out warning their shoot out is interrupted by a strange group of aliens on floating sleds called Snogars who kidnap both Luke and Fett in an attempt to get them to fix their city’s generators which they inherited by an ancient race that was far more technologically advanced than they are. Luke wishes to try and help their captors but before he can begin to reason with the Snogars Boba Fett blows up the generators in order to cover his escape, enraging their captors and forcing Luke to follow Fett. Noticing that Luke has failed to check in Han, Chewie, Leia, and the droids follow Luke's trail to the planet and Han goes alone in a search for Luke. However, Han's search is cut short when, just like Fett and Luke before him, he is then kidnapped by the Snogars as well. As Han is dragged off by the strange dwellers of Otta Fett sees Han and decides he can cash him in to Jabba for some extra money, revealing that Fett's quarry is an Imperial defector known as the Mole. Before Fett can make good on his plans however Luke comes to the rescue with a swift kick to the back, but Fett is able to make his escape and resume his hunt of the former spy. The hunt leads him, and Han and company, to a section of the ancient city that still has power, which turns out to be the home of the spy. As Fett drops in it appears he'll be able to cash in on the bounty placed on the Mole by Darth Vader, but before he can the Mole fixes the generator which turns on an eltro magnet which sticks Boba Fett to the wall allowing the Mole to escape with the Rebels aboard the Falcon. Review: This is probably the best story yet, which is both excellent it's good reading but also sad because it's the last installment with art by Manning and indeed is the last story he worked on as he passed away while still working on this story causing Rick Hoberg to step in and finish the chapter, but we'll get to that after. To start with, this is an interesting story not only due to Manning but also because it features Bobba Fett who had sky rocketed in popularity after his appearance in the animated short from the Christmas special and in May of 1980, just a month before this strip came out, The Empire Strikes Back. With but a few short minutes of screen time and an even fewer number of words spoken the mysterious helmeted bounty hunter became one of the best loved characters in the Star Wars universe and this was his first adventure off screen and unlike many of these early translations from screen to page this appearance felt spot on with Fett retaining that same laconic speech pattern and better yet Manning got his look spot on:  which was much closer than his animated look:  Though I suppose Manning had the benefit of seeing the final product, but it's still pretty impressive, but that only goes to underscore the second reason why this strip is important; that it's Manning's last work and an unfinished one at that. Although Hoberg continued to adopt Manning's distinct framing style out of respect to Manning, and the coloring kept his pallet as well the differences were clear especially in the faces. Here we see Manning's Luke and Han:  And Hoberg's:  Which, you can see are far more detailed. All in all though, it isn't so jarring as to ruin the story which is good because its a lot of fun and I can only imagine that it must have been even cooler as a kid who had possibly just seen Empire for the first time before reading this comic strip. Grade: A |
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 28, 2015 21:59:15 GMT -5
Planet of KadrilAugust 11 - October 5, 1980
Written by Russ Helm
Art by Alfredo Alcala
Published by the LA Times
 Summery: Luke and the gang travel to the planet Kadril as emissaries of the Rebel Alliance. It seems the Kadrillians, the reptilian alien above, are experts at growing crystals that are important to the technology of the Star Wars universe, chiefly among them being crystals used for communication and in the past the construction of lightsabers. Negotiations are going well for the Alliance, but unbeknownst to our heroes there is another interested party...Darth Vader! Using a weapon called pacifog, which in alien species highlights their weakest traits, he is able to cause the Kadrillians to become overly gullible and submissive which he uses to force them to deliver to him all their Kunda stones. It turns out that although the pacifog is mostly harmless to alien species it causes humans to melt but the Kunda stones filter out those effects which will enable the Empire to use the deadly gas with out harming the stormtroopers. However, Vader and the Empire don't get away scott free because the other Kadrillians with the help of Leia developed a device called a vibro-crystal which destroys all Kunda crystals in the area neutralizing Vader's weapon and causing a serious set back for the Empire. Review: Next to the previous story The Frozen World of Ota and the Kashyk Depths this is one of my favorite strips yet. After seeing the fill in panels in the last strip by Rick Hoberg which featured much more photo-realistic art I was worried that going forward the strip would lose its sci-fi kitsch look which I loved but Alfred Alcala's art is very much in that same vane. That really shouldn't have been a worry though as Alcala is well known for his Hal Foster, Lou Fine kind of look which I absolutely loved in his Voltar. What's really interesting art wise here though is that Alcala strays drastically from the model in his depiction of the Storm Troopers:  With the fin on the top of the helmet and the open face it greatly resembles some of the early concepts that Ralph McQuarrie  Grade: A
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jun 2, 2015 16:58:25 GMT -5
Han Solo at Stars End
October 6, 1980 - February 9, 1981
Written by Russ Helm
Art by Alfredo Alcala
Published by the LA Times
 Summery:After being ambushed by a pair of tie fighters and forced to dump their ill gotten cargo Han and Chewie are now in debt and looking for a place for repairs. To get the much needed refits for his beloved Falcon Han and Chewie attempt to get in touch with Doc, an outlaw technician that the two had been friends with previously. However, when they get to Doc's base his daughter Jessa informs them that Doc has been abducted and she isn't doing Han any freebies. Not to be denied Han works out a deal with Jessa: in exchange for a waiver to operate in the Corporate sector and upgrades to the Falcon, he and Chewbacca will rescue Doc and other enemies of the Corporate Sector Authority. As part of the rescue effort, Han and Chewbacca escort two droids, Bollux and Blue Max, to the planet Orron III, where they meet with one of Jessa's contacts, Rekkon, who is the leader of the missing persons search. Before the plan can get underway however the Authority attacks and in the effort to escape their clutches Chewbacca is captured and Han is forced to carry on with the mission in hopes that his bud Chewie, once captured is brought to the same prison he's attempting to break into. Disguised as an entertainment troop our rag tap group of adventures enter the prisononly to find that the prison's idea of entertainment is robot battles leaving the old construction droid Bollux to fight in the pits as a diversion while blue Max, a small computer probe hidden away in Bollux's chest cavity, and Han sneak into the prison's nerve center. Once inside Blue Max is able to infiltrate the Authority's computer network and begin searching for the location of the abductees, and luckily he finds both Doc and Chewbacca. With their friends found the team escapes while the prison explodes behind them. Review: Where as in the last chapter Alcala went with a more Flash Gordon look in this adaptation of Brian Daley's novel he went for a much more detailed and movie accurate look delivering us Storm Troopers, Tie Fighters and Star Destroyers that leap off the page just like they did in the films. That doesn't mean his flare is gone though, Alcala manages to squeeze in a dog fight using so called antiquated fighters that look like they're straight out of a Buck Rogers strip:  But what's really amazing is the way Alcala portrays the wonder of outer space:
 I just love the cross hatched "cosmic clouds" with their jagged, undulating edges with the various planets, stars and planetoids hanging in the either. It's just beautiful and it gives the story a very old timey space opera feel that fits the tone of the story perfectly. Which is another fun element, this prequel to the the original trilogy truly captures that genre melding feel of Star Wars by giving us a story that is equal parts western, jail break thriller and science fiction while not feeling like a re-tread of the films. On top of that the story not only captures the feel of the films while giving us a new story but it does so while using characters familiar to us and capturing their voices more perfectly than any of the previous strips.
All around, just a fantastic little comic.
Grade: A+ |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jun 8, 2015 10:50:41 GMT -5
The Bounty Hunter of Ord Mantell
February 9th-April 19th, 1981
Written by Archie Goodwin
Art by Al Williamson
Published by the LA Times
Summery: After the fall of the Death Star the Rebellion is on the look out for a new base and on one such scouting mission Luke and Leia are cut off from their scout ship by a patrol of Storm Troopers. After failing to check in, and lacking the resources for a search and rescue mission the Rebellion simply declares that Luke and Leia are effectively dead, but Han and Chewbacca won't hear it and so set off on their own to save the day, and its lucky they do as the Millennium Falcon arrives just in time to take out an AT-ST just as it is about to take out Luke and Leia. Our heroes manage to escape the Imperials, but not with out sustaining some damage which causes them to seek a planet called Ord Mantell for repairs. While working on the Falcon Han and Chewie are recognized by a pair of bounty hunters by the names of Skorr and Gribbit, whom fearing Han's prowess with a blaster and Chewie in general decide to kidnap Luke and Leia and use them as leverage. The Bounty hunters think they have the upper hand but by secretly having Chewie show up with a cargo ship with a tractor beam Han pulls off a mid air snatch that frees both Luke and Leia from the clutches of Skorr but Skorr has the last laugh as he placed a homing beacon on Luke's lightsaber so he can effortlessly track his quarry, and with Imperial forces closing in it seems the jig is up for Han and the gang. However, thanks to Leia's quick thinking they are able to remove the beacon, place it in a life pod and trick Skorr into tumbling into the Imperial's clutches while the Falcon escapes. Review: Okay, so I know I've written about how I was afraid of losing the sci-fi kitsch look to the strip that Russ Manning introduced...but I'll eat my words because the combination of Al Williamson's beautiful art paired with Archie Goodwin's prose made this strip truly feel like an authentic piece of the Star Wars Universe. You look at the art and that is unmistakably Harrison Ford as Han Solo:  Chewie looks like Chewie, the Millennium Falcon, Tie Fighters and Star Destroyers look like they flew out of the films, and even better yet they sound right too as Goodwin nails the smug, sarcastic voice of Han, the earnest, naive voice of Luke and Leia's strong, feisty demeanor perfectly. This whole story felt like it could have been a deleted scene from the films, and that feeling is only further helped by the fact that the story is based on a line from the Empire Strikes Back, " Well the bounty hunter we ran into in Ord Mantell changed my mind." As a kid I always wanted that story and bam, right here in this comic I finally get it and it was awesome!
Grade: A+ |
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Post by Jasoomian on Jun 11, 2015 14:01:48 GMT -5
Han Solo at Stars End
October 6, 1980 - February 9, 1981
Written by Russ Helm
This was actually an adaptation of the 1979 novel "Han Solo at Stars' End" by Brian Daley. |
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