Trimpe was not the right artist for this title, even as a short-timer; he was so right for the Hulk, but out of that bruiser-n-army environment, his work left something to be desired, especially if you've ever seen his Captain America, Thor or Iron Man.

Speaking of somber subject matter, it's for personal reasons funny to me that they used Infantino's art in one of #108's alternate covers. Discussing with my dad (who was 10 at the time when the first film came out) why he never saw any of the films in theatre despite being a moderate Star Wars fan as long as I remember, back in the day as a kid he used to be a bit of a comic book purist, with artists like Hergé (the Adventures of Tintin), Carl Barks (Donald Duck comics), Uderzo (Asterix) and especially Franguin (Spirou and Fantasio, Gaston Lagaffe) being his favourites. Hence after browsing through some Marvel comics that came out at the time he especially found Chaykin's and Infantino's artwork so cringy looking that it scared him off from the franchise until all of the films were out on VHS.

Star Wars #20
Cover dated: February 1979
Issue title: Deathgame
Script: Archie Goodwin
Artwork: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks)
Colours: George Roussos
Letters: John Costanza
Cover art: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks)
Overall rating: 5½ out of 10




Plot summary: As part of a plot by Imperial Commander Strom and Senator Greyshade to defame the Rebel Alliance, an attack by a Rebel X-wing fighter on a pleasure yacht departing from the gambling station known as the Wheel is staged. Although the X-wing is destroyed by Imperial TIE fighters, the scene is watched by the Wheel's patrons, who are appalled by what they perceive as the ruthlessness of the Rebel Alliance. Greyshade has also conspired to have Han Solo and Chewbacca killed, while competing in separate gladiatorial events in The Big Game, but Solo unexpectedly thwarts the senator's plan by defeating his opponent.

Meanwhile, the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, who have been appropriated by the Wheel as a gambling stake for Han, are scheduled to have their memories wiped when the Wheel's central computer, Master-Com, intervenes and saves them from their fate. The three droids visit the medical centre to check up on Luke Skywalker, who lays helpless in a Force-induced trance, only to find that he has regained consciousness and escaped.


Comments: The Wheel saga continues in this issue with perhaps a little less intrigue and excitement than previous instalments. Archie Goodwin's scripting is as good as ever though and I love how he's writing Princess Leia in this story arc: she's relaxed and diplomatic when she needs to be, like the former senator that she is, but also feisty and cunningly resourceful. In fact, I'd have to say that Leia is the character that Goodwin has the best grip on at the moment, in terms of writing her as she was written by George Lucas. It's a pity Goodwin didn't write Leia like this over in the Pizzazz magazine strip though.

As usual, Carmine Infantino's art has me in two minds as to its merits. On the one hand, this issue has all the usual artistic traits that I dislike and have mentioned in earlier reviews – including the unwelcome return of Infantino's tendency to put characters in ungainly, awkward or even physically impossible poses every now and then – but on the other hand, the panel-to-panel reading flow and communicating of the character's emotions is as excellent as ever. Add to that the nostalgia that Infantino's artwork elicits in me and I have a serious love/hate thing going on with this art.

However, I must make mention of the, frankly, terrible depiction of an X-wing fighter that Infantino gives us on the opening splash page. I've noted a number of times in these reviews that Infantino seems to have a very poor grasp of Star Wars ship design, but this X-wing fighter really takes the biscuit. It's inaccuracies include – but are not limited to – it having the wrong number of engines, engines in the wrong places, no droid socket, incorrectly shaped "S-foils", and no visible cockpit canopy. Here, take a look for yourself...



Now, putting aside for a second the fact that Infantino and Marvel would've definitely had reference photographs from Lucasfilm to go on, by mid-to-late 1978, when this comic would've been drawn, mania for the first Star Wars movie was at its absolute zenith. Images of X-wing fighters were everywhere: on lunch boxes, on t-shirts, on posters, on gum cards, on pinball and video game machines, in press adverts etc. Given that fact, it boggles the mind how Infantino – the man charged with drawing the official Star Wars comic – could render such an inaccurate drawing of the craft. My only conclusion can be that Infantino had no interest at all in drawing accurate versions of the Star Wars ships, preferring instead to put his own spin on them. As the series progressed, the accuracy of Infantino's spacecraft design would slowly but surely improve, but even in his final few post-Empire Strikes Back issues, his depictions of Star Wars craft still left much to be desired.

Something else I want to mention about this issue is that the Star-Words letters page includes a missive from former series scribe Roy Thomas. Thomas praises Infantino's art and Goodwin's handling of the characters, but most interestingly (at least, for me), Thomas makes it clear that he really enjoyed the return of Jaxxon, the green space-rabbit, in issue #16. Thomas calls him "a beloved creation of mine" and notes that Goodwin has developed Jaxxon "almost exactly the way I wanted to see him turn out." He goes on to say, "My only request is that, if there's ever to be a series of Jaxx stories you don't write yourself, I get a crack at it. I was really quite fond of the fellow…and I'm even fonder of what you've done with him." Now, just imagine that for a second: a late Bronze Age era Jaxxon spin-off mini-series written by Roy Thomas! Man, if only...

If I've ever read this letter of Roy's before then I had completely forgotten it. So, in celebration of my discovery (or re-discovery) of Roy Thomas's once dreamed of Jaxxon mini-series, here's a gratuitous picture of some sexy Jaxxon cosplay...




Overall, issue #20 of Marvel's Star Wars is another solid, but fairly average issue. Goodwin's plot continues to build towards its conclusion and there's some very good characterisation here, especially of Princess Leia. There's also some excellent sequential artwork from Infantino, but with all his usual annoying artistic idiosyncrasies as well.

Continuity issues: None

Favourite panel:



Favourite quote: "Forgive me, partner...it must be difficult for a man of no principles attempting to win the affection of a woman with such high ones." – Commander Strom sarcastically comments on Senator Greyshade's attempts to woo Princess Leia.

I agree that Chewie has been lookng pretty bad.

I am really enjoying the plot, though. Lots going on. Our characters great broken up into four groups and each of them is in big trouble?
By the way, is your favorite panel so because of the creature from the cantina scene being depecited there?

Star Wars #20
A Roy Thomas penned Jaxxon series? I think I'd actually buy that.  

Again, good writing, exciting story and yes, certainly no reason for Infantino to not know what an X-Wing looks like at this point. Heck, he could have borrowed my toy X-Wing for a reference!

Chewbacca has rarely and consistently appeared as a mirror to the movie costume; Chaykin, Kane and the horrible work of Cynthia Martin all had Chewbacca appearing like he was related to Marvel's Sasquatch, and the Bigfoot mascot for Jack Link's Beef Jerky, more than a character from SW:



Photo resources were always available (in the late 70s, some of my older friends were already collecting publicity photos from films--including Star Wars), and if--for argument's sake--they were not, or limited, by the time of Kane and certainly Martin's work, endless images of Chewbacca were plastered on merchandise spilling off of retail shelves, not to mention magazine covers constantly covering the film. So references were everywhere, but artists chose to do their own thing with Chewbacca---and other characters.

Star Wars #21
Cover dated: March 1979
Issue title: Shadow of a Dark Lord!
Script: Archie Goodwin
Artwork: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Gene Day (inks)
Colours: George Roussos
Letters: John Costanza
Cover art: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Terry Austin (inks)
Overall rating: 7 out of 10




Plot summary: After making her escape from Senator Greyshade's suite on the galactic gambling station known as The Wheel, Princess Leia locates C-3PO and R2-D2, before also finding Luke Skywalker, who has now recovered from the strange, trance-like state he was in. Luke reveals that his trance was caused by his mind touching another individual's; a person who is strong with the Force, but evil and twisted. Luke strongly suspects that this other Force-sensitive mind was none other than Darth Vader's. Greyshade, meanwhile, has secretly sent his security forces to recover the money that the Empire had stolen from the Wheel, behind the back of his new partner, Imperial Commander Strom. Concurrently, in the gladiatorial arena of The Big Game, Han Solo is preparing to fight in the main event when he realises that one of his opponents is Chewbacca, whom he must kill if he is to survive the contest.

Meanwhile, on the planet Ultaar, Darth Vader stands among the bodies of a Rebel information retrieval team, who have been slaughtered by the bounty hunter Valance. Vader realises that he and Valance are both searching for the young farmboy who destroyed the Death Star. Deducing that the boy may be on the Wheel, Vader sets course for the gambling station, determined to find his quarry before Valance does.


Comments: Issue #21 of Marvel's Star Wars sees The Wheel saga kick into high gear. Archie Goodwin's plot is really gripping and inventive, amply demonstrating what a good grasp of the Star Wars universe and the workings of the Force he has. As always, his characterisation of the central cast is very good and, like last issue, he writes Princess Leia particularly well here.

There's a touching little scene in which the Wheel's central computer, Master-Com, speaks to Senator Greyshade about his fascination with the relationship that Luke Skywalker has with the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, confessing that he would similarly like the senator to be his human friend. Although Greyshade seems to dismiss Master-Com's notion, the conversation clearly effects him emotionally, causing him to reflect on his recent actions towards Leia and the other Rebels. We also learn in this issue that the droid hating bounty hunter Captain Valance, who we met in issue #16, is still on Luke's trail.

Most notably though, this issue is important because it sees the return of Darth Vader. The Dark Lord of the Sith is finally reintroduced back into the comic after more than a year, with his last appearance having been at the end of the movie adaptation in Star Wars #6. Although we are first teased by seeing Luke fight a dream image of Vader, the Dark Lord returns for real a few pages later with an absolutely gorgeous splash page by artist Carmine Infantino (see my favourite panel below).

Goodwin explains in this issue that Luke's mind touched Vader's while the farmboy was meditating on board the Millenium Falcon back in issue #18, causing the youngster to want to mentally retreat into his own subconscious. Although it probably wasn't intended that way by Goodwin at the time, the way this is all written and explained serves to nicely foreshadow events that will be seen in The Empire Strikes Back, where Luke will encounter a vision of Vader in the cave on Dagobah and then share mental communications with the Dark Lord after Luke is rescued from Cloud City. It's also worth noting that we see the first appearance of Obi-Wan Kenobi's body as a Force apparition, albeit one that exists purely in Luke's mind, rather than a bona fide Force ghost as in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

I must admit that it's great to finally see Vader return to the pages of the Star Wars comic. Goodwin writes him expertly here, with all the power and menace that you would expect. We see the Sith Lord being his normal, mercilessly evil self, while brandishing his lightsaber and we even get to see him Force choke an Imperial officer who has had the gall to call him "Dear boy". Yep, this is the Darth Vader that we know and love from the movie.

On the art side of things, there's evidence of all the usual pros and cons I always make reference to in Infantino's artwork and we also have the return of Gene Day on inks. I was very critical of Day's inking in issue #18, but it seems to have improved somewhat in this issue. Infantino's front cover is pretty striking, with the looming figure of Darth Vader announcing the Dark Lord of the Sith's return to the comic and rightly so! This cover must've really caught the eye of kids browsing the spinner racks back in 1979.

As an aside, there's mention on the letters page that Chris Claremont (of Uncanny X-Men fame) is working on another Star Wars story, following his excellent "Crucible!" tale in issue #17. According to Goodwin, Claremont is "hard at work shaping up another Star Wars plot for us, this time a two-parter involving Han, Luke, Chewbacca and the Princess." This two part story that Goodwin refers to will actually see the light of day as a double length story in the first Star Wars Annual in late 1979.

In closing, Star Wars #21 is a very good read. The Wheel saga is really starting to build to a nice conclusion and the return of Darth Vader to the pages of the comic adds another layer of awesomeness. In addition, Infantino's artwork is probably the best he's done for this story arc so far.

Continuity issues:

• Luke's lightsaber is red in some of the panels in this issue, although it's coloured correctly in others.

Favourite panel:



Favourite quote: "Ease the pain, Rebel...? I'll end it entirely!" – Darth Vader cruelly executes a wounded Rebel who is begging for pain relief.