I agree, and the fact that Archie Goodwin generally writes Leia so well in the series means that her characterisation in this issue is pretty spot on. That said, I don't like the fact that she's so self-congratulatory about being an inspirational figurehead to the people of Metalorn. That annoys me -- especially since, as I noted in my review, her mission there was pretty much a disaster.

Very interesting information about Goodwin providing basic sketches to Infantino! And yes, I’m still in agreement with you about the flaws in Infantino’s art. I do like to fantasize that this was drawn by somebody else. Oh well. It’s what we’ve got, and it’s still enjoyable.

Infantino had been pencilling the issues from #11 up to just before this point (somewhere in the late-20s) and he had always done a decent enough job of it to my eyes (my personal dislike of Infantino's signature style aside), but maybe Goodwin didn't see it that way? Perhaps he was annoyed by what he perceived as Infantino not delivering the narrative in quite the way he envisioned and decided to "direct" the art a bit more closely? Or maybe it was a time saving scheme for Infantino? I'm not sure what other titles he was working on for Marvel at this point; I know he did a few issues of John Carter: Warlord of Mars around this time, but other than that, I don't think he was contributing to any other Marvel books (though I may be wrong about that). So, I'm not sure he would've been particularly pressed for time while working on Star Wars.

Star Wars Annual #1
Cover dated: 1979 (actually issued on December 4th, 1979)
Issue title: The Long Hunt/A Duel of Eagles!
Script: Chris Claremont
Artwork: Mike Vosburg (pencils)/Steve Leialoha (inks)
Colours: Bob Sharen
Letters: John Costanza
Cover art: Walter Simonson
Overall rating: 9 out of 10




Plot summary: While on the planet Tirahnn, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are attacked by a group of fierce Catuman warriors on the orders of a green-skinned, winged woman named Kharys, the Majestrix of Skye. Han Solo and Chewbacca rescue the pair, but Solo recognises Luke's description of Kharys as an old enemy from his smuggling days. After a Smoke Demon under the command of Kharys enters the Millenium Falcon and murder's Han's friend Katya M'Buele, he resolves to confront the Majestrix on her homeworld of Skye.

Upon reaching the planet, the Falcon is shot down by Imperial TIE fighters and Luke and Leia are captured by the Highland S'kytri, a tribe of winged people not directly affiliated with Kharys. The two Rebels are brought to trial before the Supreme Council of the Highland Clans, where Leia is identified as an enemy of the Empire. But before the council can turn her over to the Imperials, Luke is recognised as the son of the clan's "wingless brother", who was one of a group of Jedi Knights who helped save the planet from destruction during the Clone Wars. As a result, Luke and Leia are set free and, with their S'kytri allies, set about rescuing Han and Chewbacca, who are now being held in Kharys' fortress.

During the assault on the fortress, Leia manages to rescue Solo and his Wookiee first mate, while Luke kills Kharys in a lightsaber duel. This essentially frees Skye from Imperial rule, since the planet's affiliation with the Empire stems from a time when Darth Vader, who was one of the Jedi that earlier helped save the planet, returned years later. Vader invoked the S'kytri's oath of fealty and installed Kharys as Skye's ruler to do his bidding. With her now dead by Luke's hand, the S'kytri are free to resist the Empire's rule.


Comments: This is the first annual from Marvel's Star Wars series and what a great comic it is! There's some beautiful artwork here from Mike Vosburg, who had previously pencilled issues of Marvel's The Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu and John Carter: Warlord of Mars, and would go on to work on The Savage She-Hulk. Unfortunately, this annual represents his only contribution to Marvel's Star Wars run and that's a real shame because the sequential artwork here is both pretty and very well executed. For example, I love how inventive and detailed this panel depicting Luke and Leia being chased through the crowded streets of Tirahnn is...




After recent issues with regular artist Carmine Infantino's highly stylized and overly-angular art, it's a breath of fresh air to get an artist on the series who seems to be able to effortlessly conjure the Star Wars aesthetic so well on the page. It's also nice to see the likes of the Millenium Falcon, the Imperial stormtroopers and Chewbacca accurately rendered for a change, since these are all areas in which Infantino fails to impress. The sequence set in the bazaar on the planet Tirahnn is very well drawn and I like the amount of detail that Vosburg puts into his panels throughout this issue. Also, the sequence showing the rescue of Han and Chewbacca has lots of pace and movement in its panel-to-panel flow. We get the welcome return of inker Steve Leialoha too, whose confident and sumptuous inking hasn't been seen in this series since the movie adaptation issues.

While we're on the subject of the art, I must mention how great Bob Sharen's colouring is. He even gets the colour of Luke's lightsaber correct, which is something that has barely ever happened in the regular monthly series. The front cover features a lovely Walt Simonson illustration, depicting Luke Skywalker in a dramatic battle stance, lightsaber ready, as Kharys and her Catuman warriors close in. The way Luke's lightsaber is rendered here, with gleaming cross beams of light radiating off of it, is reminiscent of the Star Wars theatrical poster by Tom Jung.

Chris Claremont's writing is on top form and he nails the voices of the central cast perfectly. So much so, in fact, that you can almost hear the voices of the movie actors speaking his dialogue. Claremont also gives us some nice character development too, with several examples of Luke's ever increasing abilities with the Force and his lightsaber being shown (which is very in keeping with how Goodwin has been writing Luke in the main series). In fact, this issue represents the first time in the Marvel series that we see Luke engaging in a lightsaber duel against an enemy, six months before cinema audiences would see Luke duel Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back. I also really like Claremont's narration; it has a poetic quality that is somewhat akin to the way Roy Thomas wrote in the earliest issues of the series.

Katya M'Buele, a female acquaintance of Han's from his days as a smuggler, is an interesting character and notable for being black-skinned. Although she's not the first black-skinned character to have appeared in Star Wars-related literature (that honour goes to Rekkon in Brian Daley's novel Han Solo at Stars' End), Katya is the first black-skinned character to appear in the Star Wars comic, which is kinda cool. On the downside, giving her an African sounding last name just because she's black isn't really very enlightened and, visually, she does look a lot like a character from a blaxploitation movie (and therefore reminiscent of Marvel's other blaxploitation-influenced female, Misty Knight). But still, she's an interesting character and it's a pity that she gets killed off so quickly.

On the negative side of things, Claremont gives us an uncomfortable, vaguely incestuous moment between Luke and Princess Leia, when Luke thinks of his own attraction to the princess and wonders about her feelings towards him. Of course, like I always say when these moments arise in the Marvel run, nobody knew back in 1979 that Luke and Leia were siblings – probably not even George Lucas! A bigger problem, continuity-wise, is that the S'kytri tell Luke that long ago three Jedi Knights saved their planet: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader and Luke's as yet unnamed father. This is problematic because, as we all know, Darth Vader and Luke's farther are the same person. Again though, nobody outside of those immediately connected to the writing and filming of The Empire Strikes Back would've had any inkling in 1979 that Vader was Luke's father.

In closing, this first Star Wars annual is a really great comic and much better than the majority of the issues we've been getting in the main series so far. It looses a point for the continuity gaff about Luke's father and Darth Vader being two separate people – although, it should be noted that this isn't really Claremont's fault, since all the evidence at the time pointed towards this being the case. The Vosburg/Leialoha artwork is gorgeous and a real pleasure to look at, while Claremont's scripting, characterisation and plotting delivers a really engaging read. I'd rate this annual and issue #17, which was co-written by Claremont, as the joint best issues of the series so far.

Continuity issues:

• The S'kytri tell Luke Skywalker that three Jedi Knights saved their planet: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader and Luke's father. However, Vader and Luke's father are the same person.

Favourite panel:



Favourite quote: "Welll...that outfit looks a little daring to me. On Tatooine, she'd be asking for a bad case of sunburn or wind scar." – Luke Skywalker comments on a scantily clad female in the Tirahnn bazaar.

Star Wars #31
Cover dated: January 1980
Issue title: Return to Tatooine!
Script: Archie Goodwin
Artwork: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks)
Colours: Carl Gafford
Letters: Jim Novak
Cover art: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks)
Overall rating: 8 out of 10




Plot summary: Luke Skywalker has returned to his homeworld of Tatooine on a mission to recruit blockade runner pilots to aid in the evacuation of the Rebel Alliance's base on Yavin 4. On his way to Mos Eisley spaceport with the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, Luke runs into his old friends Fixer and Camie. They inform him that the House of Tagge is buying all the moisture farms in the area, including the one that Luke grew up on. Luke stumbles upon clues that point towards a secret plan by the House of Tagge and the Empire, although the exact nature of the scheme isn't clear.

Later, in Mos Eisley, Luke reunites with Han Solo and Chewbacca in the same cantina where he had originally met the Corellian smuggler and his Wookiee co-pilot. A guilt-ridden Fixer suddenly arrives to warn Luke that he has informed the Empire of the young Rebel's whereabouts, but before Luke can berate his old friend, a squad of Imperial stormtroopers enter the cantina and a fire fight ensues. Luke, Han, Chewbacca and the droids make their escape in a landspeeder, but, unknown to them, the speeder has been damaged by a stray laser bolt and is leaking coolant.


Comments: This is the first part of the Omega Frost story arc, which runs through issues #31-34. I really love this arc a lot, partially because of my own nostalgic memories of reading it as a kid, but mostly because these are just some really good Star Wars comics. I think the coolest thing about this issue is seeing Luke Skywalker back on his home planet after everything that had happened to him since he left – and remember, this comic was published over three years before Luke returned to Tatooine in Return of the Jedi. Interestingly, at around the same time as this comic was on the shelves, artist and writer Russ Manning also had Luke returning to Tatooine in the "Tatooine Sojourn" storyline from the Star Wars newspaper strip.

Archie Goodwin's writing is really on form in this issue, with a number of great character moments and some nice mining of Star Wars continuity to excellent effect. For example, one of this issue's most fascinating moments comes when Luke returns to the burnt out shell of the Lars' moisture farm, where he grew up, and runs into his old friends Fixer and Camie. Goodwin shows us that Luke still feels the pain and loss of his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's death acutely, while he also casually drops in little references to Luke's deceased childhood friend Biggs Darklighter. Camie's reaction to Luke is very well written too: she still refers to him by his old nickname of "wormie", but is forced to admit that he seems more mature and carries himself in a more confident manner than when she last saw him. For his part, Luke realises that he's changed as well and, as a result, he no longer has much in common with these people who he once called friends.

There's also a neat moment where Goodwin reveals that the locals from around Anchorhead had been told by the Empire that it was Tusken Raiders (or Sand People) that killed Luke's aunt and uncle. As an Imperial cover story, this is a good one and it makes perfect sense because that's exactly what the Imperials did with the Jawa Sandcrawler they destroyed at around the same time, as seen in the Star Wars movie. All in all, this comic features some of the best character writing we've seen in the series so far.

Goodwin also takes the opportunity to reunite Luke with Han Solo and Chewbacca, who we last saw getting the best of Jabba the Hutt in issue #28. I love that we get to see Han and Chewie back in the Mos Eisley cantina where they first met Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi. While it may seem a little contrived that they would just happen to be sat in the exact same cantina, it actually makes sense that the pair would return to Tatooine, given that Jabba (who was a passenger on board the Millenium Falcon at the end of issue #28) uses the planet as his base of operations. Additionally, we know from what Obi-Wan said in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope that the cantina in question was a popular haunt with smugglers, so it's really not so far fetched.

Baron Orman Tagge makes another appearance in this issue and we learn that, in addition to his vendetta against Darth Vader, he is now hell bent on getting revenge on Luke Skywalker for thwarting his plans and destroying the House of Tagge's turbine station in issue #26. We also meet Orman's brothers Ulric and Silas for the first time. Ulric is an Imperial officer (just like Cassio Tagge, who we saw in A New Hope), while Silas is the House of Tagge's chief scientist.

The artwork in issue #31 is of much the same standard that we've come to expect from Carmine Infantino, with all his signature hard-angled tendencies present and accounted for. For some reason, Infantino also chooses to draw Luke and Han brandishing ridiculously long-barrelled blaster pistols in this issue and the next (you can see one on the front cover of this issue). I've no idea why this should be, but these weirdly elongated blasters really used to bug the hell out of me as a kid. We also get some more of Infantino's ungainly or awkward body poses that I've made mention of before. In particular, the panel in which Luke disarms Fixer with his lightsaber has the young Rebel's arm twisted at a quite unnatural and painful looking angle...




Still, as ever, Infantino's art does a wonderful job of conveying both the action and more character-driven moments of Goodwin's script. There's also some wonderfully detailed backgrounds in this comic (although the above panel isn't really a good example of that). But perhaps the biggest news on the art front is that at last, after eighteen issues on the series, Infantino has finally managed to draw Chewbacca correctly! I mentioned in my review of issue #19 that Infantino's depiction of Chewie had always suffered from the Wookiee's face being too hairless and his body fur not quite hanging correctly. Here, we have hair covering all of the Wookiee's face, as it should be, and, while traces of Infantino's artistic idiosyncrasies certainly remain, the way in which he draws Chewie is a huge improvement on past issues.




Bob Wiacek's inking is very sharp in this issue too and there's also some nice colouring from Carl Gafford, who even gets the colour of Luke's lightsaber correct (a rarity in the series so far). Oh, and I must make mention of Infantino and Wiacek's well composed and dramatic front cover, which is one of my favourites from the series.

Overall, issue #31 of Star Wars is a thoroughly enjoyable comic. The plot is pretty intriguing, with the devious conniving of the House of Tagge and Luke's discovery of a mysteriously frozen Bantha in the desert giving the story a suspenseful feel. The script and artwork are both littered with references to the original Star Wars movie, which I got a big kick out of as a child and still really enjoy as an adult. I read the hell out of this issue back when I was a kid (albeit in the black & white Marvel UK reprints) and re-reading it again for the umpteenth time, it's still a real page turner.

Incidentally, I chose this particular issue of Star Wars as one of my picks in the CCF's Classic Comics Christmas event 2014, and you can read what I said about it then here.

Continuity issues:

• It is inferred in this issue that Mos Eisley is Tatooine's only spaceport, but there are in fact others, like Mos Espa, for example.

Favourite panel:



Favourite quote: "That speeder is leaking coolant...it'll be burnt out by morning! If one of our desert patrols doesn't get them out there...the twin suns will!" – An Imperial stormtrooper gloats over the fact that although the Rebels may have escaped his squad, they are doomed to a slow death in the deserts of Tatooine.

I don't know about the Alderaan cover story. The purpose of the Death Star was to keep local star systems in line through fear of it after the Emperor dissolved the Imperial Senate, and Tarkin's purpose in destroying Alderaan was a demonstration of the Empire's power. Now they've negated that fear by saying that it was a meteor shower. Sure, the Death Star no longer exists, but I'd rather take credit for the destruction of Alderaan and just claim that the Death Star still exists, or point out that "we built one Death Star, and we can build another - so just watch out!" rather than say such a destructive weapon of the Empire never existed.

I don't remember that 'Alderaan was a freak meteor shower' thing... that is indeed pretty silly. I agree 100% that Claremont told a good story, but it didn't really have a Star Wars voice... almost like it was re-purposed from something else.

Yes, Luke just happening to meet Han & Chewie in the Cantina is a bit contrived, but as I said in my review, it kinda makes sense because Jabba (who was on board the Millenium Falcon at the end of issue #28) uses Tatooine as his base of operations, so they would have had to go back to the planet to drop him off anyway. It's not too much of a stretch to think that the pair would then visit their favourite Mos Eisley watering hole.

As for the Tagge family using Tatooine to trial the Omega Frost weapon, within the confines of the story, they have selected Tatooine as a test ground precisely because it is out of the way and sparsely populated. I mean, I realise there must be countless other planets in the SW galaxy that fit that bill, but that's the in-story explanation.

And really, this use of Tatooine here is no more contrived than in the SW films, with their constant re-visiting the planet. I mean, at this point, despite what Luke said in the first SW film about Tatooine being a rock farthest from the bright centre of the galaxy, this backwater planet has been a hugely important location in galactic history -- right up to its appearances in The Mandalorian.

But yeah, revisiting Tatooine in this issue and the next is a lot of fun. I really love these two issues: partly for Goodwin's mining of Star Wars continuity, partly because it's interesting to see how Luke has grown as a character since he was last on his homeworld, and partly because it's just really cool to be back in the Mos Eisley cantina with Han and Chewie.