Star Wars #66
Cover dated: December 1982
Issue title: The Water Bandits!
Script: David Michelinie
Artwork: Walter Simonson (layouts)/Tom Palmer (finished art & inks)
Colours: Glynis Wein
Letters: Janice Chiang
Cover art: Tom Palmer
Overall rating: 7½ out of 10




Plot summary: Having sustained damage to his X-wing fighter in an earlier mission, Luke Skywalker is forced to evade a pursuing squadron of Imperial TIE fighters by hiding out on the arid, backwater planet of Beheboth. Entering a nearby town, Luke quickly becomes embroiled in a fight with some angry moisture farmers, who mistake him for a brigand – a group of bandits who have been stealing precious water supplies from the local moisture farms. A woman named Darial Anglethorn intervenes and defuses the brawl, before offering Skywalker a job as a guard on her farm.

Darial takes Luke back to her heavily fortified moisture farm and explains to the young Rebel that the brigands always attack at night, stealing the water in a manner that the locals haven't yet been able to fathom. That night, while keeping watch, Darial, Luke and all the other guards at the installation mysteriously fall unconscious. Waking up to a scene of destruction, with all the water gone and Darial missing, Luke resolves to scale a nearby mountain range to locate the brigand's hideout.

No sooner has the Rebel located the bandit's stronghold than he is captured and brought before their leader, Gideon Longspar. Longspar reveals that he is in possession of an sentient, alien energy creature known as Tirrith. The bandit leader has half of Tirrith imprisoned in a vacuum bottle, which he will destroy unless the creature does his bidding, helping his men knock out the local moisture farmers and steal their water. Luke and Darial are thrown into a cell by Longspar, but with help from Tirrith and Luke's abilities with the Force they soon escape. A fight ensues, during which Longspar is knocked unconscious and Tirrith is freed. Darial fires a blaster shot at a row of huge water containers, causing them to rupture and sweep the remaining brigands away in a raging deluge. In return for aiding its escape, Tirrith enters the planet's atmosphere, charging the clouds with electrostatic energy and creating a very welcome downpour of rain for the grateful moisture farmers.


Comments: "The Water Bandits!" was originally conceived as a fill-in story, according to writer David Michelinie's interview in Amazing Heroes #13 from 1982. Fortunately, he was able to fit the story into then-current continuity by having the hyperdrive on Luke's Skywalker's X-wing fighter get damaged at the end of last issue, necessitating his emergency stop on the planet Beheboth. This is presumably why artist Walt Simonson didn't help out with the plotting of this adventure, as he had done in other recent issues, and also why he only provided very rough layouts for the art.

Star Wars #66 would be the final issue of Simonson's tenure on the series. Speaking to Glenn Greenberg in Back Issue #9 from 2005, Simonson noted, "I was there for about a year and a half, which at that time was about as long as I'd stayed on anything. I explored everything that I felt I could do with the Star Wars universe, so I wanted to try some different things." Following his departure from the series, Simonson went on to produce his creator-owned Star Slammers graphic novel, along with the hugely successful The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans crossover and a highly influential run on Marvel's Thor.

Inker and embellisher extraordinaire Tom Palmer takes Simonson's rough layouts and turns them into some seriously gorgeous finished art. The pacing, staging and panel-to-panel flow here are all very much Simonson's, but it's much harder to see his hand in the finished artwork than in other recent issues. That's not necessarily such a bad thing though because, as usual, Palmer brings his lovely, slick line work, detailed backgrounds and abundence of Zip-a-Tone shading, which I really like. This is a very nice looking comic book indeed.

Michelinie is also on good form here – especially considering that this issue was originally written as a fill-in story. The plot is a good one and the dialogue is very much like something out of a Star Wars film, with Luke's "voice" feeling totally in character. Darial Anglethorn is a likable enough character, although she's slightly forgettable. I also like the ending of this tale a lot, with Tirrth repaying Darial and the other moisture farmers for their help by providing an abundance of rain. It's a feel-good ending, for sure, but it's well handled and you'd have to be a hard-hearted son of a gun not to smile at the joy on the faces of the moisture farmers as the rain splashes down on them.

There's also some nice use of Star Wars comic continuity too, with Luke commenting at one point that Darial's farm has more armed guards than "a banker's convention on Aargau", which is a planet that we saw in issue #48. The alien Tirrith is an intriguing entity, but it's also slightly reminiscent of other, cloud-like, energy creatures that we've seen recently in the series, such as the Wutzek in "The Pandora Effect" or the Teezl in "Screams in the Void!", which tends to lessen its overall impact. Still, I like how Palmer draws it.

Also, I like the fact that Luke sees helping Darial and her community as a chance to make up for his inability to prevent the death of his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. It's clear that Luke still feels guilt regarding their demise at the hands of the Empire and that's entirely understandable, although not really fair on himself. Oh, and just to be nit-picky, Aunt Beru's name is misspelt here as "Baru".

Overall, I like this issue a lot. It's not the most memorable comic in the series, nor is it the most gripping, but it feels well written and solid, with a satisfying conclusion and some splendid looking artwork. I'd have to reluctantly label this issue as slightly inessential, but it's much better than the majority of fill-in issues in the series have been.

Continuity issues: None

Favourite panel:



Favourite quote: "Oh, hi, boss. Sure, pull up a rock." – Luke Skywalker jokingly accepts Darial's request to join him for a hot beverage.

Star Wars Annual #2
Cover dated: 1982 (actually issued on August 17th, 1982)
Issue title: Shadeshine!
Script: David Michelinie
Artwork: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Ruby Nebres (inks)
Colours: George Roussos
Letters: Joe Rosen, Janice Chiang
Cover art: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Ruby Nebres (inks)
Overall rating: 3½ out of 10




Plot summary: While on a mission to the planet Ventooine to recover a rumoured weapon of tremendous power called the Shadeshine, Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian and C-3PO are chased into a ruined temple by Imperial stormtroopers. As the Rebels enter the building, they are surprised to find a large golden statue of their friend Han Solo before them. A holy man named Vetter Piin appears from the shadows and explains that Solo is the saviour of Ventooine, having freed his people from a deadly reign and the curse of the Shadeshine. The Rebels are interested to know more and so Vetter activates a recording of Solo's voice, recounting the tale of how he saved the planet.

Solo explains that he and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca visited Ventooine some years earlier, in order to deal in the rare and valuable spice, Sansanna. Solo managed to anger the locals by enquiring about the spice and during an ensuing chase, he inadvertently saved Tieress Chrysalla, who was consort to the Satab, the ruling monarch, from an assassination attempt. A grateful and smitten Chrysalla took Solo back to the Satab's palace, where he soon learned that the Satab was a cruel dictator, ruling the planet with the power of a magical stone known as the Shadeshine. He also learned that a new Satab was chosen every year because the power of the stone burned out a person's body. As a result, the old Satab needed to be placed in suspended animation within the Hall of Satabs, until such time that a cure for the effects of the Shadeshine could be found.

The Satab was determined that Solo should become the new monarch of Ventooine, even if it was against his will. Fortunately, Chrysalla saved the Corellian smuggler by voluntarily touching the magical stone herself, thus taking his place as the next monarch, but in doing so, becoming a slave to the Shadeshine herself. Solo fought with the Satab and, with Chrysalla's help, prevented him from entering the Hall of Satabs in time, causing him to burst into flames and die. Afterwards, Chrysalla elected to enter the chamber and be placed in suspended animation, thus ending the rule of the Shadeshine. Han, meanwhile, was declared a hero by the local populace and as he left the planet, destroyed the Shadeshine by placing it in the Millennium Falcon's thruster jets as the ship blasted off.

As Han's story ends, the pursuing stormtroopers finally locate the Rebels and enter the ruined temple. Luke tricks the Imperials into entering the Hall of Satabs and they swiftly becoming frozen in suspended animation. As the Rebels leave the planet, they take comfort in having heard Han's familiar voice once again, even though they were unable to recover the Shadeshine.


Comments: I'd really love to know the story behind the creation of Star Wars Annual #2. It features artwork by Carmine Infantino, who was the regular artist on the series between 1978 and 1981, but early in '81 Infantino left Star Wars and Marvel for a job at DC Comics. He never returned to the company, so "Shadeshine!" must consist of art that he produced while he was still working for Marvel. The puzzling thing is that the story was written by David Michelinie, who at this point was the series' current writer, but he didn't come on board Star Wars until mid-1981, some months after Infantino had left Marvel. So, I wonder if perhaps "Shadeshine!" was a story that Michelinie wrote for the series before he became the regular writer, while Infantino was still working on Star Wars, and which had sat gathering dust until the publication of this annual? Or was it maybe a case of Micheline taking some left over inventory artwork of Infantino's and fashioning a new story out of it, just as Chris Claremont had done in Star Wars #53 and #54?

To further confuse things, in an interview in Amazing Heroes #13 from 1982, Michelinie bemoaned the fact that he wasn't able to use Han Solo in his stories, since the character had been frozen in carbonite, noting "[Han] would quite possibly be my favorite character if I could write him." This is an intriguing statement because the interview was conducted in early 1982, leading me to believe that "Shadeshine!" was indeed written later that year. But then how was Infantino able to draw it, since, as I've already noted, he had been gone from Marvel for over a year by then? Unfortunately, none of the sources that I usually consult for my reviews has any real information on this issue and a Google search has also failed to turn up anything to illuminate the subject. I'm certain there's an interesting behind-the-scenes story here, but I don't know what it is.

Anyway, what I can say with confidence is that this is a pretty disappointing annual after the excellent Claremont-penned "The Long Hunt/A Duel of Eagles!" in Star Wars Annual #1. For one thing, Ruby Nebres's inks really don't gel very well with Infantino's pencils. As I've noted many times during the course of these reviews, Infantino's art on Star Wars is quite stylised and overly angular, and Nebres's inking simultaneously accentuates these annoying tendencies, while also making the art look a whole lot uglier. To my eyes, this paring of penciller and inker really does seem like a horrible mismatch.

The plot and scripting are also a far cry from Michelinie's brilliant work as the regular writer on Star Wars. The dialogue, in particular, is clunky and uninspired, which is very unusual for Michelinie. The early part of this story reads like a western in outer space, which is fine, in and of itself, since the original Star Wars movie was much like a western in places too, but, I don't know, it also seems a little out of whack with the tone of other recent issues. Michelinie even has Solo getting involved in a proper bar room brawl at one point. And seriously, what the hell is Han wearing here?? ...





There's no logical reason why Han needs to don a disguise while visiting Ventooine, since he's never been there before. Who does he think is gonna recognise him? He also unfortunately looks like a cross between Clint Eastwood's "man with no name" and the village idiot!

The structure of this story is somewhat similar to "The Crimson Forever!", which appeared in issue #50, insofar as it manages to include Han by means of a flashback sequence. While it's certainly nice to see everybody's favourite Corellian smuggler back in action, he seems to be written quite out of character here and his dialogue in cringe-inducing at times. Also, the moment when Michelinie has Han throw a spear with such precision and force that it shears off a stalactite seems more than a little far fetched.

Another issue that I have is that the supporting cast in this story are all really bland. The shaven-headed holy man, Vetter Piin, is just like a thousand other Buddhist-inspired comic book priests and his followers are also devoid of any memorable qualities. As for the Satab, the vaguely oriental-looking villain of the piece, he's little more than a cookie-cutter dictator and, in terms of series as a whole, is utterly forgettable. Much the same can be said for Cystella, who really only serves as eye-candy in a skimpy outfit and a romantic interest for Han. Actually, at one point, Cystella brazenly – and rather blatantly for an early '80s comic – invites Han to her room for a few hours (that's right, folks...hours!) of hanky-panky. Ooh er, missus!

This issue definitely feels like something of a throwback to an earlier point in the series, what with the western overtones, Han and Chewbacca together again on a smuggling caper, Cystella as the scantily-clad sci-fi damsel, and Infantino's instantly recognisable artwork. Han is also cast as a freewheeling, devil-may-care heartthrob here, much as he often was in the pre-Empire Strikes Back comics. I should probably note at this point that Star Wars Annual #2 was the last issue of the series that included any Infantino artwork, although his last issue as the regular penciller on the series had been Star Wars #48.

Overall, there really isn't too much to commend this issue. I kinda like the idea that the Shadeshine literally burns out whoever uses it and the idea of the Satabs retiring to a chamber, where they are held in suspended animation, is cool, I guess. Although, I'm not sure if waiting for someone to come up with a cure for the Shadeshine's effects is a particularly well thought out plan, but I like this story element nonetheless. Still, I can't shake the feeling that this is an utterly throwaway comic that's largely inconsequential to the reader and more than a little pointless for the Rebel characters themselves. I mean, what did they they get out of it, other than getting to hear Han's voice again? Yeah, this issue definitely isn't one of the better Star Wars comics that Marvel put out in the '80s.

Continuity issues:

• Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian and C-3PO all leave the planet Ventooine together in a Y-wing fighter, but this type of craft is only able to carry a maximum of two crew members.

Favourite panel:



Favourite quote: "In the meantime, my handsome rescuer and I will get to know each other better. A lot better." – Tieress Chrysalla lustily and brazenly announces in front of Han Solo that she intends to seduce him.

I think I've decided (especially thinking back as you comment, dbutler) that Michelinie just isn't a fit for Star Wars... he clearly didn't have a handle on the characters. IF that's because he wasn't a fan, or just had his own interpretation only he knows, but he didn't pull it off here. I mean, I love his Tony Stark, but this just doesn't hit it for me.

It's been great reading your comments and the chatting though, just it time for Epic vol. 5 to arrive in July! (Here's to hoping they do in fact release the last one some day!)

Star Wars #68
Cover dated: February 1983
Issue title: The Search Begins
Script: David Michelinie
Artwork: Gene Day (layouts)/Tom Palmer (finished art & inks)
Colours: Glynis Wein
Letters: Joe Rosen
Cover art: Gene Day
Overall rating: 10 out of 10




Plot summary: The Rebels have learned that the bounty hunter Boba Fett was in league with another mercenary at the time he captured Han Solo. However, Fett cut this other bounty hunter out of the deal when he left Cloud City with Solo frozen in carbonite. Working on the assumption that the bounty hunter in question might still bear a grudge against Fett and, for a price, divulge where Fett is hiding before his rendezvous with Jabba the Hutt, Han's Rebel friends set out to track down each of the suspects. Princess Leia and C-3PO are tasked with tracking down the bounty hunter Dengar, while Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca head off to locate IG-88 and Bossk.

Leia and 3PO head for the planet Mandalore, which is the last known location of Dengar. Landing on the planet's surface, the pair soon stumble across a band of slavers, with a group of Mandalorian prisoners in tow. As Leia and the droid watch, the slaver's caravan comes under attack from a group of warriors led by someone who looks like Fett. Leia impulsively joins the fight on the Mandalorian's side and, at one point, ends up saving the life of the individual that she assumes is Fett. As the battle finishes, the leader of the Mandalorians reveals that he is, in fact, Fenn Shysa, an old comrade of Fett's.

Fenn takes the Rebels back to his camp and explains that in the years since the Clone Wars he has fought to free his people from the Empire's slavers. Shysa also tells Leia about his time serving as a Mandalorian Supercommando in the Clone Wars, during which Fett was his chief officer. Shysa recounts how all but three of the Supercommandos were killed in battle, prompting a disillusioned Fett to leave the unit and become a bounty hunter, while he and his childhood friend Tobbi Dala stayed to fight for the Mandalorian people. Leia asks Fenn whether he has encountered Dengar and is surprised to learn that the bounty hunter is currently his prisoner. However, Shysa refuses to hand him over to the princess because Dala has been captured by the Empire and the two warring sides plan to exchange prisoners the following day.

That evening, while enjoying a pleasant walk with Fenn, Leia knocks the former Supercommando unconscious and, with 3PO's help, frees Dengar from his cage. Leading the bounty hunter away from the Mandalorian encampment at blasterpoint, Leia questions him about Fett's whereabouts, but the mercenary has secretly activated a tiny homing device on his wrist. Moments later, a huge Imperial AT-ST scout walker bursts through the trees, as a squad of stormtroopers appear from the undergrowth, surrounding the princess and 3PO.


Comments: OK, this is going to be a longer than usual review because there's an awful lot of ground to cover regarding the contents of Star Wars #68. This comic is essentially the start of two separate story arcs, which I tend to group together under the overall heading of The Search for Han Solo. This issue and #69 contain the Mandalorian arc, which focuses on Princess Leia and C-3PO's search for Dengar, while the Stenax saga in issues #70–72 follows Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca's search for IG-88 and Bossk. Before I get into the main part of my review, I'm going to discuss the rationale behind the Search for Han Solo and the continuity problems with this issue's depiction of the Mandalorian Supercommandos. Feel free to skip these parts if you just want to read the review.


The Search for Han Solo:
The first thing I probably need to address is why there's any need for the Rebels to search for Han Solo in the first place. After all, we know that Boba Fett captured Solo in The Empire Strikes Back in order to take him back to the gangster Jabba the Hutt, who lives on the planet Tatooine. So why aren't the Rebels just heading directly for Tatooine?

Well, at the end of Empire, Lando says to Luke and Leia, "When we find Jabba the Hutt and that bounty hunter, we'll contact you", to which Luke replies, "I'll meet you at the rendezvous point on Tatooine." Lando then says to Leia, "Princess, we'll find Han. I promise", with Luke replying, "Chewie, I'll be waiting for your signal." It's clear from this dialogue that, although Luke, Leia and the others know that Fett will eventually take Solo to Tatooine, they know that Fett won't be going directly there. Otherwise, why would the Rebels need Lando to contact them when he has located Fett and/or Jabba? The Rebels know that some searching will be required, otherwise the end of the second Star Wars movie would just be Luke, Leia, Lando and Chewie saying, "OK everybody, let's get to Tatooine and rescue Han!"

In reality, of course, the ongoing search for Solo in the comic book was also necessitated by the fact that Marvel had three years of comics to fill between the release of Empire and Return of the Jedi, during which time they couldn't have Han being rescued. But, as I've explained, Fett hiding out somewhere with Solo's frozen body, before delivering it to Jabba, does sort of fit in with the films. It was also a godsend for the writers of the comic in those inter-sequel years, because the search could end up getting broken off and then re-started again, as other threats loomed over the Rebellion, providing perfect plot fodder for the ongoing comic narrative.

The reason the Rebels went searching for Han, instead of waiting until he was deliverd to Jabba, was presumably because it would be much more difficult to rescue their friend from Jabba's palace and also because they wanted to save him sooner, rather than later. Of course, rescuing Han is something that the Rebels ultimately failed to do in the comics, which is why we get the rescue attempt at the start of Return of the Jedi. So, I think Marvel got it pretty much spot on, in terms of how their comics fit in with what happened in Empire and Jedi.

The Mandalorian Supercommandos:
Unfortunately, this issue's history of Boba Fett and the Mandalorian Supercommandos doesn't fit in with established Star Wars continuity at all. By the time that this issue was published in late 1982, fans had already learned a tiny bit about Fett's backstory, but this issue gave us a wealth of hitherto unknown information about the bounty hunter and his involvement in the Clone Wars. The Empire Strikes Back novelization had already described Fett's armour as having been worn by a group of "evil warriors defeated by the Jedi Knights during the Clone Wars." Then, in The Empire Strikes Back Sketchbook, we learned that Fett's armour was initially designed by Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston to be worn by a squad of Mandalorian Supercommandos, but Johnston later refashioned the costume for the character of Fett. Writer David Michelinie obviously read both of these scraps of information and then decided to combine them, making Star Wars #68 the very first time that Fett is described as both Mandelorian and as an ex-Supercommando who battled against the Jedi in the Clone Wars. It's just a shame that, as the expanded Star Wars universe has grown – particularly with the release of the prequel trilogy – much of what is revealed in this issue wound up being inaccurate.

For example, Fenn's version of events, in which Fett and the Mandalorian Supercommandos fought on the side of the Empire during the Clone Wars, appears to contradict what we see in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Fett was only 10-years-old at the start of the Clone Wars and was the unaltered clone of the bounty hunter Jango Fett. Fenn also tells Leia that the Supercommandos were sent into action during the Clone Wars after Emperor Palpatine had founded the Empire, but the prequel movies show that the Clone Wars occurred before the formation of the Empire. In addition, Fenn claims that it was during the Clone Wars that he first became aware of Leia, but that's impossible since Leia hadn't even been born at the time of the Clone Wars. While a lot of these continuity goofs aren't actually Michelinie's fault, since little or nothing was established about Fett's life during the Clone Wars when this comic was written, he really should've known, based on the information that was available at the time, that Leia was much too young to have been around during the Clone Wars.

Review:
Anyway, criticisms of stuff that doesn't align with accepted Star Wars canon and justifications for the search for Solo aside, this is a fantastic comic. For one thing, the artwork is simply gorgeous – a real treat for the eyes. The art in this issue is by Gene Day, who had previously served as one of the inkers on Marvel's Star Wars series during Carmine Infantino's tenure as artist. While I was never a particularly big fan of Day's inking, feeling that it often made the cast's faces look overly-harsh or ugly, his work on this issue is superb. Right from the powerful opening splash page of a desperate-looking Leia kneeling before the ominous form of Han Solo entombed in a block of carbonite, the artwork is wonderful, with some exquisite double-page spreads, like this one...




I also love the inventive panel composition that Day employs; in particular, the use of Leia and Fenn-shaped silhouettes as comic panels in these two pages is very imaginative and gives the artwork a wonderful sense of symmetry...




Along with inking earlier issues of the series, Day had also advertised a Star Wars portfolio in the first issue of Dave Sim's Cerebus comic, back in 1977. Unfortunately Lucasfilm denied Day permission to sell the portfolio and so all copies of it were destroyed, except for Day's personal copies. If you're interested in seeing it, you can view the entire portfolio on Flickr.com, here...

www.flickr.com/photos/8117508@N08/sets/72157600160103014/with/478465858/


What's particularly interesting about those early Star Wars drawings of Day's are that even though they are dated 1977, the earliest year of Star Wars fandom, his depictions of the various spaceships and other Star Wars tech are miles better than the annoyingly inaccurate renditions that the comic's regular penciller, Carmine Infantino, was turning out as late as 1980.

Anyway, just to prove that I'm a real smarty pants and a big know-it-all when it comes to Star Wars, I'd like to point out that the final panel of this comic features a sneaky swipe, pinched from Al Williamson's artwork in the Star Wars newspaper strip. The drawing of an Imperial AT-ST scout walker on the left is from Williamson's February 22nd, 1981 instalment of the Star Wars comic strip, while the panel on the right is Day's...




The reason that the scout walkers in these two pictures look slightly different from the the ones we saw in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi is because Williamson based his drawing on an early concept sketch for the walker by Joe Johnston (see below), rather than the finished model, and Day simply copied Williamson...




That's enough of me showboating and showing off my knowledge of Star Wars minutiae! Suffice it to say that Day does a great job with the art here, ably abetted by Tom Palmer's detailed inking. In fact, based on his art in this story, it's tempting to wonder what the series would've looked like under Day's pencil, rather than Ron Frenz's. I mean no disrespect to Frenz though, because his art is great too, but it's interesting to ponder nonetheless. There's also some great colouring in this issue by Glynis Wein.

Sadly, Gene Day died young from a coronary on 23rd September 1982. In fact, he had actually been dead for two months by the time that this issue hit the stands in November 1982. Based on that, I'm guessing that Star Wars #68 and #69 must have been some of his last completed work. What a fitting tribute these issues are to the man and his ability to draw great comics.

It's difficult to overstate the impact that Star Wars #68 had, in terms of shaping the "Cult of Fett" among Star Wars fans. Back in 1982, Fett was already a firm fan favourite, but information about him was scant. In this issue we got plenty of detail about the bounty hunter's past and we got to see images of the Mandalorian Supercommandos for the first time. I can clearly remember what a huge talking point the information gleaned from this issue was among my friends and fellow nerds, back in the day, and I'm sure that the same was true right across Star Wars fandom.

Michelinie's plot is gripping and his scripting is as top-notch as usual. The central cast's dialogue is very in character, as we've come to expect from him, and the action sequences are fast-paced and very Star Wars-y. It's a shame that Hutt, as in "Jabba the...", is misspelled again in this issue, because Michelinie got it right last issue. On the plus side, it's great to see a Mandalorian Supercommando like Fenn Shysa in action and see just how formidable they and their armour could be. Fenn's a pretty good character too and certainly a memorable one, although I could've done without the cod Irish or Scottish accent that Michelinie gives him.

While we're on the subject of Mandalore, it's interesting that the Empire is involved in a slaving operation there. That certainly makes sense, especially when you look at how the Empire subjugated and enslaved the Wookiees of Kashyyyk. As Fenn correctly states in this issue, the Empire always has need of slave labour to work in its mines and factories, to keep the Imperial war machine running. Of course, earlier in the series (issue #30, in fact) we saw the Imperial factory planet of Metalorn, which had just such a slave population.

Leia is written very well in this issue, just like the brave, resourceful and, at times, ruthless leader she should be. We also get to see how much Leia misses Han. I mentioned in my reviews of Star Wars #61 and #65 that Michelinie was beginning to write Luke and Leia's relationship as a much more platonic affair than it had been previously, while simultaneously making it clear that Leia was very definitely in love with Han and not Luke. In this issue, he again makes Leia's feelings for Han crystal clear, describing the "deep, abiding love" that she has for the Corellian smuggler. I suspect that, by this point in the series, with Return of the Jedi well into post-production, word had come down from Lucasfilm instructing Michelinie to terminate the Luke/Leia romance.

Overall, this really is a fantastic issue of Star Wars and it also sports one of my favourite covers from the series too (I've seen Day's striking cover artwork emblazoned on official Star Wars t-shirts recently, which is nice). It's a shame that so much of this issue contradicts what we eventually saw in the prequels, but this is such a well written and drawn comic book that, even with its glaring continuity errors, I'm still gonna award it full marks. This is a gem of an issue and comes highly recommended by me.

Continuity issues:

• Fenn Shysa says that the Mandalorian Supercommandos fought for Emperor Palpatine during the Clone Wars, but the prequel movies make it clear that the Clone Wars took place before Palpatine declared himself Emperor.
• Boba Fett was 10-years-old at the start of the Clone Wars and was the unaltered clone of the bounty hunter Jango Fett, not an adult Mandalorian Supercommando.
• Fenn Shysa claims to have first become aware of Princess Leia during the Clone Wars, but as Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith shows, Leia wasn't born until the Clone Wars had ended.

Favourite panel:



Favourite quote: "Well, I certainly hope that will teach you not to accost a protocol droid! Ruffian!" – C-3PO rebukes an unconscious slaver that he has inadvertently defeated.

Star Wars #69
Cover dated: March 1983
Issue title: Death in the City of Bone!
Script: David Michelinie
Artwork: Gene Day (pencils)/Tom Palmer (inks)
Colours: Glynis Wein
Letters: Joe Rosen
Cover art: Tom Palmer
Overall rating: 9½ out of 10




Plot summary: On the planet Mandalore, Princess Leia and C-3PO have abducted the bounty hunter Dengar from former Mandalorian Supercommando Fenn Shysa's encampment, in order to learn the current whereabouts of Boba Fett from him. The two Rebels are soon betrayed by their captive and taken prisoner by Imperial troops. They are transported to a nearby Imperial slave distribution centre, which is housed inside the petrified skeleton of long dead behemoth. Once there, Leia and 3PO are brought before the Suprema, the installation's Imperial Commander, who assures them that his forces will soon kill Shysa and crush the Mandalorian resistance.

As Leia and 3PO are led away to a prison cell, they are freed by one of their stormtrooper escorts, who reveals himself to be Shysa in disguise. Having tracked the princess after she was captured and followed her back to the distribution centre, Fenn knocked out a perimeter guard, stole his uniform and entered the base. Shysa offers to help Leia capture Dengar if she will help him rescue his friend, Tobbi Dala, who is incarcerated in the centre. Leia agrees and, after freeing Dala from his cell, Shysa fires a signal flare from a window, initiating a pre-planned assault on the fortress by his men.

A battle commences, with Fenn, Tobbi and Leia attacking the Imperials and the slavers from within the complex. They manage to free the slaves and apprehend Dengar, but during the mêlée Dala is mortally wounded by a blaster shot from the Suprema. Close to death, Dala dons his Mandalorian armour one last time, as he overrides the controls for the blast doors that are preventing Fenn, Leia and 3PO from escaping. As the heroes escape the installation in an airspeeder, Dala closes the doors behind them, causing the pursuing Imperial craft to crash and explode, initiating a chain reaction that turns the interior of the complex into an inferno, killing the Suprema and his men.

Back at Shysa's encampment, the ex-Supercommando interrogates Dengar, but the bounty hunter confesses that he was not in league with Fett and doesn't know where he is currently hiding. Although the mission to find Fett has been a failure for Leia and Shysa has lost his best friend, they both take solace from the fact that they have crippled the Empire's slaving operation on Mandalore.

Comments: The Mandalorian story arc continues and concludes with this issue, which, like last issue, features some incredibly impressive artwork from Gene Day on pencils and Tom Palmer on inks. In fact, I'd probably say that the artwork here is even better than last issue. There's lots of dynamic and fluid action sequences, with Day again creating some imaginative and unusual panel layouts, including more of those lovely silhouettes that are also comic panels, which I made mention of in my last review. However, one part of Day's panel layouts that don't really work for me are those found on pages 10 and 11 of the story, where he draws some weird, white frames across the panels of a double-page spread...




I'm really not sure what effect Day was going for with those white bars that intersect each of the panels. If they are, as I suspect, meant to represent cell bars, then they don't really work and are certainly an awfully annoying addition. Nevertheless, even with these two ill-judged pages, Day's art here really gorgeous for the most part. Glynis Wein's colouring is also superb, being nice and subtle when it needs to be and bold in all the right places too.

As for writer David Michelinie, Star Wars #69 would be his last issue on the series. Michelinie decided to leave Marvel's Star Wars comic after he learned that he would not be scripting the comic book adaptation of Return of the Jedi, since Lucasfilm had insisted on having Archie Goodwin – who had scripted the Empire Strikes Back adaptation – return to do it. Speaking to Glenn Greenberg in Back Issue #9 from 2005, Michelinie explained, "I'd been battling in the trenches for a couple of years, kind of treading water, keeping things going, and I was looking forward to getting the dessert at the end of the meal – which, for a Star Wars fan, was adapting the third movie, getting to read the screenplay before anyone else, seeing the stills, stuff like that. So it was kind of a slap in the face, and I felt the only thing I could do to keep my self-respect was to leave the book."

However, editor Louise Jones makes it clear on the letters page of issue #69 that Michelinie's departure from the series was regarded as possibly only being temporary, at least initially. Of course, that might just be a case of Marvel hedging their bets. Certainly it's clear from comments that Michelinie made to J. Collier in Amazing Heroes #13 from 1982 that he was, at that point, expecting to be writing the story that would lead into the Return of the Jedi comic adaptation. However, this was clearly something that changed as the release of the third Star Wars film neared, probably because Michelinie had decided to leave the book.

For his last contribution to Star Wars, Michelinie delivers his usual combination of snappy and humourous dialogue, along with lots of fast-paced action and excitement. These elements had already served to make his run on Star Wars one of the most enjoyable and satisfying of the series. His writing of Princess Leia is very in character, with her feisty reaction to the Suprema being very similar to how she reacted towards Grand Moff Tarkin on the Death Star in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Michelinie even has the Suprema use phrases like "charming..." and "plucky to the last", which recall pieces of Tarkin's dialogue from that film. Also, having Fenn Shysa don Imperial stormtrooper armour in order to infiltrate the base is a nice little nod to A New Hope.

I've always loved the fact that the Imperial slavers' base is housed inside a huge fossilised skeleton of some prehistoric beast. It makes for an interesting and very memorable setting for much of the action in this issue. It's also interesting to note that the Imperials seem to be using airspeeders inside the base that look very similar to the Rebel snowspeeders that moviegoers saw in The Empire Strikes Back. However, I'm not convinced that a bunch of exploding airspeeders could destroy the entire installation in the way that they do in this issue. I mean, yes, they would cause a fair bit of damage, of course, but destroy the interior of the base completely? That seems unlikely to me. Also, how did all the slaves that Fenn and Leia freed get out?!

Michelinie also writes a very moving scene between Fenn and his old comrade-in-arms, Tobbi Dala, after the latter is mortally wounded by the Suprema. You get a real sense of the honour and love between these two fighting men, who have both endured unimaginable horrors on the battlefield together. This is some powerful stuff.

The epilogue of this issue sees us return to The Wheel, a galactic gambling station and all-round den of inequity that was a setting for some of the earlier issues of the series. Using the Wheel as a location again is a nice touch on Michelinie's part and one that helps add a sense of history or heritage to the ongoing series, by tying in older continuity to the current storyline.

I also kind of like the fact that, ultimately, tracking down Dengar turns out to be a dead end for Leia, since the bounty hunter doesn't know where Boba Fett is hiding out. The issue ends with the princess's mission a failure and Shysa having lost a beloved comrade, as Leia stoically admits that sometimes the bad guys win. That's an uncharacteristically realistic ending for a comic in this series and I like it a lot. It also provides a somewhat downbeat swan song to Michelinie's run on the series. Shysa would again appear towards the end of the series and join up with the Rebel Alliance.

All in all, Star Wars #69 is a satisfying conclusion to the Mandalorian arc. It also nicely sets up the second phase of the continuing Search for Han Solo storyline, which would be handled by the new in-coming regular writer, Mary Jo Duffy.

Continuity issues: None

Favourite panel:



Favourite quote: "Ahhh, fire. I like fire in a human. It sizzles so nicely when squelched...!" – The Suprema confidently taunts his feisty captive, Princess Leia.

I think I've decided (especially thinking back as you comment, dbutler) that Michelinie just isn't a fit for Star Wars... he clearly didn't have a handle on the characters. IF that's because he wasn't a fan, or just had his own interpretation only he knows, but he didn't pull it off here. I mean, I love his Tony Stark, but this just doesn't hit it for me.

It's been great reading your comments and the chatting though, just it time for Epic vol. 5 to arrive in July! (Here's to hoping they do in fact release the last one some day!)