I didn't understand why Han and Chewie lost their prize just because they rammed the Stormtroopers with the hover-platform. Didn't it all just fall off?

Star Wars #24
Cover dated: June 1979
Issue title: Silent Drifting
Script: Mary Jo Duffy
Artwork: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks)
Colours: Petra Goldberg
Letters: Rick Parker
Cover art: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks)
Overall rating: 4 out of 10




Plot summary: Following events on the water world of Drexel, the Millennium Falcon drops out of hyperspace for minor repairs. The Corellian freighter is suddenly attacked by two Imperial TIE fighters and, after Han Solo uses some skillful shooting to destroy the enemy craft, Princess Leia begins to recount a tale involving Obi-Wan Kenobi in the days of the Old Republic, in which he used a similar manoeuvre to Han's.

Obi-Wan was travelling on a galactic pleasure cruiser when he was summoned to the bridge by the ship's captain and informed that Merson space-pirates had been spotted nearby. Before Kenobi could act, however, the ships turned to attack the cruiser, leading the Jedi to speculate that there must be a hidden beacon on board the cruiser that the space-pirates had locked on to. With some quick thinking, Obi-Wan managed to destroy the attacking ships in a similar manner to how Han would destroy the TIE fighters many years later. However, unrest was growing down on the recreational deck, where the frightened and inebriated passengers were accusing a fellow passenger and known criminal named Augustus Tryll of conspiring with the Mersons. Kenobi cautioned the mob against judging Tryll too quickly and, as more Merson ships appeared outside, the Jedi realised that the signal was originating from a fermentation device in the recreational area. With the machine destroyed, the cruiser was able to continue on its journey unhindered.


Comments: Like Star Wars #16 and #17, this is another fill-in issue. Archie Goodwin cedes the writing chores in this comic to his assistant Mary Jo Duffy, who would later go on to be the last regular writer on the series, beginning with issue #70. A self-confessed Star Wars fan, Duffy had only joined Marvel's editorial team in late 1978 and, at this point, her only writing credits for Marvel had been Power Man #56 and #57. Although her tenure as writer on Marvel's Star Wars series between 1983 and 1986 would produce some of the best issues of the entire run, this issue is a fairly lacklustre debut.

The story itself takes place out of sequence, just after the events of Star Wars #15, in which our heroes left the planet Drexel and defeated the space-pirate Crimson Jack. The framing device for the flashback tale involving Ben Kenobi is troublesome insofar as the "manoeuvre" that Han employs to destroy the TIE fighters isn't really all that impressive. He essentially just plays possum in the Millennium Falcon until the TIE fighters come in close and then he and Luke blast them. Admittedly, having explosive charges rigged in the Falcon's cargo hold, in case Solo ever needs to fake severe damage during a space battle, is a pretty clever trick – and exactly the sort of thing a resourceful and cunning smuggler like Solo might do – but I'm not convinced that Han's actions are really worthy of a lengthy story from Leia.

That grumble aside, the flashback story, which is set in the days of the Old Republic when Obi-Wan Kenobi was a Jedi Knight, is fairly interesting. Duffy shows us a younger Kenobi who seems to be a bit more ruthless than the character portrayed by Alec Guinness: in one scene Obi-Wan lets a charging assailant skewer himself on his lightsaber, rather than simply sidestepping his attacker or even just chopping off an arm, as he did in the Mos Eisley cantina.

Incidentally, it seems likely that 68-RKO, the droid who attaches itself to Kenobi in this story, was named in honour of radio station WRKO in Boston, Massachusetts (it's 68 on the AM dial). Wikipedia tells me that Duffy was born in New York City, but later attended a women's arts college in the west of Boston. Given how popular WRKO is in that area, she almost certainly would have been aware of the station.

A plot element that I had a problem with in this comic is that the process of shutting down all non-essential systems on board the cruiser and just drifting through the asteroid belt to avoid the Merson slavers sounds kind of dangerous. As a result, I couldn't really buy into the idea that this would be something that a pleasure cruiser would do as standard practice. Also, how come Kenobi says at one point that it's only visual contact with the Merson pirates that the pleasure cruiser has to fear? That doesn't tie up with his previously stated suspicion that there's some kind of signal beacon on board the ship.

Another criticism of Duffy's script would be that she seems to be making some ill-defined point at the story's conclusion about the evils of alcohol – both in the sense of the literal evil that the signal from the fermentation machine may cause, but also in the wider sense of the behaviour of the inebriated passengers and their eagerness to point the finger at Augustus Tryll. It's a vague, overly preachy point and, ultimately, it adds nothing to our enjoyment of the story. Add to this some truly groan inducing character names, like the patently silly Captain Quasar and the none-to-subtle name of Augustus Tryll (as in "trial", presumably), and you can't help but notice that the writing here is noticeably less polished and assured than Goodwin's.

Something that is probably worth noting about this issue is that, other than a brief flashback panel in Star Wars #13, this comic represents the first time that Star Wars fans had been shown events from the Galactic Republic era. From a continuity standpoint, the flashback scenes don't jibe perfectly with what we saw in the prequel trilogy, but there are no glaring problems and the story just about fits with established canon if you squint a little bit. That's fairly impressive when you consider how old this comic is and how much the Old Republic/Clone Wars era has been fleshed out since then. Of course, the younger Kenobi seen here doesn't look anything like Ewan McGregor's later portrayal in the prequel trilogy, but it does look a bit like a younger version of Alec Guinness, I suppose.

Interestingly, artist Carmine Infantino doesn't clothe Obi-Wan in his usual Jedi robes in the flashback because, at the time that this comic was written, the hooded coat and threadbare garments that Kenobi wore in the Star Wars movie were simply the rags of a desert hermit. The movie novelization by Alan Dean Foster defines them as such and I'm willing to bet that even George Lucas hadn't decided that Kenobi's clothes were his Jedi robes at this point. It wasn't until the ghost of Anakin Skywalker appeared at the end of Return of the Jedi wearing similar clothing to Obi-Wan that it became apparent that this outfit Kenobi wore was Jedi attire.

This issue is the second and final flashback story that Marvel did in their original Star Wars series. It's a shame that these kinds of story stopped because they were fascinating and worked well as stand-alone issues. I have to wonder whether George Lucas put his foot down and told Marvel to stop exploring stuff from before the Star Wars movie, because he had his own plans for that period. Goodwin explained on the letters page in issue #17 that the creative team on the comic worked very closely with Carol Titleman, the Star Wars Corporation's Director of Publications, to ensure that nothing was done in the comic that would contradict or invalidate things planned for the Star Wars sequels. So, it's certainly possible that these flashback-style stories disappeared from the comic at Lucas's request.

As for the artwork in this issue, Infantino's pencils and Bob Wiacek's inks work well together (my own slight dislike of Infantino's style notwithstanding). That said, I think that their work together on the preceding Wheel story arc was probably of a slightly higher calibre and some of the panels in this issue look a little rushed and lacking in detail. Regarding the story, the initial framing sequence is utterly inconsequential, but the flashback story is an interesting diversion from the ongoing adventures of Han, Luke, Leia et al. Unfortunately, Duffy's plot is quite dull and the scripting workman-like, rather than inspired. It also suffers from a lack of focus in terms of character motivation and internal logic. The fact that this story comes after a strong run from Goodwin, in which he'd really begun to find his groove on the series, only heightens the impression of this issue being below par.

Continuity issues:

• On the front cover, Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi robes are purple and green, instead of brown and beige (and they are entirely different from the garb that he wears inside the comic itself too).
• Also on the front cover, Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber is coloured red, instead of blue/white.

Favourite panel:



Favourite quote: "If you're that particular about the company you keep, I recommend that in the future you make your trips alone." – Obi-Wan Kenobi chastises a passenger who has objected to the presence of the droid 68-RKO, who is travelling with the Jedi.

I've gone back and added a couple of sentences to my review of issue #23 referring to this, badwolf. I almost included something about it to begin with, because it puzzled me also, but I decided that it was maybe too trivial to mention and that no one else would really care about such things. The fact that you've mentioned it makes me think that, actually, it's likely to stick out to other readers too. So I thought I'd better say something concerning it.

So, thanks for the editorial nudge.




It's great to have you reading along and commenting, dbutler69. It doesn't matter a jot if you want to comment on issues I've reviewed at some point in the past, your comments are always most welcome. All I ask is that if you overtake me (which you probably will soon enough), that you wait until I review an issues before posting in-depth thoughts on it. Thanks.



Thanks very much! I appreciate the compliment and I'm glad to hear you're enjoying them.



I totally agree with you and, in fact, I said much the same thing in my review. Goodwin's writing in issue #17 is perfectly in line, continuity-wise, with what was available or known about the Star Wars Universe at the time. Unfortunately, later material has rendered some of the writing in the comic (and the novelization of the first Star Wars movie itself, I might add!) incongruous with current established canon.

I was kinda torn on whether to record these continuity problems in my reviews, but ultimately I decided that I'm writing these reviews for old fans of the comic, like me, and also people who might be reading them for the first time and have little idea about how Star Wars canon has evolved since the late '70s. As such, I feel that these continuity problems should be singled out, but with some context given in my reviews about the then-current state of SW continuity.

I don't think, in all honesty, that was the reason for Han and Chewie not escaping with their winnings or recovering their Rebel reward money from Crimson Jack in issue #15. I say that because (spoilers ahead) in a few issue's time, Han' debt to Jabba the Hutt is cancelled altogether by Goodwin. It then had to be hastily reinstated just prior to the release of The Empire Strikes Back, so that there was still a price on Han's head when the movie adaptation started. So, I think this was may be just sloppy or, at least, slightly nonsensical writing, rather than some Lucas' dictated master plan regarding Han and Chewie's money.

Star Wars #25
Cover dated: July 1979
Issue title: Siege at Yavin!
Script: Archie Goodwin
Artwork: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Gene Day (inks)
Colours: Ben Sean
Letters: Joe Rosen
Cover art: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks)
Overall rating: 7½ out of 10




Plot summary: The Rebel Alliance base on the fourth moon of Yavin has been coming under repeated attack from squadrons of Imperial TIE fighters. These attacking craft have so far been driven off by the Alliance's pilots, but General Dodonna is concerned that the Rebel forces are being whittled away by the relentless raids. He reasons that the short-range Imperial fighter craft must have a baseship somewhere within the Yavin system, but the Alliance's scanners are unable to detect any large Imperial spacecraft in the vicinity.

Meanwhile, following their escape from the Wheel, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker swap their newly acquired space-yacht for a more robust ship, to avoid being traced through the craft by the Empire. As they depart the planet of Centares, they spot a House of Tagge Mining Explorer on its way to the Yavin system. Knowing of the Tagge family's ties with the Empire, and fearing for the security of the Rebel base, they decide to follow the ship. They discover that the Tagge family is transporting TIE fighters to the Yavin system and hiding them on board a ship hidden within the gaseous atmosphere of the planet Yavin. Luke and Leia attempt to warn the Rebel base, but before they can do so, their ship is intercepted by an Imperial patrol.


Comments: Archie Goodwin returns as writer for Star Wars #25 and straight away the scripting is an improvement over last issue. We're thrown straight into the action, with an attack on the Rebel base by a squadron of Imperial TIE fighters, which really gets the reader's attention and sets up the rest of the issue nicely.

Goodwin writes some good character moments with Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in this issue. In particular, Leia's comments about the Empire having been unnerved by the Rebel Alliance's unexpected victory against the Death Star and her theory that the House of Tagge are helping to blockade the Yavin system, in an attempt to prevent news of the Rebel's success from leaking, sounds very plausible. It certainly accounts for the Empire not having sent a huge armada to crush the Alliance on Yavin 4, now that they know where the Rebel base is. Of course, you could argue that it's strange for the Rebel Alliance to hang around on Yavin 4 long enough for this to happen, but Goodwin at least provides a nifty in-universe explanation for the Rebel base's continued survival. In doing so, he also demonstrates how good a grip he had on this material, even in these early days of the expanded universe.

In addition to his good writing of the core characters, I love Goodwin's slimy used spaceship salesman Jorman Thoad. Although he's only in the comic for about a page and a half, he made such an impression on me as a little kid that I've always wished we could've seen more of him in the series.

Another excellent creation of Goodwin's is Baron Orman Tagge, who we meet for the very first time in this issue. The House of Tagge were first mentioned in issue #18, but here we learn much more about them and their relationship with the Empire. Baron Tagge himself is a very interesting character, with his hate-fuelled vendetta against Darth Vader and his distinctive cyber-vision goggles easily making him one of the most memorable villains from Marvel's original Star Wars series. Tagge's anger at Vader having robbed him of his sight is certainly understandable, but there's an obsessive, slightly mentally unhinged aspect to his desire to master the lightsaber and best Vader using the Dark Lord's weapon of choice. There's also clearly a great deal of pride at play in Tagge's motivations too: he wants to succeed where Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin failed, by destroying the Rebel base on Yavin 4 and, in doing so, supplant Vader as the Emperor's right-hand man.

Setting up a villain like Tagge who is bent on destroying our heroes, but also a deadly rival of the franchise's principal antagonist, is a brilliant bit of plotting on Goodwin's part and one that will reap dividends in coming issues. Also, I must just say that the House of Tagge creating a vortex within the atmospheric gases of the planet Yavin, in order to allow the Imperial TIE fighters to journey into the interior of the gas giant without detection from the Rebels, is a really cool idea too.

On the downside, just like in issue #23, Goodwin gives us some more slightly uncomfortable moments between Luke and Leia. As I've previously stated, no one had any idea at this point that it would later be revealed that Luke and Leia were siblings, least of all Goodwin it seems. The panel in this issue where we are made privy to Luke's thoughts about the princess are a bit uncomfortable, but a few pages later we have to sit through another cringe-inducing, creepy, eyes-closed kiss on the lips between the pair.

In terms of the art, I'm not always the biggest booster of Carmine Infantino's work on Star Wars, but his sequential drawing here is really good and serves to give dramatic weight to Goodwin's writing. This is especially true in the sequence where Luke calls on the Force to help him navigate a safe passage through the space-mines. Also, the opening splash page, showing a squadron of TIE fighters screaming down out of the sky and blasting a Rebel watchtower, is really nice and makes for a dramatic start to the issue (although it's a shame that the word siege is spelt wrongly)...




I also like Infantino's depiction of the battle damage to Luke and Leia's spaceship, which leaves one of the craft's engines hanging from a mass of twisted metal at a precarious angle. Infantino's depictions of the Empire's stormtroopers seems to have improved with this issue too, with a very serviceable rendering of one such armour-clad soldier on page 14 of the story.

Gene Day returns as inker and, although I generally prefer Bob Wiacek's inks over Infantino's pencils, the much finer line that Day brings to the table, when judged against Wiacek, enhances the detailing here considerably. Unfortunately, with Day on inks we also get a return of the overly-harsh and slightly grotesque facial expressions that marred his earlier work on the series. Still, there's a clarity of line, for want of a better term, to Day's inking that is very pleasing to the eye.

The Siege at Yavin arc was a favourite of mine as a kid and I have very vivid memories of being 6-years-old and sitting on my Mother's knee as she patiently read the contents of this and the next issue to me (although she would've been reading these stories in Marvel UK's Star Wars Weekly, issues #53-56). If you knew my mother, you'd know that her tastes in fiction are as far removed from sci-fi and space opera as it's possible to get. I guess motherly love must've given her the strength and resolve to read and re-read these comics to me. Unsurprisingly therefore, I have a firm nostalgic attachment to the Siege at Yavin arc that no doubt influences my high regard for these comics. But even trying to put that bias aside for a moment, this issue is a really good read and, for me, it's the moment where the Goodwin/Infantino run really took off.

Continuity issues: None

Favourite panel:



Favourite quote: "From anyone else, that kind of protectiveness might be insulting...somehow, you make it quaint." – Princess Leia playfully comments on how much she appreciates Luke's concern for her safety.

Cool. In the meantime, I look forward to reading your comments on issues I've already reviewed as you get to them in your re-reading schedule.