Star Wars #47
Cover dated: May 1981
Issue title: Droid World!
Script: Archie Goodwin
Artwork: Carmine Infantino (breakdowns)/Gene Day (finished art & inks)
Colours: Glynis Wein
Letters: Rick Parker
Cover art: Frank Miller (pencils)/James Sherman (inks)
Overall rating: 6½ out of 10




Plot summary: The Rebel Alliance has managed to capture a new model of Imperial warbot, which they intend to get a full schematic of, in order to develop effective counter attack strategies for future battles against the machines. However, during the process of making a holographic scan of the Imperial weapon, R2-D2 and C-3PO accidentally cause the warbot's insides to become damaged and fused beyond repair. Desperate to make amends for this, the two droids volunteer to travel to a near-mythical, droid populated space station known as Kligson's moon or Droid World to ask for the assistance of the master mechanic Kligson in repairing the warbot.

Upon locating Droid World, Kligson agrees to repair the unit for the Rebels, but R2 and 3PO must accompany the machine to observe the operation, since Kligson insists on keeping the warbot for himself after it is repaired. However, another droid on Kligson's moon – an experimental Imperial droid trooper, designated Z-X3 – plans to use the Rebel's damaged machine to repair his own warbot and lead a revolt against Kligson, claiming Droid World for the Empire. Kligson, however, has anticipated this and, in fact, has only invited the Rebel droids onto Droid World in order to lure Z-X3 and his mutinous followers into the open.

As Z-X3 attempts to take over Droid World, a tremendous battle ensues, with droid pitted against droid for control of the space station. Finally, forces loyal to Kiligson triumph and R2 and 3PO return to the Rebel Alliance with the schematics of the warbot, while Kligson moves his space station from its current orbit to a secret location where the Empire cannot trouble it.


Comments: Star Wars #47 is a pretty tightly scripted, action-packed comic and, like other recent issues, is a done-in-one, stand alone adventure. This time, however, the storyline focuses in on the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, rather than the usual trio of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia. I must say that it's a welcome change of pace to finally have an issue of Star Wars featuring the two droids as the heroes of their own adventure. On some level, the pair are arguably the two most important characters in the Star Wars films, but it feels as if they've been somewhat sidelined at times in this series.

The issue opens in dramatic fashion, with a striking splash page by Carmine Infantino of R2 and 3PO being pursued by an armoured battle tank, crewed by droids loyal to the insurrectionary Imperial droid trooper Z-X3. This throws the reader directly into the action and it's not until the fourth page of the story that we get an explanation, in the form of a flashback, of how the droids ended up in this predicament. Star Wars #47 also sees the return of Gene Day on inks, which gives the artwork the look of the pre-Empire Strikes Back comics that Infantino worked on.

On occasion, I've been quite negative about Infantino's artwork in this series, but he does an excellent job here of creating the Droid World environment, with its varied array of familiar and foreign droid types. This kind of "world building", for want of a better term, is something that Infantino excels at, as we saw in the earlier Doomworld and Wheel story arcs (in issues #11—15 and #18—23, respectively). Also, the design for the prototype Imperial droid trooper Z-X3 is kinda cool, in that his head looks reminiscent of an Imperial stormtrooper's helmet. Pity he's coloured a rather unthreatening shade of cerise though! Actually, the colouring here is a lot bolder than most of Glynis Wein's recent work, with the bright golds, reds, cerises, blues and greens that she assigns to the various different types of droid reminding me of the colouring in DC's old Metal Men comic.

Something else I want to make mention of is the panel of Luke Skywalker on the penultimate page of this story, which looks uncannily like actor Mark Hamill. As we know, thanks to comics writer and historian Glenn Greenberg, the book's new editor, Louise Jones, was trying to make the comic more visually faithful to the movies and this is clearly a result of that. However, I wonder why only this single panel received this treatment, while the other, more Infantino-esque depictions of Luke from earlier in the issue were left as they were? I'd also like to know who inked this panel because it doesn't look like Day's work to me...




While I'm talking about the artwork, I feel as if I should probably make mention of the fact that the cover of this issue was pencilled by comics legend Frank Miller. It's really not one of my favourite covers from the series, to be honest, and it would also be Miller's one and only contribution to Marvel's Star Wars series, but I feel as if I should make note of it.

As for Archie Goodwin's writing, this is a well scripted tale, with a rather interesting and unusual narrative structure. There's some nice use of in-series continuity too, with Goodwin having Z-X3 tell R2 and 3PO that he was designed by Tagge Industries (with the Tagge family having been major antagonists in the earlier, pre-Empire Strikes Back issues of the series).

All in all though, I wouldn't say that this was one of Goodwin's best issues and I've always found it to be a little duller than was usual for the series. Maybe it's because the droids on their own aren't engaging enough characters to support a whole issue? I dunno, but I also feel as if Kligson himself wasn't really developed enough and, as a result, he comes across as rather two-dimensional. That's a shame, because Kligson is clearly no friend of the "organics" whose Clone Wars have left him with a cyborg body and yet he's fascinated by R2 and 3PO's friendship with their master. Goodwin had examined this type of unusual droid—organic relationship before, with Senator Greyshade and his droid assistant Master-Com, and in the thought-provoking Captain Valance stories. Here though, the potential to re-examine that subject is unfortunately squandered.

Another slight grumble I have about Goodwin's plot is why are R2 and 3PO even needed in order to scan the Rebel Alliance's captured warbot? Couldn't any R2 unit have done a holographic scan of the machine? Why the hell did the Rebels specifically need Luke and his droids to do it? Yes, I know that it's just a plot device to get the droids involved in the storyline and that this is comics, where you're not really supposed to ask questions like that, but still, it bugs me.

I find it interesting that Goodwin has Kligson describe himself as "more machine than man", which is coincidentally exactly how Obi-Wan Kenobi will later describe Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi. Moments like this in the Star Wars comic just go to show what an excellent grasp Goodwin had of writing in George Lucas's universe.

As an aside, despite my personal misgivings about Goodwin's plot, this story was deemed strong enough to be adapted by Buena Vista Records (Rainbow Communications Ltd. in the UK) into a book-and-record set entitled Star Wars: The Further Adventures – Droid World in 1983...




These book-and-record sets were marketed at younger children, who could read along with the recordings to help improve their reading skills (R2-D2 even provides a helpful series of bleeps to indicate when it is time to turn the page). I had this set as a kid and I really enjoyed listening to it. As such, I probably have a nostalgic connection to the "Droid World!" story that makes me hold it in much higher regard than it really deserves, in all honesty.

If you're interested, you can listen to the Star Wars: The Further Adventures – Droid World record on YouTube below...




Continuity issues: None.

Favourite panel:



Favourite quote: "Of course, you and Artoo have a knack for getting into trouble on your own. Still...what could happen to two droids on a world of droids?" – Luke Skywalker naively concludes that C-3PO and R2-D2 will be safe among their own kind on Droid World.

Whoops! Fixed it now. Sorry 'bout that.

Yeah, Marvel was kind of suddenly stuck with this new character that only appeared in the second half of the movie.  Do Luke and Leia trust him?  What about the alliance? When Mary Jo Duffy takes over, she makes him into a really strong interesting character.  

Star Wars #48
Cover dated: June 1981
Issue title: The Third Law
Script: Larry Hama
Artwork: Carmine Infantino (breakdowns)/Carlos Garzon (finished art & inks)
Colours: Glynis Wein
Letters: Rick Parker
Cover art: Carmine Infantino (pencils)/Bob Wiacek (inks)
Overall rating: 4½ out of 10




Plot summary: Princess Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO, and the Rebel Alliance's finance minister Viscount Tardi arrive on the neutral banking world of Aargau to complete a transaction for a new squadron of X-wing fighters for the Rebellion. However, Darth Vader is also on Aargau to carry out a diplomatic mission on behalf of the Emperor, though Leia suspects it is to prevent the Rebel's transaction from going through. Vader has with him an entourage of assassins who all specialise in unarmed combat, since it is forbidden by law for non-citizens to carry weapons on the planet.

The following day, Vader's assassins make several attempts on Tardi's life, but Leia manages to ingeniously thwart them at every turn, while eliminating the assassins one by one. As a result, Vader is eventually forced to get his hands dirty and he strikes Tardi down with his lightsaber. However, Leia reveals that Tardi actually died some weeks before and the Dark Lord has just cut down an android double of the Viscount. Leia needed the android to secure the necessary loan, using the Crown Jewels of Alderaan as collateral, but knowing that the authorities would discover the android when they passed through Aargau's security scanners as they were leaving the planet, it was necessary for Leia to manipulate Vader into destroying the duplicate. Leia also had R2 record the "murder" of Viscount Tardi and transmit the footage to C-3PO, who is waiting at police headquarters, to prevent Vader from exposing the Rebel's ruse to the authorities.

However, Vader had also been manipulating the princess. The Dark Lord had little or no interest in preventing the Rebellion's financial deal for the X-wings from going through and was instead focused on taking possession of the Crown Jewels of Alderaan. As such, he bribed an officer at the local customs station and succeeded in acquiring the jewels. Vader only played along with Leia's plan in order to ensure that he could leave the planet without the jewels being missed by the authorities.


Comments: Issue #48 of Star Wars is a weird one. I don't mean weird as in, spooky or strange, but weird as in unusual or odd. It's written by Larry Hama, who is probably best known for writing Marvel's highly successful G.I. Joe comic throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Interestingly, Hama would also go on to create Bucky O'Hare, who, as the note below my profile avatar suggests, looks more than a little reminiscent of the green space-rabbit Jaxxon from the Marvel Star Wars series.

The story that Hama delivers here has got to be one of the most convoluted stories of the entire series. It's a stand alone, one-shot adventure that sees Princess Leia and Darth Vader playing a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse with galactic finance, and on the plus side, it has more plot twists than you can shake a stick at. Unfortunately it also feels more like an espionage or fraud drama than it does a Star Wars story.

It's not just that the plot line is overly convoluted either. I'm not convinced it really even makes that much sense. For example, it's revealed at the story's close that the sole purpose of Vader's visit to Aargau is to take possession of the Crown Jewels of Alderaan, but did Vader really need to go through all the trouble of attempting to assassinate Viscount Tardi to do that? And Leia's plan to allow Vader to kill the fake Tardi android, in order that his death looked "natural" and that her deception therefore wouldn't be discovered by the Aargau medical scans when leaving the planet seems totally nonsensical. Surely trained medical professionals would examine Tardi's body and realise that it wasn't a human being? Besides, there was circuitry and wires hanging out of the android's head, which would be a bit of a giveaway.

Also, the way in which Leia is able to thwart the assassination attempts on Tardi smacks of severe deus ex machina. For example, it's a bit too convenient for my tastes that Leia just happens to have a gravitational field disruptor in her diplomatic case to deal with the first assassin. And since when has R2-D2 been able to project a life-like hologram? A flickering, fuzzy, blue hologram, yes, but one that is lifelike enough to fool a telekinetic assassin into directing a missile toward it, believing it to be the real Viscount Tardi? Hmmmm...I don't think so. I remember thinking as a kid that the way in which Leia thwarts all of these assassination attempts was pretty cool, but as an adult reader, it's all a bit too contrived and apt to induce eye rolling incredulity. And another thing: how the hell does Leia even have the Crown Jewels of Alderaan in her possession? Surely they would've been with the Royal Family on Alderaan at the time of the planet's destruction and therefore would've been vaporised along with the planet?

Something else that is slightly problematic is that this story represents the first time that Leia has come face to face with Vader since Han Solo was frozen in carbonite on Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back. As such, I'm amazed at Leia's restraint and diplomacy when confronting the man who not only destroyed her homeworld, but also recently gave her lover to a bounty hunter. On the other hand, surely Vader would've been much more concerned with capturing a high profile and influential Rebel leader like Leia than he appears to be in this story? And on Leia's part, surely she would've made attempts to kill an Imperial figurehead like Vader, regardless of the planet Aargau's laws against off-worlders carrying weapons? Yeah, a lot of this story seems like a real nonsensical mess to me.

On the upside, Vader's dialogue here is very in character and you can really hear James Earl Jones speaking the Dark Lord's lines as you read them. In particular, I like how he taunts the princess about the Empire's destruction of her homeworld of Alderaan. That's a really evil touch and very in character. I also enjoy how sassy Leia is to Vader throughout this comic and there's some great one-liners from the princess too.

On the art front, we get the series' regular artist Carmine Infantino providing pencil breakdowns here, with inker Carlos Garzon – who did such an amazing job on the adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back with Al Williamson – doing the finished art and inking. Garzon does a good job of reining in the worst of Infantino's overly-angular art style here, but he doesn't overwhelm the artist's pencils in the same way as Tom Palmer did in issue #46. You can still very much see that this is Infantino's work. Incidentally, this would be Infantino's last issue as the regular artist on Star Wars, since he had received a lucrative job offer from DC comics, prompting him to leave Marvel. I probably should note, however, that some of Infantino's unpublished art from the John Carter: Warlord of Mars series would be re-used in Star Wars #53 and #54.

Overall, I'm a bit undecided on the merits of this issue. Yes, the plot is needlessly convoluted and in places nonsensical, which means that in many respects it's kind of badly written. And yes, there's something distinctly un-Star Wars-y about this story. But on the other hand, there's a shed load of plot twists that keep the reader guessing right until the end and as a result, this issue is actually kind of a fun read. I also like that the tale ends with something of a stalemate between Vader and Leia, although they both ultimately get what they wanted from their visit to Aargau.

Speaking of Aargau, I understand from what I've read on the Wookiepedia website that the planet is used again, or at least referenced, in later expanded universe Star Wars stories, as a major galactic banking world. So, I guess that this issue has been fairly influential, in spite of its faults. I used to like this story quite a bit as a kid, but time and my own changing tastes as I've matured have not been kind to it. Way too much of this story seems contrived, pointless or simply doesn't make sense for this to be considered anything more than a mediocre issue of Star Wars.

Continuity issues: None.

Favourite panel:



Favourite quote: "Lord Vader, I've made such a mess. Could you be a dear and... Lord Vader?" – Princess Leia cheekily taunts an unamused Darth Vader, after casually squashing his shape-shifting assassin under her foot.

Yeah, Star Wars Insider #91 (from 2006) picked this issue as one of their Top 10 best issues from the entire run. That, to me, is just baffling.

That said, this issue was one of my favourites as a kid. And Star wars #48 has its pros for sure -- the plot twists, the stalemate ending, some great dialogue from Vader and Leia -- but the plot as a whole is a real mess, that doesn't make much sense and is more than a little contrived.

Yeah, I never had, or have had since, any problem with Lando's depiction in the Marvel SW comics. I think the various writers had him down pat right from the get go. And as I previously noted, the trust issues were nicely dealt with in-story too.

I assumed Mr. Goodwin was in the process of moving on, and working hard on the double sized issue #50. But maybe after TESB, Marvel's writing staff all wanted a crack at a story?  I enjoyed Mike Barr's tale the best out of three.  (And I collected Larry Hama's G.I. Joe along with SW back in the day.  Still do.)