Reprinted by Dark Horse as a two issue mini-series, "Devil Worlds", with corrected lettering and originaly missing page. Later reprinted by marvel, or so it seems. I only got the original mags and the DH mini. It is nice, but fairly un-essential if you're looking for some early traces of Alan Moor's genius, at least in my opinion.

Star Wars #60
Cover dated: June 1982
Issue title: Shira's Story
Script: David Michelinie (plot, script)/Walter Simonson (plot)
Artwork: Walter Simonson (pencils)/Tom Palmer (inks)
Colours: Glynis Wein
Letters: Joe Rosen
Cover art: Walter Simonson
Overall rating: 9½ out of 10




Plot summary: TIE fighters piloted by Luke Skywalker, Shira Brie and two other Rebels swoop down and attack an Imperial outpost on the planet Spindrift. Once the Imperials have surrendered, the TIE craft land, as Rebel Captain Thorben leaves his craft and enters the ruined station to retrieve a set of coordinates for a newly formed Imperial armada that the Rebel Alliance is concerned about.

Returning to the Rebel base on Arbra, Shira asks Princess Leia to grant her leave, so that she can return to her homeworld of Shalyvane for personal reasons. Leia declines her request, citing security concerns regarding the top secret location of Arbra, but Luke, who is one of a select few Rebel pilots with access to the precise coordinates for the planet, volunteers to accompany Shira and take responsibility for bringing her back.

Once on Shalyvane, Shira heads for a scared stone monument in the capital city of Chinshassa to perform a private ritual, as Luke, R2-D2, Thorben and a Rebel pilot named Wald watch. Just as she completes her ritual, a horde of angry, blaster-wielding nomad barbarians rush towards the temple, as the Rebels take cover and return fire. Shira explains that years ago the nomads betrayed her people to the Empire, who wiped them out, killing her family, when she was just a little girl. Shira only managed to escape the carnage via a network of underground tunnels. Realising that these tunnels could provide a means of escape now, Luke instructs R2 to scan the ground to see if there's a tunnel nearby. Finding one, Shira descends into the disused conduit, but the unstable tunnel walls collapse behind her, preventing her friends from following. With Luke and the Rebels still pinned down by the nomads, Shira manages to circle around the barbarians via the tunnel and reach her nearby X-wing fighter. Gunning the ship to life, Shira swoops down onto the nomads and opens fire, decimating their ranks and saving her comrades.


Comments: Star Wars #60 features the first part of the Pariah story arc, which is one of the best, most memorable and most enjoyable storylines of the entire series, as far as I'm concerned. The arc gets off to a great start here, not least because of the wonderful artwork of Walt Simonson and Tom Palmer. This is arguably the pair's best effort to date on the series. Simonson brings his usual fluid, pseudo-cinematic storytelling skills and inventive staging to the table, and there are loads of great art sequences in this issue. Palmer provides his lush shadow work and precise attention to the detail, in terms of the authentic look of the Star Wars universe, to make this comic a real pleasure to behold. I must also mention the natural poses and body language that Simonson employs with each character in the comic, which really helps to bring David Michelinie's script to life. Glynis Wein's colouring is excellent here too and definitely worthy of mention.

Something else that I should probably mention at this point is that Simonson cheekily draws himself into this comic. The Rebel pilot who accompanies Luke Skywalker, Shira Brie and Captain Thorben to Shalyvane is called Wald (note that the name is only one letter different from Walt) and he certainly bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain penciller. I'm not usually a fan of artists putting their own likenesses in comics, but I must admit that it's pretty fun to see Simonson in Rebel pilot garb, blasting away at the nomads alongside Luke and Shira...




Michelinie's writing is up to its usual high standards and is probably even better than usual. We get more of his entertaining, snappy dialogue and the introduction of some new supporting cast members, in the shape of Captain Thorben and the Imperial Admiral Giel. Really though, as the title of this issue suggests, Star Wars #60 is all about Shira. In addition to having her backstory fleshed out (although we later learn it's a false backstory), we really get to see Luke's feelings for Shira and she's certainly all over him like a rash! We also see more of Leia's slightly uncomfortable jealousy regarding Luke and Lieutenant Brie's relationship. Interestingly though, there's a sense of something else at play here – a sense that Michelinie is implying some vague feelings of unease or distrust towards Shira on the princess's part. As we shall later see, Leia's instincts are right on the money and denying Shira's request for leave and access to the coordinates for Arbra turns out to be a very smart move. Despite Leia's misgivings, however, Shira saves the day at the end of this issue and the fact that she's now regarded as a hero by her comrades will play heavily into events in the not-too-distant future.

Talking to Roger Ash for the Modern Masters series of books in 2006, Simonson explained the rationale behind Shira's creation and her increasing role in the series: "I think we were trying to find ways to create characters to interact with the established cast of Star Wars that we could actually tell stories about. The established cast was so unavailable in a way to do anything with them as characters. She was one of the character's David created so we could tell an interesting story that would still feel like it was part of the Star Wars universe."

It's also good to see the TIE fighters that Luke and Lando Calrissian obtained for the Rebellion last issue being put to good use, infiltrating Imperial security and enabling the Alliance to strike at the enemy. The Rebel pass code of "Flying Banthas Never Sleep" is nicely nonsensical and very Star Wars-y sounding, but it does seem a bit insecure to have a password, rather than an encrypted code or something. Michelinie also drops in a nice reference to past Star Wars comic continuity, when it's revealed that an Imperial officer named Gerdy has been using the Empire's priority communications frequency to talk to a female on the planet Aduba-4 (Aduba-3 appeared in issues #7-11 and #16 of the series).

Like Ferrett last issue, Michelinie has Admiral Giel uses the mildly obscene, British intensifier "bloody" in once piece of dialogue. As I noted in my review of Star Wars #59, the word probably isn't that big a deal in America, but in the UK in the 1980s, having a character swear like this in a children's comic was very unusual.

One minor grumble about the events of this issue would be that it doesn't seem to me like Shira would have had enough time to reach her X-wing, power it up and take off between disappearing into the tunnel below the Rebels and then blasting the nomads from above in her ship. That's a pretty minor quibble though and, overall, this is a top notch issue of Star Wars.

As an aside, I find myself wondering whether Chinshassa, the capital city of Shalyvane, is named after Kinshasa in the Congo.

Continuity issues: None

Favourite panel:



Favourite quote: "Oh, exceptional skill, extraordinary talent and a whole bunch of luck!" – Shira Brie flippantly explains how she managed to rescue her Rebel comrades.

Yes, yes it was. And that cliff-hanger splash page in a couple of issues time, with Vader striding towards Luke exclaiming "I've come for you, Luke Skywalker!" was very dramatic and arguably the best cliff-hanger of the entire run. That page blew my 12-year-old mind when I saw it and waiting for the next issue was agony.




I quite agree. The Shira Brie or "Pariah" arc (as I've always called it) is arguably the pinnacle of the whole series, at least as far as original Marvel stories go. I say arguably because the whole Bothan spies/Tay Vanis arc and the preceding events on the planet Iskalon that Jo Duffy and Ron Frenz gave us later on were also amazing.

When I read these as a kid, my friends and I all would pronounce it Shy-ra Bree.

And by the way, I love that BACK ISSUE article!

Same here LOL

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Monthly #157
Cover dated: June 1982
Issue title: The Flight of the Falcon
Script: Steve Parkhouse
Artwork: John Stokes
Letters: Jenny O'Connor
Cover art: John Higgins
Overall rating: 3½ out of 10




Plot summary: In the galaxy's outland regions, Imperial TIE fighter patrols are continually being outwitted and out-flown by smugglers in modified Millennium Hawks. As a result, the Imperial officer in charge of the sector arranges a visit to the Millennium Astro-Engineering plant on the planet Tharkos, in order to acquire a new type of starship for his pilots that will match the smuggler's craft. The director and chief salesman of the Millennium plant, Zoltan Starkid, recommends the corporation's latest experimental ship, the Millennium Falcon, which the Imperial delegation immediately decide to buy.

However, the conversation between Starkid and the Imperials has been overheard by a female receptionist, who meets with smuggler Han Solo and sells him information about when and where the Empire will pick up the ship. Han, Lando Calrissian and another companion ambush the Imperial test pilot on his way to the plant, as Solo dons a disguise to fool the officials at the facility into believing that he is the test pilot. Han and his crew successfully make off with the Falcon and soon after, Rebel X-wing fighters destroy the Millennium plant, having received a tip off from Solo about the company's dealings with the Empire.


Comments: "The Flight of the Falcon" is set before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and was intended to be a sort of origin story for the Millennium Falcon, detailing how Han Solo first managed to get hold of the ship. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a mess in terms of how badly it contradicts accepted Star Wars continuity. For one thing, when the story first appeared, most British fans worth their salt realised that having Han obtain the ship before Lando Calrissian was problematic, since it had already been established in The Empire Strikes Back that Han had won the freighter from Lando in a game of sabacc. Indeed, I can remember the letters page of The Empire Strikes Back Monthly being inundated with complaints from readers pointing out this rather glaring continuity error.

Of course, Lando is actually a part of Han's team in this story, so it's possible that the pair had some kind of deal worked out, whereby Lando would take ownership of the craft after its theft. However, that isn't actually stated and it also doesn't really make a lot of sense, given the trouble and risk that Han had to go through in order to obtain the ship.

Writer Steve Parkhouse also suggests that the Millennium Falcon was built by the Millennium Astro-Engineering Company and that it's actually the name of a particular model of ship, rather than the specific name of Han's modified Corellian YT-1300 light freighter, which is actually the case. Parkhouse even goes so far as to show us its predecessor, the Millennium Hawk! Still, while they might be in total violation of established canon, at least the Millennium Hawks look pretty cool...

That is absolutely fascinating, Rob! I had no idea about the phrase "etaoin shrdlu" at all and would never have spotted it. Given all the other typos in the story, I imagine that letterer Jenny O'Connor intended to write the phrase correctly, but accidentally inserted an extra "u".

I just dug out my copy of the coloured reprint in Star Wars: Devilworlds #1, to see if the typo had been fixed like all the others were. But lo and behold, the background detailing and dialogue has been entirely removed! I wonder what the rationale behind that was?