Star Wars #4Cover dated: October 1977
Issue title:
In Battle with Darth VaderScript: Roy Thomas
Artwork: Howard Chaykin (layouts)/Steve Leialoha (inks)
Colours: Carl Gafford (credited to Steve Leialoha)
Letters: Tom Orzechowski
Cover art: Rick Hoberg (pencils)/Frank Giacoia (inks)
Overall rating: 5½ out of 10
Plot summary: Pinned down by Imperial stormtroopers in the Death Star's detention centre, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca manage to escape into a huge trash compactor. Realising where the fugitives have gone, the Imperials turn on the garbage masher in an attempt to crush them to death. The heroes are saved by R2-D2 and C-3PO, who shut down the computer that controls the machine.
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan Kenobi manages to disable the tractor beam that is preventing the
Millennium Falcon from escaping the Death Star. After further encounters with squads of roaming stormtroopers, Luke, Han, Leia and Chewbacca rendezvous with the droids at the Docking Bay that holds the
Millennium Falcon. Obi-Wan Kenobi also makes it back to the
Falcon, but is confronted by Darth Vader and the two engage in a lightsaber duel. When Vader strikes Kenobi down, the elderly Jedi Knight vanishes and in the ensuing confusion, Luke and the rest of the group manage to board the
Falcon and escape from the Death Star.
Comments: The art in this issue is definitely a step down from the last two instalments. The appearance of a few sub-standard panels or pages last issue – amongst some other really nice artwork – seems to have been a harbinger for a general deterioration in artistic quality for the series. The blame for this must lay with Steve Leialoha's inking, which looks rushed and lacks the smoothness and precision of previous issues. Still, the art here is definitely preferable to Howard Chaykin's in issue #1, but it's less refined and pleasing to the eye than it was in, say, issue #2.
Also, there's a specific panel in this comic that has always bothered me and it's the panel where Darth Vader strikes down Obi-Wan Kenobi. In the film this is a mysterious and heroically moving scene, but in the comic adaptation it just looks....well, faintly ludicrous. Have a look...
There's also the fact that at no point in this scene is it made clear to the reader that Kenobi has ended the duel on purpose and gallantly sacrificed himself, as Luke Skywalker looks on -- which is a hugely important moment in the story.
While we're on the subject of the artwork,
Slam_Bradley mentioned a few posts back that it appears in these issues as if Chewbacca has been using too much Vitalis shampoo. I have to say, the way Chewbacca looks is a reoccurring fault throughout the early part of Marvel's
Star Wars series. I don't know whether Marvel had poor reference sources to work with regarding the Wookiee, but regardless of the reason, for the first year or so of the comic, Chewbacca will look more like a well groomed Bigfoot, crossed with and an extra from
Planet of the Apes, than the shaggy-haired Wookiee we all know and love. Things hardly improve much in that respect with the arrival of Carmine Infantino as the series' regular artist either.
On the plus side, Roy Thomas's scripting is as good as ever here and you've gotta love his snappy "The story so far..." style caption boxes on the opening page...very Marvel, very Stan Lee.
Also of note is the fact that in the trash compactor sequence, we get the very first appearance in the comic of what was to become the
Star Wars catchphrase, "I have a [very] bad feeling about this!"
Interestingly, Archie Goodwin is credited as "consulting editor" in this issue. This is significant because, as many of you will no doubt know, Goodwin went on to script a whole load of later issues in the series, as well as the newspaper strip and the
Star Wars comic in
Pizzazz magazine. I believe I'm right in saying that Goodwin was Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics at this point, but I'd be interested to know if there were any specific contributions or changes he made to this issue.
Rick Hoberg's front cover sees a return of the cheesy, "superheroic" cover style he used on issue #2, with a way too buff looking Luke Skywalker firing at a towering figure of Darth Vader, while Obi-Wan Kenobi swings his lightsaber (which is actually close to being the right colour here for a change). There's more cringe-worthy dialogue too, with Kenobi exclaiming, "No, Luke!", as Skywalker shouts, "Here I stand -- though I may die!" Interesting footwear for the Princess on this cover too.
Something else of note is that we get a letter's page for the very first time in this issue. The title of the letter's page is "Star-Words", a name which, we are told, was dreamed up by a reader named Mark Ernst from Canterbury, New Hampshire. The letters that are printed are interesting, in that, they're almost entirely written by people for whom the Marvel comic is their only experience of
Star Wars, although one correspondent has read the paperback novelisation too (remember the movie didn't come out until just after
Star Wars issue #3 hit the stands). All the letters are enthusiastic and positive about the first issue, with many praising Chaykin's artwork (
). One correspondent asks Marvel to continue the adventures of Luke and the gang beyond the movie, with Roy Thomas replying that they intend to, if sales of the first two issues are strong enough.
Overall, the lessening in artwork quality spoils this issue somewhat, although the story continues to build in excitement and action. There are also some nice character moments, but ultimately, I'd grade this a notch or two down from last issue.
Continuity issues:
- The serial number of the maintenance hatch on the Death Star trash compactor is different than it is in the film.
- In the duel with Darth Vader, Obi-Wan's lightsaber is red instead of blue/white (although it does appear white in one panel).
- On the front cover, Obi-Wan's Jedi robes are green, instead of brown, and Princess Leia seems to be wearing tiny red booties!
Favourite panel:
Favourite quote: "I have been waiting, Obi-Wan Kenobi; the circle is now completed. When I left you, I was but a learner; now, I am the master." – Darth Vader confronts Obi-Wan Kenobi.
). One correspondent asks Marvel to continue the adventures of Luke and the gang beyond the movie, with Roy Thomas replying that they intend to, if sales of the first two issues are strong enough.