Star Wars #71Cover dated: May 1983
Issue title:
Return to StenosScript: Mary Jo Duffy
Artwork: Ronald Frenz (breakdowns)/Tom Palmer (finished art & inks)
Colours: Christie Scheele
Letters: Joe Rosen
Cover art: Tom Palmer
Overall rating: 10 out of 10
Plot summary: Having arrived on the planet Stenos in search of the bounty hunters IG-88 and Bossk, Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian head into the capital city, leaving Chewbacca and R2-D2 behind in the
Millennium Falcon. The two Rebels are looking for the bounty hunters in the hope that they will be able to reveal the location of Boba Fett, who has Han Solo held captive, frozen in a block of carbonite. The duo begin their search in the nearest bar, but Lando is recognized by an old enemy of his named Drebble, who immediately declares that he will give 10,000 credits to anyone who captures Calrissian. The cantina erupts into blasterfire, as the alien patrons try to claim the reward, but during the melee the Rebels spot Bossk among the crowd.
Escaping from the tavern, Luke and Lando chase the bounty hunter through the narrow streets, while the angry mob led by Drebble pursues them. The two Rebels get split up and Luke takes refuge in a darkened building, only to be surprised by Rik Duel and Dani, who he met during an earlier visit to Stenos. Although Luke is immediately distrustful of Rik, given that he double-crossed him and his fellow Rebels the last time that they met, the smuggler explains that he bears no grudge towards Skywalker, since Luke and his friends set the Stenaxes on him in return. In Rik's eyes this makes them even. Rik and Dani enlist Luke's help in locating their friend Chihdo, who has recently gone missing, and the trio head back out into the street.
As they pass a narrow alleyway, Lando appears and excitedly grabs Luke, telling him that he has found the carbon frozen body of Han on Stenos. Leading Luke back down the alley, Lando shows him a carbonite storage block being carried through the streets. Luke contacts Chewbacca and R2 to let them know of the discovery, as he and Lando follow the storage block to a nearby building. After knocking out the guards, the Rebels enter the building and locate the block, but, to their horror, the person trapped within it isn't Han, but Chihdo. As they stand there stunned, Bossk and IG-88 appear behind the Rebels with a group of blaster-wielding mercenaries.
Comments: The Stenax saga continues with issue #71, which is also Ron Frenz's first issue as the new regular artist on the series. Frenz had previously worked on parts of "The Stenax Shuffle" in issue #70 as well as "The Darker" in issue #67 and I noted during my review of that latter issue that his somewhat photo-realistic and cinematic style is a very good fit for
Star Wars. I really like the new costume that he gives Luke Skywalker too: it's mostly black, but with a light purple waistcoat, and is, I assume, an attempt by the creative team to move Luke's style of dress towards the all-black outfit he will sport in
Return of the Jedi.
Frenz also utilises some nice panel composition in this issue, with some interesting "camera angels". For example, I like how he alternately uses shots looking down on our heroes from the perspective of the ever-present Stenaxes in the sky and contrasts them with panels looking up from Luke and Lando Calrissian's point of view. The way in which he repeatedly uses these opposing viewpoints reinforces the idea that Stenos is really two worlds, with the off-worlder's living out their lives on the planet's surface and the Stenaxes keeping to their domain high above...
Another example of Frenz's clever composition in this issue is the tightly packed panel below, in which Luke's attention is grabbed by a passing alien, which, due to its height, is mostly hidden off-panel. The way in which the panel is drawn, with the reader only able to see part of the alien's stilt-like legs juxtaposed with Luke and a nearby pair of stormtrooper's surprised reactions, quickly communicates that this is an exotic and bustling locale, with strange enough sights to surprise even a seasoned space traveller...
Jo Duffy's story kicks up a gear in this issue, which is a real edge-of-your-seat read. The thrills and action come at a dizzying pace, perfectly capturing the feel of George Lucas's "Faster! More intense!" directorial style. This is particularly true of the cantina shoot-out sequence, during which we get to see Luke in full Jedi Knight mode, as he uses the Force to jump, flip and swing his lightsaber with devastating prowess. This scene, which is brilliantly illustrated by Frenz, shows just how much Luke's abilities with the Force have grown and sets the stage for
Return of the Jedi beautifully...
While we're on the subject of Luke, I find it interesting that Duffy has the young Rebel worrying that even if he and Lando find Han Solo, the Corellian may already be dead. Of course, we all know now that Han was fine, but, to the players, the possibility that Han may've died inside the carbonite would no doubt be a very real concern. It was also something of a concern for some of us
Star Wars fans back in the early 1980s and I can well remember hearing rumours during that time that Han was going to die in
Return of the Jedi. Of course, actor Harrison Ford actually wanted Han killed off in that film, but long before that fact was known I can remember wondering if Han would survive the carbonite. I mean, just because he was alive when Boba Fett departed Cloud City, that's no reason to assume that he hadn't died in the meantime. As such, little bits of seemingly throwaway dialogue, like Luke wondering if Solo is still alive, really demonstrate what an excellent grasp Duffy had on these characters.
Speaking of Han and the then-forthcoming
Star Wars sequel, events in this comic caused Duffy to incur the wrath of Lucasfilm. Understandably, George Lucas didn't want the Marvel comic to tell stories that he wanted to tell in the films, so when Duffy had Luke and Lando seemingly almost rescue Han in this issue, it attracted his attention. Speaking to Kurt Anthony Krug in
Star Wars Insider #91 from 2006, Duffy recalled...
"
I got a warning – I was flattered. I wanted to do whatever I could to give people the event they've been waiting for. I wanted to make readers think they were going to get it and went for that titillation. I spent a lot of time trying to make it look like I was doing something on the no-no list that fans wanted to see."
In fact, Duffy instead executed a nice bait and switch ending, that fooled us readers and the characters themselves. I can well remember how exciting the lead up to the end of this issue was the first time that I read it, thinking that the Rebels had actually found Han at last! Alas, we'd have to wait a little while longer for that.
Something else that I want to mention is that there's some really nice development of Lando's character throughout Duffy's run, which really begins here. David Michelinie had done a grand job of writing Lando and developing him into an interesting part of the ensemble cast, but Duffy takes what Michelinie had previously established and really runs with it. Lando could've so easy been reduced to being a Han Solo clone in the aftermath of
The Empire Strikes Back, but both writers worked wonders in developing him into his own distinct character – one that perfectly aligned with Billy Dee Williams's portrayal of him in
Return of the Jedi. While talking to Glenn Greenberg in
Back Issue #9 from 2005, Duffy recalled, "
Lando was a riot. Heroic, tough, dedicated – and also kind of conceited, and that made it really fun to set him up and knock him down a peg."
Duffy also introduces us to Drebble in this issue, a character who would become a recurring thorn in Lando's side. Drebble is one of the more memorable supporting cast members from the Marvel run, partly because of how Duffy uses him and partly because of Frenz's striking design, with the rotund businessman/gambler wearing a loose fitting kaftan, jewelled medallions around his neck and a shock of foppish hair on the top of his head.
In keeping with the new romantic status quo in the series (which I've spoken about in my reviews of issues #61, #65, #68 and #70), we are made privy to Luke's internal dialogue in this story and it's made pretty clear that Princess Leia and Han are now the true romantic coupling, with Luke no longer having any interest in the princess at all. There's no doubt in my mind that by this stage, with the release of
Return of the Jedi only a few months away, Marvel had been told by Lucasfilm that the Luke/Leia romantic angle of earlier issues had to be dropped.
As Duffy is going out of her way to establish that Luke is no longer a possible romantic partner for Leia, she reunites him with Dani, the uninhibited, over-sexed Zeltron that we first met in a flashback sequence last issue. Dani's a really fun character and her promiscuous behaviour and killer body were quite an eye-opener for me back in the day, as a rather innocent 10-year-old reader. In this issue, Frenz sees fit to give us a gratuitous butt shot of the Zeltron temptress, which – how shall I say this? – certainly stuck in my mind as a young boy on the cusp of puberty...
Duffy clearly enjoyed making Luke squirm at the amorous attention that Dani lavishes on him. However, I like the way that, even though he's for all intents and purposes an experienced Jedi Knight now, Duffy still writes Luke as a naive farm boy from Tatooine at heart. He's clearly embarrassed and flustered by Dani's straight forward, sexually liberated manner, but at the same time he never takes advantage of her. Duffy always writes Luke as the noble hero, but at the same time she has a lot of fun with his interactions with this promiscuous femme fatale.
All in all,
Star Wars #71 is a fun romp, full of action, excitement, and humour, with a great bait and switch ending. This is another one of those issues of the original Marvel series that I can point to and say, "that's just about as good as
Star Wars comics get."
Continuity issues: The bounty hunter Bossk is depicted here with orange skin, when it should be green.
Favourite panel:
Favourite quote: "You hit me right in the most expensive teeth credits can buy!" – Drebble whinges indignantly after being punched in the face during a barroom brawl.
. By the way I wanted to let others know that may have missed out on Dark Horse's A Long Time Ago Omnibuses or last years Marvel hardcover Omnibuses, an online retailer has listed a Legends Epic Collection paperback version of Star Wars The Original Marvel Years. Volume 1 will be released in September according to the online retailer. UPDATE- apparently Vol.1 will contain Star Wars (1977) 1-23 & all 16 comics from Pizzazz magazine & Star Wars Weekly #60.
