Nothing new to say about the creative team here. The same gang. Although I will say Chaykin is getting better. The cover will definitely get your attention the warrior bunny. "Deadly mission of Luke Skywalker" eh? My guess is this was there in case fans thought Luke was absent this issue (as he was last time).
Remember when I said Han pissed someone off in the bar at the conclusion of last issue? Turns out that person just words thing oddly. He wanted to offer Han a job....a job which pays absolutely no money at all. If there is anything we know about Han's character at this point in his life, he wouldn't do it in a million years. Well Roy Thomas disagrees. Han agrees to help a farming village which is being bled dry but thugs known as the Cloud-Riders.
The rest of the issue has Han gathering a team to help him in this quest. It's a colorful group of characters. They apparently don't mind the no money thing either. One is a delusional old man who thinks he's a Jedi named Don-Wan Kihotay (say it aloud a few times and you'll get the joke), and the infamous bunny warrior Jaxxon. Jaxxon didn't appear in many Marvel Star Wars comics, but his very presence is one of the things that gave this series the reputation it's tried to shake ever since.
In the end Han picks out an unusual team (feels like the setup to some "Dodgeball" like movie) and they met with the Cloud-Rider leader on peaceful terms to tell eachother "it's on".
As the cover promises we do get to see Luke, but it's only about 3 or 4 pages. He basically leaves Yavin to scout for a new Rebel base.
Onto some highlights...
We did get a brief bar brawl so Marvel could have their action quota for the issue. The first panel is very "Scooby Doo".
Why is Han removing his shirt for these interviews? People love to go on about the bunny warrior but nobody mentions the cat/porcupine hybrid.
Yes Han, let's endanger the mission by humoring this old man. Seems out of character for the person Han eventually became.
Ok I was trying to be subtle by the man is suppose to be Don Quixote. I see we're also still spelling it "sabre".
Oh dear lord where to begin...
"Space-carrots". Seriously? Are we just going to be putting "space" in front of random words now?
Oh Jaxxon you will never be forgotten....
We take a break to go to the letters page where we get some "behind the scenes" on why the adaptation was different than the movie. Apparently some angry fans had written in complaining at Marvel "making stuff up" and "adding scenes".
They are not even trying to hide the fact that this is a Luke Skywalker ripoff. His nickname is also the "Starkiller kid". If you're reading this I'm sure you know that Starkiller was Luke's name in early drafts of the movie, but it's worth mentioning anyway.
Speaking of Luke..
Luke would have already known that had he been watching Cartoon Network. And why is Luke flying a Corellian Corvette? Isn't that a bit excessive? It's funny how placement of ships the artists use in these early issues.
This page is for
a) People who have short memories and forgot what happened in the movie or first six issues.
b) People who haven't seen the movie but for some reason are picking up this issue anyway.
Either way it's a cool page. The art is improving. One of the best depictions of Kenobi I've seen in a comic.
A true mustache twirling villain if I ever saw one. It still is jarring to see Han so virtuous. Oh well.
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