Star Wars issue 10 "Behemoth from the World Below"

Cool cover. Now that the movie adaptation is over the covers seem to be more indicative of the actual story content. I even caught some Kirby crackles on the cover by Chewie's gun, which is never a bad thing.

As always, if the images are not clear or too small, click on them and you will see a larger version.

So let's get into the issue.

What has gone before,

Han is helping a down on it's luck village get rid of a gang of pillagers led by Serji-X for little cash because Han is JUST THAT CHARITABLE. Boy you help one Rebellion and the floodgates just open.

He gets a band of odd heroes together. I won't go into detail on who they all are, just check old posts. They start to defend the village when an old shaman (who told Han he got it covered) summons this monster (known as the Behemoth from this point out) and we get our cliffhanger.

The Behemoth starts attacking Serji-X's gang, while ignoring Han and his crew. His weapon of choice?


Your eyes don't deceive you. The Behemoth has a built in blaster. Because this is Star Wars.


Don survived last issue I suppose. I don't know whether to be happy or disappointed by this development. And DANG Serji-X really should learn when to quit. The fact that raping Merri (who seems quite young) is the only thing keeping him motivated is nothing short of disturbing.

Serji realizes that the shaman is controlling the Behemoth so he changes his strategy....with comical results.

Don't tell me that this isn't hilarious. I suppose we're meant to infer that the shaman sacrificed himself to destroy the rapist. Or we could infer that it was just unfortunate circumstances. Serji, the villain of the arc, is sure of the way fast this issue. Now what?

The rest of the evil gang flees (which they had been begging Serji to do the whole issue) but our problems aren't over...now without the shaman to control him Behemoth is going nuts. This thing has the potential to do more damage than Serji did...perhaps summoning it wasn't the best idea. Kind of like calling a raptor to save you from a wolf.

Maybe I need to be paying better attention, but has Jimm been dressed like that (no pants) the whole time?? Amaiza is very concerned about compensation here, but I seem to recall early in this arc that there would be no compensation. Han is being VERY virtuous here which is still odd to me for this point in his life.You got to love Jaxxon's intense face in the second panel.

Jaxxon rushes off and is nearly crushed trying to stop the Behemoth.

Eighty kids? I suppose rabbits in Star Wars....um...do that thing....at the same frequency as rabbits in our universe do. More flirtation between Jaxxon and Amaiza, who shot him down last issue.

Han tries to form a strategy but one member of his clan isn't so patient..

It's so strange to see the Jedi's referred to as a "Holy order". Han freaks out when he see's that Don has run off to play hero. We cut to the "Leia searches for Luke" even if it's only a page.

Nothing new there. Just a glorified recap of what is going on with that plot. Leia being called a member of the Imperial Senate is amusing. Not only has the senate dissolved, but I think her role in the Death Star affair has caused that ship to sail.

By the way, why would the Rebel leaders let Leia go off by herself? She's a very important person and this mission is kind of important too. Wouldn't they see fit to give her backup? Has the Battle of Yavin lowered their numbers that much?

It also bothers me how everyone is always looking down on Han for going off to spend his reward money. UM....HE NEEDS TO PAY OFF A DEATH MARK!

Don is distracting the Behemoth with his lightsaber (still spelled sabre at this point in the series). Hedji, the cat hedgehog alien, tries to save him. Various other sources and reviews say Hedji dies protecting Don but the art doesn't make it clear to me.

Han realizes that the saber is the Behemoth's weakness. Yes, a lightsaber will hurt the monster....who would have suspected? Seeing how slow Don, Han takes matters into his own hands.

Here it is! The first time Han uses a lightsaber! I'm not sure how, but the next page makes it look like Han put it in his chest, not the leg as the above page suggests. Lots of disconnect between art and story this issue.


One panel pages weren't as common then as they were now. It makes the big pages cooler though when they wind up doing it. Classic Marvel Comics right there.

The smoke clears and Han's crew demands their money (I thought there wasn't going to be any). Merri, the object of everyone's affections, comes. She doesn't seem too upset about her grandfather getting mushed earlier this issue.



Looks like they had money afterall. The "come back now ya hear" is a bit odd for me. Han is NOW realizing that Merri is kind of young? Well he is a scoundrel.

And so ends the first post-movie story arc! It wasn't bad. It felt like they were going for a Tatooine vibe with this planet. As I've stated before, I think they overestimated how virtious Han was at this point. Some of the characters were a bit silly (Don or Jaxxon) and some were annoying (the same first two). It wasn't horrible though.

Apparently this is also the end of the Thomas/Chaykin run. I thought it went on longer, but I guess not. Roy even had Donald Glut help with the writing chores this issue. Glut later wrote the novelization for "Empire Strikes Back". Here is what Roy said in the letter pages.


Well this clears up the Tatooine mix up earlier in the arc. At first glance it looks like Roy is leaving to write Thor, but his wording ("personal") makes it sound odd. Hmmm.

Archie Goodwin and Carmine Infantino are giving me plenty to be excited about though! I loved Archie's other works on Star Wars including the classic newspaper strip. Carmine's comic reputation precedes him very well. Should be fun when we do.....

Podcast

I decided to start a podcast for this project. It will be short and sweet, with no episodes being longer than 15 minutes (most under 10). Check out the first episode here.

Star Wars issue 9 "Showdown on a Wasteland World"

You got to love how dramatic Han is when he says "CLOUD RIDERS" or how intense Jaxxon is.

It's been a little while since the last posting. I decided that in order to bring some structure and consistency to this blog, I would give it a regular schedule. Issue reviews will be published every Tuesday. That doesn't mean you won't see other random posts from here, but I will be sticking to the once a week format for issue reviews.



I'm also going to try doing the recaps differently this time. I'll put the pictures in the middle of the recap instead of doing it afterward. As usual, if the images are too small just click on them and they'll enlarge in a new window. So with that...



When we last left things, Han had agreed, for no money (which is SOOO like him) to help a poor farming village against the evil Serji-X and his gang. Han gets a team of some oddballs together to protect the village which is where they are heading now....

By who Jaxxon? I don't know...maybe Bucky O'Hare?

Han proceeds to give the readers some exposition on how he got to where he was and how he put the team together.

Well that pretty much covers who is who. Han doesn't seem too confident though. Why did you bring them Solo?

They see some creatures, known as High-hounds attacking the crops of the poor farmer. Han and the gang spring into action to help.

The only thing that I get out of this is....the Star Wars universe has scarecrows! AWESOME!

Haha! I love it! Jaxxon takes a break to try and get some action but gets shot down!

They eventually send the flying creatures away (the ones who survive). During the battle, Han had saved a female native who took his breath away. He's embarrassed when her father, the village spokesman, appears. Han gets teased by Amaiza (the chick in Han's group) for his sudden interest in charity for the village. She says it might have to do with Merri (the girl Han saved).

While they prepare for the confrontation with Serji-X, we cut to the other plotline of the issue...

Can't they just say "meanwhile" without making it complicated? I GET IT! We're in space! But "meanwhile" still works the same way!

And General Dodonna thinks Leia likes Luke just because she's concerned? Whether she likes him or not, she'd be concerned anyway because this is an IMPORTANT ALLIANCE MISSION!

Luke is looking for another system for the Rebels to have their base on since the Empire knows about Yavin. He gives the droids some exposition on it, before he decides he's found the right one and contacts Leia...

How the heck is Leia's body doing that in the bottom panel? If that is how she is rushing off, the very next thing she would do is fall on her face. We don't get to see that though because we cut back to Han and the gang.

An old shaman (who turns out to be Merri's grandfather) tells Han he isn't needed. There is another power which will save them. Han and the rest of the villagers denounce him as a madman. Serji-X arrives and the battle begins! Serji-X's dialogue makes it seem like he intends to rape Merri.

I love how the early Marvel stories made Chewie brutal! I suppose it's how he came off in the first movie, and Episode V and VI softened him up a bit.

Effie the droid see's that his master, the Starkiller kid, is in trouble so he sacrifices his "life" for him.

We have a casualty, even if it as a droid. Now another character (who I can't decide is awesome or annoying) seems to kick the bucket.

Looks like Han's side is losing. You can't blame them....look at his team. Just look at them.

While this is going on, the old shaman is chanting some weird stuff. Turns out he is summoning something, and we see just what that is on the last page.

Oh snap.

Oh! I almost forgot! Howard Chaykin, the regular artist on the series at this point, gives us a splash page pinup!

WHAT! Nevermind the fact that these don't look anything like the characters, they don't look anything like Chaykin's other work!!

To sum it up,

Roy Thomas isn't a bad writer. Things are a bit silly here but the series is finding it's legs. Han still feels out of character to me (and that one girl in the issue agrees). Chaykin's art isn't so bad, but I don't think he has the edginess of Princess Leia down yet.

Join us next Tuesday for issue 10! I haven't read it yet, so I have no clue what to expect. I may or may not do other random Star Wars postings in this space between now and then.