Star Wars issue 13 "Day of the Dragon Lords"

Hey guys! As always thing have been busy, but here is the next installment of our Marvel Star Wars project.

I love the cover. Threepio's line is funny but the overabundance of callbacks to the movie that this series has per issue is getting tiresome, so quoting one of the movies lines isn't earning them many points with me.

Clicking on the images will make them larger!

Luke is on the Drexel system trying to keep it's evil Governor Quarg from executing him and scrapping the droids (which is his policy for all outsiders). He is able to buy time by having R2 repair one of the skimmers (albiet rushed) thus proving his worth. Luke is to test the skimmer which would prove if he could be a pilot and if the droid actually did a good job.

Quarg goes into some detail about the war his men have with the dragon riders. If Luke proves himself as a pilot, he'll be valuable in that war. Luke isn't sure how well his test run will do because R2 was rushed and the men haven't been taking good care of their machines.



Wow, that is a very detailed Threepio butt that Carmine Infantino did! Classic droid banter by Goodwin though I am curious what R2 said.

The test run is going well until Luke's stowaway makes his presence known.



This reminds me of the "you'll be dead" line shouted to Luke in the Cantina scene of the first movie. I always found it hilarious there and it's hilarious here as well.

Quarg is impressed with Luke's skills and tells him he has the job as their mechanic now. Luke informs him that he's not out to take anyone's job (especially since the predecessor just tried to murder him when he thought just that). Luke just wants to fix his ship and get back off-planet.



Strangely enough, Archie Goodwin would later do a story for the Star Wars newspaper strip where the Rebels visit a water planet and R2 and Threepio take an oil bath.

Quarg doesn't agree with Luke's eagerness to leave so he decides to show him something...



Daaaaaaaaaaaaang!

And the comparisions to Darth Vader? I swear, these early issues always have people making random callbacks to the movie, like last issue the "just like my landspeeder" comment. Luke hasn't heard Vader's voice at this point and knows very little about Vader's heart other than he killed Obi-Wan and (supposedly) his father. I'm not even sure Luke is aware it was Darth Vader's Tie Fighter chasing him and murdering his friends in the Death Star Trench.

Quarg then tells the story of his pirate father and how he came to Drexel.



According to the great Wookiepedia, this is the first published art of the Old Republic and pre-Order 66 Jedi's. Cool.

Quarg further explains how when his father settled on Drexel there was an attempted mutiny by his mechanic who he sent out to die. The mechanic and his supporters returned having discovered they could manipulate sonic sounds to control the dragons. Quarg tells Luke he won't be leaving because he's needed for war, just then one of his men informs him of a large approaching craft.

Quarg and Luke go to the control room where Luke realizes they are still disrupting ships to bring them down and scrap their metal. He realizes that's how he crash landed there a few issues ago. The approaching ship is Crimson Jack's Star Destroyer (which still has four shield towers). Quarg is delighted at this process because it's enough metal to last a lifetime!

Aboard the Star Destroyer, Crimson Jack is still not convinced that Han is telling the truth about their being a treasure on a water planet.



I wonder if Leia is speaking from experience here. Perhaps she is more aware of her feelings for Han Solo at this early stage than we previously thought.

Quarg's jamming device begins to pull the Star Destroyer into orbit. Han and Chewie use the confusion to attempt a getaway.




You have to love Leia taking charge of the "rescue and escape" operation. This is one of my favorite depictions of her character thus far and not the screaming damsel that other early Expanded Universe stories used. Infantino is still getting a feel for drawing Chewie. Look at the first panel!

Quarg is furious that the Star Destroyer hasn't been brought down yet. Kind of reminds me of that level in "The Force Unleashed" video game. He accuses the operator of treason (and we know what Quarg does about treason). Thankfully for him, they are interrupted when Quarg is informed that the Dragon Riders are attacking.



Great picture Infantino! Especially with the sun in the background. It still weirds me out that Quarg's men are dressed like Earth pirates.

Luke is sent out on a skimmer to fight with the rest of Quarg's men. The Millenium Falcon (having escaped from Jack's ship) arrives and confuses the situation more. The jamming device forces the Falcon to land. Han decides to appeal to the skimmers, reasoning that they'll be easier to win over than the Dragon Riders.

Nope. Not so much.

The skimmers (following Quarg's policy) open fire on the Falcon. Luke is furious and blasts the other skimmer. He then searches for survivors.



Note the comment about Wookies not being sophisticated. That sure changes later. Still, this does match most of the depictions of Chewie in the first movie. Pulling arms out of bodies because they are sore losers? Remember that? The latter movies softened Chewie up.

As a result of Luke shooting the other skimmer, he's locked up for treason...with a very angry cellmate.


So we get the scene from the cover, but it turns out all they do is spoil the cliffhanger. I think the cover would have been better suited for next issue. Look at Chewie's size compared to Threepio! Ummmm.......no.

I'm loving Archie Goodwin's writing. He get's the banter between the droids and between Han and Leia down good. Carmine Infantino also had some great stuff this issue. The revelation of the hung mechanic was done right. The splash of the approaching Dragon Riders was also particularly memorable. His Luke is inconsistent though and like most early Star Wars artists, he can't quite get the droids right.

Still a fun issue thought, but I'm ready for this arc to be over.

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