Star Wars issue 14 "The Sound of Armageddon"

Nice pinup like cover of the gang there. It was later used as the cover to the first trade paperback Dark Horse put out collecting the full run of this series. My only complaints that Chewie still hasn't been drawn to my satisfaction. This will continue throughout the issue itself.

Work has been busy so my online life has been slacking. In order to play catchup for the blog (let's not get started on the podcast), I've decided to do three issues this week. This entry was mostly completed last week, and next issue is already 90 percent done. Even if I only get those two out, I'll still have double my usual goal.

Remember, if you can't read the text on the page or want to see a bigger version of the pictures, click on the image for a full sized link.

When we last left Luke, he was locked in a cell with an angry Chewbacca, who was convinced that Luke had gunned down and murdered Han Solo. Not a good situation to be in, let's see how Luke fares.



I know Luke is desperate, but how does he expect Threepio to help him? I do love the cantina joke thrown in there.

The battle between Quarg's men and the Dragon Riders are continuing. Despite being in the midst of battle, Quarg is still concerned about using his jammer to bring down Crimson Jack's orbiting Star Destroyer. Quarg's men inform him that the destroyer can't be brought down but he demands them to try harder. Things aren't going well for Jack either. One of Jack's men has apparently heard of Quarg and gives a one speech balloon recount of a story that took pages to tell last issue. We also get more space pirate soap opera...



Really unsure still how to feel about how Jolli's "coming of age" story is being handled. They are writing it like a novel for elementary school girls.

It turns out that Han is alive. Marvel would not have been dumb enough to kill him. He was rescued by the Dragon Riders and is being taken to their lair.

Which brings us to Leia..



I've seen "thank the Force" used here and there in the Expanded Universe. Is this the first time it's used? Glad they are finally refering to Leia as a "former senator". Throughout the run they keep on referring to her as a "senator" present tense. The Imperial Senate disbanded, that ship sailed a long time ago.

The Falcon is being towed to Quarg with Leia inside (unbeknowsnt to them). They present the Falcon to Quarg hoping it will dissuade him from attempting to ground Crimson Jack's ship. The jammer is using too much power and it will eventually sink their own ship. The thought of all the scraps Quarg could get from an Imperial Star Destroyer is too tempting for him to pass up. He has a plan and it involves his captive former mechanic Luke. How is Luke doing by the way?


Threepio's position is funny to look at. This isn't a radio drama though Threepio, you don't have to narrate every action you perform. Heck, it's a comic, the entire medium is visual!

Artoo is able to knock out Chewie with some extinguisher gas as Quarg's men retrieve Luke.

Quarg wants Luke and the droids to route the power from the Falcon to the jammer, hoping that the extra boost will give it enough strength to bring down Jack's ship. As you can imagine, Luke does not want to have any part of this or helping Quarg in any way. He is furious still believing that Quarg murdered his friends. Turns out Quarg's men found Leia on the Falcon and use her as leverage to get Luke to cooperate.

During the conversation a little dragon interacts with Quarg's foot.



At first read, that sequence seemed out of place and pointless, but it turns out there will be a point to it later.

The unnamed Dragon Lord Leader (hereby known as DLL) tells the now conscious Han Solo that the dragons are actually intelligent creatures who communicate with sound. Remember those men Quarg spoke about who were sent out to sea after mutiny? It turns out it was the dragons who saved them. DLL further explains that the jammer Quarg uses hurts the dragons and that is why they are attacking. Keeping jammer on as long as Quarg has in an attempt to bring down Jack's ship has done a number on their dragons. The baby dragon which spied on Quarg informs DLL of Quarg's plan for the Falcon. No he doesn't talk, it's done with sonic communication. DLL and the Dragon Riders spring into action and invite Han...



Han's reasoning and attitude for helping here is more in line with what I think Han would do as oppose to his behavior during the Aduba story.

The dragon lords continue to battle while Luke is inside the Falcon hooking it up to Quarg's jammer. One of the Dragon Riders boards the Falcon but Luke is pleased to see that it is Han. They have a brief happy reunion as they haven't seen eachother since the first pages of issue 7. The reunion turns tense when Han informs Luke he has to stop what Luke is doing. Luke get's angry and...well..just look at the page below to see...



I know the situation i s tense...and Han can be a smug guy...but Luke didn't have to punch him out! He could have just explained what was going on.

Leia reveals she was only playing prisoner so Luke wouldn't be hurt. Now that she see's Quarg won't hurt Luke (or his plan would be ruined), she punches him and flees. I guess Leia isn't worried about Chewie.



Quarg's logic is odd here. He wants Leia alive.....so they could kill her. Um...what?

Chewie is now awake and breaks out of his cell to attack Quarg's men. Luke finally explains to Han that he messed with the jammer so it won't effect the Falcon anymore. The ship is operational and can be used to save their friends, destroy the jammer and end the war. Great Luke, why didn't you just explain that in the first place? Was your urge to punch Han that strong?

Leia is corned on the upper levels of the ship by Jack....luckily for her Luke intervenes....



The Quarg storyline was a bit long, but I think it should have been wrapped up in more than one page. It seemed very rushed at the end of the issue. Not that I wanted it to go on another issue, but perhaps they should have stretched some of the events out within the issue. The swinging Luke is probably meant to evoke yet another movie memory. The Han Solo on the last page doesn't look anything like Harrison Ford.

The Writing: Enjoyable. I love Archie Goodwin. The dragon stuff was a bit silly but this does have the adventure feel of Star Wars. My only other complaint is, as I've said, it feels very rushed in the wrap-up.

The Art: Terry Austin and Carmine Infantino are finding their way. The faces don' always work and it's still a struggle to get the droids and Chewie right. Still, the battle sequences and splash pages have been great to look at.

Here are some other things found in the issue..



I love love love the Beatles (I run a Beatles website) so that ad made me smile. Yes, I do have that comic.

Vintage Star Wars toy ads are always fun to look at.



So much going on there! Leia was not that naked in the movie, although I suspect that design was from the poster. Look at Vader's collar! And Han is called "Hans". Love it!

Well the Drexel storyline is not quite over yet. As Han realizes on the final page, we still have to deal with Crimson Jack. Join us tomorrow for..