Star Wars issue 16 "The Hunter"

This issue opens up in the middle of an action sequence. The narration boxes introduce us to a man called Valance. Valance is a bounty hunter who is leading a raid on a medical station. He is not doing this for a particular bounty, this is a personal mission for himself that he is financing. He orders there to be no survivors.



That's a funny reason for regret. I wonder if Han had a similar sense of regret when he fried Greedo.

In case the above picture didn't clue you in, Valance hates droids. The narration box reminds us that while this is very common among the galaxy, Valance's hatred rivals the average person.

Valance and his men destroy the computer record system while two of the bounty hunters run into somebody us readers have seen before...



Don-Wan is back......and dead again! This is the second death he's had this series! Those chin whiskers and Scroogeish chin really creep me out! By the way, is that bounty hunter in the last panel a droid? If so, why would Valance let him on the team?

Valance takes an interest when they tell him what Don-Wan said before passing on. He and bounty hunters set some charges, take off and the medical station blows up. Apparently this was done to hide something in Valance's past. Hmmm..

They are now going to hunt the people Don-Wan spoke about and Valance orders Jaxxon to be be their first target. He assumes that a giant green rabbit will be the easiest to find. Can't argue with that logic.



According to Wookiepedia, this unnamed planet was later retconned to be the first appearance of Nar Shaddaa.

Jaxxon did some flirting with Amaiza during that "Aduba" arc. Towards the end she had seemed to go from annoyance to tolerance. Now they are traveling together. Is there more going on here? Are they together now? Is the thought too sick to even think about?

Jaxxon is ambushed by the bounty hunters. Two of them are named "Dafi" and "Fud". Get it? Get it? Get it?

They hang him upside down and begin to torture him. They are demanding that he reveals the planet where he and the rest of the Star-Hoppers had their adventure.

Planets are very big. Why is it that in STAR WARS people usually only need the name of a planet to find someone located on it? What if they search the wrong hemisphere?

Amaiza shows up. She apparently changed her mind and decided to spend the night out on the town with Jaxxon after all. She threatens the bounty hunters to drop their weapons.



What kind of a gun is it that she has? It's firing rays in all different directions at once! The second to last panel above definitely hints at some intimacy between Jaxxon and Amaiza. Oh boy the stares they must get!



We know Jaxxon is a giant green rabbit. Do they need to remind us with every panel he is on? His ship is called the Rabbit's Foot? COME ON! Speaking of Jaxxon, he seems incredibly off scale in the panel where he reunites with Jimm.

You'll note that since this is still the late 70's, Hutt is splled H - U -T.

Jimm and Merri are already married and expecting a baby? That was quick! Perhaps a little too quick. Maybe it was a shotgun wedding. Old farmer??? Are you even old enough to drink on Earth yet? For someone who wanted action and adventure and leaving the planet, he sure seems content with life as a farmer. Go figure.

We then get the origin story of Valance.



That medical station he destroyed was apparently the one that healed him after the Rebel attack. Obviously there are still some pieces of the story missing but they aren't that hard to guess at this point. It will all make sense come the final page.

He pops in the bootleg tape he is in possession off which gives us another excuse for a splash page tribute to the movie.



It seems like we are getting a "REMEMBER THE MOVIE WASN'T THAT COOL" splash page almost every issue. I'm enjoying them but it's gimmicky. I love Vader's green lightsaber. Is this the first time we've seen a green one?

For those who haven't been keeping score, Valance is on this mission because he thinks that the heroes of Aduba are actually the Death Star heroes. He thought Don-Wan was Obi-Wan, Jimm was Luke...etc.

The reason he's hunting Luke? Because he's friends with robots. Yes. He doesn't just resent Luke for it. He's HUNTING HIM. That's his motivation. "THIS KID IS FRIENDS WITH HIS ROBOTS! KILL HIM".

It is interesting that Valance knows about the identity of Luke Skywalker before Imperial Intelligence officially does.

Valance's ship enters Aduba's orbit. They are tracking the heat signature of a recently landed ship, assuming that it's Jaxxon warning his friends.

That answers my previous grip about finding someone on a huge planet but raises another question. Why assume it was Jaxxon's ship that landed? We established in issue 7 that Aduba has a Mos Eisley-like spaceport! Wouldn't there be ships going in and out constantly?

Before they could go any further, the Rabbit's Foot (GET IT GET IT GET IT) attacks Valance's ship. Valance eventually shoots down the Rabbit's Foot. It crashes into the surface on Aduba.

Valance sends his hunters to check the wreckage. Turns out it's an ambush. Amaiza and Jaxxon survived and start the shoot at the hunters. Meanwhile, Jimm has been waiting in the grass to follow through is end of the plan.



Stampeding Banthas has to be one of the oddest visuals in the Star Wars Universe I've ever seen. Those who argue that the Marvel Comics were just silly could use that panel to make a very strong case.

The Banthas crush the bounty hunters and Amaiza shots off the survivors. This leaves Valance who confronts them.



Goodness, I'd forgotten all about Jimm's bare legs.

So you mistook him for Skywalker eh Valance? You really can't blame him. They could be cousins or brothers. The writers didn't even shy away from the differences when they introduced Jimm back in issue 8.

Valence quickly blasts them with something coming from his hand and gets away, vowing to find Solo and his "droid loving young companion".



Take a good look at Jaxxon, Amaiza and Jimm. This is the last time you will ever see them in a Marvel Star Wars comic. For all the fussing people did about Jaxxon, I thought he was a regular supporting character but it's really only these four issues he appears in. Yet he seems to be one of the first things people bring up when talking about these comics.

Jaxxon and the others will appear again in expanded Star Wars material though. A quick look at Wookiepedia says some articles and sourcebooks later reused the characters and expanded on their backgrounds.

The revelation of Valance? I suppose some people might find it deep. Not me. Oh the guy who hates robots is half robot. Doesn't really do it for me.

Why did he rip his skin off anyway? I know us readers needed a visual but what as the in the story reason?

Writing: This was an easy and fun read by Goodwin. I enjoyed finally having a "done in one" story. I enjoyed seeing the old characters again but could have done without the new additions of "Dafi" and "Fud" (GET IT GET IT). No movie characters appeared in this issue expect for the splash page when Valance was looking at the bootleg. It's never easy to do a story without the main characters and keep me interested. Other comics and novels in the Expanded Universe rarely hold my interest unless the core movie characters appear. Goodwin pulled it off.

Interestingly enough, there are whispers that Jaxxon was so hated by George Lucas that it's the reason Roy Thomas left the series. Until I hear it from an official source I'm remaining skeptical.

Art: Jaxxon seemed freakishly tall and Don-Wan seemed very...yucky. Otherwise I enjoyed the art. Walt Simonson's reputation precedes him and he brought it this issue. The movie splash page was pretty good too.

Yay! I did my three issues in one week goal! I'll go back to doing one a week, I just wanted to catch up since I had a few skip weeks. In the future I may try this again. The fact that I enjoyed these issues made it easy.

Join us next week for...



No, this isn't the "Empire Strikes Back" movie adaptation. We still have some ways to go. Actually that isn't even the next story either, this next issue blurb is a lie. We will be getting another "done in one" issue though.