Reprints Star Wars #1-20
Written by Roy Thomas, Howard Chaykin, Don Glut, Archie Goodwin and Chris Claremont.
Penciled by Howard Chaykin, Carmine Infantino, Walter Simonson, Herb Trimpe.
Inked by Tom Palmer, Frank Springer, Terry Austin, Al Milgrom, Steve Leialoha and Bob Wiacek.
Note from J.A.:
The first six stories reprinted in this tpb are Marvel's adaptation of the first Star Wars movie. Since most of you are familiar with how that ends, my review begins with stories Marvel created for their ongoing comic book series. I should also mention this book is out of print, but is available from online vendors.
After the destruction of the Death Star, Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie and the Droids go on to further adventures!
Han Solo and Chewbacca bid farewell to Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and the Rebel Alliance. The space smugglers need to pay to Jabba the Hutt so they can get the bounty off their heads. Han believes his reward for rescuing Princess Leia should cover his debt.
However, right after their departure, they're captured by a pirate named Crimson Jack, an old acquaintance of Solo. Jack takes all their reward money and Han and Chewie are forced to land on a desolate planet called Aduba-3.
While hanging out in the local cantina, Han is approached by a local moisture farmer named Ramiz. He asks Chewie and Han to protect his village from a criminal named Serji-X Arrogantus and his gang of Cloud-Riders. Serji-X has been exploiting local farmers, shaking them down for money and kidnapping their wives and daughters. Ramiz and the other farmers will pay Han and Chewie. They need money, so they agree to protect the village.
They hire a colorful bunch of "star-hoppers" to help fight Serji-X:
Jaxxon, a six foot tall anthropomorphic rabbit.
Jimm, the Starkiller Kid, a local farmboy who dreams of having grand adventures. Jimm reminds Han of Luke.
FE-Q9, Jimm's devoted droid who goes by the name Effie.
Don-Wan Kihotay, a somewhat delusional old man who carries a lightsaber and thinks he's a Jedi Knight.
Amaiza, an old friend of Han's who has a history of piracy and smuggling.
Hedji, one of the last living Spiners. Hedji's body is covered with quills, which he can propel at his enemies at will.
Serj-X and his thugs attack Han's gang and engage them in a shoot-out. Effie is destroyed and Don-Wan is injured and knocked out of the battle. One of the local farmers, an elderly man known as the Old One, wants to help fight Serji-X.
Old One claims he has the power to awaken a giant monster that will do his bidding and rid the village of Serji-X. However, when he succeeds in bringing the monstrous behemoth to the battle, the Old One can't control it. It attacks Han's star-hoppers and Serji-X's gang.
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| The behemoth attacks! |
Can Han and Chewbacca's team defeat both Serji-X and the behemoth?
While Chewie and Han are on Aduba-3, Luke Skywalker, C-3P0, and R2-D2 are searching for a planet where the Rebel Alliance can build a new base of operations. Luke believes he's found a planet for the base in the Drexel system. When Luke contacts Princess Leia to give her the news, his ship's communication system suddenly goes dead and he is forced to land on Drexel. Skywalker learns that Drexel's surface is covered with water. He is taken prisoner by a man called Governor Quarg. Luke is to be killed, but his skills as a mechanic prove useful to the Governor.
Leia sets out to investigate Luke's disappearance but is captured by Crimson Jack and his pirates. Han is also captured, but convinces Jack that he can lead him to a treasure on Drexel if he releases him and the Millennium Falcon.
Luke is able to escape and befriends some Drexel residents known as the Dragon Lords, who ride the planet's sea dragons. Skywalker learns that Quarg rules Drexel with an iron fist and the Dragon Lords are leading a revolt against the governor.
Once Han, Leia and Chewbacca manage to escape from Crimson Jack's clutches, they are reunited with Luke, Artoo and Threepeeo on Drexel. They all join forces with the Dragon Lords and battle Quarg. Can the heroes defeat Governor Quarg and escape from Drexel? And if they get past Quarg, Crimson Jack's ship is still waiting for them in space!
Later, a Bounty Hunter named Valance leads a raid on a hospital. Valance is prejudiced against droids and sets out to destroy all droids working in the hospital. Don-Wan Kihotay, Han's ally from Aduba-3, happens to be a patient at this hospital. Valance's thugs hear Don-Wan muttering deleriously about his time spent teaming up with a farmboy and Han Solo. They think Don-Wan is talking about Luke, who has an imperial bounty on his head.
Valance discovers that Jaxxon and Amaiza also worked with this farmboy and goes after them. During a firefight with the star-hoppers, Valance learns that his bounty can be found on Aduba-3. Thankfully, Amaiza and Jaxxon arrive on Aduba-3 before the bounty hunter and warn Jimm. If Valance wants to take out Jimm, he'll have to go through the other star-hoppers first!
Sometime after that, Luke is practicing his Force skills on the Millennium Falcon. While meditating, he suddenly goes into shock. Leia and Han are worried and set out for the nearest medical facility. They don't have long to find one, since the Imperial fleet, led by Commander Strom, is in hot pursuit of the Falcon.
Thankfully, they arrive at a giant space station called the Wheel, where Luke can receive medical treatment. The Wheel houses one of the most popular casinos in the universe. It's also one of the few places that doesn't allow Imperial interference, which is why Han selected it.
The Wheel is managed by a former Imperial Senator named Simon Greyshade. Leia has a bad feeling about this, since she frequently sparred with Greyshade when they both served in the Senate. Commander Strom contacts Greyshade and tells him the passengers of the Falcon have stolen profits from the Wheel. Upon hearing this lie, Greyshade is more than willing to help Strom capture the Rebels.
Will Luke get the medical attention he needs? Will the Rebel heroes convince Greyshade that they did not steal from the Wheel? Will they manage to get out of the Wheel alive?
Plus, a story of Luke's life on Tatooine, before he joined the Rebel Alliance!
Review:
I read some of these stories when they were originally published back in the 1970s, but many of them were new to me. They're all lots of fun, and it's important to remember that the writers had only one movie to use for source material. Lucasfilm put strict limitations on what stories the creative teams could tell. Marvel wasn't even allowed to use Darth Vader for a while (he does NOT appear in this tpb). Later Star Wars comics and novels had 20-30 years of backstory and continuity to mine.
Story:
As I said at the beginning, I'll focus here on the original stories. But the adaptation has some noteworthy aspects. It was completed before the final cut of Star Wars was ready. The creative team had seen a rough cut, but mostly had to rely on a script and still photos, so the adaptation contains scenes and dialogue that were cut from the film.
For instance, Luke's interaction with Biggs at Tosche Station was deleted from the movie, but can be seen here.
Another deleted scene with Jabba the Hut (yes, spelled with one "t") also appears here, but it's not the Jabba we know from Return Of The Jedi. Marvel (and Lucas, for that matter) didn't know what Jabba would look like, so they just used one of the Cantina aliens. In this era of DVDs and Youtube, the deleted scenes are easy to watch. But for years, the comic book had the only depiction available.
The first new story in this book, written by Roy Thomas is basically a retelling of the plot of The Seven Samurai. Han and Chewie gather a rag-tag band of misfits to protect farmers. This makes sense, since Star Wars was based on the film The Hidden Fortress, which, like Seven Samurai, was also directed by Akira Kurosawa.
Lots of new characters are introduced in the first tale. Detractors of Marvel's Star Wars series love to point to the presence of Jaxxon, the 6-feet tall anthropomorphic rabbit, as a sign that these stories were bad. I disagree. I think Jaxxon is a great character who brings lots of humor whenever he appears. Plus, he's a great fighter.
While Chewie and Han are on Aduba-3, Luke Skywalker, C-3P0, and R2-D2 are searching for a planet where the Rebel Alliance can build a new base of operations. Luke believes he's found a planet for the base in the Drexel system. When Luke contacts Princess Leia to give her the news, his ship's communication system suddenly goes dead and he is forced to land on Drexel. Skywalker learns that Drexel's surface is covered with water. He is taken prisoner by a man called Governor Quarg. Luke is to be killed, but his skills as a mechanic prove useful to the Governor.
Leia sets out to investigate Luke's disappearance but is captured by Crimson Jack and his pirates. Han is also captured, but convinces Jack that he can lead him to a treasure on Drexel if he releases him and the Millennium Falcon.
Luke is able to escape and befriends some Drexel residents known as the Dragon Lords, who ride the planet's sea dragons. Skywalker learns that Quarg rules Drexel with an iron fist and the Dragon Lords are leading a revolt against the governor.
Once Han, Leia and Chewbacca manage to escape from Crimson Jack's clutches, they are reunited with Luke, Artoo and Threepeeo on Drexel. They all join forces with the Dragon Lords and battle Quarg. Can the heroes defeat Governor Quarg and escape from Drexel? And if they get past Quarg, Crimson Jack's ship is still waiting for them in space!
Later, a Bounty Hunter named Valance leads a raid on a hospital. Valance is prejudiced against droids and sets out to destroy all droids working in the hospital. Don-Wan Kihotay, Han's ally from Aduba-3, happens to be a patient at this hospital. Valance's thugs hear Don-Wan muttering deleriously about his time spent teaming up with a farmboy and Han Solo. They think Don-Wan is talking about Luke, who has an imperial bounty on his head.
Valance discovers that Jaxxon and Amaiza also worked with this farmboy and goes after them. During a firefight with the star-hoppers, Valance learns that his bounty can be found on Aduba-3. Thankfully, Amaiza and Jaxxon arrive on Aduba-3 before the bounty hunter and warn Jimm. If Valance wants to take out Jimm, he'll have to go through the other star-hoppers first!
Sometime after that, Luke is practicing his Force skills on the Millennium Falcon. While meditating, he suddenly goes into shock. Leia and Han are worried and set out for the nearest medical facility. They don't have long to find one, since the Imperial fleet, led by Commander Strom, is in hot pursuit of the Falcon.
Thankfully, they arrive at a giant space station called the Wheel, where Luke can receive medical treatment. The Wheel houses one of the most popular casinos in the universe. It's also one of the few places that doesn't allow Imperial interference, which is why Han selected it.
The Wheel is managed by a former Imperial Senator named Simon Greyshade. Leia has a bad feeling about this, since she frequently sparred with Greyshade when they both served in the Senate. Commander Strom contacts Greyshade and tells him the passengers of the Falcon have stolen profits from the Wheel. Upon hearing this lie, Greyshade is more than willing to help Strom capture the Rebels.
Will Luke get the medical attention he needs? Will the Rebel heroes convince Greyshade that they did not steal from the Wheel? Will they manage to get out of the Wheel alive?
Plus, a story of Luke's life on Tatooine, before he joined the Rebel Alliance!
Review:
I read some of these stories when they were originally published back in the 1970s, but many of them were new to me. They're all lots of fun, and it's important to remember that the writers had only one movie to use for source material. Lucasfilm put strict limitations on what stories the creative teams could tell. Marvel wasn't even allowed to use Darth Vader for a while (he does NOT appear in this tpb). Later Star Wars comics and novels had 20-30 years of backstory and continuity to mine.
Story:
As I said at the beginning, I'll focus here on the original stories. But the adaptation has some noteworthy aspects. It was completed before the final cut of Star Wars was ready. The creative team had seen a rough cut, but mostly had to rely on a script and still photos, so the adaptation contains scenes and dialogue that were cut from the film.
For instance, Luke's interaction with Biggs at Tosche Station was deleted from the movie, but can be seen here.
 |
| Biggs tells Luke of his plans to join the Rebellion. |
Another deleted scene with Jabba the Hut (yes, spelled with one "t") also appears here, but it's not the Jabba we know from Return Of The Jedi. Marvel (and Lucas, for that matter) didn't know what Jabba would look like, so they just used one of the Cantina aliens. In this era of DVDs and Youtube, the deleted scenes are easy to watch. But for years, the comic book had the only depiction available.
 |
| Han is confronted by "Jabba." |
The first new story in this book, written by Roy Thomas is basically a retelling of the plot of The Seven Samurai. Han and Chewie gather a rag-tag band of misfits to protect farmers. This makes sense, since Star Wars was based on the film The Hidden Fortress, which, like Seven Samurai, was also directed by Akira Kurosawa.
Lots of new characters are introduced in the first tale. Detractors of Marvel's Star Wars series love to point to the presence of Jaxxon, the 6-feet tall anthropomorphic rabbit, as a sign that these stories were bad. I disagree. I think Jaxxon is a great character who brings lots of humor whenever he appears. Plus, he's a great fighter.
 |
| Don't EVER call Jaxxon a rodent! |
Thomas gives two other characters humorous names. Don-Wan Kihotay is an obvious (but funny) reference to Cervantes' Don Quixote as well as the literary figure Don Juan. Serji-X Arrogantus' name is a tribute to legendary cartoonist Sergio Aragones. Serji-X is even drawn to resemble Aragones.
After Thomas, another comics legend, Archie Goodwin takes over the writing duties. Goodwin's stories are just as good. Both writers also give us stories that deal with prejudice against droids. This is something briefly mentioned in the movie (droids aren't allowed in the Mos Eisley Cantina), so it's interesting to read stories that expanded on that idea.
My personal favorite is the story reprinted from Star Wars #16, featuring Valance's hunt for Jimm. Outside of a brief recap of the Death Star battle, it features no characters from the movie. Jaxxon, Amaiza and Jimm carry the story and show they were strong characters in their own right. Valance is a great villain and he would later return to battle the "normal" cast of Star Wars characters. It's a credit to Goodwin's script that I read this tale twice before I noticed that Leia, Luke, Chewie and Han weren't in the story.
The book ends with the multi-part Wheel story. It makes sense that the Star Wars universe would have tourist destinations like casinos and Goodwin creates another good original character in Senator Greyshade.
Another memorable story is "Crucible," written by Chris Claremont. Luke flashes back to his life on Tatooine, shortly before his friend Biggs left for the academy. This was the first time we got a backstory for any of the main characters. It's an action-packed tale, featuring a race through Beggar's Canyon and a shootout with Tusken Raiders!
If there's anything to criticize, it's the four-part story that takes place on Drexel. The Quarg and the other residents of the water planet aren't that interesting and the story drags after a while. Also, the Tatooine flashback features another scene of Uncle Owen yelling at Luke and accusing him of laziness. Did Luke and Owen have any positive interactions?
The only other problem is that this tpb ends in the middle of the Wheel storyline, meaning you'd need to buy the next volume to find out how the story ends.
Art:
The art in the first issue of Star Wars isn't very good. I'm guessing they were facing a serious deadline and it looks rushed. After that, the art is always solid and sometimes great. Howard Chaykin pencils the first 10 stories reprinted in Doomworld and he's embellished by a variety of inkers. I thought Chaykin and Tom Palmer were the best penciler/inker combination in this book.
Carmine Infantino takes over penciling duties about halfway through the book. His style in the 70s is a bit of an acquired taste. When I first read these stories I wasn't crazy about his depiction of Han, Leia and Luke, but it's grown on me over the years and Infantino does a great job drawing Drexel's sea dragons.
T
After Thomas, another comics legend, Archie Goodwin takes over the writing duties. Goodwin's stories are just as good. Both writers also give us stories that deal with prejudice against droids. This is something briefly mentioned in the movie (droids aren't allowed in the Mos Eisley Cantina), so it's interesting to read stories that expanded on that idea.
My personal favorite is the story reprinted from Star Wars #16, featuring Valance's hunt for Jimm. Outside of a brief recap of the Death Star battle, it features no characters from the movie. Jaxxon, Amaiza and Jimm carry the story and show they were strong characters in their own right. Valance is a great villain and he would later return to battle the "normal" cast of Star Wars characters. It's a credit to Goodwin's script that I read this tale twice before I noticed that Leia, Luke, Chewie and Han weren't in the story.
The book ends with the multi-part Wheel story. It makes sense that the Star Wars universe would have tourist destinations like casinos and Goodwin creates another good original character in Senator Greyshade.
Another memorable story is "Crucible," written by Chris Claremont. Luke flashes back to his life on Tatooine, shortly before his friend Biggs left for the academy. This was the first time we got a backstory for any of the main characters. It's an action-packed tale, featuring a race through Beggar's Canyon and a shootout with Tusken Raiders!
If there's anything to criticize, it's the four-part story that takes place on Drexel. The Quarg and the other residents of the water planet aren't that interesting and the story drags after a while. Also, the Tatooine flashback features another scene of Uncle Owen yelling at Luke and accusing him of laziness. Did Luke and Owen have any positive interactions?
The only other problem is that this tpb ends in the middle of the Wheel storyline, meaning you'd need to buy the next volume to find out how the story ends.
Art:
The art in the first issue of Star Wars isn't very good. I'm guessing they were facing a serious deadline and it looks rushed. After that, the art is always solid and sometimes great. Howard Chaykin pencils the first 10 stories reprinted in Doomworld and he's embellished by a variety of inkers. I thought Chaykin and Tom Palmer were the best penciler/inker combination in this book.
Carmine Infantino takes over penciling duties about halfway through the book. His style in the 70s is a bit of an acquired taste. When I first read these stories I wasn't crazy about his depiction of Han, Leia and Luke, but it's grown on me over the years and Infantino does a great job drawing Drexel's sea dragons.
T
erry Austin and Bob Wiacek each do a nice job inking Infantino.
Walter Simonson drew the Valance vs. star-hoppers story and it looks great. You can see Simonson's art developing here, beginning to look more like his classic 1980s Thor art.
Luke's flashback tale features pencils by Herb Trimpe inked by Al Milgrom. Trimpe always did a great job with "military"-style vehicles and he does a nice job depicting Luke's T-60 and other ships.
One thing I noticed was that every artist had a difficult time drawing Chewbacca. Most of them made him look more simian than he should, or drew his hair too long. But this didn't bother me too much once I got used to the artists' styles.
How does it look:
Here's a scan from my 38 year old copy of Star Wars #7:
And here's how the same pages look in this tpb:
Looks fine to me.
Star Wars: A Long Time Ago...Volume 1: Doomworld is a fun trip back in time to an era when Star Wars was fresh and brand new. While some of these stories might seem silly by today's standards, this tpb is full of great action and drama. Recommended both to fans who saw Star Wars when it was brand new and to those weren't born yet when these stories were first published.
J.A. Morris' rating:
.5
3 and a half Sals.
Walter Simonson drew the Valance vs. star-hoppers story and it looks great. You can see Simonson's art developing here, beginning to look more like his classic 1980s Thor art.
Luke's flashback tale features pencils by Herb Trimpe inked by Al Milgrom. Trimpe always did a great job with "military"-style vehicles and he does a nice job depicting Luke's T-60 and other ships.
One thing I noticed was that every artist had a difficult time drawing Chewbacca. Most of them made him look more simian than he should, or drew his hair too long. But this didn't bother me too much once I got used to the artists' styles.
How does it look:
Here's a scan from my 38 year old copy of Star Wars #7:
And here's how the same pages look in this tpb:
Looks fine to me.
Star Wars: A Long Time Ago...Volume 1: Doomworld is a fun trip back in time to an era when Star Wars was fresh and brand new. While some of these stories might seem silly by today's standards, this tpb is full of great action and drama. Recommended both to fans who saw Star Wars when it was brand new and to those weren't born yet when these stories were first published.
J.A. Morris' rating:
.5
3 and a half Sals.
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