Good morning,
Today's focus is on the seventeenth issue of Marvel's first Star Wars series. The cover showed Luke Skywalker in action on his homeworld of Tatooine. The tale was titled "Crucible!" The issue had a cover date of November 1978.
The story started on board the Millennium Falcon. Skywalker was manning the controls for his friends Han Solo and Chewbacca. The solitude gave him time to think back on his days before meeting the ship's pilots. He remembered a time when he had just bulls-eyed a womp rat with a blast from his energy rifle while steering his family's landspeeder. He picked up the creature and brought it back with him, hoping that his Uncle Lars would pay him a bounty for the rodent that would allow him to purchase a set of macrobinoculars that he'd had his eye on. Little did the farmboy know that his activities had been witnessed by several Sand People (aka Tusken Raiders) and their Bantha mounts.
Luke's excitement when he arrived home was countered by his uncle's reminder that his nephew lacked the necessary parts to get their Treadwell droid up and running again. That would delay the installation of their new vaporators. Luke replied that the parts were on backlog, and that he wanted to attend his friend Biggs Darklighter's farewell party the next day.
Darklighter was leaving for the Imperial Academy and had been best friends with Luke for years. Aunt Beru pointed that out to her husband, who allowed his nephew to attend the celebration, with the caveat that he was to not ask for anything more until they had a fully functioning Treadwell. Luke happily agreed.
Afterward, Luke asked his aunt about his uncle's relationship with his father. Beru said that Owen might have depended too much on him staying on the farm, much like he did with Luke. Luke understood that his uncle cared about him and was loyal to his aunt and uncle. However, he still felt like there was more for him to accomplish outside of the farm.
Later that evening, Luke occupied himself with repairing the family's skyhopper. He sat in the pilot's chair and started daydreaming about flying in deep space, attacking an enemy cruiser, and rescuing a damsel in distress, who thanked him warmly for his efforts. He was so lost in thought that he initially didn't hear his uncle standing right next to him, informing him that he was shutting down the external power.
The next day, Luke joined Biggs and their friends for a friendly skyhopper race across Beggar's Canyon. The two best friends soon emerged as the front-runners. Darklighter won the competition by using ground-charge missiles to blast a pair of womp rats while he accelerated out of a dead end.
A party began afterward. Their reverie was interrupted by the crash landing of a landspeeder that was on fire. The vessel had been driven by a military scout who was fleeing from a Tusken rampage. The Sand People had been furious that a bunch of gun runners had accidentally polluted one of their sacred wells. The Tuskens acquired their weapons, some of which were used to fire on Luke and his friends moments later.
Windy tried to radio for help, but atmospheric interference prevented anything from being sent or received, at least until the twin suns had set. Luke and Biggs decided to make a break for one of the skyhoppers. They were confronted by a Tusken, who tossed his Gaderffi stick at Biggs. The weapon's tip had been dipped in sand bat venom, which was very poisonous.
Luke took the controls of his family's skyhopper after loading his friend inside. His only chance to save Biggs was to cut through the deadly Diablo's Cut. It was a treacherous cavern passage, which ended with a Tusken scouting party. A few shots found their mark, but Luke was able to pilot the craft close enough to his family homestead to alert his aunt and uncle and call for help.
Things had resumed to normal several hours later. Luke took some time to consider the ordeal as a test, one that he'd passed. His thoughts then drifted to recent events, from acquiring R2-D2 and C-3PO to meeting Ben Kenobi, who gave him his father's lightsaber, rescuing Princess Leia Organa, and the attack that destroyed the Empire's Death Star.
His reminiscing was broken up by Han Solo. He had woken up and was ready to relieve Han. Luke was thankful for the break, but was just fine where he was for the moment.
This was a nice fill-in issue scripted by Chris Claremont and illustrated by Herb Trimpe and Al Milgrom. IT gave fans a little insight into Luke's past, as well as more details about Biggs Darklighter and Luke's aunt Beru and uncle Owen. I'm sure that Marvel was limited by Lucasfilm as to what they could portray, but it was still an enjoyable story, one that could be used as a point to start reading this series.
That's all from me for today. Tomorrow, I'll discuss the eighteenth issue of this series. The Star Warriors resume their journey and encounter more Imperial resistance. We'll also see a person from Leia's past. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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