Happy Sunday afternoon, everyone,
Today, I'll be discussing the twenty-second issue of the first Star Wars comic title. The cover showed Chewbacca and Han Solo squaring off in a contest to the death. The story was called "To The Last Gladiator!" The issue had a cover date of April 1979.
The tale began during the gladiator games on the Wheel space station. Han and Chewie were among the final competitors that were released into an arena in zero gravity. Each combatant was armed with a small shield and a needle ray pistol. Solo soon found that his blaster was defective, and had to resort to using his shield and diverting opponents into obstacles as defensive measures.
Chewacca informed Han that his blaster didn't work either, so he'd discarded it. Solo then realized that he and his longtime friend had been set up for failure. Someone didn't want either of them to win.
The someones were none other than the ship's administrator, the former Galactic Senator Greyshade, and his Imperial Commander companion Strom, who were watching the match from the safety of the royal lounge with great interest. Greyshade knew that the contracts each competitor signed clarified that the battle was to the death and that there could only be one winner. If a participant didn't comply with that stipulation, it was grounds for their execution.
Strom had struck a deal with the administrator to siphon part of the Wheel's profits for the Empire for their war efforts, not knowing that his colleague would poison his guest. Meanwhile, a recently revived Luke Skywalker was leading Princess Leia Organa and his droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO, toward a docking bay where they'd just seen several Wheel guards retreat to. They'd noticed (last issue) that Stormtroopers had purloined Wheel winnings, and several of them opened fire after a pneumatic door opened around the next hallway.
Before the conflict could rage on, Greyshade arrived on the scene. He led the quartet away, while a large Star Destroyer was straining its engine's limit to reach that destination. Darth Vader was convinced that the Rebels who'd destroyed the Death Star were on the Wheel, based on information he'd received from a dying Rebel on another world (as shown in the last issue). Absolutely nothing could deter the Sith Lord from his goal.
Greyshade had taken his prisoners to another area of the complex, where his private ship was waiting. He wanted Leia to journey with him anywhere they and the treasure aboard would take them. Luke was determined to free the princess yet again. Greyshade reminded the young farmboy that their ship's pilots were still engaged in the gladiatorial contest, pointing to a nearby viewscreen.
There were fewer opponents now for Han and Chewie, but that didn't make anything easier. They still had challenging foes and obstacles to overcome. Eventually, Chewbacca fired what appeared to be a fatal shot at the Correllian. Leia and Luke were stunned by this outcome. Leia agreed to Greyshade's terms, but pointed out how hollow and bitter the Senator's prize was.
It seemed rather inevitable that Solo and Chewbacca would square off against each other. This conclusion was certainly inferred in the last two issues. I was somewhat surprised that Greyshade's robotic aide, Master-Com, was absent in this issue. He was the one supporting character during this storyline that I found to be the most interesting.
Well, that's it for now. Next time, I'll recap the twenty-third issue of this series. We'll find out just what happened to the Falcon's crew following their battle to the death. We'll also learn what Vader was able to accomplish after arriving at his destination as this storyline concludes. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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