Happy Friday, everyone,
Today's topic is the twenty-seventh issue of the first Star Wars comic series. The cover depicted C-3PO and Luke Skywalker, with the face of the bounty hunter Valance in the background. The story was called "Return of the Hunter." The issue had a publication date of September 1979.
The tale began with a gunfight in a cantina. Valance had just incapacitated his target, Marko Tyne. He recruited two patrons to carry the body away before going to see his comrade Skinker. Valance informed his friend about his latest bounty, and the shopkeeper had more droids for him. Unfortunately, there were no PO or R2 units in his collection, but the bounty hunter still blasted the robots to bits anyway.
Afterward, Valance returned to his ship. He was on the trail of the man who'd destroyed the Death Star and his droids. He was furious at the fact that the hero treated the mechanicals like friends instead of servants, although Valance himself was partly cybernetic, after being injured in a Rebel attack years earlier. Speaking of that hero, Luke and Threepio were flying out in deep space, to determine the extent of the Imperial blockade and to find parts to repair their counterpart, R2-D2 (who was damaged in battle last issue).
They soon came across an Imperial Star Destroyer, and were noticed by the large ship. Luke used a tactic called threading the asteroids to evade them before going into hyperspace. They emerged from light speed to reach the planet Junction. There, Luke hoped to find a salvage yard that had the parts they needed.
The duo came across Skinker's shop. Its proprietor asked an associate to inform Valance that he might have what the bounty hunter was looking for. Meanwhile, back on Yavin, Princess Leia and General Dodonna were talking about duty. Leia understood the elder's concern for her, knowing that she wanted to be more than just a figurehead for their movement.
A cloaked figure (who had observed Luke and Threepio) was making his way toward a communication transmitter on Junction. The humanoid (who looked somewhat similar to the Garindan spy on Mos Eisley during the movie adaptation) wasn't able to communicate with the Empire. Valance had disabled the transmitter not long before taking out this intruder.
It didn't take long for the bounty hunter to reach his new quarry. Luke pushed Threepio to safety moments before Valance's blaster fired. Deflecting another blaster bolt with his lightsaber, Luke learned Valance's cyborg secret. Threepio stood in front of his master, and his plea for understanding as a fellow mechanical was enough to convince the hunter to allow the heroes to leave with their purchase. Skywalker realized that the bounty hunter was a conflicted man who still had a lot to consider.
Valance was first introduced in issue #16 of this title. He was an interesting character who was largely forgotten after a few more issues, until Marvel reacquired the rights to the Star Wars license. He has been featured prominently in the Bounty Hunter books since then, and has continued to grow as a character. Valance has also appeared in the most recent Marvel Star Wars ongoing series. This was an okay issue, whose plotline was resolved rather quickly.
Next time, I'll cover the twenty-eighth issue of this series. We'll finally learn what Han Solo and Chewbacca have been up to since the Falcon escaped from the Wheel. We'll also see the return of a character that Marvel didn't quite understand fully at the time. To find out more of what I mean in that regard, tune in tomorrow. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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