Good morning,
Today's topic is Marvel's eighth issue of Star Wars. The cover showed Han Solo, Chewbacca, and six other unidentified characters facing off against an enemy only shown in shadow. The story was called "Eight for Aduba-3." The issue had a cover date of February 1978.
The tale began in a watering hole on the planet Aduba-3. Han and Chewie had just assisted a priest in burying a borg on Spacers' Hill (in issue #7) and were enjoying some refreshments when Han was approached by a trio of villagers (who looked a lot different in this issue than in the previous one) who were about to make him an offer. Before he could hear their pitch, Han was accosted by a large green alien.
His attacker was offended that the stranger had been talking to his blue-skinned girlfriend. A fight soon broke out, which was ended after Chewbacca's timely intervention. Once things returned to normal, Han returned his attention to the farmers who'd interrupted his reverie.
They were looking for protection from a pirate named Serji-X Arrogantus, who was also referred to as the Arrogant One. He and his crew would routinely raid the farms and take what they wanted, including their women. Even though they had little to offer the pilot, Han felt sympathetic to their cause.
Solo knew that he and Chewie couldn't take on such a group all by themselves, and started recruiting others to join them. They held auditions in their hotel room. The first applicant was a cat-like humanoid called Hedji. He showed Han that he was a spiner by tossing some of his body's quills at the wall behind the Correllian.
Han hired him and went on to interview Amaiza, leader of the infamous Black Hole gang. She was accepted, as was the next applicant, an old man called Don-Wan Kihotay (you can guess what famous literary character this was a parody of), who claimed to be the last of the Jedi Knights. Han and Chewie humored him and hired him on.
The line of applicants continued to grow outside Solo's door. One rather impatient candidate tried to cut in line, who happened to be the same green alien from the start of this story. He was confronted by a seemingly timid light green rabbit named Jaxxon. The rabbit's powerful leg kick knocked his foe down the steps, leaving him stunned.
Han witnessed that act and was impressed enough to invite Jaxxon to join his crew. The last members to join were a local farmboy named Jimm (who called himself the Starkiller Kid) and his faithful tractor robot FE-9Q, or Effie for short. Jimm reminded Solo of Luke Skywalker and made him wonder how his friend was doing.
Back on Yavin-4, Luke was about to begin a mission with R2-D2 and C-3PO. The trio was boarding a ship to search for a new world that could serve as a base for the Rebel Alliance. Princess Leia and other Rebel leaders were concerned that the Empire would resume its attacks on them not long after the recent destruction of the Death Star.
Once they were in orbit, Luke took some time to reflect on recent events. So much had changed for him lately. He thought about their mission to free Leia from the Death Star, and the battle between his new mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the dreaded Darth Vader. He also started to think about what Han might be up to.
At the same time, Han was telling Jimm and Effie to come back in the morning. The group convened for the first time at dawn. They were soon met by Serji-X and his crew, one of whom was the green alien Han and Chewbacca had fought earlier. No question tipped off the pirates to the heroes' location.
The Arrogant One was about to make Solo an offer, but Han wasn't about to listen. He stood up for the farmer, even though they couldn't promise him much. Amaiza had to confront Jimm before he could attack the pirate. Serji flew off, but both sides knew they would meet again sooner rather than later.
Tom Palmer's inking definitely improved Chaykin's pencil work in this issue. Palmer would only ink a couple of the initial issues, but would return later on, after the Empire Strikes Back movie adaptation. Some of the supporting characters were a bit hokey by today's standards, but they endured the test of time. Jaxxon and Amaiza have even been included in recent Star Wars comics. It was a fun story, and I appreciated the separate travels of Luke and the droids as well.
That's all I've got for today. Tomorrow, I'll cover the ninth issue of Star Wars. We'll see the first full-scale battle between Han and Chewie's crew and the raiders. We'll also learn a bit more about what happens to Luke and the droids on their quest. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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