Retro Comic Recap: Star Wars (1977) #34

Good Friday morning, everyone,

Today's topic is the thirty-fourth issue of the first Star Wars comic book series. The cover showed Luke Skywalker in a spacesuit watching helplessly as the Millennium Falcon and other Rebel craft behind it were apparently flying into a trap. The story was called "Thunder In the Stars!" The issue had a publication date of April 1980. 

The tale began with Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Princess Leia Organa in the Falcon's cockpit as the ship was on its way to rescue Skywalker, with several Alliance vessels in tow. C-3PO and R2-D2 were also on board the Falcon as it was heading toward the Junction space station, where Skywalker had last been seen before being captured by a House of Taage ship.

Meanwhile, Silas Taage had just supervised the release of another omega frost container tower from his family's vessel. Once activated, the container towers that had been dispatched to nearby asteroids would freeze any incoming ships, including the anticipated Rebel fleet. Silas wasn't concerned about Skywalker, who had defeated his brother Orman (last issue) and escaped in a TIE fighter, because he knew his escape craft had no weapons or communication system and only limited fuel. 

Luke was just beginning to realize those limitations, not long after flying off to freedom. He decided to hit the eject button and was thankful that his space suit's jet pack hadn't been disabled or tampered with. At the same time, the Falcon and Rebel ships were approaching the asteroid belt. 

The omega frost activators hadn't been turned on yet. Luke used his lightsaber to direct his flight, allowing him to land safely on one of the asteroids on which a container tower had been launched. He saw the tower and tried to attack it, only to find it had a strong force field. 

Moments later, the omega frost towers were activated. Han and the ships behind him stopped as soon as they noticed the frozen planetoids in their path. They were spared from sharing that fate because Luke had used his saber to cut through to the base of the tower and was able to destroy the machine from there.

Silas soon recognized that something was wrong. He began to panic upon seeing the Rebel ships amass near his vessel, pleading with his now comatose brother for guidance. Rebel forces made quick work of their foes, as did the Falcon when it took out a TIE that was aiming for the unconscious Skywalker. Han donned a flight suit of his own and prepared to go down to the asteroid's surface to rescue his friend. 

This was a rather swift conclusion to this storyline. Silas was the more logical, methodical thinker of the Taage brothers, but even he failed to account for reasonable contingencies when executing his plan. I wasn't surprised by how quickly Luke figured out how to take out the omega frost tower, but I thought that it might take eliminating more than one, since several had been sent out to accomplish that goal. It was an okay issue, one leading up to the adaptation of the long-anticipated Star Wars movie sequel.

Next time, I'll discuss the thirty-fifth issue of this series. An old enemy reappears and crosses paths with the Rebels once more. We'll also see more of the Taage family lineage become involved in the warring factions. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.