Good morning everyone,
This morning's topic is the forty-second issue of Marvel's first Star Wars series. It's the fourth part of their Empire Strikes Back adaptation. The cover showed bounty hunters Dengar, Boba Fett, and Bossk. The story was called "To Be a Jedi!" The issue had a cover date of December 1980.
After the splash page, the tale began on Dagobah, where Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 had arrived in their X-Wing to find Yoda, the Jedi Master who had once trained Obi-Wan Kenobi. Just as Luke was setting up camp on the swampy planet, a diminutive being interrupted them, who later said that he could take them to Yoda.
In another part of the galaxy, Imperial Star Destroyers were firing laser beams at an asteroid where the Millennium Falcon was hiding. C-3PO learned from the ship's computer that its power coupling had been polarized, so Han Solo and Chewbacca went to replace it. A little later on, Han had another run-in with Princess Leia Organa, and the pair had their first kiss, which left each of them feeling something for the other.
Darth Vader's Super Star Destroyer moved out of the asteroid field for a while so that the Sith Lord could communicate with the Emperor. The Empire's leader informed his subordinate that the son of Skywalker posed a significant threat, but if he could be turned, he might become a great asset. Vader vowed to his master that Skywalker would either join them or die.
Back on Dagobah, Luke grew impatient inside their host's hut. He wanted to find Yoda, not realizing he'd been with him all along. His impatience wearied the wizened Jedi Master. It wasn't until he spoke aloud and was answered by Kenobi's voice that Luke learned the truth. Yoda expressed doubt over Luke's ability to become a Jedi, but Luke tried to assert his confidence, stating that he wasn't afraid. That was something Yoda was sure would change.
After finding out that something was crawling outside the Falcon, Chewie and Solo went out to investigate, followed by Leia. Han spied and shot a Mynock, who had probably been chewing on power cables. He was convinced that there were probably more of them close by. The trio noticed the unusual nature of the cave until Han decided to shoot at the cavern floor. That action caused an unearthly rumbling, and he ordered everyone back inside the ship. As the Falcon prepared to leave, it seemed like the cave entrance was collapsing. However, this was no cave. The Falcon had roosted inside the mouth of a large space slug and narrowly escaped as it soared into outer space.
At the same time, Luke was beginning his Jedi training. The exercises Yoda planned for him tested his mental and physical strengths and abilities, but he continued to improve over time. Unfortunately, when Artoo alerted him of their ship sinking into the swamp, Luke was unable to raise the X-Wing, and it sank even deeper. Yoda was able to raise the vessel and lift it onto solid ground. Luke found that feat to be unbelievable, which is why Yoda said that his student had failed.
Back on Vader's Star Destroyer, the Sith Lord was talking to the bounty hunters who had been recruited to find the Falcon. Vader gave instructions to Dengar, IG-88, Bossk, Boba Fett, 4-LOM, and Zuckuss (not pictured). He wanted the ship's crew alive, with no disintegrations. No sooner had those words been spoken than an Imperial officer ran toward Vader, decrying that they had their quarry.
The Falcon was now within firing range of the Star Destroyers. Han got creative and made what appeared to be an attack run, flying toward one of the Star Destroyers. Afterward, the ship no longer appeared on any of their scopes. What they didn't know was that the vessel in question was positioned on one side of the ship's command tower.
On Dagobah, Luke was learning the difference between the light and dark sides of the Force from Yoda. Yoda stated that the Dark Side was quicker, easier, and more seductive. Once someone went down that path, it would forever dominate their destiny, like it did to Obi-Wan's apprentice, Darth Vader.
Still unable to find the Falcon, Vader instructed his fleet to calculate possible paths along its last known trajectory. The Imperial ships then dumped their garbage into space before going into lightspeed. The Falcon then detached from the Star Destroyer it had been sitting on, and floated along with the refuse. As they did so, Han looked for a place to hide out, and came up with Lando Calrissian, a name from the past who Han was sure had no love for the Empire. Unbeknownst to the Falcon and its crew, Boba Fett's ship, the Slave I, was also lying hidden in the garbage, waiting for the Falcon to make its next move.
The rest of this issue's content was cover pages from the British Star Wars Weekly magazine. Some additional covers from this publication were also shown in the first Star Wars annual. Because of the popularity of the Mandalorian and Boba Fett, this issue and issue #68 are two of the issues in this series that are the hardest for collectors to find, and can run a pretty penny for copies in good condition or better.
One fun fact about the bounty hunters: Kenner initially incorrectly mislabeled the 4-LOM and Zuckuss action figures. I remember receiving the Zuckuss action figure, which was labeled on the package as 4-LOM. The real 4-LOM action figure was a C-3PO body with a different head sculpt. Neither of these two featured prominently in this series, but would play larger roles and be more fleshed out in the Bounty Hunters comics in recent years by Marvel.
The action really ramped up in this issue. We finally got to see Yoda, the bounty hunters, and the Emperor, although he only appeared in a shadowy form in a single panel. The original version from the film was rather rough and was spruced up for the special edition years later. This issue covered some of the key plot points from the movie and kept moving the story along at a good pace.
Next time, I'll cover the forty-third issue of this series. Part 5 of the adaptation shows us where the Falcon went next. We'll meet Calrissian and his crew and learn what the new character had in store for his old friend. We'll also see more of Luke's Jedi training and what tempts him to leave Dagobah. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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