Good afternoon everyone,
Hope all's well. The focus of this article will be the forty-seventh issue of Marvel's first Star Wars title. The cover, drawn by James Sherman and legendary Daredevil artist/writer Frank Miller, showed R2-D2 and C-3PO on the run from an army of robots. The tale was titled "Droid World!" The issue had a cover date of May 1981.
The story started with Luke Skywalker's droids being attacked by a trio of robots who were occupying a large tracked vehicle. Threepio and Artoo argued about the reason for their plight until they reached a dead end. As they peered down into a smelting pit below, it seemed like this was the end for our heroes.
It was at that point that the story was brought back to its beginning, aboard a Rebel ship. Luke and another Rebellion commander were inspecting an Imperial warbot that had been retrieved from a recent conflict. Artoo and Threepio's job was to inspect the captured machine to see what they could learn from it. Unfortunately, Artoo's misinterpretation of his comrade's suggestion to go higher resulted in him fusing the warbot's innards. Instead of raising the lift he'd been on, the plucky astrodroid moved his probe further inside the Imperial construct, which caused the damage.
Artoo's scream brought Luke and the commander running. They inspected the results, knowing that it would now be indecipherable. However, a technician did suggest an alternative to their problem. A short time later, Luke and the droids were off in their ship, heading toward a place that might be able to help. It was a world known as Kligson's Moon, also referred to as Droid World.
As they approached the massive artificial vessel, the Rebels soon learned that humans were not allowed on the moon. Kligson was a veteran of the Clone Wars, and his experiences apparently led him to distrust other organics. He was now a cyborg, somewhat like Valance, the bounty hunter who was introduced in issue #16 of this series.
Threepio announced that they had a robot that was so damaged that it was irreparable. Kligson accepted the challenge, on the condition that no organics set foot on his complex, and that he kept anything that he fixed. Threepio reasoned that he and Artoo could accompany the warbot and record everything that Kligson did, so that they would have a complete schematic. Luke was a bit skeptical, but allowed his droids to proceed on that mission by themselves.
The Imperial warbot was loaded onto a tractor drone and was led to the examining chamber along with the Rebel robots. A remote-controlled scan was utilized to examine the machine's flaws. Kligson instructed his subordinate, Zee-Exthree, to dump the war machine into the core and put restraining bolts on his hosts. The latter instruction was negated after Threepio told the station's leader that he and Artoo enjoyed working with organics. That was something that Kligson wanted to learn more about personally, so he ordered that the droids be brought to his chamber.
On the way, ZX-3 explained that he was an experimental Imperial robot that had been designed to work in extreme conditions that Stormtroopers couldn't survive. He was eventually rejected by the Empire and claimed by Kligson. He then showed his guests the way to Kligson's station before moving on with the warbot.
While Threepio was excited to learn more about Kligson, Artoo lagged behind and opted to follow ZX-3 instead. By the time he'd reached Kligson's chamber, Threepio finally noticed Artoo's disappearance. The diminutive astrodroid found a safe hiding place to watch and discovered that they already had another warbot body, which just needed the functioning weapon head that this model provided.
As the transfer was taking place, a small ball-like floating droid informed ZX-3 of Artoo's presence. He was soon found and shot at by another protocol droid. Artoo escaped, but ZX-3 and his crew knew that it wouldn't be long before their plans to take over the artificial satellite were uncovered.
Artoo arrived in Kligson's room as Threepio was conversing with the station leader. He barely had time to inform them of the threat when ZX-3 entered, wearing a chest-mounted cannon. The unauthorized weapon was used to destroy Kligson moments later. It was the first salvo in the battle for control of Droid World.
Threepio and Artoo escaped the chamber, only to find the newly repaired warbot waiting for them down one hallway, and a tracked vehicle driven by more of ZX-3's compatriots in the other hallway. They wound up at the dead end. Feeling the sweltering heat of the fire pit beneath them, Luke's robots had no choice but to jump, and were surprised to find themselves being attached to a pair of overhead magnetic grapples.
Our heroes were saved, but the advancing tank couldn't stop in time and drove headfirst into the fiery pit. As they were being hauled up, Artoo and Threepio saw that their rescuer was none other than Kligson himself. Kligson later told them that ZX-3 had shot an android duplicate of himself. He was preparing for his associate's eventual betrayal, and had even prepared his own Imperial warbot for just such an occasion.
By using the cannibalized parts from the warbot the droids brought to the planetoid, Kligson was able to employ the machine to counter the robot uprising. It was a decisive battle that Kligson's opponents had no chance of winning. Afterward, Kligson felt remorse for the losses that occurred.
A while later, Threepio and Artoo were back on Luke's ship. Artoo had achieved the goal of acquiring a full warbot schematic, and Skywalker was complimenting them both on their success. Threepio noted that the events they'd witnessed had caused Kligson to retreat even further from humanity, as evidenced by the departure of his base from the planet it had previously orbited moments later.
This issue is a favorite of mine because it's the very first Star Wars comic book that I purchased as a child from my hometown drug store. I still have that copy, which is well-worn because I've read it dozens of times. It was my introduction to Marvel and this title's creative team. I noticed the stark contrast in art styles between Carmine Infantino and Gene Day immediately. This story was also converted to book and record format, and I had that version as well when I was younger.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll tackle the forty-eighth issue of this series. Princess Leia Organa, Artoo, and Threepio encounter Darth Vader on another world in a quest for additional financing for fighters to aid in their cause. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
No comments:
Post a Comment